Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided — Cao Cao campaign guide

Opening moves: Domestics

Let’s talk about Cao Cao’s domestic policies in Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided.

Officer Court and Family

First things first: Cao Cao has a lot of brilliant officers at the start of the 200 CE campaign. Four of the five Elite Generals are with you (the only one that’s missing is Zhang He, but we can get him soon enough). Reliable friends like Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, and Xu Zhu are also included. Likewise, you’re filled to the brim with amazing strategists such as Xun Yu, Xun You, Kong Rong, Jia Xu, Guo Jia, and Mao Jie.

Regrettably, Dian Wei (your trusted bodyguard) and Cao Ang (your eldest son) are already dead at the hands of Zhang Xiu (who’s already your vassal in 200 CE). That means your heir is Cao Pi, and he’s only 13. If you don’t want to wait for him to come of age, you can make Lady Bian your heir (give her some ancillaries too).

Now, since Cao Cao is already a Duke, several ministerial positions are available. Here are my picks:

• Prime Minister – Cao Ren
• Huainan administrator – Cai Yang
• Hedong administrator – Xun You
• Dong administrator – Xu Huang (give him +industry income once he levels up)
• Chen – vacant

Assignments

If you made Cao Ren your Prime Minister, then you should have six assignments ready:

• Huainan – Tax Collection (Lady Bian) and Reward the Filial & Incorrupt (Guo Jia)
• Hedong – Stimulate Markets (Jia Xu) and Reward the Filial & Incorrupt (Kong Rong)
• Dong – Reward the Filial & Incorrupt (Zhang Ji)
• Chen – Tax Collection (Wang Lang)

Buildings

You won’t need to do anything on your first couple of turns. Later, though, I would suggest demolishing every tax collector and military infrastructure building to replace them with administration offices.

Faction Council

These two are important:

• Circulate Propaganda (200 gold) – +20k population growth and +10 public order. Go increase your taxation by one level (the extra public order here will offset the penalty from the tax increase).
• Seek Skilled Characters (500 gold) – When you’re prompted on turn 2, choose a Sentinel officer. If that person isn’t level 3 or 4, reload your save.

Diplomacy and trade

Cao Cao starts Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided embroiled in a gigantic conflict against the Yuan clan (Yuan Shao, Yuan Tan, and Yuan Xi), Gao Gan, Liu Bei, and Gong Du (yes, that Yellow Turban Gong Du). This is an alliance war, and Cao Cao is backed by the aforementioned Zhang Xiu (vassal) and Chen Deng (ally). Funnily enough, their group is called the “Coalition to Restore the Emperor.” Oh, such a wicked Mengde!

Likewise, Zheng Jiang is an independent leader, and she’s at war with you and Liu Bei. Don’t let Cao Ren marry anyone since we could eventually see Zheng Jiang in Cao Cao’s officer court after her faction’s been defeated.

Anyway, go ahead and enact trade agreements/NAPs with Sun Ce, Zhang Lu, Zhang Xiu, and Liu Biao (you might have to pay extra for this guy). If you don’t want to spend a lot of gold already, you can trade some food or useless ancillaries.

All right, let’s discuss Cao Cao’s management of his armies.

Update: The live/release build now places the Imperial Seal in Cao Cao’s inventory, so go ahead and equip it. There’s no need to make Sun Ce trade it to you.