Zheng Jiang Campaign

[pinkfloyd9193]

Appreciate any input someone can provide!

Been having a hard time getting through a campaign as Zheng Jiang. It's always Yuan Shao that crashes the party every campaign, but I'll get to that later.

The beginning of her campaign is no joke, and it seems the only successful starts I can make work is by taking out the other Bandit Guy. I haven't found this to be particularly easy, as the AI always has a bigger army and Zheng Jiang is always so friggin broke. Basically have to get lucky and lure him in an ambush with my garrison as reinforcements. If I try to move south against Han Empire, Dong or Lu Bu come and annihilate me so I try to avoid moving down there in the beginning. Pushing east wastes too many precious turns and by the time I rush the Mine, the bandit guy typically backstabs me and I'm finished. Haven't tried pushing West and abandoning starting area?

If the stars align and things go well, I take several of the surrounding areas and meet up with Yuan Shao. This is where I think I'm messing up. Instead of trying to fight him, I'll join a coalition with him and focus on expanding elsewhere. But honestly, I don't see how I could possibly beat him, the AI seems to get so much money to field armies it's quite frustrating where I can only field 1 around this time. While fighting Bandit Guy (sorry I cant recall his name), he only had the Lumber Mill and was able to recruit an entire stack right after i destroyed his previous army. Anyway enough of that.

If I make it to mid/late game, I just get surrounded by Yuan Shao's vassals and when he does eventually turn on me, I have no chance. I really hate this filthy scumbag, and want to destroy him. That brings me to the big question, what is the big secret to surviving as Zheng Jiang? You have to kill him as early as possible? I tried allying with Cao Cao in a coalition inmy last run (he was quite formidable), yet somehow he was vassalized by Yuan Shao without losing any territory that I could tell. I'll never trust that stategy again.

After typing this entire post it suddenly occured to me to try to be vassalized under Yuan Shao...does that actually work?

Sorry for the long post, would appreciate any advice some of the better players can provide!

[ArcticChevy]

Zheng Jiang was my favorite campaign, achieved campaign victory by turn 64. Finding stable source of income was the hardest, considering her Infamy mechanic making diplomacy worth ♥♥♥♥ endgame I brute force my way for Chang'an for the Han Empire vassalage.

I think it takes me 13-16 turns for it. Lu Bu's retinue was the nightmare, I juggled with him hoping for ambush battle and when you topple him Chang'an is free for the taking. After a steady source of 4K per turn I expand aggressively and turning any warring faction to tributary states.

By the end of the campaign I was at 54k per turn from tributaries. Made enemies with everyone basically, but it was not a problem for I can deploy high-tier army while the rest still struggling with militias.

[pinkfloyd9193]

Originally posted by WibuAnjing:

Zheng Jiang was my favorite campaign, achieved campaign victory by turn 64. Finding stable source of income was the hardest, considering her Infamy mechanic making diplomacy worth ♥♥♥♥ endgame I brute force my way for Chang'an for the Han Empire vassalage.

I think it takes me 13-16 turns for it. Lu Bu's retinue was the nightmare, I juggled with him hoping for ambush battle and when you topple him Chang'an is free for the taking. After a steady source of 4K per turn I expand aggressively and turning any warring faction to tributary states.

By the end of the campaign I was at 54k per turn from tributaries. Made enemies with everyone basically, but it was not a problem for I can deploy high-tier army while the rest still struggling with militias.

Turn 64!? How the bloody hell? lol
I actually sacked Chang'an but didnt take it due to everyone hating me for having the Emperor...but I guess they all hate me anyway so nothing to lose?

[Salty Nobody]

I took out the other Bandit and consolidated the two commandries. That would be my suggested starting course of action. After that it is a toss up cause sandbox.

I had to garrison retinues at the mine and lumber yard to try to keep Yaun Shao away from me. Over the course of the campaign I swatted his armies away and made peace a few times, lost either or both places and had to take them back a few times as well. I don't even remember how many wars I fought against Yaun Shao / Dutchy of Song in my campaign, I think it was seven.

My main focus was going west and taking over that corner of the map. The edge of the map is a secure border and the horse pastures were a nice bonus. Once Yaun Shao started overwhelming me on the other side I made peace with the Dong faction in exchange for the rest of Anding Commandry and vassalized myself to... Yaun Shu. This gave me much needed breathing room to build up for further expansion later when he elected not to support me next time Yaun Shao attacked.

Vassalage is a good way to get yourself out of trouble. You get a new ally in the form of your 'master' and you make peace with everyone trying to kill you. I just saved myself in my Tyrant campaign 103 turns in when literally a dozen enemy armies finally overran my central territories by becoming a vassal to Sun Ce...

[ArcticChevy]

Originally posted by pinkfloyd9193:

Originally posted by WibuAnjing:

Zheng Jiang was my favorite campaign, achieved campaign victory by turn 64. Finding stable source of income was the hardest, considering her Infamy mechanic making diplomacy worth ♥♥♥♥ endgame I brute force my way for Chang'an for the Han Empire vassalage.

I think it takes me 13-16 turns for it. Lu Bu's retinue was the nightmare, I juggled with him hoping for ambush battle and when you topple him Chang'an is free for the taking. After a steady source of 4K per turn I expand aggressively and turning any warring faction to tributary states.

By the end of the campaign I was at 54k per turn from tributaries. Made enemies with everyone basically, but it was not a problem for I can deploy high-tier army while the rest still struggling with militias.

Turn 64!? How the bloody hell? lol
I actually sacked Chang'an but didnt take it due to everyone hating me for having the Emperor...but I guess they all hate me anyway so nothing to lose?

Taking the emperor makes everyone hates you sure, but then that's the point of playing Zheng Jiang. so yes, except for potential allies you have nothing to lose.

[pinkfloyd9193]

Bahhh.. Started my new campaign and Turn 11 Yuan Shao has already declared war on me :(
I haven't even met the bastard on the map. I hate him. We'll see where this campaign goes...

[pinkfloyd9193]

OH SWEET REVENGE!!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1900756570

Oh I'm so giddy...what to do what to do...Off with his head? If only this were Crusader Kings 2 I'd castrate him. Or burn out his eyes.

[BHz.Spearsx2]

Zheng Jiang is indeed the hardest faction to start with because she is just dirt poor in the very early game. For my experience, I have played her 2 times and both achieved campaign victory on romance mode - legendary difficulty at around turn 126.

For her start, after you finish the first battle and move on to take your first settlement - Taiyuan, immediately disband her unique axe unit because they are too expensive. And then move on to kick out the other sentinel who is not currently in the army because he costs 200 gold/ turn. Sign a non-aggression pact and a trade deal with the bandit dude.

Then move down South to the farmland of Shandang to kill off the guy who is stationed there. After that, you will meet Gao Can and Wang Kuang (sorry I'm not using my PC, so I don't have access to the game to type down their correct names. This will get tricky here because it depends on how randomly your game has been. The best scenario is you will trade with Wang Kuang and Yuan Shao is trading with Han Fu and not trading with any of these two (Gao Can or Wang Kuang). Because he is not trading with them, he will declare war on Gao Can. So, your next move will be to take out Gao Can before he gets killed off by Yuan Shao. It is very easy because Gao Can only has a 2 general-army stationed at a large town/ not even a city. When you kill him off, sign a non-aggression pact with Yuan Shao. Later you will meet Han Fu and can trade with him too. Then move back to the farm land of Shan Dang and recruit more units for Zeng Jiang and be prepared for Lubu's invasion. Notice the abandoned city of Xishie/ the one with a fishing port next to your capital. Dongzhou's likely gonna occupy it before marching to you or he will march directly from Hedong city, but he will also annex the city which belonged to the Han Empire. So pay attention to the map, if you see suddenly Hedong city/ Xishie belongs to Dongzhou, it means he's about 2-3 turns away from you.

The tip to beat Lubu's army is you can either armbush or just fight him directly but you need to use Zeng Jiang and your cavaries to focus on Lubu very hard. Shock Cavaries kill generals so quickly + Zeng Jiang with her Red Sisters weapon will kill Lubu in just seconds. Remember to focus only either Lubu or Zhang Liao because they are close friends. If they are both 1/2 health and one of them gets knocked down, the other will get back to full health.

After beating Lubu, you can move down to Hedong city and take it. For the Taiyuan mine, it should be taken by the bandit dude by now. It is very easy to buy it from him (it should cost about 14-15 diplomatic points- quite easy), so do it. (Better than spending 7 turns to up North to declare a war and then other 7 turns to go back to deal with Dong Zhou). Then move to city with the fishing port and take them too. Now, how the rest of the game depends on you because Yuan Shao may invite you to the coalition - or you rank up fast enough to form a coalition of your own. I really recommend form a coalition with Yuan Shu because he is easy to make friends with and will likely pay tribute to you even you are not at war with him. He may ask for legitimacy, but it is okay. Give him legitimacy - it's not big of a deal if you understand the mechanic how his legitimacy works (pretty ♥♥♥♥ tbn lol).

My final suggestion is keep butchering Dong Zhou, but don't take the emperor (Dong Zhou is rich because he has the Han Empire as his vassal/ you take the away the Han and then you will get declared war on by so many other factions which can be your future members of a coalition); this means you expand to Anding city and finally meet Mateng and Hansui. Frequenly check your diplomacy because Dong Zhoul will eventually agree to pay tributes to your for peace. This will be your game changer because the tribute from Dong Zhou + your faction and faction leader bonus becomes gigantic. Meet Mateng and marry Zeng JIang to Machao and then beat the crap out of Han Sui and ask him for tributes too. Don't trust Hansui because he is always treacherous (it's his traits for breaking deals and attacking non-defended settlements). Ma teng may not like it, but they are both very weak and not many factions like them. Also, my tips don't include at what turn you recruit your second or third army, so it really depends on how you play your game eventually, but they should suffice you through turn 25-30. The second army should be to deal with the bandit dude and keep Yuan Shao in check, and your third army should be defending the access point to the river - either at Hedong city or at the farmland of Shandang - this is why I recommend Yuan Shu as your friend because he will keep people from over the Yellow River including Liu Biao and Caocao away from you.

For your reform, your tech tree should focus on the branch that leads to -6% of corruption and can unlock the final form of the copper mines to unlock -4% of corruption. Remember to build a level 2 Confucian temple to unlock the -25% character salary discount because you will have a sizeable kingdom in the mid - game. You will be the richest faction because of the infamy mechanic.

[pinkfloyd9193]

Originally posted by BHz.Spearsx2:

Zheng Jiang is indeed the hardest faction to start with because she is just dirt poor in the very early game. For my experience, I have played her 2 times and both achieved campaign victory on romance mode - legendary difficulty at around turn 126.

For her start, after you finish the first battle and move on to take your first settlement - Taiyuan, immediately disband her unique axe unit because they are too expensive. And then move on to kick out the other sentinel who is not currently in the army because he costs 200 gold/ turn. Sign a non-aggression pact and a trade deal with the bandit dude.

Then move down South to the farmland of Shandang to kill off the guy who is stationed there. After that, you will meet Gao Can and Wang Kuang (sorry I'm not using my PC, so I don't have access to the game to type down their correct names. This will get tricky here because it depends on how randomly your game has been. The best scenario is you will trade with Wang Kuang and Yuan Shao is trading with Han Fu and not trading with any of these two (Gao Can or Wang Kuang). Because he is not trading with them, he will declare war on Gao Can. So, your next move will be to take out Gao Can before he gets killed off by Yuan Shao. It is very easy because Gao Can only has a 2 general-army stationed at a large town/ not even a city. When you kill him off, sign a non-aggression pact with Yuan Shao. Later you will meet Han Fu and can trade with him too. Then move back to the farm land of Shan Dang and recruit more units for Zeng Jiang and be prepared for Lubu's invasion. Notice the abandoned city of Xishie/ the one with a fishing port next to your capital. Dongzhou's likely gonna occupy it before marching to you or he will march directly from Hedong city, but he will also annex the city which belonged to the Han Empire. So pay attention to the map, if you see suddenly Hedong city/ Xishie belongs to Dongzhou, it means he's about 2-3 turns away from you.

The tip to beat Lubu's army is you can either armbush or just fight him directly but you need to use Zeng Jiang and your cavaries to focus on Lubu very hard. Shock Cavaries kill generals so quickly + Zeng Jiang with her Red Sisters weapon will kill Lubu in just seconds. Remember to focus only either Lubu or Zhang Liao because they are close friends. If they are both 1/2 health and one of them gets knocked down, the other will get back to full health.

After beating Lubu, you can move down to Hedong city and take it. For the Taiyuan mine, it should be taken by the bandit dude by now. It is very easy to buy it from him (it should cost about 14-15 diplomatic points- quite easy), so do it. (Better than spending 7 turns to up North to declare a war and then other 7 turns to go back to deal with Dong Zhou). Then move to city with the fishing port and take them too. Now, how the rest of the game depends on you because Yuan Shao may invite you to the coalition - or you rank up fast enough to form a coalition of your own. I really recommend form a coalition with Yuan Shu because he is easy to make friends with and will likely pay tribute to you even you are not at war with him. He may ask for legitimacy, but it is okay. Give him legitimacy - it's not big of a deal if you understand the mechanic how his legitimacy works (pretty ♥♥♥♥ tbn lol).

My final suggestion is keep butchering Dong Zhou, but don't take the emperor (Dong Zhou is rich because he has the Han Empire as his vassal/ you take the away the Han and then you will get declared war on by so many other factions which can be your future members of a coalition); this means you expand to Anding city and finally meet Mateng and Hansui. Frequenly check your diplomacy because Dong Zhoul will eventually agree to pay tributes to your for peace. This will be your game changer because the tribute from Dong Zhou + your faction and faction leader bonus becomes gigantic. Meet Mateng and marry Zeng JIang to Machao and then beat the crap out of Han Sui and ask him for tributes too. Don't trust Hansui because he is always treacherous (it's his traits for breaking deals and attacking non-defended settlements). Ma teng may not like it, but they are both very weak and not many factions like them. Also, my tips don't include at what turn you recruit your second or third army, so it really depends on how you play your game eventually, but they should suffice you through turn 25-30. The second army should be to deal with the bandit dude and keep Yuan Shao in check, and your third army should be defending the access point to the river - either at Hedong city or at the farmland of Shandang - this is why I recommend Yuan Shu as your friend because he will keep people from over the Yellow River including Liu Biao and Caocao away from you.

For your reform, your tech tree should focus on the branch that leads to -6% of corruption and can unlock the final form of the copper mines to unlock -4% of corruption. Remember to build a level 2 Confucian temple to unlock the -25% character salary discount because you will have a sizeable kingdom in the mid - game. You will be the richest faction because of the infamy mechanic.

Thank you so much for you detailed response, I'll take note of your tips!