Cao Cao’s Power Expands 201 A.D. Scenario
24. Xiang Yang Liu Biao Strategy
Liu Biao is an enigma of sorts, and at least with the first two scenarios is in a great position to succeed. His third and last scenario, 201 AD, is a bit harder. Liu Biao’s forces are just the same (mediocre) but this time there are more opponents in your way.
For one, Liu Bei starts in 23. Xin Ye. Even if you Ally with him to start you’ll have to deal with him at some point, along with Cao Cao’s massive army which is just behind Liu Bei in Wan. Even worse there are Sun Quan’s forces in 36. Lu Jiang and 37. Chai Sang.
The bigger issue as mentioned above is that Liu Biao’s forces are mediocre, and now that they are spread thin (4 cities) this is even more apparent. Sun Quan’s officers out east are far more skilled along with Liu Bei, so you may need to Ally with both just to survive initially.
Now the good news. There are still some officers to recruit. First look to 42. Yong An. Li Yan is the Governor here and is disloyal; however, he will be ousted for Ma Han really early on. Still, recruit Li Yan because he’ll have 6500 Soldiers (his old Governor soldiers). Dong He can also be recruited. Train these soldiers up and you should have a decent force in Wu Ling, with nothing behind them so they can send the whole army at Yong An. It should be easy to overcome them because they will just have Ma Han, who will probably have 1900 untrained soldiers. It also helps that you now have Li Yan who is a general and can do simul. attacks.
43. Jiang Zhou however will probably be more fortified. But Yong An is a good place to build up and garrison your Wu Ling troops. It was at this point that Liu Bei attempted an attack on Xiang Yang (betraying me). I held him off with help from Gan Ning at Jiang Xia. Liu Bei betraying you is a good thing, as long as you can hold him off. All of his forces are Shu-based obviously, so they will all be loyal to Liu Biao (you can even recruit Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, etc after their loyalty is 80 post-betrayal).
With Liu Bei’s army entirely stripped I was able to invade and catch Liu Bei from fleeing (otherwise he’ll head to 22. Wan and then Cao Cao will get in the picture earlier than you probably want (though he may move there anyway)).
Taking over Liu Zhang’s territory is a big turning point for Liu Biao. In addition to Liu Bei’s army, you should now have many officers who are naturally loyal to Liu Biao (Shu). You can then send your entire force up through 40. Zi Tong and then overwhelm Zhang Lu. Probably would be best to have a stronghold in Han Zhong (if you have to finish off Zhang Lu or Liu Zhang in Xia Bian, move everyone out of there after so you have an open spot and don’t have to deal with Ma Teng at Tian Shui (probably has a lot of soldiers)).
13. Chang An might not be fortified well, especially if Cao Cao sent some troops over to 14. An Ding to prepare for Ma Teng. Furthermore, most of Cao Cao’s troops are probably out east battling with Yuan Shao or Sun Quan. This should allow you to take Chang An and then sandwich the forces in An Ding.
24. Xiang Yang Recruits:
Jin Xuan (201)
Yi Ji (201)
Gong Zhi (201)
Wang Can (207)
Zhuge Liang (207)
27. Jiang Ling Recruits:
Zhang Yun (201)
Wang Wei (201)
Ze Rong (201)
Cai Zhong (202)