Zagros Mountain

(Guti, Lullubi and Hurri 2350 BC onwards)



These armies represent the war-like tribal clans of the Zagros Mountains to the north-east of Mesopotamia.

The Guti were the most notable of the three tribal groupings and their king list extends from 2230 BC to 2109 BC. Gutium, a mountainous area in south-west Iran, was a troublesome part of the Akkadian Empire and the year names of the kings of Akkad record campaigns against the region. Around 2200 BC Gutian raiders descended to the Mesopotamian plain conquering the weakened Akkadians as their empire began to fall apart. Having established power, most likely on a tribal basis and under no central rule, the Guti adopted Akkadian ways and settled as lowlanders, throwing off their tribal ways for the trappings of civilisation.

For about one century the Guti ruled but they were ineffective at governing the civilised states of Mesopotamia. This led to a decline in the canal system and the general prosperity of the region, bringing about something of a ‘Gutian dark age’. This inability to rule enabled a number of southern Sumerian states to survive somewhat autonomously by paying tribute to their Gutian overlords. This arrangement gradually led to dissent and an end to Gutian rule came when king Uthegal of Uruk defeated the Gutian king Tirigan at the battle of Ennigi, thus signalling the rise of the Third Dynasty of Ur.

The Lullubi were settled to the north-west of the Gutians, on the Sherizor plain in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. Said to be conquered by Sargon the Great they fought both with and against their larger neighbour Guti. Under their king Anubanini, they were most famously defeated by Naram Sin who raised his victory stele marking his success. As the Akkadian's grip on power became less effective the Lullubi became more troublesome. They resisted rule by the Guti and the Neo Sumerian king Shulgi was forced to send up to nine expeditions into Lullubian lands to quell the unrest.

The Hurri were a people located to the east of the Tigris, north of the Lullubi. Not alot is known of them in the third millennium and it is believed they became allied to the Akkadians after the conquests of Sargon the Great. Their presence is most notable by the time of Ur III, but recent studies show that they may have existed much earlier than first thought and possibly even in urban centres such as Urkesh. For now they remain an enigma and can be considered one of the surrounding tribal peoples that existed alongside the Mesopotamian plain.

Troop Type	Number	Q	P	CV	Range	Pts
General (foot or mounted)	1	-	*	5	n/a	50
Ally General (foot or mounted)	2	-	*	25	n/a	25
Captain	1 per unit	R	*	5	n/a	20
- change to veteran/levy	any	V/L	*	5	n/a	25/15
Retainers	0-1	V	P	5	n/a	18
- equip with bow	0/all	V	P	5	4/8	20
Wild Tribesmen	3-10	R	U	special	2/4	6
Axemen (with throwsticks)	0-1	R	U	4	4	8
Levy Archers	2-10	L	U	2	4/8	2
- upgrade to Regulars	0-2	R	U	2	4/8	4
- change any to Archer Skirmishers (reg/levy)	any	R/L	U	n/a	4	4/2
Levy Slingers	0-1	L	U	n/a	4	2
Akkadian-Sumerian city militia Spearmen	0-2	L	U	3	n/a	4
- upgrade to Shielded front rankers ; or	half	R	S	3	n/a	8
- equip all spearmen with Pike	all	R	P	3	n/a	7

Zagros Mountain Allies and Enemies

Dynastic Sumerian

Akkadian

Early Eblan

Old Elam

Zagros Mountain

Hattian Kingdoms

Neo -Sumerian

Amorite Nomads

Magan

Harrapan

2700 BC

2600 BC

2500 BC

2400 BC

2300 BC

G

G

G

2200 BC

G

G

2100 BC

G

2000 BC

 G  = Guti only

Special Rules & Notes

• During Terrain Setup, if a Zagros Highlander force is Defending then the die roll to move terrain is 5,6 for Left, Centre and Right sections of the table (this increases the likely hood that rough terrain will be centrally placed on the battlefield).
• Generals may only be mounted during the time of the Guti hegemony c.2250 BC.
• Akkadian Spearmen only available between 2200 BC to 2100 BC.