Armenia and Cilicia?

[Faeelin]

Will Armenia or Cilicia be playable in the game? Historically, the region of Armenia (Great Armenia) was under Byzantine suzerainty, more or less, so I could see why that was ruled out.

But cilicia was a rapidly developing kingdom, which would, at its height, rule most of the southern anatolian coast. So would that kingdom (principality at the time, I suppose) be playable in 1066?

 

[Demetrios]

Lesser Armenia wasn't formed until the 1070s, IIRC, after Manzikert. Thus it shouldn't be playable, unless things get a bit anachronistic and the formation of the Cilician principality is backdated by a decade or so...

 

[Faeelin]

Originally posted by Demetrios
Lesser Armenia wasn't formed until the 1070s, IIRC, after Manzikert. Thus it shouldn't be playable, unless things get a bit anachronistic and the formation of the Cilician principality is backdated by a decade or so...

True, but I think that there would be a small armenian principality by then, the founder had been seeking land in that region for a while.

I suppose it depends on what exactly quests involve.

 

[Grifman]

The founder was looking for a kingdom? Look, before Manzikert the Armenians were allies, then subjects of Byzantium. The reason that "Lesser Armenia" come into being is that a number of Armenian leaders were given land in Cilicia by the Byzants. Many Armenians served in the Byzant army. The Byzants like to move leaders out of their familiar homelands where they could be trouble, and into other areas where they had no local power base.

Once Armenia fell, many Armenians migrated to Cilicia, joining those under the leaders the Byzants had moved there. It was also an area largely bypassed in the early Turkish invasions, as that came through the "back door" of the Upper Euphrates, rather than the traditional Tarsus gates. I'm not aware of any Armenian ruler looking for a kingdom, until at least after Manzikert.

Grifman