I did a play through starting in 936 as John “Tzimiskes” Kourkoaus’s grandfather, Theophilos, Strategos of Khaldia. Theophilos’s brother, also named Ioannes, was Domestikos of the East, Strategos of the Anatolikon, Koloneia, Melitene, and Sebastaea. Eventually Theophilos had the opportunity to form his own cadet branch of the Kourkouas family, which I named Tzimiskes of course.
Ioannes Kourkouas and his son Romanos died and were succeeded by Romanos’s son, also named Ioannes. Meanwhile our Ioannes Tzimiskes suffered the loss of his wife, Maria Skleraina in childbirth, bringing forth a healthy daughter. He then waited a few years and married an Armenian lady named Eirene, having two more daughters before finally having a son, Romanos, who is betrothed to the youngest daughter of Vasilefs Konstantinos Lekapenos, who sidestepped Konstantinos Macedon to be senior Vasilefs…
Goal is to try to have Ioannes Tzimiskes succeed Konstantinos Lekapenos or Konstantinos Macedon who is currently first in line to succeeded the son-less Lekapenos Vasilefs.
Tzimiskes waged war on his Kourkouas cousin to take the Anatolikon for his branch of the family. Goal is to retake the rest of the Kourkouas lands for the Tzimiskes branch as well.
Here is a current portrait of Ioannes Tzimiskes and his Armenian wife, Eirene.
Here are the current Tzimiskes controlled lands