I have finally cracked my enemies and I am the dominant power, having Taken all of Britain, Gaul, Germany, Eastern Europe, Northern Italy and the Adriatic Coast. The Romans are on their last legs in Europe and the final offensive to wipe them out in Italy is about to begin, with Greece and Sicily soon to follow. The Brutii will be left to rot in North Africa while I take Spain and push east into the steppes to get the rest of the 50 provinces to win.

I have recently realized two things which are worth relating here.

First, the Dacian poverty is due to a lack of port provinces. It is simply impossible to make sustain a military off of a land-locked economy. Once you acquire ports, you can easily become profitable. Unfortunately, the easy pickings early in the game all lie west and north, further inland while the coastal provinces are held by very strong factions which will be much harder to defeat with your primitive early units. If you are able to take greece and defeat Thrace and Macedonia you should not experience the financial difficultes for very long.

Second, Chosen Archer Warbands are your units of choice. Produce these in massive numbers and you simply cannot lose. Place them in a long line with skirmish off, guard on, and fire at will on. If on defense, remain this way. If on offense, advance in line until in range. In both cases fire away for as long as the enemy remain out of melee. When they close, let them hit your lines. The usual tendency is to pull back your archers behind your infantry, but do not do it. Your Chosen Archers are very good infantry and can hold the line for a significant time as long as they are not flanked. If your line is charged, at more than a few isolated points, take off fire at will and guard and use the archers to melee attack the enemy line. Keep Chosen Swordsmen behind the archers. Once the archer line is engaged in melee, use the Swordsmen's warcry, then charge right through the archer line into the melee. Flank where able and the enemy will almost always rout. Unless there are significant reinforcements coming, chase the enemy off the field in massive numbers... let the archers and swordsmen swarm after them to prevent a regrouping.

Also, if possible fight big battles in the winter where your troops can get their snow advantage. Always use warcry before engaging in melee. It is often easier to defend the village streets rather than the walls. Wood walls are too easily breached to be defensible unless the enemy has only one or two rams (unlikely).