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PARTHlA
After the Scythian-Parni nomads had settled in
Parthia and built a small independent kingdom,
they rose to power under king Mithridates the
Great (171-138 BC). Later, at the height of their
power, Parthian influence reached as far as Ubar
in Arabia, the nexus of the frankincense trade
route, where Parthian-inspired ceramics have
been found. The power of the early Parthian
empire seems to have been overestimated by
some ancient historians, who could not clearly
separate the powerful later empire from its more
humble obscure origins. The end of this long-
lived empire came in 224 AD, when the empire
was loosely organized and the last king was
defeated by one of the empire's vassals, the
Persians of the Sassanid dynasty.



Relatively little is known of the Parthian
(Arsacid) dynasty compared to the Achaemenid
and Sassanid dynasties, given that little of their
own literature has survived. Consequently
Parthian history is largely derived from foreign
histories, controlled by the evidence of coins and
inscriptions; even their own name for themselves
is debatable due to a lack of domestic records.
Several Greek authors, of whom we have
fragments, including Apollodorus of Artemita
and Isidore of Charax, wrote under Parthian rule.
Their power was based on a combination of the
guerrilla warfare of a mounted nomadic tribe,
with organizational skills to build and administer
a vast empire even though it never matched in
power and extent the Persian empires that
preceded and followed it. Vassal kingdoms seem
to have made up a large part of their territory
(see Tigranes II of Armenia), and Hellenistic
cities enjoyed a certain autonomy; their
craftsmen received employment by some
Parthians.



PARTHlAB vlBTlRN AMHlTlONB
Parthian enterprise in the West began in the time
of Mithridates I; during his reign, the Arsacids
succeeded in extending their rule into Armenia
and Mesopotamia. This was the beginning of an
"international role" for the Parthian kingdom, a
phase that also entailed contacts with Rome. It
was Mithridates I, who conducted unsuccessful
negotiations with Sulla for a Roman-Parthian
alliance (c. 105 BC). After 90 BC the Parthian
power was diminished by dynastic feuds, while,
at the same time, Roman power in Anatolia
collapsed; Roman-Parthian contact was restored,
when Lucullus invaded Southern Armenia, and
defeated Tigranes in 69 BC, but again no definite
agreement was made.

ROMAN RlPDHllC VB PARTHlA
When Pompey took charge of the war in the
East, he re-opened negotiations with Phraates III;
they came to an agreement and Roman-Parthian
troops invaded Armenia in 66/65 BC, but soon a
dispute arose over Euphrates boundary between
Rome and Parthia. Pompey refused to recognize
the title of "King of Kings" for Phraates, and
offered arbritation between Tigranes and the
Parthian king over Corduene. Finally, Phraates
asserted his control over Mesopotamia, except
for the western district of Osroene, which
became a Roman dependency.

In 53 BC, Crassus led an invasion of
Mesopotamia, with catastrophic results; at the
Battle of Carrhae, the worst Roman defeat since
the Battle of Cannae, Crassus and his son,
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Publius, were killed by the Parthians under
General Surena. The bulk of his force killed or
captured; of 42,000 men, about half died, a
quarter made it back to Syria, and the remainder
were taken alive by the Parthians. The following
year, the Parthians with raids into Syria, and in
51 BC mounted a major invasion led by the
crown prince Pacorus and the general Osaces,
but their army was caught in an ambush near
Antigonea by the Romans under Cassius and
Osaces was killed.

During Caesar's civil war the Parthians made no
move, but maintained relations with Pompey.
After his defeat and death, a force under Pacorus
came to the aid of the Pompeian general
Caecilius Bassus, who was besieged at Apamea
Valley by the Caesarian forces. With the civil
war over, Julius Caesar elaborated plans for a
campaign against Parthia, but his assassination
averted the war. During the ensuing Liberators'
civil war, the Parthians actively supported Brutus
and Cassius, sending a contingent which fought
with them at the Battle of Philippi in 42 B.

Parthia, its subkingdoms, and neighbors in 1
AD.After that defeat, the Parthians under
Pacorus invaded Roman territory in 40 BC in
conjunction with Quintus Labienus, a Roman
erstwhile supporter of Brutus and Cassius. They
swiftly overran Syria, and defeated Roman
forces in the province; all the cities of the coast,
with the exception of Tyre admitted the
Parthians. Pacorus then advanced into Judaea,
overthrowing the Roman client Hyrcanus II and
installing his nephew Antigonus in his place. For
a moment, the whole of the Roman East seemed
to be either in Parthian hands or on the point of
capture. The conclusion of the second Roman
civil war was soon to bring about a revival of
Roman strength in Asia.

Meanwhile Mark Antony had already sent
Ventidius to oppose Labienus who had invaded
Anatolia. Soon Labienius was driven back to
Syria by Roman forces, and, though his
Parthians allies came to his support, he was
defeated, taken prisoner and then put to death.
After suffering a further defeat near the Syrian
Gates, the Parthians withdrew from Syria. They
returned in 38 BC, but were decisively defeated
by Ventidius and Pacorus was killed. In Judaea,
Antigonus was ousted with Roman help by
Herod in 37 BC.

With Roman control of Syria and Judaea
restored, Mark Antony led a huge army into
Azerbaijan, but his siege train and its escort were
isolated and wiped out, while his Armenian
allies deserted. Failing to make progress against
Parthian positions, the Romans withdrew with
heavy casualties. In 33 BC Antony was again in
Armenia, contracting an alliance with the
Median king against both Octavian, and the
Parthians, but other preoccupations obliged him
to withdraw, and the whole region passed under
Parthian control.





ROMAN lMPlRl VB PARTHlA

lNCONClDBlVl vARB
Under the threat of an impending war between
the two powers, Gaius Caesar and Phraataces
worked out a rough compromise under the two
powers in 1 AD. According to the agreement,
Parthia undertook to withdraw its forces from
Armenia, and to recognize a de facto Roman
protectorate over the country. Nonetheless,
Roman-Persian rivalry over control and
influence in Armenia continued unabated for the
next several decades.

The decision of the Parthian king Artabanus II to
place his son, Arsaces, on the vacant Armenian
throne triggered a war with Rome in 36 AD.
Artabanus reached an understanding with the
Roman general, Lucius Vitellius, renunciating
Parthian claims to a Parhian sphere of influence
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in Armenia. A new crisis was triggered in 58
AD, when the Romans invaded Armenia after
the Parthian king Vologases I forcibly installed
his brother Tiridates on the throne there. Roman
forces under Corbulo overthrew Tiridates and
replaced him with a Cappadocian prince. This
prompted Parthian retaliation and an
inconclusive series of campaigns in Armenia
ensued. The war came to an end in 63 AD, when
the Romans agreed to allow Tiridates and his
descendants to rule Armenia on condition that
they received the kingship from the Roman
emperor.

TRA)AN`B PARTHlAN vAR
A new series of wars began in the second
century AD, during which the Romans
consistently held the upper hand over Parthia. In
113 AD the Roman Emperor Trajan decided that
the moment was ripe to resolve the "eastern
question" once and for all time by the decisive
defeat of Parthia and the annexation of Armenia;
his conquests mark a deliberate change of the
Roman Policy towards Parthia, and a shift of
emphasis in the "grand strategy" of the empire.

In 114 AD Trajan invaded Armenia, annexed it
as a Roman province, and killed Parthamasiris
who was placed on the Armenian throne by his
brother the king of Parthia, Osroes I. In 115 AD
the Roman emperor overran northern
Mesopotamia and annexed to Rome as well; its
conquer was deemed necessary, since otherwise
the Armenian salient could be cut off by the
Parthians from the south. The Romans then
captured the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, before
sailing downriver to the Persian Gulf. However,
in that year revolts erupted in Palestine, Syria
and northern Mesopotamia, while a major Jewish
revolt broke out in Roman territory, severely
stretching Roman military resources.
Simultaneously, Parthian forces began attacking
key Roman positions; at the same time the
Roman garrisons at Seleucia, Nisibis and Edessa
had been attacked and evicted by the local
populaces. Trajan subdued the rebels in
Mesopotamia, but having installed the Parthian
prince Parthamaspates on the throne there as a
client ruler he withdrew his armies, and
proceeded to Syria, where he set up his
headquarters at Antioch. In 117, before he could
reorganize the effort to consolidate Roman
control over the Parthian provinces, Trajan died.

HADRlAN`B POllCY, AND lDRTHlR
vARB Ol ANNlxATlON
Trajan's successor, Hadrian, promptly reversed
his predecessor's policy, which he considered a
potential long-term liability for the empire. he
decided that it was in Rome's interest to re-
establish the Euphrates as the limit of its direct
control, and willingly returned to the status quo
ante, surrendering the territories of Armenia,
Mesopotamia, and Adiabene back to their
previous rulers and client-kings. Once again, at
least for another half century, Rome was to avoid
active intervention east of the Euphrates.

War over Armenia broke out again in 161 AD,
when Vologases I defeated the Romans there,
captured Edessa and ravaged Syria. In 163 AD a
Roman counter-attack under Statius Priscus
defeated the Parthians in Armenia and installed a
favored candidate on the Armenian throne. The
following year Avidius Cassius began an
invasion of Mesopotamia, winning battles at
Dura-Europos and Seleucia and sacking
Ctesiphon in 165 AD. An epidemic, possibly of
smallpox, which was sweeping Parthia at the
time now spread to the Roman army, leading to
their withdrawal.




In 195 AD another Roman invasion of
Mesopotamia began under the Emperor
Septimius Severus, who occupied Seleucia and
Babylon, and then sacked Ctesiphon yet again in
197 AD. These wars led to the Roman
acquisition of northern Mesopotamia, as far as
the areas around Nisibis and Singara. A final war
against the Parthians was launched by the
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emperor Caracalla, who sacked Arbela in 216
AD, but after his assassination his successor
Macrinus was defeated by the Parthians near
Nisibis and was obliged to make a payment of
reparations for the damage done by Caracalla in
exchange for peace.

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Parthia was finally destroyed by Ardashir I when
he entered Ctesiphon in 226. The Sassanids were
more centralized than the Parthian dynasties.
Until the Sassanids came to power, the Romans
were mostly the aggressors. However, as from
226 the Sassanids were, being Persian,
determined to reconquer the lands that the
Achaemenid dynasty once held and this
nationalistic zeal made them much more
aggressive than the Parthians.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman-
Parthian_Wars


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PARTHIAN SHOT
Can make a normal move after shooting in the
Shooting phase.

CATAPHRACT ARMOUR
Counts as heavy armour and shield.

EXPERT HORSEMEN
Do not sure the -1 to hit for moving and
shooting.

CATAPHRACT
May count a rank bonus up to a maximum of
+2. If they wheel more than 1 during the
Movement phase, Cataphracts may only move at
their normal Movement rate.

UNRELIABLE
The first time the unit tries to move or shoot roll
a D6, on the roll of a 1 they do nothing for this
turn, and must roll again next time they try to
move or shoot.

FEARSOME CHARGE
When the unit charges it causes fear in any unit
with Ld 7 or less.

SPECIAL DEPLOYMENT
May make a free march move prior to the 1
st
turn

FEIGNED FLIGHT
When fleeing or firing and fleeing as a charge
reaction the unit automatically rallies at the end
of its flee move, before any charging unit makes
contact.

BEDOUIN CAVALRY
May make any number of turns while moving,
and may make a free reform at the end of its
move, no figure may move more than its
permitted move (which may include a march but
not a fast march)

NOMAD CAVALRY
Benefit from the Expert Horsemen, Parthian
Shot, Special Deployment and Feigned Flight
rules.

VETERANS
May reroll once all to-hit rolls per battle.

HORSE BOW
Range 16 Str 3, -1 to enemy saves
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ARMY COMPOBlTlON ARMY COMPOBlTlON ARMY COMPOBlTlON ARMY COMPOBlTlON

Units may have a Leader (+5 pts), Musician (+5pts) and/or
Standard (+5pts).

CHARACTERS: Up to 25% of the points value of the
army may be spent on characters.

CAVALRY: At least 50% of the points value of the army
must be spent on.

INFANTRY: Up to 25% of the points value of the army
may be spent on.

SPECIAL: Up to 25% of the points value of the army may
be spent on.












CHARACTlRB CHARACTlRB CHARACTlRB CHARACTlRB

0-1 GENERAL

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Surenah 8 5 5 3 4 3 5 2 9 150

Equipment: Horse, hand weapon
May have kontos or horse bow (+3) may have cataphract
armour (+4) or light armour (+2), may have barding (+4)

Special Rules: Army General, Must accompany Guard
Cataphracts if they are part of the army

In Persia in 139 BC, Mithridates I captured the Seleucid
King Demetrius II, and held him captive for 10 years while
consolidating his conquests. Demetrius II later married
Mithridates I's daughter Rhodogune and had several
children with her.



HERO

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Prince 8 4 4 3 3 2 4 2 8 70

Equipment: Hand weapon, Horse
May have light armour (+2), cataphract armour (+4) ,
kontos or horse bow (+3) barding for horse (+4),

One prince may be Army standard bearer (+15)


CAVAlRY CAVAlRY CAVAlRY CAVAlRY

0-1 GUARD CATAPHRACTS

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Guards 8 4 3 3 3 1 4 1 8 29

Equipment: Cataphract armour, kontos, horse barding.
May have darts (+1)

Special Rules: Cataphracts, Stubborn, Veterans

Cataphracts were the heavy assault force of most nations
that used them, acting as shock troops supported by light
or heavy infantry and foot or mounted archers. In many
armies this reflected social divides as well as only the
wealthiest noblemen could afford the panoply of the
cataphract, not to mention the costs of supporting several
war horses. Supporting archery was deemed particularly
important for the proper deployment of cataphracts. The
Parthian army that defeated the Romans at Carrhae in 53
BC operated primarily as a combined arms team of
cataphracts and horse archers against the Roman heavy
infantry. Archery was focused on the dense Roman ranks
which prompted the legionaries to loosen formation. This
then made them fatally susceptible to a massed cataphract
charge.

CATAPHRACTS

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Cataphracts 8 4 3 3 3 1 3 1 8 22

Equipment: Cataphract armour, kontos, horse.
May have horse barding (+4) and darts (+1)

Special Rules: Cataphracts

The cataphract charge was very effective due to the
discipline and the large numbers of troops deployed.
Roman writers throughout imperial history made much of
the terror of facing cataphracts, let alone receiving their
charge. Parthian armies were thus able again and again
to repel Roman incursions across the Euphrates.

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HORSE ARCHER

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Parthian 8 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 7 18

Equipment: Horse Bow, hand weapon, horse

Special Rules: Skirmisher, Feigned Flight, Expert
Horsemen

In the tactic of the Parthian shot the horseman would
retreat from the enemy while turning his upper body and
shooting backwards. Due to the superior speed of mounted
archers, troops under attack from horse archers were
unable to respond to the threat if they did not have ranged
weapons of their own. Constant harassment would result
in casualties, morale drop and disruption of the formation.
Any attempts to charge the archers would also slow the
entire army down.

lNlANTRY lNlANTRY lNlANTRY lNlANTRY

LEVY ARCHERS

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Archers 4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 5 5

Equipment: Bow, hand weapon.
May have large shield (+2)

Special Rules: Levies




LEVY SPEARMEN

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Spearmen 4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 5 4

Equipment: Thrusting spear.
May have shield (+1) or large shield (+2)


Special Rules: Levies
DAYLAMAYI

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Dailamayi 5 3 3 3 3 1 4 1 6 7

Equipment: Javelins, Shields.
May have throwing spears (+1) may be stubborn (+3)


Special Rules: Light Infantry, Warband rules 1 & 2,
Fearsome charge


BPlClAl BPlClAl BPlClAl BPlClAl

BEDOUIN CAVALRY

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Arab 8 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 7 17

Equipment: Javelins, shield, horse

Special Rules: Light Cavalry, Feigned Flight, Unreliable,
Bedouin Cavalry

The Lakhmid Kingdom was founded by the Lakhum tribe
that immigrated out of Yemen in the second century and
ruled by the Banu Lakhm, hence the name given it.

CAMELPHRACTS

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Camelry 6 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 7 23

Equipment: Cataphract armour, kontos, camel
May have camel barding (+4) darts (+1)

Special Rules: Cataphracts, Camels


HEPHTHALITES

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts
Huns 8 3 4 3 3 1 4 1 7 22

Equipment: Horse bow, hand weapon, horse
May have Shield (+1), light armour (+2), throwing spears
(+1)

Special Rules: Light Cavalry, Expert Horsemen, Special
Deployment, Feigned Flight



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HATTllB HATTllB HATTllB HATTllB

Hcccle o Ccnnbce js5 Hcccle o Ccnnbce js5 Hcccle o Ccnnbce js5 Hcccle o Ccnnbce js5 HC) HC) HC) HC)

A Parthian force of 1,000 cataphracts and 9,000
horse archers under general Surena met the
Romans at Carrhae. This was not Parthia's main
army, which was campaigning in Armenia under
Orodes II, but an advance force sent to scout out
and delay the Romans, and only defeat them if
they were weak enough. Crassus' cavalry was
screening ahead of the main force when they
were engaged by the cataphracts, and the
weapons his cavalry employed were not capable
of piercing the cataphracts' armor. His cavalry
was soon surrounded and routed, and his son
Publius killed. Crassus had no idea what had
happened as this occurred far away from the
legionaries. While meanwhile the horse archers
surrounded the Roman infantry, taunting them.
Crassus immediately formed his legionaries into
a large, hollow square to prevent from being
outflanked by the more mobile Parthian forces.



Surena covered his cataphracts' armor with cloth,
marched his army to in front of the Romans. At a
prearranged signal, the cataphracts revealed their
shining armor. Surena was impressed by what
little effect this had on the Roman army, and
judged that the cataphract charge would not be
enough to break them at this point. Thus, he sent
his horse archers to bombard the Roman
legionaries with arrows. However, Crassus
ordered the legionaries into the testudo
formation to prevent being hurt by arrowfire.
Most of the shots were non-fatal shots on the
arm and leg. However, considering the sheer
number of arrows fired, the rapid rate of fire of
the horse archers, and finally the fact that the
arrows were fired from a composite bow, at the
legionaries' armor, the lorica hamata, the barrage
eventually wore down the Romans.

Crassus's plan: to have his legionaries endure the
archer fire until the horse archers ran out of
arrows. After several hours, the legionaries
began to collapse from heat exhaustion and thirst
as well as to the constant stream of missiles. The
Romans were completely surrounded. The
testudo formations were holding up well though,
but the testudo was very poor in hand-to-hand
combat. This factor inspired Surena to charge.
The cataphracts' charge split the Roman army,
and the Roman soldiers began to rout. Crassus
was able to withdraw, but he had to leave behind
thousands of wounded, who were executed by
the Parthians. Surena then offered to have peace
negotiations with Crassus. Crassus's men heard
of this and threatened to mutiny if Crassus did
not accept. Crassus was forced to attend, and he
was killed. Molten gold was poured down his
throat, and his skull would later be used as a
prop in a play. It was one of the greatest defeats
Rome would ever suffer, with about 20,000
soldiers dead, and half again as many captured.
The Parthians suffered light casualties.

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The Battle of Nisibis was fought in the summer
of 217 between the armies of the Roman Empire
under the newly ascended emperor Macrinus and
the Parthian army of King Artabanus IV. It
lasted for three days, and resulted in a bloody
draw, with both sides suffering large casualties.
As a result of the battle, Macrinus was forced to
seek peace, paying the Parthians a huge sum and
abandoning the invasion of Mesopotamia that
Caracalla had begun a year before.

The two enemies exemplified two different
approaches to warfare: the Roman army was
traditionally infantry-based, relying on its
excellent legions, while the Parthians were
excellent horsemen, employing the heavy shock
"cataphract" cavalry, mounted on horses or
camels, in combination with large numbers of
horse-archers. The two armies met near the
Roman city of Nisibis (the exact date is unclear).
According to Cassius Dio, the first skirmish
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occurred over the possession of a watering-place.
On the first day of battle, the Romans deployed
in a typical formation, with their infantry in the
centre and their cavalry and light troops
(Moorish javelin throwers) at the wings to
protect their flanks. At the same time, between
the gaps left by the heavy infantry cohorts, they
placed light infantry (lanciarii), which could
skirmish forward and then withdraw to the safety
of the heavier formations if necessary.

The Parthians attacked at sunrise, firing volleys
of arrows, while the cataphracts, supported by
lancers on dromedaries, charged the Roman
front. The light infantry covering it suffered
casualties, but as the Parthians drew near, they
withdrew, leaving large numbers of caltrops
behind them, with fatal results. The Parthians'
horses and camels stepped on them and fell,
taking their riders with them and breaking the
momentum of the advance. In the resulting
close-quarters fighting, the Romans had the
advantage.

The Parthians launched several assaults with
little result until night fell, when both sides
withdrew to their camps. The second day was a
repeat of the first, but on the third day, the
Parthians, using their greater numbers and
superior mobility, tried to outflank the Roman
line. The Romans responded by abandoning their
customary "deep" formation in several lines (the
triplex acies) and extended their front by
deploying in a single line. Thus, and
maneuvering their cavalry and light troops to
protect the wings, they avoided being outflanked
and encircled.

By that time, casualties on both sides were so
great that "the entire plain was covered with the
dead; bodies were piled up in huge mounds, and
the dromedaries especially fell in heaps". At this
point, Macrinus, with his army on the verge of
breaking, sent another embassy to Artabanus,
informing him of Caracalla's demise and offering
a substantial compensation. The Parthian army
had also suffered large casualties, and moreover,
since it was not a professional but a feudal
militia force, it started becoming restive at the
prolonged campaign. Thus Artabanus agreed to a
peace, after receiving 200 million sesterces.

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WAB Forum
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Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman-Parthian_Wars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carrhae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rhandeia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nisibis_(217)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Parthian_Kingdom

Others
http://www.parthia.com/
http://www.livius.org/pan-paz/parthia/parthia02.html


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www.miniaturefigurines.co.uk
www.navigatorminiatures.com
www.warrioronline.demon.co.uk
www.bearsdenminiatures.com

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