They Came From the East: A Saka Rauka AAR

**divulse123** · 08-17-2010, 16:43

Hi everyone. I'm playing EB again after about 2 years away. Version 1.2 is great, and I'm having a ton of fun. I needed a challenge, so I'm playing as the Saka on VH/VH, no cheats allowed. I know, it's somewhat masochistic, but another Roman campaign on VH/VH would be a snooze.

I've never played with a nomad faction before, and the first 10 years on this playthrough were insane! Luckily, I think I'm doing pretty well, and just may be able to put together a good run (before being easily destroyed by full stack spams?). Hope you enjoy! Comments welcome!

**divulse123** · 08-17-2010, 16:51

Prologue 1: The Rise of Sapalbizes

Our sources are unclear on the subject of early Saka expansion; however, Hellenistic and early Han sources attribute the beginning of Saka unification to a smaller tribe native to the Sai Yavuga region. This tribe, under the leadership of a ruthless warlord, Sapalbizes, subdued by force their fellow nomadic tribes and, with a guarantee of booty, invaded the eastern-most successor states. This chapter will treat the rise of Sapalbizes to prominence as a Saka warlord, as well as his three sons (pictured below).

From left to right: Sapalbizes; his sons Zeionises, Aryandes, and Oxyboakes; and Hasa, the husband of Aryandes eldest daughter. (ca. 271)

Early in 272 Sapalbizes orchestrated the marriage of his eldest granddaughter to an able young warrior from an outside tribe, Hasa. This policy of welcoming outsiders, provided they contribute military force to his band, is indicative of Sapalbizes' modus operandi. Indeed, such acceptance was continued with outstanding effect by his later successors, as we shall discuss below.

With the added forces of Hasa's retinue at his disposal, Sapalbizes left Sai Yavuga with his band to appropriate the herds and flocks of Saka Yabgu. His forces were not concentrated at a single point, so they arrived bit by bit, Aryandes fending off a medium sized Saka war-band. The eldest son of the chief acquitted himself well, leading his men by example and killing the enemy leader himself.

Aryandes' aggressive leadership, learned from his father, had the happy consequence of killing or scattering the bulk of Saka warriors in the region, thus allowing the main force under Sapalbizes to convene near the tribal herds unmolested, hemming them in.

As winter approached, the last of Sapalbizes men arrived, along with news that a son, Arsakes, had been born to Zeionises back in Sai Yavuga, his third.

Bhumaka, leader of the tribes in the Saka Yabgu region, proved to be cagey, occupying Sapalbizes for nearly six months before the latter could force an engagement. The summer was exceptionally hot, and the beleaguered local tribes ran low on supplies. Bhumaka attempted to break the leaguer about his people, but was woefully outnumbered.

Sapalbizes restrained his forces when his opponent offered battle, blunting the enemy charge with many volleys from his archers. Bhumaka's force was equipped with bows as well, but their desire was to chase off the invading force; furthermore, the invading force was much more heavily armored than the defenders and better able to withstand a barrage.

Bhumaka felt that his best chance of driving off the invaders was to strike directly at their leader. He could not hope to match Sapalbizes' numbers nor his armament, but a concentrated attack on the chief's section of the enemy battle line could force the leader, and therefore the rest of his band, into a retreat. Unfortunately, Bhumaka underestimated the elan of the enemy chief and his immediate retinue. Sapalbizes met the charge head on, showing tremendous vigor for a man of over fifty years.

The local warriors were put to rout, and utterly defeated by their pursuers. Sapalbizes and his sons organized a quick account and distribution of booty, and with the promise of much more to come, enlisted the help of several local tribes.

The help of the local Saka tribesmen was conditional. To the west of Saka Yabgu was Dahyu Alanna, home to the Alani tribes. Mutual raids had been carried out for generations by both sides, and the local Saka leaders wanted to subdue the Alans, making trade with the Sauromatae further west safer.

Seeing the prospect of an easy victory and more booty, Spalbizes agreed to lead his growing Saka band into Alan territory. His youngest son, Oxyboakes returned east to raid Tuhara tribes south of his homeland, Tocharian speakers of the Tarim Basin in the Xiyu region.

Shortly after passing into the Dahyu Alanna region, Sapalbizes forces were spotted by a significant portion of the Alan warriors who offered battle. Although he outnumbered the Alan force, Sapalbizes knew that they could draw upon local reserves of manpower, whereas he would have to abandon the campaign altogether if he should take too many allied losses.

Aspar, the chief of the large Alan raiding party, proved aggressive but careless. Careful maneuvering allowed Sapalbizes to form up on higher ground than his opponent, giving his bowmen a slight advantage in range over the enemy, who were similarly armed. The sun was also at his back, making it difficult for the enemy to find a proper mark. However, to prevent undue losses to his allied horse, whose commitment was questionable, Sapalbizes placed himself and his remaining family at the front of their formation on slightly lower ground, in range of the enemy volleys.

What ensued was really no more than a skirmish, but the unfortunate fall of Aspar early in the action led to the retreat of his forces who presented their unprotected backs to the numerous Saka mounted archers on the hill. The result was almost complete annihilation of the Alan force.

Sapalbizes spent the winter of 271/270 much as he had the previous year, hemming in the local tribes through raids and plunder, hoping to force a desperate encounter on terms of his choosing. Oxyboakes had minimal success raiding the Tuhara, but his knowledge of the local geography would prove to be an invaluable asset. Furthermore, his contacts in the area delivered rumors of more riches to be had to the south and west; a place called Ai Khanoum was rumored to be particularly wealthy, and was beginning a busy period of civic building.

In the Spring of 270 Satraces, the oldest son of Zeionises, is first mentioned in our sources. It is odd that they portray him as somewhat of a coward, although he was also known for prodigious feats of horsemanship. He is only mentioned here to contrast with what our sources later say about him. This will be treated at length below.

It took Sapalbizes the better part of 270 to force the Alans, under the command of their chief Usafer, into a corner. In the autumn of that year, Usafer attacked the Saka forces. He had managed to arm many of the local tribesmen, but it should be noted that several hundred were without mounts. Therefore, although he outnumbered Sapalbizes, a large contingent of his warriors were infantry.

Sapalbizes deployed his men in one long line and moved against the settlement of civilians and domesticated herds. He halted his line when Usafer moved to engage, instead using his bows to great advantage while the Alans tried to close the distance.

Again, the large number of missiles the Saka could bring to bear on their slow-moving targets was overwhelming, and Usafer was killed before his men could reach the Saka placement, his body trampled by his fleeing infantrymen.

Several small bands of light horse armed with bows, who had broken away from the main Alan force in an attempt at a flanking maneuver, re-approached the Saka as they finished putting the main body of Alans to rout. Sapalbizes reformed his lines. again placing his own troops in front to screen his less well-protected allied horse.

The Saka horsemen used their remainig arrows to disrupt the approaching formations of Alan warriors.

As Sapalbizes moved to engage the remaining enemy with Aryandes, Hasa, and those of the allies who were armed more heavily, Zeionises saw an opening and rushed his men to the center of the Alan camp where he slaughtered the camp followers and other non-combatants.

The result was a complete victory for Sapalbizes. With all Alan resistance out of the way, his Saka allies would now commit to his leadership, provided he led them to even more booty. In truth, the amount of wealth gained from assimilating the Alans was not much, although the increase in trade with the Sauromatae to the west did somewhat to mitigate the cost in the long run.

272-270 were busy years for the Saka, with several successful campaigns. It is no great wonder that 269 was uneventful. Our sources are unclear on exactly what Sapalbizes did during the year, but we do know that he, along with the rest of his allied Saka force, rejoined with Oxyboakes in the Tarim Basin. Sulek, an important trade outpost in the Xiyu region, provided a tempting target. The Saka allies felt, even if Sapalbizes did not agree, that the old man (he was 55 at this time) was in arrears.

By the end of 269 Sapalbizes, his three sons, Hasa, and a number of allied Saka tribesmen descended out of the mountains into the Tarim Basin, eyes intent upon the Silk Road.

Note: This is the complete version of Prologue 1. A partial version was posted first.

**MButcher** · 08-17-2010, 18:21

Keep up the good work! I'm looking forward to this.

**jirisys** · 08-17-2010, 20:09

NOEESSS!!!!!!!! I wanted to be the first one to post a Saka AAR

Well, my AARs aren't that popular for that matter

~Jirisys (

)

**divulse123** · 08-18-2010, 16:21

Prologue 2: Silk and Stone

The year 268 is notable for several important events. First, Ashoka the Great took power on the sub-continent. His conversion to Buddhism, described on Kharoshthi inscriptions in western India, was instrumental in the spread of that religion throughout the east. It is also the year that the Saka took control of the Silk Road outpost of Sulek in the Tarim Basin.

The Tuhara people of the Tarim Basin were fierce warriors, able to maintain control over both Silk Road branches traveling to the north and south of the Taklamakan Desert. Their chief in the area of Sulek, at the reunion of these branches, was called Urgaspes, whom our sources portray as a cunning leader of men. After a year of raids on the countryside, Sapalbizes moved to take the main settlement of Sulek.

By this time the Saka leader had proven himself to be an excellent leader, both in command of a battle and while taking counsel with other tribesmen.

Many of the Saka mounts did not survive the journey through the mountain passes and the subsequent raids, therefore a number of archers on foot were present in Sapalbizes' formation. These he placed in the rear in order that they might withdraw the easier at need.

Urgaspes, for all that our sources laud his command ability, perished early in the fighting, demoralizing his remaining forces.

The remaining defenders withdrew to the center of the trading outpost, barricading themselves in the center. Sapalbizes formed up his men to enter the settlement.

The fighting was not particularly intense, as most of the defending warriors quickly gave up and fled. They had been taken completely off guard by the speed of the Saka advance. As Sapalbizes charged into the center of Sulek, the last resistance dissipated.

The result of the battle was more far-reaching than the anti-climax of the fighting would suggest. The Saka had taken a valuable trading station, an acquisition that would do something to quiet the grumblings of Sapalbizes' Saka allies. Unfortunately, the amount of booty on hand was not great, and soldiers on campaign after a battle do not often take a long view of their personal finances.

It was too late in the year to attempt a passage through the mountains and out of the Tarim Basin, so Sapalbizes occupied Sulek with his forces and rested them for the next year's campaign.

By the spring of 267, the Saka outside of Sapalbizes' own retinue were becoming more vocal about the lack of immediate riches. It is unclear whether Sapalbizes himself was disappointed with the previous five years of constant pillage. Indeed, some scholars have suggested that his occupation of Sulek was with an eye to long term stability. Ultimately, we can never determine if this was the case; suffice to say here that the short term stability of his alliance was in some danger. This being the case, Sapalbizes decided to head west along the Silk road, to Dahyu Haomavarga.

Early in this same year, back in Sai Yaviga, Satraces took to wife a foreign bride. This was quite remarkable at the time, as our sources suggest her origins were a mystery to the Saka. They only knew that Aurelia was brought to the region as a captive by a Pahlava trading caravan. Prior to that, they only knew she came from far to the west. The fact that Satraces took Aurelia to wife was indicative of two things; first, that he had enough respect from his tribe members to allow such a union and second, that he had a taste for foreign things. These two traits proved to be important factors later in his life.

As 267 moved into its autumn, Sapalbizes moved his allied force into the mountains of Haomavarga territory. He left Oxyboakes in Sulek to see to the administration of trade in the region. Most likely this was with an eye to mollifying the allies.

His local scouts soon reported to him that a large force was actually headed down the pass ahead of him into Xiyu. One can only surmise that they had heard rumor of the weaking of the Tuhara in the Tarim Basin. The Haomavarga were distantly related to the Saka, and led by a powerful chieftain named Oxybazes. His force outnumbered Sapalbizes' men by almost three to one.

After some clever maneuvering, he forced Sapalbizes into a corner. However, the latter was able to capture an elevation in the pass, a tactic that, as we have seen, had served him very well in the past. Over half of Oxybazes' men were on foot, as they were accustomed to fighting in the mountains. The remainder of his force was nearly identical in armament to the Saka from the steppes.

From their eminence the Saka had a range advantage with their bows. Given that the enemy was on foot also meant that they could do little to decrease the amount of time spent under fire before they could meet and overwhelm the enemy. Sapalbizes' force was battle hardened, having served together for nearly four years despite the grumblings of discontentment. Their missile barrage wise predictably effective.

As we have seen in Sapalbizes' previous campaigns, he benefited greatly from the early decease of his opposite number. It is impossible to tell if this was part of his tactical disposition, or if it was nothing more than consistent good fortune. Ultimately, Oxybazes fell before the Haomavarga could close with the Saka.

The death of their leader must have been a terrible blow to the morale of the Haomavarga. However, they still outnumbered the Saka greatly, although it is impossible to tell how great the toll had been from the archery bombardment. After a time, the Saka arrows were spent, and they could do little but wait for the enemy to approach. At the last moment, Sapalbizes ordered his entire army to charge down the slope.

The impact of the Saka nobility must have been tremendous. Sapalbizes and his fellow tribe members were heavily armored and quite capable of fighting in a melee. Unfortunately, many of his allied Saka men were not, preferring speed over heavy armament. These in particular suffered greatly. The carnage around Sapalbizes was atrocious, but showing his customary personal elan he finally forced the Haomavarga in his immediate vicinity into retreat.

Showing a firm grasp of the strategic element of the campaign, instead of pursuing his fleeing foe, he turned to aid his lightly armed allies who were suffering substantial losses in hand to hand fighting with the Haomavarga horse. His aid was timely, and the remaining enemy was quickly put to rout.

Sapalbizes was not able to achieve the total annihilation of the enemy, but had managed to save the majority of his men, a truly magnificent feat of generalship. His tactical acumen allowed him to maneuver to and use the high ground. His strategic understanding and the discipline of his immediate family allowed him to recover his lightly armed allies to be used in the next campaign. Finally, his personal heroics, at the age of 57, were spectacular. Had subsequent events turned out differently, this may have been considered one of the great feats of cavalry command in the ancient world.

Despite managing to save his allied force, Sapalbizes had suffered losses among his allies. These allies became extremely vocal as the year drew to a close. They felt that the risks of the current campaign were much greater than the rewards they had received. Therefore, they demanded a quick end to the next campaign, and a period of rest after the Haomavarga were made to submit. Sapalbizes had to agree, not wanting the past five years of alliance building and campaigning to be in vain.

To this end, Sapalbizes moved his forces into the vicinity of Gava Haomavarga in 266. The mountain passes of the area were heavily wooded, and allowed little space for the evolutions of cavalry; nevertheless, the Saka chief persevered with his local raids. It was not long, however, before the Haomavarga leader, Pidanos, was able to take Sapalbizes' forces by surprise. His forces were massive, consisting of thousands of hardy mountaineers.

Sapalbizes was denied the high ground, which theretofore he had so scrupulously achieved. Little is known of this battle, as there were almost no Saka survivors. Our sources suggest that Sapalbizes himself, along with his middle son Zeionises, father of Satraces, was killed early in the engagement, no doubt leading from the front as he was accustomed.

A few surviving men under command of Aryandes managed to break away from the main fighting, taking cover in the nearby woods. They were easily marked by the enemy archers and their withdrawal was completed only with great loss.

After a time, the wood-crafty Haomavarga surrounded Aryandes himself with a few of his closest friends. The Saka put up a stiff fight, eventually killing the enemy chief, Pidanos.

This happy occurrence, accidental or part of the Saka tactical deployment, did not serve Aryandes as it had in the past on many occasions. The backs of the Haomavarga were stiffened by it, and their numbers were completely overwhelming. Aryandes probably showed the same offensive impetus that he always had, but eventually fell.

The campaign against the Haomavarga was a complete failure on the part of the united Saka army, having almost no survivors.

Our sources make no mention of Hasa in the battle, and he appears nowhere else in the historical record, therefore it must be assumed he perished in the fighting as well. In any case, the leadership of the Saka tribes technically fell to Satraces, son of Zeionises, the only grandson of Sapalbizes to have reached majority. Oxyboakes, Sapalbizes' youngest and only surviving son, by custom had to defer to his older brother's offspring.

Who would become the de facto leader of the alliance, or whether the alliance would indeed continue, was unknown after the battle of Gava Haomavarga. Time was needed to recover, and our sources suggest that questions still remained about Satraces' courage.

At the end of 266, our sources mention the coming of age and marriage of Lokaksema, the first son of Aryandes. Some scholars have suggested friction between the son of Aryandes and the son of Zeionises, however there is little evidence to support this. Later military campaigns in which the two fought together successfully show no indication of friction. In the final analysis, it must be admitted that the failure of Sapalbizes, and the near destruction of his entire family, left the young Satraces, who was 20 in 266, with much to do to keep the Saka together as a coherent force. It is to Satraces' early years that we must now turn.

**Mediolanicus** · 08-18-2010, 16:27

Very good. Keep it up!

I'll be lurking.

**divulse123** · 08-26-2010, 21:39

Chapter 1: To the Furthest Altars

At the end of 266, when Satraces succeeded his grandfather, Sapalbizes, as head of their Saka tribe he was just 20 years old, having never fought in a battle nor left the region of Sai Yavuga. As mentioned in the Prologue, his courage and grit were questionable, for all that he was an acclaimed rider. Furthermore, the general Saka alliance was in tatters. There was no plunder to maintain the loyalty of the other tribes, to keep them from dispersing back to their homes. Satraces had no hold over them, although it could not be denied that trade had increased between all of the Saka and the Alans whom they made to submit. They still had control of the Silk Road depot at Sulek.

It is therefore the case that 265 was a quiet year; Satraces left Sai Yavuga and his newborn son Hippostratos, and maneuvered about the steppes trying to rally support. His cousin, Lokaksema, celebrated the birth of his firstborn daughter, Pishpasia, while Oxyboakes, the last son of Sapalbizes, was finally married at 36 to an eleven year old girl named Placidia. By the spring of 264, having failed to secure the help of any Saka tribes apart from his own, who followed him out of their customary rules of succession, Satraces entered the Kangha region, descending upon the settlement of Chach along with only the forces of his cousin, Lokaksema, and his uncle, Oxyboakes.

From left to right: Satraces, Oxyboakes, Lokaksema.

That summer, after small raids of the free-holdings in the area, Satraces took his band, for that was all they were at this juncture, and made assault upon Chach, defended by pastoral tribesmen under their chief, Homartes.

Chach was unfortified, and in typical Saka manner, the plainsmen opened the battle with a barrage of arrows from distance. The residents of the settlement returned fire, but the intimates of Satraces and his family were well armored, and found their bombardment to be much more effective. This caution has led some to suggest that Oxyboakes, the only leader who had yet seen action, took command for the attack on Chach. Our sources are silent on this matter, however, so there is no reason to doubt that Satraces exhibited such good sense.

Predictably, the sedentary tribesmen were hard put to it by the Saka arrows. When Satraces ordered the charge, there was little the defenders could do to withstand the heavy cavalry. Indeed, many of the defenders were on foot, which left them in dire straits indeed.

Homartes himself, chief of the tribes in the Kangha region, fell in the press.

The remaining defenders fled to the hills, leaving Satraces in control of the settlement and its modest population. The local warriors gave a good account of themselves though, and our sources state that Satraces was left with only 178 men to enforce his rule on the locals.

As it turns out, before Satraces had the situation well in hand, a Seleukid expeditionary column sought to impose itself on the supposedly defenseless settlement. Its captain, Iamblichos, was operating under the general mandate of the Seleukid government to maintain commercial and political ties with the west. The captain felt that any gains in the area of the Jaxartes would redound to his glory. He therefore took his forces, mostly infantry from the Iranian plateau, and moved into Kangha.

Seeing that his opponent was mostly on foot, Satraces enforced strict discipline on his men, keeping ordered ranks and peppering the approach with arrows.

The Seleukid column suffered greatly from the barrage, and when their light cavalry approached the makeshift barricade around the settlement, Satraces' well-rested force easily dispersed them with his much heavier armament.

The enemy cavalry routed, Satraces fell upon the infantry who immediately fled. The retreat was led by Iamblichos, who had realized that the situation was irretrievable. Indeed, Satraces' men caused horrific casualties on the Seleukid foot, very few managing to escape from the plain surrounding Chach.

Satraces was left, by the end of the summer, with little more than 150 men in Chach. This was not a large enough force to maintain the peace as well as hunt down the remains of the Seleukid column. In a sense, this was a blessing, as that winter an embassy from captain Iamblichos offered terms that were beneficial to both sides. For the time being, the Seleukids would remain disinterested in the Kangha region, provided that the Saka would not interfere with trade coming along the Silk Road, nor impose on Seleukid interests south of the Jaxartes. This seemed at the time to the benefit of Satraces, and an accord was therefore reached.

In the spring of 263, Moga, Satraces younger brother and second of Zeionises' three sons, came of age. Like all Saka nobility, Moga had accumulated a retinue of wealthy friends, advisors, and sycophants. These Moga readily brought to his older brother's aid, augmenting the force in Chach.

Below: Moga

Satraces, as we have commented previously, was more apt to pay attention to the world outside the immediate interests of the Saka. In this year, he heard rumors of trouble in the Seleukid kingdom. Indeed, the successor state was having difficulty maintaining its eastern provinces, and the area around Bactria, theretofore particularly hostile to the Saka, was growing in strength. Satraces could therefore see that the area of Dayuan was cut off from the west by the Bactrians.

In a shrewd diplomatic move, Satraces sought to temper relations with Bactria, while moving south of the Jaxartes to plunder Alexandria Eschate, the last Seleukid outpost in the immediate vicinity.

The Saka chief wasted little time taking his men across the river and moving against the garrison of Furthest Alexandria. The bulk of the province's fighting force was occupied elsewhere, and only a token force remained.

The defenders were entirely on foot, and could do little to withstand the skillful horse archers, who themselves were heavily armored.

The Seleukid spear men, conscripts from Parthia, withered under the storm of Saka arrows.

When Satraces' arrows were spent, he ordered the charge. Here the Seleukid garrison seems to have maintained some semblance of discipline, as our sources claim the melee was hard fought, with the heavy horse finally gaining the moral advantage when the commander of the garrison, Diaphanes, fell in the onslaught.

The Saka warriors raced to the center of the town, cutting down the last remaining pockets of resistance. Lokaksema, Satraces' cousin, pressed the defenders relentlessly, earning a greater reputation thereby.

In short order, the enemy was dispersed, and the Saka were allowed to loot the town. All manner of goods were taken and the military infrastructure set up by the Seleukids was completely destroyed. Satraces, however, in a move that was very much in his character, did not allow the Furthest Altars of Alexander to be disturbed.

The remainder of the year 263 was spent establishing control in the Dayuan region and accounting for the booty gained in the sack of Alexandria. Here our sources first mention Satraces' desire to follow in his grandfather's footsteps, giving most of the booty to members of other Saka tribes to secure their loyalty.

It is unclear whether at this point Satraces had any such designs, as there is no evidence of any other tribe than his own taking part in his early military operations. However, he is not supposed to have kept the booty for himself and his close associates, and it therefore may be possible that the debts incurred by his grandfather were somewhat lessened by the general surge in wealth spread about the Saka tribes over the recent years since the disaster at Gava Haomavarga.

The year 262 contained little of military or political note in the orbit of Satraces' command. In the spring a sizable column of Seleukid troops passed through Dayuan, but the area around Alexandria Eschate had become such a place of terror for the Seleukids that the column passed west and out of the region. The central government of the Seleukids had given up on regions that far east, and were now concerned with fighting against the Parthians and Bactrians for control of the Iranian Plateau.

In this year Lokaksema adopted invited a small chief of another Saka tribe, by the name of Sodasa, to join his command. The young Lokaksema had been introduced to the much older Sodasa in the years leading up to the Haomavarga disaster, when the various Saka tribes were in the habit of socializing. Our sources suggest that the two were romantically involved, but there is too little evidence to explain this rather odd companionship. In any case, Sodasa joined Lokaksema with his personal retinue, further increasing the forces under Satraces.

Below: Sodasa.

In this year as well Satraces celebrated the birth of his second son, Zeionises. The celebrations were short-lived however, as Satraces made a bold decision. Our sources claim that his naming his child after his own father made him think of the heavy blow to Saka honor in 266; whether it did or not, in the winter of 262, Satraces moved his forces east across the mountains and into Dahyu Haomavarga.