The effective early NON-use of Pretenders in combat ....

[Teleolurian]

It's a rare occasion when I can't take a province at the very beginning, using my starting army to attack an independent (normal settings). When this happens, it's almost always because of a 'special' independent army.

Generally, I'll build a 'screen' horde to handle early expansion (like the cheaper hammer infantry of Ulm). If this is not an option, I'll look for troops with a large weapon range and set a squad of them to hold...attack while my starting units are set to attack.

This doesn't appear to work with Pangaea. My early Pan armies always get wiped out.