Restarting Zorastrian Game

[Naughtius Maximus]

With the new DLC coming up I plan to restart another game as the Bavandids of Tabriz in Charlemagne start. I will try to restore the Persian Empire under the Zorastrians.

Having said that, there are a few questions.

I have a combination of five duchies I can focus on, and two kingdoms to do them on.

I can first focus on securing either the Kingdom of Persia as my primary or the Kingdom of Mesopotamia as my primary.

Kingdom of Persia feels like a stronger Kingdom, it's just that Mesopotamia contains what is undoubtedly the best duchy combo in the game in Baghdad and Tigris.

Again however, Persia feels stronger. To top it off it's easier to form since the Abbasids sit in Baghdad more often than they do in Persia.

If I do pick Persia I plan to secure my capital in either Hamadan or Esfahan, with the second duchy in Khorasan. Hamadan has a total of 23 holdings, four of them are extra baronies, while Esfahan has 20, two of which are extra baronies. Esfahan may have less holdings but it has two counties sitting on the silk road.

Khorasan is a definite lock however as it has 3 (!) silk road counties and outside of one spare barony can be filled with cities.

 

[RagingJaws]

Some suggestions.

Early Kingdoms of Persia/Khiva are a good combo. You'll have four of the holy sites under your control, keeping your religion strong. Persia is one of the strongest kingdoms in the game, between possible income and levy strength. If you plan on forming the Empire later

Go deep, not wide. Hamadan is better, as you'll have three holdings open to build castles in the province of Rayy, for a total of four castles. Make that your tech center to maximize your feudal levy strengths and get the biggest %improvements with marshal/steward missions. Bagdad, while great, only has three castles to it's province capital. (This becomes less important if you restart this after The Reapers Due)

Get a Merchant Republic at Kerman. That will net you serious income while you handle the northern Silk Road.