Characteristic | Factions - Parthia TW: Rome II Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

The starting position of Parthia is extremely difficult. Despite having an ally - Dahae, there are two strong neighbors on the south: Aria and Parthava, which limits your maneuvers. When you command Parthia you have two possibilities: attack nomads on the north or start the war with southern neighbors.

Parthia is riders' country. It has both great cavalry as well as excellent archers. Unfortunately these are very expensive units and Parthia is poor country. With usage of units available on the beginning of the game and mercenaries, you'll have to conquer new terrains and then expand the country and unlock an access to elite units.

Starting bonuses

Parthia is one of eastern empires; therefore it has two bonuses specific for them:

• Great Marksmen: +1 experience rank for archer recruits
• Persian Trade Heritage: +10% wealth from all commerce buildings

In addition Parthia has two bonuses and one penalty:

• Cavalry Masters: +1 experience rank for archer recruits
• experience rank for archer recruits: -25% public order penalties due to local presence of foreign cultures
• Zoroastrian Slavery Aversion: +25% servile unrest

The most important available units

Hillmen

Infantry extremely vulnerable to hits, with high ability to penetrate the armor.

Parthian swordsmen

Shock infantry with good attack and average defense. It is very effective during clashes with enemy light infantry.

Parthian foot archers

Excellent archers with high damage. Parthian archers inflict highest damage of all projectile units.

Camel spearmen

Light cavalry used to trample skirmishers and other enemy projectile units and to flank enemy cavalry.

Eastern cataphracts

Heavily armored cavalry capable to trample infantry units. Thanks to huge resistance to hits cataphracts can defeat enemy cavalry and then attack the enemy from the flank.

Parthian horse archers

Very mobile horse archers, capable to shoot while moving. They inflict high damage, quickly decimating enemy army. Their disadvantage is very low resistance to fire and melee fight.

Noble horse archers

They inflict less damage than Parthian horse archers but are much more resistant to counterattack of enemy archers. Those units should be mainly used to destroy missile infantry.

Indian war elephants

A unit used to break enemy ranks and crush its heavy infantry. Once they make a breakthrough in the enemy army, you can attack with heavy cavalry.