tough indy provinces

[parone]

just lost an expansion army to a province early on in a game. my group was strong melee units backed by a few longbows.

it was as a province held by tanglevines/blood druids.

what's the best way to deal with this early game? avoid?

is this one of the tougher indy defenses?

as always, thanks for contributing to the education of this pathetic newby...