[Gandalf Parker]

Personally I prefer that nation strategies try to make use of nation built-in themes. Its easy for an Ulm strategy to make use of heavy armor, and Abyssia to make use of fire auras. Pangaea making use of stealth is abit rarer. Caelum making use of flight is definetly rare.

Is it a large map? Take the provinces around your castle and then try "checkerboard expansion". Send out scouts to find weak indepts. Jump over strong indepts to attack weak ones. You can make your way across the map faster than others. You can strike with an army early on. And even if you get beat, its hard for them to strike back at you. They cant just follow your trail of provinces like they can others who might attack them early. To get to you they would have to attack one of yours, one indept, one of yours, one indept.

Rush to prime locations. Farmlands, chokepoints, heavy resources near their territory. Setup shop there and strengthen. When you feel like you are safely entrenched, then start cleaning up the indepts you left inside your territory.

I dont think that trying to play Caelum like Ulm will ever work.