Post your empire/kingdoms here!

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

Which reminds me, I have never tried Valentinian's campaign (shame on me).

[Justinian Australis]

Thats true You need to try and install it again JA

I have mate, three times so far. I've even redownloaded the mod itself all to no avail. If I can be arsed, I may try again later today. I do agree that it is awesome, from what I was able to play of it before.

[raphael]

Sassanid humiliation:

THE ARMENIANS ARE CHRISTIAN?!?!?!? WHY DINT ANY1 TELL ME!!!! *runs off to play armenians*

EDIT: ok its been ok playing the armenians but i got 1 question. During battles what do you do when your archers run outta ammo?

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

Real men don't use archers. I spammed paighan and mercs.

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

Greetings, humans! This is Roach, bringing another installment of "Take A Secondary Faction And Carve Out An Empire".

This time around the faction is...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Sassanids!

I started off my campaign by making peace with the Romans, paying them tribute and establishing trade rights. This left Shapur's hands free to deal with the massive invasions in the east.

The first one the Persians beat back was the Hephthalite incursion - their innumerable assaults on Merv were all repulsed by troops from the entire region. I also bribed all of those large, elite rebel armies starting in Hyrcania to fight for me in the east.
But just as his generals were doing that, the Guptas invaded. The first couple of waves were defeated in the field, but casualties forced general Khusro (or was it Kavadh?) to retreat inside the walls of Herat. There he beat back one army, and with reinforcements from Arbshahr made a bold strike at that small town just north of Herat, to secure our flanks.
He did succeed, but suffered casualties to the cavalry which could not be replaced easily, and couldn't force the 400 inhabitants to stop rebelling with his 2000 men. So he got fed up and retreated south... Just as the Guptas under Megabyzos and another guy launched another attack. He was routed and fled to Arbshahr. The Guptas took Herat.
Meanwhile, Shapur's Vuzurg Framandar, Fariel of the house of Sassan, headed into the Arabian desert with a giant army. He seized al-Hirah, and then his subordinates subdued the rest of the Lakhmid lands. With trade routes unobstructed, money started flowing in from the Persian gulf trade.
Thus the eastern satraps launched a counterattack and forced the Indians out of Khorosan. However, an attempt at the Indian capital was forced to retreat with heavy casualties by the massed elephants of the Guptas. Shapur and the Indian king agreed on peace.

The next year was spent in preparations - in the west, an elite, new model army was being raised in Mesopotamia, and in the east, hordes of nomads were hired for the war with the Kidarites.

As expected, the Romans attacked. Their attacks were repulsed, and the new model army (Arteštaran Nizagan, Savaran i Grivpanvar and Savaran-i-asavira, supported by artillery) together with the starting stacks conquered all of Roamn Mesopotamia within two months. The Romans, still reeling, threw all their reserves (~3.5 full stacks in total, although somewhat dispersed) at Callinicum. The novel strategem of Surena the horseman and Mardonius Pahlevi - swooping around the slower Roman armies and defeating them in detail through night attacks - proved to be extremely effective and won the day. The fall of Antioch and Damascus kicked off the invasion of the Levant, which could not be stopped.

Meanwhile in the east, two Persian forces made a giant loop through Bukhara, another city, Campus Sakae or whatever, and then down towards Sogdia, conquering most of the Hephthalite empire. Balkh was besieged, and the Huns sought peace. The Guptas were defeated in the field several more times, yet their manpower seemed inexhaustible. So nearly the entire southern coast of Iran was called to arms, loaded on ships and sailed past the Indus into Sindh. Barbarikon, guarded by just the faction heir and his retainers, fell to the massive Aryan army. Buddhist temples demolished, locals slaughtered (note: Buddhism was later restored after severe unrest in the region) and the treasury - sacked. The Guptas were now almost powerless, and sued for peace. Knowing that a frontal attack on the Indus cities would be a stalemate, Shapur accepted.
While that was going on, one of the northern generals, whose name escapes, me purchased an entire army of steppe nomads, and secured the northern frontier. Not before dying in a glorious charge against numerically superior forces in a fatal attempt to secure the faltering center of Hvar infantry, though - a bid which ultimately succeeded.

And here we are now - the Levant, norhtern Egypt and eastern Anatolia is under Persian rule once again, so is central Asia and parts of India. There is still work to do, however - western Anatolia and much of Egypt is still under invader rule, and the Armenians are growing ever stronger.

Pictures:

The central Asian part of Ēranšahr.


The south-eastern front after a peace treaty.


Surena the horseman, the commander-in-chief of the western front.


The western front after driving out Romans.

[Dexter13]

Hi there I don't have an empire at this time but I enjoy watching yours;D. I wanna say that I like this mod very mutch but I have a question (even if isn't the right topic) : Does AI gets better, like in Stainless Steel ?

[First Citizen Gallienus]

THE ARMENIANS ARE CHRISTIAN?!?!?!? WHY DINT ANY1 TELL ME!!!! *runs off to play armenians*

This may be a little late but... well just click the attachment.

[Methodios]

Well, Ivliane, I say once more thank you so much for a great mod (although your models have frozen my game )

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Methodios]

And just for comparison purpose, map of RE under Traianus:

[Joar]

That's a nice empire you got there. From which faction did you bribe Butilinus?

[Methodios]

It was a 355 campaign, 4tpy.

[Methodios]

That's a nice empire you got there. From which faction did you bribe Butilinus?

I don't remember. Allemani or Goths, I think. Actually, I brought him up to a 10-stars general with many deadly skills through fighting with ERE. He was no Mr. Universe at the beginning

[Joar]

I don't remember. Allemani or Goths, I think. Actually, I brought him up to a 10-stars general with many deadly skills through fighting with ERE. He was no Mr. Universe at the beginning

...and you've even made him emperor. Now that's something.

[Methodios]

...and you've even made him emperor. Now that's something.

As far as I know, it was typical of the emperors of the age of the Dominate, to adopt popular generals and make them heirs to the throne. They could be barbarians - no problem.

[Joar]

As far as I know, it was typical of the emperors of the age of the Dominate, to adopt popular generals and make them heirs to the throne.

Yes, I guess one can say that to some extent. But by the time depicted in SAI, establishing a dynasty based on blood became the norm.

They could be barbarians - no problem.

Now, I'm no expert but I know of no example where a "barbarian" became emperor in the 4th/5h century AD.

One of the reasons why the appointed generals of the late antiquity were of "barbarian stock" was because they were considered safe in terms of not rebelling against the emperor, knowing they would never be accepted on the throne. They did, however, become the de facto ruler, but they never tried to take on the purple for themselves since they knew it would have been an impossibility from an ethnic, political and religious point of view.

[Methodios]

Yes, I guess one can say that to some extent. But by the time depicted in SAI, establishing a dynasty based on blood became the norm.

Well, by the time depicted in SAI (4-5 centuties), there was no Roman Empire as a single whole and it had not so much power as in my game.

Now, I'm no expert but I know of no example where a "barbarian" became emperor in the 4th/5h century AD.

One of the reasons why the appointed generals of the late antiquity were of "barbarian stock" was because they were considered safe in terms of not rebelling against the emperor, knowing they would never be accepted on the throne. They did, however, become the de facto ruler, but they never tried to take on the purple for themselves since they knew it would have been an impossibility from an ethnic, political and religious point of view.

Verum est.
I checked - all the Roman emperors were Romans. Thanks for comments. But I must say, it wasn't me, who made Butilinus the Emperor. It was AI

[Joar]

But I must say, it wasn't me, who made Butilinus the Emperor. It was AI

Well, at least he had a Latinized name. And he's a philosopher too...

[Methodios]

Well, at least he had a Latinized name.

I wonder what name is this. I'd be glad to see its etymology (which must be of germanic origin).

[Joar]

Yes, it surely is Germanic. I don't know what it means, but my guess is that it's got something to do with "bear".

[Oznerol]

Im going to post my "empire" 6tpy script, 361 campaign. My eastern frontier is cleared and fully defended with powerful or medium garrisons, depending the strategic value of the city, as you can see Amida, Carrae, Nisibis and Palmyra are very well guarded from the sassanids menace. Julianus has very well beaten all the battles he has fought, bravely from Antioch to Ctesiphon. Now he is busy asuring the new conquests and building a pantheon to the Transcendent One on the ancient sassanid capital. I have also posted his army with the new adition of delyamites powerful warriors, he as Alexander had, is using native troops (See also the savarans he is employing) Nevitta is also still alive garrisoning a fort near Ctesiphon and Procopius is watching a mountain pass and currently seriously menaced by an army I hope to defeat (With four Pilbans in the army...). Julianus will help his cousin for sure.
Forgot the western empire, it wasn't worthy and also didn't get much profit with most of Gaul and Britain so I just didn't put much efforts on their defense, and I was focused on fighting the proud and powerful sassanids. Also I was tired of fighting the franks and alamani after my 355, when they get utterly crushed, so I pretty much autoresolved here and there, tired also of CTD with them. It is also partially intended as I want a historical gameplay and in 4th century the romans didn't have the troops needed to fight in more than two battlefronts, for examples Ammianus tell us that Constantius II choosed to fight first Shapur II first than Julianus, as he had not the resources for battling them at once, also happened with the sarmatians, he was battling in Illyria while Shapur was sacking Amida. So Im in a one front war, holding only the eastern rich provinces and other key western provinces as Rome (Capital), Milan, Ravenna and Carthague. I think in the future when Augustus Flavius, Julianus heir, I will have an empire very symilar to Justinian's one, with the exception of the eastern conquers.
I also gave some money to goths because I like some pressure while Im playing and representing the great invasions and transgressions to the limes they did in this period.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: