Strategy tips for playing Rome with initial Aegean expansion

[ThePianist]

Hi,

I would like to try my first campaign of DEI by playing as Rome and expanding into the Greek cities, with the objective of taking Sparta, Athens, Larissa, Apollonia, and Pella as my "Act I".

One of my friends with more experience playing the vanilla campaign told me that I am unable to expand into Greece early on if I play as Rome. In fact, I cannot expand into Greece until I have Praetorians. And this is in regard to the vanilla Grand Campaign.

So is that advice still valid for DEI Grand Campaign? If that's the case I may have to expand into the direction of Massilia. But if it is feasible in DEI to expand into Greece early on (with only Hastati and Principe), then I will try that. I am posting my question here because the general direction of my first DEI campaign (playing as Rome) depends on it.

But if you guys have other suggestions of a safer faction to play for a first DEI campaign, please also let me know.

Thanks,

ThePianist

[Le_Swede]

The way that the roman DEI-campaign starts out with Pyrrhus in Italy and you at war with him lends itself nicely to an early expansion into the greek peninsula as long as you don't get bogged down in a war with Carthage. If Macedon is suffering from the not particularly uncommon thracian invasions you might even find Greece relatively easy pickings.

I tend to focus the first couple of turns of a new campaign as Rome on knocking out the etrurians before dealing with the epirotes since you don't want to be stuck in a war on two fronts for longer than you need. The celtic factions in northern Italy can usually be turned into NAT-buddies so you shouldn't have much of an issue there I believe.

[ThePianist]

Once I expand into the Greek lands, how far should be my northern border? You know how the northern border is in contact with Slavic tribes, and then becomes German lands.

And also, which cities should I take first (other than Rhodos) when expanding into Anatolia?