Any WRE Turnaround Specialists Out There?

[Grifman]

"Consolodating"

Interesting strategy, and one that would seem to work.

That said, I went about it another way, and always was in the black except for maybe 3 or 4 turns (playing M/M):

1) I evacuated the armies in Britain, and Salona. I sold off all the buildings there since I wasn't planning on coming back anytime soon.

2) I didn't feel I could afford unrest, so I kept Christian cities Christian and pagan ones pagan being the tolerant and money needing emperor that I was.

3) I disbanded as many units as I thought I could safely afford to after my first turn so I could see where I needed troops to keep order.

4) From my initial treasury and selling off of assets from abandoned cities, I built as many ports as I could. I continued to build as many ports per turn as I could, spending money on pacifying structures (temples, sewers, etc) only as minimally needed until I got the cash flowing.

5) One of my cities in Gaul usually rebels early on. The Army of Britain's job is to sack the city and get me some money.

6) It is possible to mass an army fairly early just north of the Alps, and launch a pre-emptive strike against the Alemanni capital - they unfortunately don't protect it well. I don't plan to keep it so I sell everything off that can be sold. In all, the strike will generate about 10,000 denari.

7) If you are careful, you can also launch an early strike against the Frankish capital. Again, another sack and sell will gain you 10,000 denari and cripple the Franks.

8) I didn't do this, but it certain cities are not threatened - it make sense to sell off troop producing structures - but don't leave an area totally uncovered - you still need to deal with bandits and rebels who can cripple trade.

9) Mass your fleets together to deal with pirates who can cripple your trade - you really can't afford to rebuild them or build new ones early on, so maxmize your strength.

10) Barbarians are a good form of cash. I sell them my maps and ask 200/turn tribute for 10 turns. They almost never turn me down, if they do, they offer 1,700 for one turn. Easy way to make cash - they must still be in awe of the empire :)

11) I'll add another - more your capital from Rome the city in northern Italy or Massilia - that will cut down on disorder and corruption losses in the rest of the empire and significantly up your income.

I probably net 4,000 to 5,000 per turn by carefully building. I've done some things wrong, I think I could do that better by changing some of my building priorities, but I need to check them out.