tips for cao cao

[sam.pidgeon]

any tips for cao cao faction i deleted my last campaign and started from scratch i was being swarmed by kingdom of the wu i had no chance they were too powerful

[DropHazard]

Cao Cao (rated as easy by CA) is actually one of the more difficult campaigns to complete due to being surrounded on all sides by potential enemies with nobody being particularly friendly towards you. I also generally end up in a stalemate in mid-game with barely any breathing room to expand and next to no potential trade partners, the only real advantage you have is a surplus of food in the early game which you can trade to make friends. My best advice would be to quickly expand east taking care of Huang Shao, Liu Bei and Kong Rong while using manipulation to keep other factions friendly to you or at eachothers throats. Once you are established in the east you may want to secure the commandaries north of the yellow river as Yuan Shao and Gungsun Zan can be a massive thorn in your side if left until late game. Also after you encounter Wu try your best to keep good relations with them as this will keep your southern borders safe until the late game when Wu is almost always one of the 3 emporors.

[Harukage]

One note. Once you get a custody over Emperor you can annex Han settlements without any fight. Though you need to march your armies and capture each one after another.
Other thing is do not declare war on Liu Bei too early or when you have enemies, as he will just confederate Liu Biao when weakened. Wiping him out from the map is not so simple.

[sam.pidgeon]

ok thanks quite a few factions more frienly towards me huang shao is gone and many others
liu bei is friendly towards me as kingdom of wu or sun ce is friendly we have common enemy.

i am building up eco slowly and researching eco techs mainly kong rong i think is friendly towards me to i am fighting yuang shao though and allied to yuan shu in coalition

[DropHazard]

@Harukage I've never had trouble wiping Liu Bei out as long as I move on him early before he has annexed random Han settlements all across the map. Also I would suggest NOT capping Emperor Xian as Wu will constantly declare war on Han empire in order to expand and you have no choice but to join that war, besides there are only a handful of Han controlled settlements that Cao Cao would want and they are all capturable with minimal difficulty in the early game.

[sam.pidgeon]

i just had to reload a save kingdom of wu or sun ce declared war on me got non agression pact with them

[JuX]

Cao Cao's unique farm structure is good to establish to keep replenishment at good rate, so you can fight continues battles if you have to.

Set administrator to the region next to you in the east as it bottlenecks Wu advances from the south and administrator retinue is included in city garrison free of charge.

Most effective way to defeat Sun dynasty is through spies. With at least 2 spies infiltrated in to their armies ranks so you can establish scouts to all their armies and destroy them before they even reach your gates with provision poisoning spam and then attack before they recover. Just to try to avoid recruiting or executing your spies after a battle if captured.

[Too Much Salt]

Cao Cao is listed as easy because Cao Cao has one of the most powerful feature which is ability to trigger proxy wars and also to improve or worsen diplomatic relationships.

You can literally make friends with any powerful blocs before the 3K event triggers.

Some tips:

1. Make sure you use your credibility currency. DO NOT wait till it reaches 100. Use it to improve your relationship with your strong neighbors.

2. Do not be passive. If you are passive, people such as Yuan Shao and Sun Jian will become too big to counter.

3. Normally as Cao Cao, I like to expand southwards because there are less factions down there and Cao Cao is right in the middle. He can literally go any direction he wants.

4. If you expand to the south before turn 40 - 60, Sun Jian is still weak. Do not wait till more than turn 100 to expand, by then he is already too powerful.

5. If you go south make sure you keep the most powerful faction in the north in check and vice versa. How to keep them in check ? Let's say Yuan Shao is getting too big, find another powerful faction and strain their relationship with your unique faction ability and trigger proxy war when the time is ripe. So, by the time you are done in the south, Yuan Shao would have already been exhausted fighting another powerful faction. Normally, it is Yuan Shu who is the best target to trigger a proxy war with Yuan Shao due to their bad relationship and also Yuan Shu is usually quite powerful as well.

[sam.pidgeon]

thanks guys i will continue my campaign later today thanks for the tips

[Hikuran]

You are in the middle of 4 major power, Yuan Shao in northeast, Yuan Shu in West, Liu Bei at East and Liu Biao in Southwest..

Make good use of your faction power to lure your enemy attack another major power, then after they are both weak you can step in to finish the job

Your land and surrounding provinces are rich on food production, at early stage focus on Green tech and accumulate food to change for gold/item/even lands in diplomacy

Liu Bei is loyal in most circumstances and seldom betray you unless you have no diplomatic reputation. So it's good to sell him food and ask for money at start, and vasslize him when he is weak. He will be a strong ally/vassal to your side.

[Frewind]

Ally with Liu Bei and Yuan Shu or at least keep good relation with them. Liu Bei is a good ally because he will never betray you and if you vassalise him he will be a strong power on your side

Rush Yuan Shao, then Gongsun Zan to secure the North east part of the map and after that the game is easy

Wu is big and impressive but have a really poor economy and can't stand an attrition war, make good use of ambush to destroy their armies and take few farmlands and cities from them and they will collapse.

The Cao Cao power is really strong use proxy wars and good alliance to destroy stronger opponents.

Worked for me in Legendary.

[sam.pidgeon]

thats what i been doing lie bei is hostile towards me now kingdom of wu though is basiclly a vassal kingdom i captured alot o thier lands and vassaled a few other factions.

i have offered not to annex thier regions in exchange they are my vassals and respond to any call ups