Twilight of the Arsacids Chapter Three: Artashes Gets Off His Butt to Fight Persians
At the beginning of this chapter Armenia was reeling from its recent defeat at Pityus. In its moment of weakness, Eranshahr decides to enter the scene…
Attendant: Milord, the Persians are besieging Phraaspa.
Artashes: Now is not a good time, I am asking Miss Artaxata a question for the Miss Armenia pageant! So anyway, Miss Artaxata, why do you think 20% of Armenians can’t locate Armenia on a map?
Miss Artaxata: I personally believe that the such as Armenians can’t do so because they don’t have maps, and we have to really teach those Bactrians and Huns so that we can have a strong future such as filled with powerful and Berber Constantine Romans.
Artashes: Uhh…
Attendant: Sire?
Artashes: I believe it is time for me to start acting like a king to reform the education system!
Attendant: Uh, milord, shouldn’t you deal with the Persians besieging Phraaspa and the Romans besieging Van, first?
Artashes: Quite right, I shall do so.
After a few skirmishes it seemed as if the Persians would be overcome quickly by Armenia’s powerful Nakharars who were tearing apart their Savaran.
However, these skirmishes were only distractions to the Persian master plan, they besieged Vagharshapat with a full stack of elite Persian units and onagers. Artashes could either relieve Van from Rome and risk losing Vagharshapat or relieve Vagharshapat and lose Van for sure. Artashes took the safe route and relieved Vagharshapat…
Attendant: Thrilling speech, milord.
Artashes: To be honest I was working on that for a few weeks.
Attendant: Well that explains it.
The reinforcements from Vagharshapat’s garrison were negligible, so this was going to be a tough battle. The best elite Persian units were present, led by a unit of Peroozetae, the best cavalry of Persia. Armenian Horse Archers began the initial bombardment of Sassania’s forward positions to make it easier for the Armenian Cavalry to get at the center of the Persian forces, the Savaran and the Peroozetae.
Unbeknownst to Artashes when he started the attack, the Persians had two units of War Elephants, which would no doubt make the battle even tougher to win.
The Armenians charged with every unit they had. The reinforcements hit the Sassanian Infantry and the Daylamites encamped on the lower ground with Armenia’s superior infantry.
The battle raged on as Sassania committed its elephants to the fray.
The Persian cataphracts continued to meet their doom against the continued pressure of the Nakharars.
On the lower ground, the Armenian reinforcement Kentronakan Gund, the best Armenian infantry, continued their plight to annihilate their Sassanian counterparts, successfully.
The battle continued for a while, until the elephants were finally put to rest and the Persian general was killed. The Armenian Nakharars proved themselves superior to the Persian Savaran, but with a high price (those damn elephants kill everything!).
Perhaps Armenia stands a chance at survival? Come read the next chapter to find out.
Twilight of the Arsacids: An Armenian AAR
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School started so updates for this will be slower than my usual ones.
Originally Posted by kambiz
