I'd look to push deeper into the west, finish off Gaul and Spain as this will give you a lot more territory and of course deal with those armies that they're constantly sending against you. I wouldn't take on Dacia unless you have to, you could spread your forces too thin if you do that, and unlike the Scipii you won't have a superb economy to bail you out. It would also bring you closer to the Germans and Scythians as well, all things that you'll have difficulty trying to fight.

If Rhodes and Crete are still empty of Romans, it would be worth your while sending at least a small force to take them as that will do a lot to halt Scipii expansion further eastwards. It also gives you a base from which you can think about heading east yourself. And there's money to be had in the east. Remember once the civil war starts, your navy will be in a strong position to blockade the Greek ports and strangle the Scipii economy.

Thank you for the advise I have sent my army into gaul to support the one already stationed there and I have built quite a large fleet and legion barracks in my core cities aswell as some cavalry stables. Money is a bit tight at the moment and Numidia and carthage seem to love attacking me. I will raise another army and send them to crete and Rhodes and then make a foothold in the asia minor. I honestly don't know what the brutii are doing as they only have taken one settlement since the start which is a good thing as when the civil war comes I'll only really have to worry about the scipii

Don't forget that the Wonder on Rhodos gives a hefty boost to your maritime trade. Like a 40% boost. Plus Rhodos will add a nice base for you to stage on to take Greece away from Skippy once the Civil war starts.

Thanks for the post I agree the only problem there is, is that I think its greeces last city it will no doubt have a large army on it so I better go prepared. In another great battle with the greeks I had I narrowly won as they had so much skirmishers and missile cavalry I do tend to have a predominately infantry based army with heavy cavalry unfortunately equites die so easily and I don't really have enough generals to use as a formidable cavalry force any tips?

Hire some Cretan Archers. Just land a general on Greece or away from the city on Crete and buy up as many as possible. They'll give you a major edge against any enemy.

Also, I recommend focusing on Eastward expansion, because that's where the money is. Taking Rhodes and Seleucia give you a massive economic boost. Gaul and Spain are pretty poor monetarily and cities like Corduba have public order issues.

Since you are already fighting a two-front war, I wouldn't suggest sending a large force to Rhodes. Perhaps you should send a very good assassin, with at lewst nine skill, and eliminate the Greek family members, turning them into rebels. It could be a little bit easier then...

Thanks for the advise. I know that Cretan archers are very deadly and maybe a more subtle approach is needed in rhodes like an assassin although I haven't used them much in the game I read once I must practice on diplomats is this true?

Practice on easy targets first, like low influence diplomats, slies and rebel captains and you'll acquire the right traits...

One good thing about Rhodes is the terrain, there's a steep hill on all sides coming away from the city and this can be very useful if you're an attacker. If you find that there's a large army outside of Rhodes, land and attack it. The garrison in the city itself will march out to support it, and they should all be based right at the bottom of the hill. Let the reinforcements pass you by, then position yourself at the apex of this hill and start to march down towards them. You should be able to hire 2 Cretan Archers and 2 Rhodian Slingers as you land, the hill will hugely increase their range, so halt your army when in range and destroy any unit that gives you cause for concern. Chase down the routers with your Equites before they can reach the safety of the city. If all goes well, you may not lose a man in the whole fight and you'll walk off the battlefield to find that the city has no defenders left. Easy win.

Unfortunately the scipii landed on rhodes with a full stack and my ships are about 4 turns aways and the brutii have landed in crete and I'm 3 turns away I think both are lost.

That's bad... I think you should send both your fleets to either Cyrene (close to your territories and Crete) or land in Egypt and try capturing their homeland. Of course, there are other options such as sailing back (the safest one) or go for Salamis or Halicarnassus. In, addition, sending a small army in Chersonessus may seem crazy, but you'll control the Black Sea trading routes...

I have captured 2 southern provinces of gaul and have besieged alesia which is under control by gaul but on the way the britons decided to attack me and a completely destroyed their army but that adds another enemy to my growing list and I landed my fleet in asia minor and the scipii have also so I'll just besiege the same cities and take them with their help. My african army is split in two one holding off a Carthaginian army by thapsus while my other force is near the settlement of lepcis magna their last settlment in africa and I hope all their family are there as the only other place they have is the small island palma.

Palma's a good one to take when you get a chance. It's also an island, which means it's easier to defend.

That's a shame that you couldn't get them. They near enough block any eastward expansion by the other Roman factions, give you lots of money, and give you the option of heading eastwards yourself. The bold solution is to do as you have done and lay siege to Halicarnassus, which will block their eastwards expansion but it will sooner or later bring you into conflict with the Egyptians. You'll need several armies and preferably a big navy to fight through them, and it'll be a race because now that the Scipii have joined you, they'll try to grab the same cities you are. So be quick. Or if they are still around to help you attack into Halicarnassus - let them do all the fighting and hopefully get slaughtered on the walls.

It's certainly abnormal that skippy are going for Greece, I find Africa is their general turf. Since you've lost both Rhodes and Greece then the next money pumping lands are Spain or Pontus (Asia Minor). I'd go for Spain, taking the island to the east of it (forgot the name), raise cavalry there, I advice just Roman cavalry for retraining ease and 1 turn training length. Head for southern Spain and pincer it with reinforcements fighting Gaul heading also downwards. Gaul are pretty Meh really in terms of value of land, I find they lose you stacks of money by just conquering them.

Skippy goes for Greece when Brutus bogs down.

Concentrate on two things. One, getting enough provinces in the west to kick off the Civil war. And two, have an army or two of good stuff with onagers in Italy for when it does start. With Skippy and Brutus in the East, very little will be left on the Home Turf. Clean out their Italian holdings and you will be good to go to conquer the rest.

thanks for the advise I think that the reason scipii went fro greece is because I captured Lilybaeum and carthage which in all my other games its makes them go straight for greece. I'm finding it quite challenging in gaul as the Britons have huge armies and iv just been able to hold them off and the spanish are just as bad with even quite a few bull warriors although I plan to take the first spanish settlement soon. A new army is on its way to spain to help finish them off quickly while I'm laying siege to my first asia minor city.