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

Establishing the Kingdom of Wei or restoring the Han Empire

Yuan Shao’s star has fallen. Now, it’s time to talk about establishing the Kingdom of Wei or restoring the Han Empire in Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided.

Odd tidbits here and there

In Cao Cao’s case, only the first few turns of his Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided campaign seem challenging. After dismantling Yuan Shao’s entire force in the north, your generals can easily sweep the area until the banners of Wei are flying. Eventually, Gao Gan and Zhang Yan will be defeated as well.

As an aside, I did another run where I tried to provoke infighting among the Yuans (a combination of Faction Council choices and schemes to lower satisfaction). When Yuan Shang (Yuan Shao’s own heir) became very disloyal, I saw that I could make him one of my spies. After Yuan Shao finally died (turn 19), Yuan Shang led that faction while he was still spying for me.

Sadly, it didn’t really lead to anything important. I was expecting the three Yuan brothers to start squabbling, but that chaos didn’t materialize. Did Yuan Shang as a spy somehow break a particular event chain? Did I just rush through the whole thing which prevented events from firing? Or were these event chains and dilemmas non-existent in Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided, to begin with?

Anyway, to the south, Liu Bei can prove to be slippery (if you didn’t execute him when you had the chance). Thankfully, destroying Yuan Shao’s faction will break apart the grand alliance.

This allows you to enforce your peace demands on Liu Bei. You can even add Credibility and an Imperial Decree to the mix if you want to ensure vassalization. The same also goes for Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, and Gao Gan if you want them to become your subjects.

Note: While you’re crushing Yuan Shao, you’ll have a reliable means of gaining Imperial Favor if you declared him as an “Enemy of the Han.” Continue using the resource for Imperial Decrees so you can put the squeeze on rival warlords.

As for Gong Du, he’ll either beeline for Ruyang, or walk straight into Xiahou Yuan’s ambush near Gushi. Just take him down when you can. Oh, and avoid leaving your capital undefended, which AI Cao Cao loves to do when you play as Yuan Shao, since Gong Du can conquer it and remove Emperor Xian from play (he’s a Yellow Turban so he doesn’t count as a Han leader).

Oh, and I’ll finally explain why I kept Cao Ren unmarried. So, after you’ve consolidated your forces, you should have another army that can eliminate Zheng Jiang. Make sure you don’t execute her. Within a couple of turns after you defeat her faction, there’s a chance that she’d appear in your Officer Court. Hire her, get her to marry Cao Ren (married into the ruling family), and give her an extra promotion. These should offset her negative traits.

Wei vs. Han

In the end, though, you’ve got a choice to make once Cao Cao is ready to become King:

• Since the Han Emperor is in your capital, you can restore the Han and make Liu Xie your new faction leader. He’ll still retain Cao Cao’s mechanics, but the number of pawn slots will be lowered.
• Alternatively, you can start your own dynasty by ruling the Kingdom of Wei.

The choice is yours, but don’t dawdle around. Sun Ce will likely have gained a ton of prestige by now, and there’s a chance that he could declare himself as King (automatically forcing Liu Xie to escape your clutches and abdicate).

Note: You can read our other guides related to Cao Cao’s campaign in Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided. We have one for Schemes and Credibility, as well as my attempts to get Cao Pi and Zhen Ji married.

Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.