From robbers to royalty, a Pahlav AAR.

[johnhughthom]

Chapter 1


A recently discovered book, found in the deserts of Iran, has cast new light on the beginnings of the Parthian Empire. While many people claim the book is a fake just as many believe it is the most important discovery in pre-Christianity history for many years. The book is a diary written by an emissary of the Parthians named Keyarash and it covers the period of their rise from Seleukid Satrap to Empire.

An extract:

"Looking back on what we now call year one it is strange to think I left Nisa contemplating going to Seleukeia to work for the descendents of Seleukos. There were no murmurings of what was to transpire and nobody told me we would attack the Empire, had I been told I would have gone into hiding and my story would never have been told."

It seems the catalyst to the Parthian rebellion was a rash general by the name of Harasp who was from the same tribe as the Parthian Satrap. He attacked the Seleukid city of Zadrakata after it's governor demanded Harasp give his horses to local goat herders, surely the only time in history goats have kicked off a war. The attack on the town was sudden, brutal and comprehensive, according to Keyarash not one Parthian was injured.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Zadrakata.jpg

The Satrap, who's name is not mentioned, and his grandson are then attacked by a large Seleukid army which they annihilate.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/A-M.jpg
The Satrap was unaware of Harasps' actions at this time and thinks the Basileus has attacked him without provocation. He sends word to Harasp, who may have been his son in law (Keyarash is unclear on this) and his son, Arshak, to attack the Seleukid towns to the south.

Extract:

"His majesty was immensely angry with the Basileus, his anger was soon tempered by the news other Satraps had taken this opportunity to sever ties with the Empire. Baktria, Armenia and Pontus all broke away and suddenly there was an opening to become truly independent. He sent word to his close family to attack the lightly defended cities south of his holdings and the Parthian rebellion had truly begun."

Harasp defeats a Seleukid army on the road to Hekatompylos, then conquers the city itself.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/N-Z.jpg
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Hekatympolos.jpg
Meanwhile the city of Asaak is taken by Arshak.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Asaak.jpg

The number of Seleukids Keyarash claims are killed compared to the Parthian losses must surely be taken with a pinch of salt. For example "the Satraps army killed over twelve thousand greeks, one hundred and fifty of his men were killed or injured."

Keyarash only gives us a brief glimpse of what happens in year one, it seems he is unsure of some of the facts and almost certainly exaggerates things. His accounts of the following years are more concise and he is more confident his information is accurate.

[Tristuskhan]

This will be an AAR with Pahlava using EB 1.1, RTW.exe on H/M.

Update soon...

That's good news, indeed.

[Maion Maroneios]

Good luck, can't wait for that one:wink:

Maion

[johnhughthom]

My next chapter should have a bit more variety in images, I'm still new to posting pictures and I have a lot to learn. Any feedback or advice would be very welcome.

[Maion Maroneios]

Good start, john! I hope this will turn out into a very good AAR!

Maion

[Tristuskhan]

Clean victories you had there, keep on going.

[gamegeek2]

not more competition :)

:smash::smash::smash::smash::smash:

[Tristuskhan]

not more competition :)

:smash::smash::smash::smash::smash:

There's room for two in the Wasteland:yes:

[Subedei]

Ride on Parthia!:charge:

[johnhughthom]

Chapter Two:The Empire Strikes Back (weakly)

Extract:
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Keyarash-1.jpg
"I suppose my readers will be curious as to who I actually am, well, I was simply a messenger for a minor Satrap of the Seleukid Empire. After the rebellion I suddenly found myself an "Emissary" bringing messages to Kings, Emperors and despots. My first audience was with the governor of a Ptolemaic city in Asia Minor, I was able to gain cordial relations with the rulers of Egypt but unfortunately the alliance our King hoped for was beyond my ability to bring about, due to our differing relations with Baktria."


Keyarash gives us an small insight into the Royal family at this point of his story.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/tree-1.jpg
The King is a man by the name of Phrapates of the Dahae tribe (translated as "robbers"), it is assumed he is the Satrap who overthrew Seleukid rule in the previous year but Keyarash doesn't confirm this. He has a son, Arshak, and Harasp is either his son or son in law, again Keyarash is unclear. His grandson follows him in battle, but we are unsure of his name. Harasps' daughter is married to a man from a different tribe, the Zand, by the name of Hiyeramanesh.

Extract:
"The King had sought to punish Harasp for his unsanctioned actions, if he didn't others may use it as an excuse to pillage at will. However Harasp had become hugely popular, his victories in the previous year and heroic defense against the Seleukid attempt to retake Hekatompylos also showed him to be a gifted general. Pharasp spread a rumour that he had secretly ordered Harasp to attack Zadrakata to precipitate the rebellion, this meant he could leave Harasps actions unpunished and also made him look to be a cunning strategist. Harasp was strongly reprimanded in private, though, and told in no uncertain terms what would happen if he showed too much "initiative" again"

"Year two" as Keyarash called it was no less violent than the previous, a Seleukid army came toward Hekatompylos before being repelled by Harasp.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/S-H.jpg
The king and his grandson took an army north and conquered Marakanda and Alexandria-Eschate, though the king is not mentioned in the account of the taking of the latter city and may have stayed in Marakanda.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Marakanda.jpg
Hiyeramanesh then defeated an army just outside Zadrakata, it may well just have been a group of brigands as Keyarash spends little time on the battle.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/O-Z.jpg
A Seleukid effort at retaking Hekatompylos was crushed by Harasp. Keyarash seems to mix up accounts of more than one battle here and it may be that Harasp actually had to defend two attempts to regain the town.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/H-D1.jpg
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/H-D2.jpg

Extract:
"The Royal Family were divided at this stage, some thought the Kings taking of the cities to the north foolhardy. They would bring us into conflict with Baktria or the Saka horsemen, or even both. Leaving those cities for our allies to take would have left us able to concentrate on the Seleukids to the south. The King, though, felt we should destroy the Seleukid presence to our east and north, it would be easier to defend a smaller border against them. He felt the Baktrian alliance was strong and the Saka had plenty to occupy them before their attentions were drawn to us."

[General Appo]

Nice start, keep up. Like the history book approach.

[johnhughthom]

Chapter 3:An eye on the future

Extract:
"The King surprised many people, even those in his own family, when he ordered the garrisons of Khiva, Nisa, Marakanda and Alexandreia-Eschate to head south. He was fully aware of the risks in holding on to the region, but wanted to eradicate Seleukid presence in the area before leaving it to the Saka and Baktria to fight over. The town of Antiochea-Margiane was also cleansed of Seleukid influence before being abandoned to the locals."

Keyarash tells us little of the fighting in this year, prefering to tell us a little more about the royal family. Indeed this chapter can be seen as little more than a series of mini-biographies, which is surprising considering the upheavals in the Parthian kingdom this year. Apart from the taking, and leaving, of Antiocheia-Margiane the only fighting this year was minor skirmishing around Hekatompylos, with Harasp, as usual, defeating all comers. The city of Apameia was taken without bloodshed when it was foolishly left undefended.

Extract:
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Phrapates-1.jpg
"The king was long in years, and becoming grumpier as the years passed. He would listen to views other than his own, but when he made a decision he expected others to abide by it without argument otherwise he would fly into a rage. He was very fond of his grandson, Arshak the younger, and it was thought he may name him as heir in place of his father."

https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Arshak-1.jpg
"The son of the king was unremarkable, he was fine warrior in the saddle and knew how to lead men, but was outshone in these years by others, particularly Harasp. He had led the taking of Asaak, but Harasps deeds meant this was not remembered as it should."

https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Harasp-1.jpg
"It was said the Basileus in Seleukeia sought the death of this man above all others, he knew he had led to the breakaway of the Satraps. Harasp was unsurpassed on the battlefield, he would win a battle with as few as one dead Parthian per hundred Greeks. He was, however, one of the old guard. He preferred life in the saddle, on the move and had no desire to settle. The king was determined the Parthians would become a settled empire, was there a place in such a venture for a man like Harasp?"

https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Hiyeramanesh-1.jpg
"Hiyeramanash was the son in law of Harasp, he was from the Zand tribe-the only man of real influence in these days not of the Daha. His main action was his quick thinking in riding quickly to Apameia and taking the town when he heard the entire garrison had been laid low by illness."

https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Arshakjr-1.jpg
"The elder grandson of the King was a popular and charismatic young man. He had spent the previous years with Phrapates army and the two had become very close. Great things were expected of him."

https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Tirdad-1.jpg
"His younger brother had little battle experience but had governed the city of Asaak confidently. It was said he itched to prove himself in the same manner as Arshak."

Keyarash is much more confident of his facts this year, despite the fact he was actually in Greece. He mentions gaining influence in the court of Makedon and Epiros. The government of Parthia appears to have evolved greatly this year, Keyarash obviously had a large number of messengers going back and forward to Persia and he mentions unheard of amounts of gold passing through the Parthian Empire.

[johnhughthom]

Chapter 4:The travels of an emissary

Extract:
"You can imagine how often I found myself in strange places and awkward situations in these early years, I mean I was a simple messenger boy suddenly expected to broker deals with Kings and Tyrants. The first years of my odyssey were mostly filled with fear, my people had attacked the Empire and I had to travel through the Empire for many months to get to new people. The Ptolemies were our obvious first port of call. Ha, I say obvious, I had not even heard of them when I left Nisa, now I was expected to negotiate with them. I had a vague idea what a "Greek" was, but the notion I should be able to distinguish between varieties of Greek-Makedon, Spartan, Ionian and on and on was preposterous. Then there were the other peoples, Thracians, Jews, Phoenicians, Celts and more. I was a simple boy who had lived in a tent all his life! I had never been in a town until I was 16, now I was expected to be this cultured ambassador of people, knowledgable of all nuances of foreign speech and manner."

Year four appears to have been one of consolidation, Keyarash tells us of his travels and some of the peoples he comes across but tells us little of what is happening back in Parthia. Harasp and Arshak the younger both defeat Seleukid armies, but the main event of the year is all the tribesmen being summoned to Asaak. The Seleukids had an armoury there with a foundary well in advance of anything the Parthians had, the entire army was outfitted in new armour.

Extract:
"One of the stranger groups of people I met on my travels were the Galatians, yellow haired men who liked to go to war "tackle out." It seemed the further away from home I got the less civilized people became. I had heard of the Greeks, of course, and expected to find sensible, intelligent people there. While I was staying in a small city in the region they fell out with a neighbouring city and went to war, I watched the men put their armour on and grab their spears ready to fight. I went on my horse to the battlefield, ready to run if the battle was too close, and was surprised to see what appeared to be a giant "lets see who can shout loudest and push hardest contest." The men stood well apart, shouted at each other then closed, pushed at each others shields, withdrew and repeated. This went on for hours until one army took to flight, I can only assume they got bored. These were the people Iskender came from??"

Sorry for how poor this has been so far, I'm not great at getting good screenshots. I play general cam and a lot of my battles are manouveuring horse archers about the battlefield from a distance, not great for exciting screenshots-it also leads to a lot of micromanagement and I forget to get screenshots when I get the chance... As I said before any feedback or advice would be gratefully received, if not about AAR writing then where I take my campaign.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Tons of screenshots aren't absolutely necessary. Personally, I play with the camera completely unlocked so I can get any shot I want on the map. It's hard to get battle shots from a horse archer battle, though, since they aren't really that varied and all that interesting to look at. Just tell the story you want to write and don't care if people comment or not.

[Maion Maroneios]

Just tell the story you want to write and don't care if people comment or not.
I second that:thumbsup:

Maion

[johnhughthom]

Chapter5:A letter from home

In this chapter we finally get a glimpse of early Parthian warfare, a childhood friend of Keyarash writes him a letter describing a battle he took part in against a Seleukid general.

Extract:
"The letter began "My friend Keyarash, I have become part of Arshak the youngers personal cavalry unit. I was summoned to Asaak last year, given a fine suit of armour, and an even finer one for my horse, then called before Arshak to pledge my loyalty to him. He is a fine young man, brave and able to instill bravery in others. Just as importantly he is not rash, he will not charge into combat too early, and his tactical plans work well. We were patrolling the area east of Apameia when we got wind of a Seleukid army not far inside their borders. Arshak decided we would nullify the threat before they could reach our lands. We lined up for battle just outside a forest in an orthodox fashion,

https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/formation.jpg

the army of the Empire was composed almost entirely of spearmen. They were slow to manouvere and we found it easy to isolate them, one unit would pretend to charge then break off and the rest of the archers peppered the enemy with arrows when they gave chase. When they stopped chasing and tried to get back into formation the fleeing unit would stop and fire at the newly exposed rear.

https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/sittingducks.jpg

We kept this up for what felt like hours, until eventually we were out of arrows, at this stage the enemy were tired, fragmented and disconsolate and my heavily armed unit came to the fore. We had stayed at the fringe of the battle at first, as we were slower than the others, and more likely to get caught and bogged down, but also to keep our energy up. For the charge.

https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/charge.jpg

Dear Keyarash, do you remember how as boys we used to dream of leading the tribes cavalry in battle, it's even more exhilerating than we imagined. Knee to knee with your brothers, lance down, horse charging right at an enemy scared out of their wits. The moment your lance hits another mans chest and explodes through, impaling him on it so you have to throw it away and use your sword! My goodness, we used to tell each other fantastic stories of what battle would be like, believe me it's even more bloody, brutal and loud than we imagined. Still, you have your Greek pushing matches to enjoy, while I kill our enemies! Anyway we wiped out the enemy and lost few men ourselves, the men we did lose were those too slow to get out of the way of the enemy, so I doubt they are a great loss. Still, Arshak was slightly annoyed with himself, he said he should never have lost so many men against an enemy with little missile support. He is young still, of course, he will make mistakes, so long as he learns from them."

https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/win.jpg

Other incidents in the nascent Empire included the town of Khiva rebelling against the rule of the Saka. They asked Phrapates to take them back into the Empire but he refused, he was unwilling to get into a war with another people. However the Saka Warlord held Phrapates responsible and declared war, an emissary would be sent north to smooth relations. A small army of mercenaries pledged loyalty to Phrapates during the rebellion and he invited them south to become his royal army. Harasp, meanwhile, headed east after refitting in Asaak, a convincing victory over a Seleukid army was followed up by a siege of Alexandreia-Ariane, https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/AAA.jpg a victory over a much larger army, with mainly mid level troops rather than the usual levies, was tempered with much larger than usual losses-almost a third of the army. https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/AAV.jpg Mercenary Persian Archer-Spearmen were hired to help keep the city under control, but the treasury could easily afford the expenditure and the King found these versatile troops interesting and was keen to build an army around them.

[General Appo]

Still loving it. Keep it up.

[gamegeek2]

AARs are always good. Glad to see how your campaign's going. This thing compliments nicely with my Saka AAR, offering the perspectives of the nomads for once in a while. They never have enough money, but this makes for a unique playstyle, emphasizing battle skill especially, and less of the fullstacks.

[johnhughthom]

They never have enough money

You know, I started this campaign expecting to have to scrimp and save every penny I had, but strangely I have been spending loads on mercs which I never do in any campaign. Nice to know you are reading, I enjoy your AAR and was delighted to see it return.

[General Appo]

Well, that´s what happens when you advance fast and loot a lot (which I assume you have to). With Pahlava it´s pretty much either blitz or complete disbandment. Just try to prepare for that day when you won´t be able to conquer a settlement every second turn anymore, and have to rely on your own economy.
I did that mistake in my first Saka campaign, thought everything was going great until I decided to settle down and start taking advantage of all those Indo-Sakan units I´d unlocked. With no warbooty, I went bankrupt in 7 turns and had to build my economy while using mini-garrisons to defend against heavy Seleukids counter-attacks. Not best imaginable position.

[johnhughthom]

Chapter 6:Scraps and fragments

The chapters dealing with years 6, 7 and 8 didn't stand up well to the test of time. We can only glean some information from these years, which is disappointing as it saw the crowning of a new king and some territorial gains in the east.

https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/king-1.jpg

The new King was Arshak, the Kings only son. He seems to have come to the throne without any opposition. His son Arshak the younger may well have been a potential claimant, from previous chapters it is obvious he is held in high regard by many, but he was a loyal son and subject and made no attempt to usurp his fathers birthright. Of course Arshak the younger was still a young man and would have realised he had many years ahead of him to become king. The other obvious claimant was Harasp, and there must surely have been many who would have favoured the restless nomad. However, Harasp was far from Hekatompylos when Pharasp died and would have been unable to stake a claim.

Arshak seems to have followed his fathers vision of a settled Parthian Empire. The mercenaries who pledged allegiance to Pharasp finally arrived in Hekatompylos during the new kings coronation and he made them his personal army. More archer spearmen and even some Babylonian spearmen were hired and the king suddenly had an army which could stand up to a Seleukid army without having to use the old hit and run tactics.

Arshak the youngers army was sent south east to join up with Harasps army in an attack on the Seleukid town of Karmana, this is the only battle we have any information on from this period.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Karmana1.jpg
Like the battle for Alexandreia-Ariane the Seleukid army here had some professional mid level troops so it wasn't the walk over battles in the early years had been.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Karmana2.jpg
Still it was a convincing victory and again Persian mercenary archer-spearmen were hired to garrison the town. Harasp's son came of age in this period and helped with the adminstration of this region, Propthasia was also taken in this period(we don't know who took the city it seems likely to have been Harasp), he seems to have been akin to his father in being keen to hold on to the old nomadic traditions though we are told little more about him.

Arshaks decision to abandon the steppe holdings seem to have been a wise one, Keyarash mentions the Saka and Baktria at war over these regions with some going back and forth. Being able to concentrate on the Seleukids without worrying about an attack from the north was a huge advantage for the blossoming Parthian Empire, though they never forgot their potential enemies-an emissary sent to the Saka managed to smooth over the misunderstanding over Khiva.

[General Appo]

Niiiiice. I see the birth of a real Persian empire.

[desert]

If there is one thing I hate about nomad AARs, it's that some poor steppe peoples always somehow manage to conquer half of Asia within 10 years. I guess that's why the Mongols expanded so quickly -
Genghis Khan was a Total War player. :sweatdrop:

Especially annoying is how these guys take victories against armies 3-5 times their size and no losses on their part in stride.:furious3::wall:

Good AAR so far, though.

[johnhughthom]

Chapter 7:Succesful Experiment?

Year 9 sees us introduced to one of Keyarash' main sources of news from home, his old mentor Pishdad.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Pishdad-1.jpg
Pishdad was the man who repaired the relationship with the Saka tribes, he was unfortunately unable to renew the alliance due to the Saka being at war with Baktria.

We are also introduced to the son of Harasp, Darman,
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Darman-1.jpg
and it quickly becomes obvious that, despite his youth, Darman is ruthless and capable. The City of Alexandreia-Ariane accepts a bribe from the Seleukids and rebels,
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/bribe-1.jpg
before the Greeks had time to install a garrison Darman rode into the city and butchered the elder council. The townspeople came before him and begged for mercy, none was forthcoming. Almost 75% of the population was enslaved or killed, the speed of Darmans reaction shows he had no thoughts of waiting for instructions from the king. With a purpose reminiscint of his father he showed what happens to those who defy Parthian authority.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/angry-1.jpg
Keyarash believed Darman was destined to become as great a warrior as his father, and he tells us many in the Empire also thought so.

Year 8 also gives us our second detailed report of battle, again from a letter from an old friend of Keyarash. This time, though, the Parthians have a new, experimental army, mainly composed of mercenaries.

Extract:
"We had some Greek Peltasts, heavily armoured, who would throw their missiles then withdraw behind the spearmen, local Persian archer-spearmen, who excelled at neither and Babylonian spearmen, who we hoped would be the match of the Greeks. We also had a unit of horsemen from India,and some local archers."
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/royalarmy-1-1.jpg
"For once we weren't hugely outnumbered by the enemy."https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/deploy.jpg
"We lined up with the peltasts in front,the spearmen in a line and the archers behind. It wasn't exactly a move of tactical genius but the King was new to such an army and keeping it simple was the best thing to do"https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/setup.jpg
"It was strange to see the army move forward to meet the enemy, both armies going forward with little attempt to flank. The royal horsemen concentrated their fire on the enemy archers, who were lightly armoured, and routed them with a charge when they were decimated by the missile fire. Our spearmen were having a rough time of it until the cavalry returned, routed the enemy cavalry and then charged the rear of the enemy spear. It was strange to see such a mass of men together, there was something barbaric about the chaotic melee."
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/melee.jpg
"The victory was won and we lost far fewer men than the enemy, but it was still a staggering loss of life compared to what we were used to. Of course they were only mercenaries, paid to die, but we didn't have the manpower of the Seleukids and could ill afford to lose too many men. Arshak the younger was very unhappy after the battle, he had an ill-tempered argument with his father feeling the experiment was a failure. His father said that while we had lost many men the enemy, who were used to fighting that way, lost many more. We needed time to adapt to new ways and would learn. The Prince felt we didn't have time to learn, more Seleukid armies were on our borders, the old ways had won us our freedom-why abandon them in our hour of glory?"https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/heroicvictory.jpg

[johnhughthom]

Chapter 8:A fathers vision

Extract from a letter written to Keyarash:

"The city is overjoyed that the King and the Prince have settled their differences, Arshak the younger has agreed that we should look to new ways for our military. While we learn how to fight in a modern style we will have to rely on mercenaries to defend our lands, we will learn from them and our unruly tribesmen will become a force to be feared in the world."

Keyarash is of the opinion that Prince Arshak is still unconvinced of the benefits of an infantry based army but changed his public view out of respect for his grandfather. The former King, Phrapates, had dreamt of a new Persian Empire, with a Parthian Emperor. The current King had promised Phrapates on his deathbed he would do his utmost to further that cause, and Arshak senior was a loyal son and took his oath seriously. The Prince had learned much from his grandfather on campaign as a young man and knew how much his vision of a Parthian Empire had meant to him, so, like his father, he put aside his misgivings to follow the dreams of a dead man.

Keyarash mentions three battles in the Parthian Empire in year 10, two of which are convincing victories for Harasp-such things are taken for granted now and we aren't told of numbers involved or even who the enemy was. The other battle was against an army who had beseiged the capital city, Hekatompylos. The Royal Army was in Apameia and couldn't get to the battle quuickly enought to relieve the seige, Prince Arshak rode to Hekatompylos with his personal guard and his father sallied forth with him to attack the Seleukid Strategos.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/nessos-1.jpg
The Seleukid army was a rag tag band of survivors of previous armies who had been routed on Parthian soil. Numbers favoured the Greeks, but anybody following this story would know how little trust we should place in numbers.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/fatherandson.jpg
The Syrian general had a reputation as a gifted leader but he was shown to have little finesse in the battle to follow. The father and son managed to isolate the generals cavalry from his phalangites and charged him front and rear. The shock of two charges from heavy Parthian cavalry was too much and his unit was decimated, leaving the phalangites with no cavalry support.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/sandwiched.jpg
The Parthians hadn't used a single arrow in killing the strategos and soon started emptying their quivers at the helpless Greeks, the end result had been inevitable the instant the Seleukid general had allowed himself to get isolated.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/outcome.jpg

The evolution of Parthian governance reached a crucial stage this year with construction starting on government buildings in Hekatompylos, Zadrakata and Asaak.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/reform-1.jpg
The vision of Phrapates was beginning to come to fruition, but would the reliance on mercenaries to defend the homeland be the downfall of the fledgling Empire?

[johnhughthom]

Chapter 9:Persepolis is taken.

The pages dealing with years 11 and 12 are in even worse shape than those of 6, 7 and 8, again this is very frustrating as it deals with an important period in the history of the Parthians. The historically significant city of Persepolis was taken in year 12, the Seleukid heir being killed in the attack on the city.

Extract:
"Andromachos was highly respected in the Seleukid Expire and seen as the natural sucessor to the Basileus, he was the Satrap of Persia and one of the most able administrators in the Empire."
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Andromachos-1.jpg

Keyarash tells us Harasp took his army from city of Gabai and attacked Andromachos at Persepolis, we can only assume Gabai was captured by Harasp just prior to the attack.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Persepolis.jpg
The Seleukid heir had a large bodyguard contigent but the rest of the garrison was levy troops-arrow fodder for Harasps veterans. Like the Seleukid general in the previous chapter Andromachos foolishly allowed himself to become isolated and is charged from two directions and annihilated. After the death of the general the usual Parthian target practice occured.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Persepoliswin.jpg

Phrapates dream of a new "Persian Empire" had Persepolis as a central component, it was obvious why, the city was full of reminders of the Empire destroyed by Alexandros.
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Parsa-1.jpg
https://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp139/johnhughthom/Parsagadai-1.jpg

Extract:
"The tomb of Cyrus had an inscription asking that any ruler of Persepolis not begrudge him his monument, far from disrespecting his resting place Harasp spent a full day alone with the tomb, praying for Cyrus approval of the new dynasty. He returned the next day claiming to have been visited by Cyrus in a dream, Cyrus had said that if the current King came to pay his respects at his tomb the Parthians would conquer all that Cyrus and his descendants had ruled and more. Harasp sent a messenger to the King that very day"

[johnhughthom]

I'm having a slight problem, all my saves for this AAR CTD... It's a strange one as the saves load, I can play for a few seconds then it CTDs, it does this with the script fired or not, I tried ending the turn right away but it CTDs during the AI turn. I am going to try a clean reinstall but I'm busy in work the next few days so won't be able to for a while, I'm hoping since some of the saves worked before it's something a reinstall will fix.

[Maion Maroneios]

Finally, Persepolis is taken! Sad to hear about your CTD, but please try to fix it, even post it on the technical help section of the forum.

Maion

[Tristuskhan]

Oh please overcome that CTDs, it would be a shame if every Pahlavan AAR is doomed...

[Kuningaz]

Yeah it would really be a shame if this died... I´m actually finishing my Sauromatae campaign and maybe will make an AAR out of it, would be funny to have an AAR for each nomad people going on. The problem´s just that I use a lot of auto_win to kill off those Seleukid-elite slave armies they got after I pillaged half of their empire:whip:

[zooeyglass]

This has been a fantastic AAR - excellent angle for the story, great style and exciting journey the pahlava are on. i really hope those CTDs can be resolved, it's such a pain in the arse. I nearly started a casse AAR and then it was ruined by a CTD. Oh well!

but please do continue, it's a great story.

regards

[johnhughthom]

Thanks for the feedback, unfortunately I doubt very much I'll be able to continue with this as I've tried everything I can think of to get the saves working. It's very frustrating as this is the only EB campaign, out of dozens, I have ever lost to a recurrring CTD. I'm playing Fallout 3 at the minute so no time for EB, but I plan to have another go at a Pahlava AAR in a few weeks and I want to do a reform guide as well. I really enjoyed that campaign and hope to get a proper Parthian Empire, maybe even a war with Rome, to share.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Why?! Why?! Why?!:wall:

Every single AAR I have seen end ended because of unbeatable CTD or a corrupted save. Your AAR was one of the best I have read, along with Chirurgeon's and MAA's. I find it very odd and sometimes even suspicious (although not your necessarily yours - especially since you said you were going to do another AAR) that AARs end that way. Is it normal to experience unbeatable CTDs and corrupted saves in EB while just casually playing (i.e. not making an AAR out of it)?

EDIT: Is it possible for you to post your savegame for maybe someone like bovi to possibly fix it/find out what's wrong?

[johnhughthom]

I tried the install validation and took bovi's advice on what was wrong, no luck unfortunately. I had noticed a higher than usual number of CTDs through the campaign but they weren't repeating CTDs until the last one, then all 3 saves I had wouldn't work. I'm going to have a test game for a few turns before I do a new AAR to make sure I don't have a corrupted install this time. I'm finding Fallout 3 very disappointing, not an RPG at all in my view, so I may start a new AAR sooner than I had imagined.

Edit:the save file is available here https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=109074 it's for a RTW.exe with only the permanent fixes. If you try it and it crashes I will know it's a corrupt save and I can give up trying to get it working...

[LordCurlyton]

Nice AAR. I fired up a Pahlava campaign and am enjoying it. Stll haven't quite figured out all the req's to get the reformed gov't, nut I've got time.

[johnhughthom]

1.Military occupation.
2.Migration
3.Pastoralism
4.Large Nomad Market
5.Settled Community
6.Warlords Horse Herds
7.Reformed Pastoralism
8.Advanced Settlement
9.Settled Aristocracy
10.Reformed Parthian Government.

http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/4/4/23/f_pahlavahomem_06cdcb6.png&srv=img34

There you go, list of requirements and regions you can get the reform. Good luck.

[LordCurlyton]

TY good sir. And do keep this AAR going. Pahlava is my second-favorite faction, behind the Romani, of course:sweatdrop:. I like that you stick more to text than pictures but those you use are effective IMO.

[johnhughthom]

I was just wondering if a few people would be so kind as to give me some info on their own Pahlava campaigns? I plan to start a new one for an AAR soon but don't want to play through the same situations again. I was thinking of trying to keep the alliance with the AS for as long as possible, perhaps giving them 100 per turn for 100 turns or something, and try to take out Saka, Bactria and maybe even Sauromatae. I have a feeling that if I do that it will only allow the AS to build up and make them extremely difficult to defeat when the inevitable betrayal occurs. I thought about trying for an historical expansion but that would be a lot of sitting about doing nothing in the first 30 years or so (at least I think it would, I have ordered a few books on Persian history, so hopefully I will be more enlightened when I do the AAR:embarassed: Speaking of which anybody read The Persians by Maria Brosius?).

[desert]

That's actually what I did. I waited for 20 years before attacking the AS. They actually declared war on me very soon into the game, but all I did was fight off their biannual armies, until an AS army around 250 BC unexpectedly killed my FL, the grandfather of Tirdad and his more famous brother.

He died in a charge that instantly routed the enemy unit, making him the only casualty of the battle.:shame:

But anyway, giving AS gifts is probably a good idea. That way you can disband your entire army in 272. Build some mines in your starting cities so you can make a bigger military when you finally decide to invade too.

[Kuningaz]

Hm actually with my Sauromatae I first united all Steppe regions, then conquered Baktria and afterwards AS (took me about 15 years to accomplish that, I think). From my experience attacking the AS wasn't difficult at all, as I had (and u'll probably have too) an almost full stack army with golden experience chevrons. I virtually destroyed and raided 80% of the AS territory in 5 years and now they're pretty much done (although I have to admit, I just erased their counterattacks with those golden armor/weapons/experience apeleutheroi with auto_win). Actually I kinda enjoyed wiping out the population and destroying every single building in every town I didn´t have to hold. Soon I´m going to raid egypt:2thumbsup: Which means: :egypt:=:skull: