77BC: Rise of Tigranes
Introduction:
The year is 77BC. Armenia, once a medium size country struggling to survive next to the great empires of Seleucia and Parthia, has now grown into the superpower of the East. Under Tigranes II, Armenia conquered Mygdonia, Gordyene, Sophene, Caucasian Iberia, Cilicia, and Syria. Tigranes is now preparing to invade both Phoenicia and Cappadocia. Tigranes, to fuel his imperial ambitions, allied with Mithridates VI Eupator Dionysius of Pontus by marryin his daughter, Cleopatra. Tigranes had three disloyal sons by her, Tigran, Zareh, and some other guy. Historically, they all died, and Artavasd, Tigranes's other son became king. But that's just history, will they all unite under their father's banner and defeat all those who wish Armenia dead? Or will Armenia just be another footnote in history...
House Rules:
1. Heir must be eldest son of current king. If there is no son, or the son is too young, then the oldest brother of the king becomes the heir.
2. No declaring war on allies, I don't like traitors.
3. Can only expand into Tigranes's historical territory before moving on to conquer more land.
4. Never invade Pontus unless Pontus has betrayed you and is attacking a Caucasian settlement.
5. Thought of something. I decided that just like my last AAR, the only battles I fight on a battle map are battles where my king is the general. No exceptions. Every other battle is auto-calced. This way it will be extremely difficult to hold on to the current Armenian Empire and make it more challenging. For this reason I will be playing on M/M, I don't like it when someone is given bonuses because they are stupid (AI).
6. Hold Artaxata at all costs. If the royal capital is lost, the AAR is over. This will force me to keep a sizable garrison in my heartland to protect against steppe raids which I have yet to see in an actual campaign though...
7. If I lose Tigranokerta, I must withdraw from all of my territories outside of Armenia proper, except for Caucasian Iberia, Caucasian Albania, Media Atropatene, and Nisibis. All forces will retreat to crush the foes advancing in Armenia, and only after the threat is gone can I start imperialistic expansion again. This is to promote historically accurate behaviour.
8. Armies must not contain over four units of Armenian Legionaries until the first encounter with Rome, as it was historically.
9. Readers must remind me of these elaborate rules if I accidentally break one.
10. Each Armenian character must have a personality and behave according to his traits, or how he historically behaved.