Lusitannan - Guide to Start

The Lusitannan are a very challenging faction specially because in the beginning they face high costs due to army maintenance and low revenues. But being an interesting faction to play, I thought to leave here a few tips about a way to start well (one of several ways, surely).

Right in the first turn you have to:
1. Reduce the maintenance costs of the army.
2. Quickly move towards Gades.
3. Capture Sucum-Murgi without much casualties.

The number 1 is easily done simply by disbanding all 4 Ambakaro Epones and the 2 Scortamareva units which are in Oxtraca. You should move the 2 Ambakaro Epones units which are in the Leader's army into Oxtraca, so that they can add their numbers to the population. Disbanding these 6 units will spare you more than 4200 mnai per turn. Obviously they would be very useful, but they are too much expensive at this starting moment.

The number 2 is achieved by moving the general which is in Oxtraca towards Gades, leaving behind a single unit of Iovamann (and increasing Oxtraca's taxes to maximum). Also, you should move the Heir's army from the north and towards Gades as well.

Finally, a critical part of this first turn: you should move your Leader (ONLY) and make him siege Sucum-Murgi. Then, you must move the rest of his army into the Leader's position. This is necessary because if you move the entire army at the same time, they'll stop short of Sucum-Murgi and will not have enough movement points to siege the city, and that's fundamental. The army besieging Sucum-Murgi will be composed by the Leader's unit of Ambakaro Epones, 2 units of Scortamareva and 2 units of Iovamann. Hit the End Turn button.

When the Eleutheroi's turn arrives, they'll sally out of Sucum-Murgi with a better force than the one you have outside. Now, what you have to do is draw every unit far away from the city; force the governor's cavalry unit to rout and pursue him with your Leader's cavalry. Then you must move inside and use the cavalry to conquer all 3 gates, barring the enemy infantry outside and preventing them from getting back to the central square. Then, you must destroy the remaining cavalry inside; conquer the central square and patiently wait for the countdown to arrive at 0.

A good way to do this is to position all of your units in the higher ground near the starting position. Your units' backs must be turned to the lower-right corner of the map. Position the Iovamann behind the Scortamareva and, hopefully, the governor's cavalry will smash into the spearmen's units. They'll lose a few men but will disengage without breaking. At this point, the rest of the enemy infantry will be approaching your line, so the skirmishers will be busy throwing javelins. Meanwhile, you must make the enemy cavalry pursue your own cavalry. Eventually, you'll make contact and soon, the enemy cavalry will rout. At this moment, you should hit the white flag of your Scortamareva units and make them disengage and run away from the battle. You should leave at least 1 unit of Iovamann (both if possible) because the enemy infantry will pursue them and you'll gain a little more time for your cavalry to enter the city and conquer the gates. As soon as they do this, make the skirmishers run away as well.

As a sidenote, the last time I finished this battle, I only lost 24 Scortamareva and 11 Ambakaro Epones from the Leader's bodyguard. Most of the enemy infantry was still alive and outside the city gates when the countdown reached 0.

After finishing the battle, and your turn arrives again, you can exterminate the population of Sucum-Murgi, thus gaining almost 800 mnai. Then, you should sell the barracks. At the start of the 2nd turn, you'll still have positive treasury.

After that, join all your forces (leave 1 unit of Iovamann in Sucum-Murgi with max taxes) and go conquer Gades from your Qarthadastim allies (now ex-allies). Eventually, your treasury will go below 0, but not by much and you'll be able to start expanding your territory while keeping the treasury under control.

Your next move should be the removal of the Qarthadastim from the western coast of Iberia, since the rebels in Baikor will deplete your army before you get to Mastia.