Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided — Yuan Shao campaign guide

Breakthrough: Annihilating Cao Cao’s forces

You just pushed back Cao Cao in your Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided campaign, so now it’s time for Yuan Shao to capitalize on his momentum.

The next few turns

So, to recap, we’ve got four armies at the moment:

• Yuan Shao – From Puyang, just recuperate for a turn before heading to Pengcheng. It’s likely that Liu Bei will ask you to join a war against Zheng Jiang. Plus, Cao Cao should be roaming around this area, too, and his army tends to be weaker in comparison.
• Zhang He – From Zhixian, replenish for a couple of turns and be ready to cross the river to Luoyang.
• Cui Yan – From Zhixian, you can either provide backup for Zhang He or sail to Chenliu. Make sure you’ve got a full stack.
• Yuan Shang – From Zhixian, switch to normal stance and make your way to Taiyuan where Gao Gan’s lands are being ransacked by Xiahou Dun.

On turn 5, take “Eunuch Secretaries” as your first reform. Add another administrator (probably for Henei).

Also on turn 5, you should be able to spot Cao Cao passing through Zheng Jiang’s territory. His army might’ve been in a fight, so make him regret his decision to advance further.

From turn 6 to 8, you’re likely to do the following:

• Capture Luoyang with Zhang He. Deploy a fifth army here if you want (i.e., Liang Xing’s army).
• Zhang He’s army continues south to conquer Zhang Xiu’s commanderies in Nanyang.
• Capture Chenliu with Cui Yan/Shen Pei.
• As Yuan Shao, defeat Zheng Jiang as she’s wandering around. Let her go, but do try to recruit her two officers. Then, capture her only settlement in Pengcheng to destroy her faction.
• Interact with Gao Gan and make Xiahou Dun’s army a war coordination target. Xiahou Dun gets waylaid by Yuan Shang’s and Gao Gan’s forces.

Getting Sun Quan and Ma Chao

Remember that officer named Yuan Xiumin? Well, if she’s part of your roster, you can use the “Receive Marriage” proposal since she counts as a relative. Here’s what I did:

• Ma Chao – I gave Ma Teng some useless ancillaries and food. Once Ma Chao joined my court, I immediately had him and Xiumin divorced. To placate Ma Chao the Splendid, I gave him the Grand Excellency rank.
• Sun Quan – Xiumin was single again, which allowed me to get Sun Quan in my faction, although I had to give up some extra ancillaries and food to Sun Ce. Due to Sun Quan’s ridiculous bonuses, I made him my Prime Minister once Yuan Shao became a Duke.

Going for the kill

Speaking of becoming a Duke, you can do that by turn 9. The idea is to get a fairly strong army to besiege Xuchang. Normally, as you’ll see in the image below, Xiahou Yuan will be moving there too. Just capture the settlement quickly to rank up and become a Duke. Go ahead and get more assignments and administrators.

Next, deploy another army (i.e., Zheng Jiang’s pals plus a captain) in Xuchang. Make sure all of them are not inside the settlement itself. When Xiahou Yuan advances, just retreat and let him retake the city. Your armies should touch the borders of your occupied territories, allowing you to replenish.

Then, on turn 10, bring the two Xuchang armies, plus whoever’s mustering at Luoyang (march stance), and strike Xiahou Yuan dead. The way is clear from Xuchang to Chen and Shouchun.

To the west, things are a bit different. Xiahou Dun might still be around, so I suggest pushing onward with Yuan Shang and switching to ambush stance when necessary. If you have more than 300+ Lineage and you already unlocked “Increase Army Limit,” go grab “Ambush Battles” for his captain retinue as well.

Likewise, some of Cao Cao’s officers will be gathering their soldiers in Changan or Luoyang – Hongnong. That means you should consolidate your armies to intercept them on the field.

Anyway, it’s time to discuss Yuan Shao’s missions and events.