Thirdly NEVER underestimate your early units you would be very surprised as to what you can acheive with Hastasi,Town Watch,Velites and Equites and I would be very inclined to go for defensive upgrades (blacksmith etc) well before worrying about getting Princeps etc Secondly I would go after the Gaul towns in Italy MUCH faster (within 3-4 turns) remember they will form the military supply zone for your entire army This tactic also works vs Brit generals if you can isolate them from the main battle lines Remember if the brit army does not have a general then you will be facing light chariots and trust me the main tactic vs the brits is to send 3-4 equites / merc barb cavalry with your general straight after the light chaz who will retreat away from their battle lines before being massed by your cav and will rout almost immediatly the rest is then easy, archer them and infrantry massacre Jayzilla is spot on Equites kick Brit chariots rears in the early game and are a must have vs the gauls as well I have played the vanilla campaign now on and off for 3 years mainly as the julii

Take these measures and you will be successful if you choose to ignore them, then I can assure you your fight will be much harder: The Germans have a poor economy and can be crippled with a little skilled diplomacy on your part (getting their neighbors to attack them), so this is also something to remember. For some reason the makers of RTW got it into their heads that the German spear warband could form a phalanx - which is far from the historical truth - so you will also have to employ counter-phalanx tactics when fighting the Germans. Unless your foolish or on too easy a difficulty level you will not fight the Germans unless they are reduced to a state greatly inferior to you (which the Britons somehow manage to do - usually). Late-game Germania also has heavy axmen and berserkers which can hack a hole in almost anything, so a stable Germania is a worthy foe for the Julii. When fighting the Germans it is important to take into account the combat effectiveness of the German warbands and screeching women. They are in my opinion the best western barbarians in RTW.

The Gemans are a unique barbarian tribe not related to the Celtic Gauls or British.

How to win rome total war