Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion Speedrun of the Western Roman Empire on Very Hard (

I disbanded a sufficient number of high upkeep prestigious units in order to raise enough denari to diplomatically convince the Eastern Roman Empire that I can pay for all nine of their regions that share a border with another faction.

This speedrun was performed on a fresh installation of Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion from the Steam store with no modifications applied. Interestingly, the AI is willing to sell its own regions that share a border with another faction at a lower price, the Eastern Roman Empire has exactly nine of such regions. As long as the player has approximately 8,000 denari, these nine regions can be diplomatically acquired by offering regular tribute. Acquisition of these nine regions satisfies the victory requirements for the Western Roman Empire campaign - possess 34 regions including Constantinople.