I'll be in Caen for the next three weeks, so I found a bit of time to say goodbye to rtw for now.
In summary, I saved myself from bankruptcy by demolishing non-vital military buildings in the westernmost provinces of the empire (practice ranges and smithies mostly). Now I'm getting much needed money and public order with the greek trade routes and the statue of Zeus. The big race will be for Larissa, because the city is close to reaching 24k and I'd like to delay the reforms as much as possible, since at the moment I field a single army of elite german units.
I've had some really nice battles with this army against the romans. The basic strategy is to have archer warbands fire at will with flaming arrows as chosen axes wind up for the charge. Then follows the tidal wave of armor piercing infantry and heavy cavalry pours from the flanks into anything that doesn't break straight away under the pressure. I've ploughed through 3-4 roman stacks like this with very little casualties even when fighting uphill near Thermon (Brutii tried to reclaim it, and when besieging from the north they get a big mountain to sit upon). So far I've had no need for any other special units except gothic cavalry.
Apollonia is actually the first time that I recall having to make a tactical withdraw. I had occupied it with a spare spear warband army, but then moved this force to hold Thermon as the crack troops hopped into a boat and landed in Peloponessia. The Brutii are not much of a threat, I do not think they hold territories further north than Paionia. The Scipii are invading Anatolia, but I hope to hamper their efforts once they lose Athens, Crete and Rhodes. I need only 8 provinces to win, and if I don't go bankrupt until then I don't think I'm in for any unpleasant surprises.
By the way, I managed to get a zero-point growth and good public order in some major barbarian cities, but roman and greek cities are a bit more complicated.
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