Hello everyone,

I’m currently playing Qin in Oriental Empires on the hardest difficulty, starting in the Spring and Autumn period while staying as a vassal of Zhou. I’m trying to play as historically as possible (slow consolidation in the west, loyalty to Zhou, careful expansion), but I’m running into serious problems:

Turn 140: Only 4 settlements

Income: 189 gold/turn (barely sustainable)

Still a vassal of Zhou, unable to break free without collapsing economically

AI factions around me expand unrealistically fast, making historical pacing feel impossible

I feel like I’m missing something because the game is forcing me into an ahistorical rush that Qin didn’t historically do. Has anyone managed to make a historically accurate Qin campaign (staying loyal to Zhou and expanding slowly westward before moving east)?

I’d really appreciate your thoughts or strategies. Do you tweak settings, house-rule your playstyle, or is this just a limitation of the current AI and economy?

Thanks in advance – I’d like to hear how others approach this.