I think it was always the play...
My theory is that Armand always wanted Louis to himself, but he wanted him broken, so he would have to service him. He wanted to play the victim so Louis would feel sorry for him, he wanted the coven to rebel so he could be a victim, and he wanted to save Louis to be the savior as well. But he wanted Claudia gone, and he wanted the coven gone... But he couldn't do it HIMSELF bcuz then he would be to blame for it all....
So he had to manipulate everything and everyone to make sure Louis and eventually Lestat took full blame and Armand looks like an innocent victim who was powerless to stop things from unfolding...
When at any given point he could have EASILY killed everybody and just moved on with Louis.... But Armand is compelled to do things in a way where everyone suffers, no one is clean, and he comes out at the most moral person...
Which is why Lestat figured the shit out and left him in under a week