My approach is different and is tailored to the "very hard/very hard" setting.
Prepare for war, you will be fighting everyone simultaneously, regardless of your diplomatic approach. I don't cede any ground without a fight.
Start building up Cordoba rapidly. You will be attacked but it is a great province and the enemies there will be weak. You can buy mercs there. Combine them with a light cav force (actually, all the Carthaginian light cav units right "medium horse" and they hit pretty hard against all but the heavy cav.)
At the same time, kill off the Scipii in Lilybaeum. They are going to attack you anyway, so get them first. I can't remember exactly how I did it, but I crushed them in the first few turns. I moved an elephant unit with me an busted down their front gate I believe. This allows assault on the same turn as the siege. It is over before Scipii knew what hit 'em.
Get diplomats or spies into Lilybaeum and newly captured Messana. That Greek diplomat will bribe anything in the vicinity. Diplomats and spies keep it from succeeding. Make a trade agreement with him, then expect the Greeks to attack. They will field a hoplite army. The Carthaginian cav can handle them piecemeal if you are careful. Draw a hoplite out on the flank then hit it from the rear, repeat... The units cave immediately. Take Syracuse and make peace with the diplomat after that (hint: he responded to me that they would make peace in return for Syracuse, I countered with 2,000 denarii for Syracuse and peace, he took it.)
Prepare Sardinia for attack. The Julii are going to send army after army after army after army there. Ship in cav, and build cav when you can (its going to be awhile...) This will keep the Romans busy. Sally out the back on the strategic map and hit the armies from high ground. It is not uncommon to fight two or three battles a turn in Sardinia.
The Scipii and Brutii will probably gang up on Messana. Keep a good army there and just keep hammering them down. Lots of cav rushes is the answer to all those hastati and principes. Move out the side on a the strategic map, so that you don't have to sally on the tactical map. Eventually they seem to weary of attacking Messana, but beware the Brutii will come back later with very large armies. The Scipii are stuck with one province after losing Messana, so they are effectively castrated.
Deal with Numidia as soon as you can, to secure your rear. They will attack you no matter what, so kill them. Tingi is important because it provides a ferry link with Cordoba. It will be awhile before you can reach it. Numidia can't field a lot of men, but their cav are very tough to kill. Buy as many Numidian cav mercs as you can to combat them. Bring along an elephant unit to smash in wooden gates on the same turn as you start a siege.
Exterminate enemy populations. This makes the cities far more profitable for much, much longer. You also will have less trouble form "differing culture" because they are dead...
Grab Lepcis Magna when you can manage it. It is rebel and is a good source of income. The folks are Poeni, so they are a "friendly culture."
Palma is great for awesome Balearic slingers. Hang onto it and step out of the city to buy slingers now and again. You can ferry them to land if you are careful. Palma also can make lots of money! If you keep the Romans busy in Sardinia, they ignore Palma.
Use your cav. The Carthaginian infantry are not worth fielding against the Romans and the AI has administered severe beatings when I tried that. Even the upper level Carthaginian phalanx units suffer because of small unit size, so only build minimal infantry. (Phalanx are easy to counter in RTW.) A base elephant unit or two is your replacement for decent heavy infantry. You can smash them throught the center, with cav following. The elephants cause lots of fear (it is in the unit stats) and disorder the formations, so the follow up cav routs the enemy units. I often head right for the enemy commander (if he hasn't already made a suicide charge.) Charge the pachys through, then turn back and hit anyone still in good order. They tire quickly, but are nearly unstoppable until they tire. You are unlikely to lose more than one or two beasts even in a tough fight, but you must keep them moving. If they stop they will end up routing.
After Numidia, crush Spain (you will probably be doing both simultaneously.) Then take the rest of the Iberian peninsula from Gaul to secure a good border (the Pyrenees), plus lots of income. Gaul will attack you first, so don't worry about it. They are vulnerable to Balearic slingers combined with your cav. The chosen swordsmen are very tough on "very hard" though, so focus your slingers on them.
Turn your attention to Rome...I went after the Brutii first since they were the strongest. I snuck in 2 full stack invasion forces from Sicily and besieged the two Brutii cities in southern Italy. Then I polished off the Scipii province. By this time you are so powerful that no one will be able to hurt you.
Bookmarks