Wait for Marius?

So the usual flow of things for me in a game when I’m playing one of the roman factions goes something like this.
1) Expansion (of course)
2) Marius Reforms (usually comes when I’m at around 20-25 provinces. Triggered by first imperial palace in Italy/Sicily, right?)
3) A Chance for Power and outlawed by Senate usually close together. In either case I’ve prepared and am ready to strike at Italy.
4) Some epic battles
5) Cleanup and get a few more provinces to get to 50.

So now I’m playing the Brutii. Hard/Hard. I have 29 provinces (give or take 1 or 2) and things are going well. I just got the A Chance for Power message but the reforms haven’t come yet. I’m tempted to strike at Italy now, but don’t want the reforms to come in the middle of things so I’m thinking about just waiting until the reforms come so I can change out my armies and then strike Italy. Both of the provinces that I have on the Italian peninsula are only at around 12-14k population at the moment, so I was hoping one of the other roman factions would have had an imperial palace by now.

So here is my question. If I wait for a bit, will I lose my “A Chance for Power?” over time and have to re-earn it by taking more provinces or is it once I get that message then I can strike the other Romans whenever I want no matter my popularity with the people. Expanding more just to get the “A Chance for Power” message again would be a pain, so I hope that is not the case that I would have to do that.

I’d like to wait for the reforms because I don’t want the reforms to happen in the middle of the civil war and be attacking with pre-marius armies or mixed armies against other mixed roman armies. Maybe that would be a challenge and fun for some people, but to me it sounds like a headache.

I also want to wait a bit because I have a side project called Exterminate and Take Alexandria and Memphis and slash and burn a handful of Egyptian Provinces. Which would be nice to not have to worry about the Egyptians at my back when I’m trying to take Rome.

Keep building armies for the coming war with your fellow Romans, when the reform occurs they'll be stuck with pre-marian units as well. Then just keep consolidating your pre-marian units as they get worn down until they reach the point of ineffectiveness and must be disbanded.

IceWolf

If you go too long without conquering new provinces or, worse, losing them, your popularity with the people will definitely drop. I learned that the hard way when, playing as the Scipii, I sent two stacks on a scorched earth campaign in Egypt. When I took the Egyptian territories I got the 'chance for power' message but infuriatingly my popularity with the people dropped a couple of shields when I let the former Egyptian settlements rebel, leaving me stuck with low senate approval and just not enough popularity with the people (six shields).

Personally I would say attack when you're ready. Given adequent preparation, taking Italy proper as the Brutii shouldn't be too difficult with your veteran troops, even your new units should have two or three chevrons already. My only other advice is, if you see an Italian settlement over 20000 pop, slow down or stop your recruitment of pre-Marians so that once the reforms are triggered you have less pre-Marians to replace. =]

You can pass without ill consequences the message unless the Senate is too bloody against you and demands the head of your family at an alarming pace. The best thing is to prepare when you have about 25 provinces for the civil war. Just keep it low profile and strike when ready.