Rome 2 "speedrun" - 3 provinces in 5 turns, perfected

We're playing Rome, house of Cornelia, very hard difficulty. The choice of house probably doesn't really matter. All battles are fought using auto resolve (AR). You can fight them yourself, but your milage may vary. With the exception of cities in Rome, we will Raze all settlements, as 40+(5+4+3+2+1) is a lot less unhappiness than (15+14+...+1) and we don't have time for rebellions :D alright let's get going.

Turn 1

ASend spy to north
b. Attack the Eutruscan army from below so that it moves up to the city.
c. Buy one cheap merc army. Kill army with AR and take Velathri in one turn. Release prisoners, occupy city. Disband mercs. Merge 4 troops into 2 to save money.
d. In Rome, hire the general that gives 5% campaign map movement range
e. Trade with massalia
f. Move bottom army to edge and recruit: 4 swords, 1 leves.
g. Recruit army in Neapolis and recruit 5 swords, 2 leves
h. Hire 2 boats.
i. Research scholarship

Turn 2

AMove Spy to northern Italy and activate
b. Force march Velathri army to Ariminum, attack it with the 5% guy, AR, occupy. Disband both armies to save money. We won’t need them for at least 3 turns.
c. First province won in turn 2! Activate tax harvesting.
d. Blockade Alalia with boats. If they attack, try to inflict as many casualties as you can. Force march the Neapolis army there to help next turn.
e. Trade with Veneti and Dalmatae.
f. Now comes the trickiest part: taking Syracusae. Hire all the mercenaries that you can. Now you have three options:
i. If you think you can manually win this battle, go for it.
ii. If you don’t think you can manually win this battle, simply encircle. The enemy army will sail away, allowing you to take the city in 2 steps. This will take more turns and more gold though.
iii. You can hire more units in Cosentia.

Turn 3

ALet’s take Syracusae first. Force March reinforcements from Cosentia. Attack with main army. AR should now give you a guaranteed win. Make sure to RAZE the city. Immediately rebuild all buildings. I usually go for a Villa and a temple. Merge units to save money.
b. Move Army near Alalia ashore. Attack Alalia with army and fleet. Make sure to RAZE.
c. Use the funds you have left to reinforce the Syraceuse armies. One of them will defend against leftovers, one will attack Lilybaeum next turn. I know this is vague, but the AI doesn't always behave the same on this part, so you'll have to manage yourself :)

Turn 4

AChase any leftovers if you can near Syracusae.
b. Move the other army towards Lilybaeum.
c. Move Alalia army and fleet to Karalis. Force march for land army.
d. Upgrade spy with Network
e. Now we can spend some money on buildings. You can also buy a spouse for your faction leader, to get heirs.

Turn 5

AFinish of Syracusae. Move remaining units to Lilybaeum. AR and RAZE. Repair.
b. Move army and fleet to Karalis, AR, and RAZE. Repair buildings.
c. If done correctly, no province should revolt.
d. Move your spy within your borders. She must be ready to activate next turn.
e. Merge units wherever applicable. We move to Carthage next. (You can also try to make peace, in which case you should disband all armies)

Turn 6 (bonus)

AActivate your spy in Rome.
b. Hire 2 dignitaries, which will be level 2. Choose ‘strict’ to improve their tax rate. Keep the best one in Rome, send the other south. Activate them next turn to raise taxes.

You now control 3 complete provinces at the start of turn 6, with an army marching for Carthage and a decent income. From here on out, you can choose your own path. My advice would be to only take Carthage and try to make peace afterwards. Build a gladiator arena there and both military buildings, and you won’t need a large garrison to defend it. After that, good luck! Hope you enjoyed this guide.