Rapid expansion: Taking out Liu Biao, befriending Yuan Shao, and vassalizing Liu Bei
With our initial foes destroyed or beaten back, it’s time for Sun Ce to strike deeper into the south and west.
War with Liu Biao
From turn 5 onwards:
- The Lu Meng army will head south (Luling – Yudu) to eliminate Hua Xin for good. This finishes a mission that awards gold.
- Sun Ce forges west to Changsha – Chibi. You’ll be up against Liu Biao’s forces now.
- Lastly, your armies in the north will just take Guangling – Huaiyin to finish off Chen Deng. You’re right at Cao Cao’s doorstep now, so you can just sit back and relax. As far as I know, Cao Cao wouldn’t prematurely attack you since he’s too preoccupied with Yuan Shao’s grand alliance.
Note 1: For the northern front, try to keep one army around just to deter any shenanigans from Cao Cao. It doesn’t need to be a full stack.
Note 2: For the southern/western front, try to play it safe and be wary of Liu Biao’s moves. There’s a good chance that his armies will march into your ambush, leading to easy victories. However, he might have forces (i.e., Huang Zhong or Cai Mao) lurking in Changsha and Lingling.
The more you keep giving Liu Biao a bloody nose, the higher the modifier you’ll get for an eventual peace deal.
It’s possible to vassalize him in the end, but obliterating his faction completely is required for one of Sun Ce’s missions. Still, you could try to vassalize and annex him if you want as that’ll also finish the objective (and Liu Biao would make a great Prime Minister).
Furthermore, your expansion leads you to complete a few Legacy of Wu missions such as “Secure the Homestead” (Changsha) and “Secure Zhou Yu’s Ambition” (Xiangyang).
The Yuan clan and vassalizing Liu Bei
It’s possible to find a few officers with the Yuan family name, and there’s a good chance that they’re relatives of Yuan Shao’s clan. Even better, the more you buddy up with Yuan Shao’s allies/vassals, the nicer he’ll be to you.
Since we kept Lady Wu single, we can get Yuang Shang (his heir) via diplo-marriage. This makes the Yuan clan distant relatives of Sun Ce.
Likewise, Sun Ce’s nice attitude towards the grand alliance will cement him as a best friend of Liu Bei. You’ll find yourself hitting 200+ diplomatic relations soon enough. Assuming you have a female Yuan character in your court (or if you adopt a generic female officer), you can get Mi Fang (Liu Bei’s heir) by marriage.
Mi Fang isn’t the important one here, it’s actually the positive modifier of that deal (+12 to 15). When you reach high diplomatic relations with Liu Bei, a vassalization offer will have relatively low requirements, and that marriage will be enough to make Lord Benevolence your subject.
If you annex Liu Bei later, he can be married to Sun Ren/Sun Shangxiang once she comes of age (turn 25). Just get him to divorce Lady Mi who’ll still count as a distant relative if Mi Fang remained married to your officer.
Becoming Duke, a disloyal vassal, and the remaining Legacy of Wu ambitions
Several Legacy of Wu missions get completed as you’re moving further west. However, there might be a few that you’d forget about:
- “Lady Sun’s Guards” – Da Qiao and Lady Wu are Commanders that can reach level 4 soon. As such, you’ll want to look for female Sentinels. Try to find those that drop by in your officer court, or, when presented with the Faction Council option again, use “Seek Skilled Characters” to get a Sentinel.
- “Secure the Mountains – This requires you to control Xindu commandery. The problem is that it’s held by your vassal, Wu Jing. You’ll probably need to annex him later.
Speaking of your vassals, Li Shu would revolt on turn 20 via an event. If you have an army nearby (i.e., the northern army that’s watching Cao Cao), you can quickly be done with him.
Still, before that, Sun Ce could become a Duke already by turn 18 (if you played your cards right). You might want to add some extra administrator positions and assignments. As for your Prime Minister, I found that Yuan Shang provides some nifty bonuses.
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