Ambitions ​

Persian Military Traditions ​

The Parthian Shot : Horse Archer Offensive +15%

: Horse Archer Offensive +15% Nomadic Lifestyle : Cohort Recruit Speed +25%

: Cohort Recruit Speed +25% Hit and Run : Horse Archer Morale +10%

: Horse Archer Morale +10% Cavalry Skirmish : Allows Cavalry Skirmish

: Cataphracts : Heavy Cavalry Cost -25%

: Heavy Cavalry Cost -25% Steppe Mastery : Land Attrition -15%

: Land Attrition -15% Footsloggers : Light Infantry Defense +15%

: Light Infantry Defense +15% Finisher Bonus - Born to Ride: All Cavalry Discipline +10%

Legacy of Cyrus : National Manpower +15%

: National Manpower +15% The Immortals : Heavy Infantry Defensive +15%

: Heavy Infantry Defensive +15% Reform the Navy : Ship Morale +10%

: Ship Morale +10% Reactive Recruitment : Allows Raising Levies

: Royal Line : Land Morale Recover +3%

: Land Morale Recover +3% T o Blot Out The Sun : Archer Offensive +15%

: Archer Offensive +15% Kardakes : Heavy Infantry Cost -15%

: Heavy Infantry Cost -15% Finisher Bonus - Massed Assault: Siege Ability +10%

Bactrian Horsemen : Light Cavalry Discipline +10%

: Light Cavalry Discipline +10% Graeco Bactrian Architecture : Fort Defense +15%

: Fort Defense +15% Perfect Storm : Heavy Infantry Offense +15%

: Heavy Infantry Offense +15% Kleruchoi : Allows Military Colonies

: Titans of Battle : War Elephant Discipline +10%

: War Elephant Discipline +10% Hippotoxotoi : Horse Archer Discipline +15%

: Horse Archer Discipline +15% Heartland : Land Unit Attrition -15%

: Land Unit Attrition -15% Finisher Bonus - Disillusioned Masses: Mercenary Maintenance Cost -15%

Armenia ​



Starting Country:​

The Northern Black Sea Region ​



Starting Countries​

Scythia : Situated between the open Steppes and the Black Sea the Scythian kingdom has no theoretical limit to its expansion. On the other hand the open steppe is by no means as immediately lucrative as maintaining trade with the Greeks to the south. While Scythia is firmly entrenched as the tribal overlord of this region since centuries their supremacy is soon to be challenged by the expanding Sarmatians from the east.

: Situated between the open Steppes and the Black Sea the Scythian kingdom has no theoretical limit to its expansion. On the other hand the open steppe is by no means as immediately lucrative as maintaining trade with the Greeks to the south. While Scythia is firmly entrenched as the tribal overlord of this region since centuries their supremacy is soon to be challenged by the expanding Sarmatians from the east. Olbia : Greek Trading colony and city state on the western black sea coast. Olbia was established hundreds of years ago and by our start date they have a firm trading relationship with Scythia to the north.

: Greek Trading colony and city state on the western black sea coast. Olbia was established hundreds of years ago and by our start date they have a firm trading relationship with Scythia to the north. Tyras : Small Greek trading colony west of the more influential Olbia.

: Small Greek trading colony west of the more influential Olbia. Bosporan Kingdom : A recent civil war between princes of the Kingdom’s Spartocid dynasty had just passed when the its king died suddenly while on the way home from a diplomatic journey. The newly crowned Spartocus has been quick to name himself Basileus, just as the great successor kings to the south, but any ties to the greater Hellenistic conflict ends there. The Bosporan kingdom is quickly emerging as a local power of note in this part of the world, and would not dream of risking that for any southern adventures.

: A recent civil war between princes of the Kingdom’s Spartocid dynasty had just passed when the its king died suddenly while on the way home from a diplomatic journey. The newly crowned Spartocus has been quick to name himself Basileus, just as the great successor kings to the south, but any ties to the greater Hellenistic conflict ends there. The Bosporan kingdom is quickly emerging as a local power of note in this part of the world, and would not dream of risking that for any southern adventures. Chersonesus : League of cities based around the Greek colony of Chersonesus in the western part of the Crimean peninsula. Has recently gone from a small city state to a slightly more influential entity, expanding north along the Crimean coast.

: League of cities based around the Greek colony of Chersonesus in the western part of the Crimean peninsula. Has recently gone from a small city state to a slightly more influential entity, expanding north along the Crimean coast. Maeotia : Tribal Federation on the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov (Lake Maeotis), frequently subjected to the Bosporan Kingdom.

: Tribal Federation on the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov (Lake Maeotis), frequently subjected to the Bosporan Kingdom. Sarmatia : Tribal Chiefdom east of the Tanais river. Sarmatia starts with many tribesmen and a low Centralization level, and is eager to replace the old Scythian overlordship over this region.

: Tribal Chiefdom east of the Tanais river. Sarmatia starts with many tribesmen and a low Centralization level, and is eager to replace the old Scythian overlordship over this region. Zygia : Sindican tribal kingdom on the coastline east of the Bosporan Kingdom. Heavily influenced by both Scythian and Hellenistic customs this is also a traditionally a pirate haven.

: Sindican tribal kingdom on the coastline east of the Bosporan Kingdom. Heavily influenced by both Scythian and Hellenistic customs this is also a traditionally a pirate haven. Heniochia: Tribal Kingdom between the western Caucasus range and the sea. A tribal vassal of the Bosporan kingdom and, like Zygia to the west, historically a haven for Black Sea pirates.

Caucasia

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Starting Countries​

Colchis : Ancient native kingdom in modern western Georgia. Once part of the Achaemenid Empire Colchis has now been independent for a number of decades.

: Ancient native kingdom in modern western Georgia. Once part of the Achaemenid Empire Colchis has now been independent for a number of decades. Phasis : Small Greek trading league based around the city of Phasis on the Black Sea coastline. While reasonably rich Phasis depends on the good will of Colchis for its survival.

: Small Greek trading league based around the city of Phasis on the Black Sea coastline. While reasonably rich Phasis depends on the good will of Colchis for its survival. Iberia : Autocratic Monarchy ruled by the mysterious Azo of Iberia. Formerly subjected to both the Achaemenid and later Alexander’s empire, Iberia has now established itself as an independent kingdom, albeit not a very stable one. Like the other Caucasian kingdoms Iberia enjoys a defensible position, with a few passes controlling all access to the west, south and north, but also a longer and more troublesome border with the tribal region of Albania to the east.

: Autocratic Monarchy ruled by the mysterious Azo of Iberia. Formerly subjected to both the Achaemenid and later Alexander’s empire, Iberia has now established itself as an independent kingdom, albeit not a very stable one. Like the other Caucasian kingdoms Iberia enjoys a defensible position, with a few passes controlling all access to the west, south and north, but also a longer and more troublesome border with the tribal region of Albania to the east. Albania : In 304 BCE Caucasian Albania is not a united country but rather a tribal region that, while known for its horsemen and warriors, still has a long way to go to be a proper country. Luckily there are plenty of opportunities to grow, in this region.

: In 304 BCE Caucasian Albania is not a united country but rather a tribal region that, while known for its horsemen and warriors, still has a long way to go to be a proper country. Luckily there are plenty of opportunities to grow, in this region. Legia : Small Tribal Kingdom to the north of the Caucasus and the passes of Iberia and Albania.

: Small Tribal Kingdom to the north of the Caucasus and the passes of Iberia and Albania. Siracia : Tribal kingdom north of the Caucasus. Took part in the Civil War of the Bosporan kingdom, in which one of the claimants was killed during a siege in Siraci land.

: Tribal kingdom north of the Caucasus. Took part in the Civil War of the Bosporan kingdom, in which one of the claimants was killed during a siege in Siraci land. Sindica: Small tribal chiefdom in the Sindi inland, north of Zygia. One of many tribal states on the direct border of the Bosporan kingdom.

Hello and welcome to another developer diary forToday I am here to talk about, and the starting situation in theand the northernIn order to run a country in Imperator:Rome you have to entrust various tasks to characters. Your characters are your monarchs, your ministers, your governors, they are the ones who will lead your armies and navies. Characters are however not just tools that you can make use of, they also have intentions of their own, ambitions that they will try to fulfill and the success of which will decide how they develop.The most basic of ambitions is one that all characters will adopt after birth, that to grow up. This one is hard for them to fail but will as they grow shift into what type of person they want to to grow up to be. Some might want to be a great warrior, others have other desires. These ambitions will shape their development, but unlike the ambitions for adults there is not a lot you can do about them. Nonetheless they give you some idea of where children are going.Other categories of ambitions come with adulthood. This is when some will start to aspire to certain positions. Some characters might expect a specific one of your governorships, others might aspire to be a specific type of minister. Failing to fulfill some ambitions will slowly make their loyalty and faith in the state deteriorate, while others will have less hard felt effects.What ambitions a certain character will adopt is dependent on traits. A hungry general might get an ambition to conquer a specific area, someone with a friend in prison might get an ambition to have them set free (and prisoners themselves will get ambitions to get out of prison). Others yet may have ambitions to see their rivals suffer.As soon as an ambition is completed the character will receive a reward, often in the form of Loyalty and Prominence, and after that there is a chance they will become “Content in Life”, which means this character is, for now, happy with how things are and will not aspire to change anything about their situation.Contentedness will automatically disappear from a character if they lose their current employment or is imprisoned.Some of the ambitions are things that you can, and may want to, act upon. While others are things that drives the character forward without much interaction from you as a player (for instance, when it comes to dealing with rivals characters may well take matters in their own hands).The Persian Military Traditions will be used by any country in the Persian, Bactrian, Scythian and Aramaic culture groups, but is not used by any of the major empires at start. It focuses on utilizing Horse Archers as well as Heavy Cavalry, and Infantry. It also allows the use of the Levy unit ability, to portray the efficiency with which Parthians and later Sassanian could mobilize large forces.Theunit ability costs 50 Military Power and raises 1 cohort of Light Infantry or Light Cavalry per owned and controlled city in the Province your army is currently stationed in. Each levied city will also get a 5 year unrest modifier, and will not be able to create a levied unit again until that goes away.Starting Tradition -Horse Archer Cost -15%“Parthian Path”*Resurgent Achaemenid Path**Bactrian Path*In previous diaries we have described Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Persia, all regions that have been the direct focus of the successor wars. Armenia however has mostly been left to its own devices. The Orontid dynasty that rules this kingdom in 304 BCE is the same line of kings that was in power as Satraps under the Achaemenids and later under Alexander.Armenia itself is a region of high mountains and fertile valleys, the latter also made for good pastureland and are part of the reason that such a mountainous country could still be known for its cavalry. Its location, at the crossroads between east and west also means that this would come to be a region of great strategic importance when it was later at the frontier between the Roman and Parthian empires.Armenia: In 304 BCE the kingdom of Armenia is in a good position to choose its own destiny. The Titanic Greek empires to the east and south have no time to pay attention to what goes on beyond the passes to the mountain kingdom, nor would they be able to project power there without opening themselves up to defeat. The Armenian kingdom also has ample opportunity for expansion. In the court of the Orontids the former Satrap of Cappadocia is growing restless, eager to retake the kingdom he believes to be his by right. To the south east lies Atropatene, another former Achaemenid possession, now without protector. The Caucasian kingdoms to the north are likewise open to expansion. Should the conflict of the Successor kingdoms come to be resolved however, the opportunities for expansion will rapidly close, as it is unlikely that any winner would be able to resist the temptation to take back control over the Armenian highlands.The Scythian Kingdom has for a long time been the primary force in the region where the Pontic Steppe meets the Black Sea. Here a number of Greek trading colonies have sprung up over the centuries, bringing wealth to Scythia in exchange for exports such as Wheat and Slaves.On the Taurica peninsula (today Crimea) the Bosporan kingdom has adopted a distinctly hellenistic identity with a Greek speaking, but culturally mixed population, a state heavily oriented towards the export of Grain to Athens.As a region of great mineral wealth the Caucasus is perhaps as important as any of the regions we have mentioned today, but it is also more remote. As in Armenia the landscape of the western Caucasus is one of valleys and mountains, with a number of well guarded passes steering all traffic in, and out of, the region and its valuable sources of Iron and Gold.