I wanted to make an AAR that showcased this fantastic mod, so I decided to start playing as the Western Roman Empire. Please don't be so harsh on my tactics - I've never actually ever played as the Western Roman Empire in any Total War game before, since I prefer building up a small kingdom (it's the Civ player in me). In any case, I'll be playing through the WRE campaign and I'll try to showcase everything great about Ruina Romae here.
In the first episode, I come to grips with the disastrous situation... I pull back from the forts on the border in order to prevent rebellions and at the same time the Visigoths besiege Rome... But first, we have to beat back the Alemanni attack near Mediolanum! In this first episode, I had not enabled unlimited men on the battlefield in preferences, so that's why I didn't get my reinforcements in time. Fixed for the next episode.
Ruina Romae starts in 410AD - the year of the famous Sack of Rome... Not a good situation. The most important issue is the Visigoth horde - they have at least 50 stacks right next to Rome in the middle of our collapsing empire. In Iberia, there is the Hispano-Roman rebellion to deal with, in addition to a Vandal horde and the burgeoning Suebi kingdom in what would become Galicia. Gaul is a complete mess, with the large Gallo-Roman rebellion in addition to Alan hordes. In terms of more minor threats, we have the Burgundians, Alemanni, and Langobards in the north that will make securing our northern border very difficult. In the east, we have the Ostrogothic kingdom as well as the Huns, who are mostly threatening the ERE but will be a major problem soon... There are also serious public order issues, as well as religious issues, which prevent me from being more flexible with my garrisons since I can't survive rebellions in addition to all the other problems... Let's see how this goes!