Three Kosmoi of old Byzantion lay mostly under Phrygian control, as well as one newly formed Kosmos, Kosmos Astrakhan. However, certain provinces of these Kosmoi escaped the Basileus' grasp; to cement his legitimacy, he had to subjugate them and add their pastures to his realm. He split his army into three.

The first would go west, to finish the conquest of Kosmos Tanais. The lands of Kosmos Tanais were of core importance to the Basileus ; they were not only situated in a central location with good access to land-based foreign powers, they also held a great cultural weight, having been part of many great empires ; most notably, the Temerian Kingdom. One last city remained independent, ruled by a small Untiian holy order. Although this order had managed to escape subjugation for a while, as taking it was not worth the effort spent, a slow underground war with the Circle Clan reduced its power and would facilitate its taking.

The second would go east, to finish the conquest of Kosmos Astrakhan. Although by all rights Kosmos Astrakhan should have been reduced to the lands under current Phrygian control, Basileus Philippos had ambitions to create a great natural reserve at a location he named Elephantinê, and when declaring the extent of his new kosmos remembered to provide this location a buffer region ; it was this buffer region which his troops were marching out to conquer. Inhabited mostly by small Tsahgar tribes, the region would prove easy to conquer.

And the third would go south, to finish the coquest of Kosmos Transkaukasia. Previously, Philippos had attempted to seize control of the region but failed due to having underestimated the size of the lands he sook to conquer and the strength of the pushback against his armies. This time, he was more prepared, and the lands left to conquer were lesser in size, and taking them would be more of an administrative than a military issue.

Transkaukasia had been historically governed from the city of Ludvalassa, in Suemos, as it lacked any major city of its own. Thus, the road to Ludvalassa was the most important in all of Transkaukasia. Since the fall of the Atreids, Ludvalassa had lost its grasp of Transkaukasia, and now what remained was fractured and disorganised. Gordias would build a road through Transkaukasia to facilitate the passing of his troops and the keeping of the peace.

In these conquered regions, Basileus Gordias promised to allow the ancient poleis to conserve their way of life, whilst seizing land from the richer farmers to redistribute as grazing grounds for his retainers. He would also ensure that transit between these regions and the rest of the realm would be fast, so as to ensure administrative efficiency ; to do this, teams of surveyors would study the land and bring maps back to his great camp outside Astrakhan. Once his grip over these lands was consolidated, he planned to venture further East, to what had once been the land of Samarkatia.

Map