Parthia (RTW Faction)

Parthia are one of the factions in Rome: Total War that become playable after you have won your first campaign.

Game Play

Parthia has nearby rebels to conquer and three immediate factions to contend with:Scythia, Armenia, and the Seleucid Empire.

Starting Position

Parthia has three starting territories at the edge of the map: Susa, Arsakia, and Campus Sakae.

• Susa is bordered by Seleucia to the west(Seleucid owned), Dumatha to the south (Rebel owned), and Arsakia to the north (Parthian owned).

• Arsakia is bordered by Seleucia to the southwest (Seleucid owned), Hatra to the south-west (Seleucid owned), Susa to the south( Parthian owned), Phraaspa to the west(Rebel owned), and over the Caspian Sea to the north is Campus Sakae( Parthian owned).

• Campus Sakae is the northern-most settlement on the map bordered by Campus Alanni to the southwest(Scythian owned), Phraaspa to the south (Rebel owned), and Arsakia to the south (Parthian owned).

Win Conditions

Long Campaign- Conquer Rome and 50 provinces.

Short Campaign- Hold 15 provinces and Conquer or outlive the following factions: Seleucid Empire and Armenia.

Units

Parthia has the standard eastern units such as: Horse Archers, Eastern Infantry, Hillmen, and, cataphracts. Slingers(instead of peltasts), its own War Elephant (Parthia is the only eastern faction with one), and two unique units described below.

Unique Units

Parthia has two completely unique units that no other faction has.

The first of these units is Persian Cavalry. Persian Cavalry is a horse archer unit with long-range and melee capability. They can shoot their enemies at a distance or be used as light sword-armed cavalry. They also have the Cantabrian Circle ability allowing them to circle in front of an enemy to avoid missile fire.

The next special and unique unit is the Camel Cataphract. The camel cataphract is like it's armoured counterpart but with camels instead of horses. Having camels allows these particular cataphracts to pack an armoured punch and also fight other cavalry due to camels, which scare horses.

Strategy

A good Parthian strategy should be to conquer the eastern part of the Seleucid Empire, and Armenia. Capturing the Caspian Sea would be great for trade as well. Their armies would rely on Heavy Cavalry (Cataphracts), and Horse Archers.

History

Links to Historical Information

• Rome and Parthia at War- Article on All Empires
• Parthia - Article on Wikipedia

See Also

• Factions in RTW