Aurelian's Rome in Empire Divided

[Alwyn]

Among people playing the Empire Divided DLC, quite a few of us seem to be playing Aurelian's Rome. I am wondering whether people would like to discuss strategies for this faction.

So far, I have tried to defend every part of Aurelian's widely spread empire. My strategy is failing. After taking the two Roxolani regions, my only gain was the nearest Roman Pretender city in northern Italy. In the north, a large barbarian army has taken one of my cities; my smaller army in the area is retreating towards a walled city. In the east, more barbarians are crossing my borders. In the south, I have lost an African coastal city to a desert faction. In the west, a Roman Pretender navy crossed the sea and took one of my cities on the Adriatic coast.

This makes me wonder if I should have concentrated on creating two or three full-stack armies (including Aurelian's force) and sent them to take Italy. Perhaps I should have left his starting territories relatively undefended (just forming small armies in a few walled cities)? Since cult buildings are free and they have useful bonuses, perhaps I spent too much on infrastructure (buying buildings to reduce banditry and adding auxiliary barracks)? Maybe Aurelian should use cults initially to provide stability in the starting territories, using Rome's money primarily to recruit armies to take Italy?

[Huberto]

Among people playing the Empire Divided DLC, quite a few of us seem to be playing Aurelian's Rome. I am wondering whether people would like to discuss strategies for this faction.

This makes me wonder if I should have concentrated on creating two or three full-stack armies (including Aurelian's force) and sent them to take Italy. Perhaps I should have left his starting territories relatively undefended (just forming small armies in a few walled cities)? Since cult buildings are free and they have useful bonuses, perhaps I spent too much on infrastructure (buying buildings to reduce banditry and adding auxiliary barracks)? Maybe Aurelian should use cults initially to provide stability in the starting territories, using Rome's money primarily to recruit armies to take Italy?

No play through is exactly the same, but if you want to start over, try building up the stack that begins in Carthage along with an effective navy 8 units or so and take Sicily and Southern Italy quickly from the south. You should have two other stacks that can quell all the Germanic barbarians (after dealing first with Roxolani of course). And make peace with the Goths and come back to them later in the campaign to unite Dacia. Keep in mind the Gallic Roman will also fight the Pretender in North Italy first before they focus on you in earnest and so you can let them wear each other down before you move into Italy from the east. After you drive them out of Italy you are in for a slog taking back Gaul, Britain and Spain so you need to develop some economy at that point. The east should be quiet until much later in the game and Numidia tends to take care of threats in the south, at least for several years. This is based on two Aurelian play throughs (hard and very hard).

[Alwyn]

Thanks, Huberto, that's a great idea! I hadn't thought of using Carthage to attack Italy from the south, forcing the Roman Pretender to fight Gallic Rome in North Italy and Aurelien's Rome in the south.

[Lord Oakenthrone]

I did something similar in my Aurelian campaign. (+rep to Huberto for the heads up on this tactic)

On normal difficulty I started off by getting trade rights with all of the North African neighbouring settlements, whilst building nothing but farms, fishing ports and sanitation/public order buildings in all of my African provinces except for Carthage, this is where I built a military port as well as all military buildings needed for my main conquest army..

meanwhile in Greece and Dacia . just build a few things to help with cash flow (farms/mines etc) the only place i built a few troop buildings was in Sirmium. to help with the first wave of fighting!.

military wise I managed to totally crush the Roxolani, Quadi and Boii with only 3 stacks of Roman levies., - I had one stack with Aurelian plus 19 levies and a Champ (for training before you know it you get a nice little buff to your stats making these cheap troops flexible spammable infantry)

The other 2 supporting stacks were just the same as Aurelian's when looking at troop type. this was just so i got keep those pesky barbarians from ravaging my only precious economic lands in Greece in time to build a higher quality Army in Africa and then sweep up through Italy!

This will be my main army of elite legions , cavalry and ballistas, backed up and supported by heavy ships,cleaning out the pretenders and then to march en route to meet the 3 stacks who should now be marching westward after securing Greece/Dacia to meet the oncoming burgeoning Gallic Roman Empire.

with Egypt already being my client state, my next hopes of alliance and trade with their neighbours in Palmyra has vanished when they were already wiped off the map by the very same Egyptians by turn 15 lol!

I'm far from even knowing what my fate in this campaign holds, Rome is stiill occupied by the filthy pretenders and there are more angry barbarians probably roaming around in the fog of war guaranteed to turn everything i built up on a knife-edge, just to come crashing down in flames next few turns!

only now at turn 30 still having great fun with it!