u/TempestCrowTengu

I can't seem to figure this faction out, they just seem so underwhelmingly weak early game.

The faction traits and buffs seem to want you to play really aggressively and snowball with military, but at the same time you can't build units normally and have to purchase them, which prevents you from actually being able to start to snowball in the first place. I'm always getting stomped by my neighbors in the first 20-30 before I can even get a sizeable army up. I've tried both focusing on early economy first as well as aggressively fighting minor factions but neither has worked out so far. I'm playing on hero difficulty. I've beaten the game on endless several times before but I just can't figure out how this faction is supposed to play.