From robbers to royalty, a Pahlav AAR.

[gamegeek2]

not more competition :)

[Tristuskhan]

not more competition :)

There's room for two in the Wasteland

[Subedei]

Ride on Parthia!

[johnhughthom]

Chapter Two:The Empire Strikes Back (weakly)

Extract:

"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.

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.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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:

"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."


"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."


"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?"


"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."


"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."


"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??"

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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.