I'm absolutely stuck on this level, i feel like i've attempted everything but i just cant seem to surpass the enemys total armies, although i've been able to get within 20 troops of them with 170 GPT, once they break through my defence they just steam roll me. the issue are that there are too many places to defend, i settled on a strategy to try and fix this by finding a position where i only need to defend 4 territories bordering the Green area and then i line of 6 along the east of spawn, allowing my the use a large area of the north to stockpile cities and gain lots of GPT, only having to sink 10-20 troops per turn into the outer territories to maintain my position as it takes a while for the western border to begin to be attacked. it gets to the point though where i have to put all my money into armies to defend my borders from the incoming onslaught of stacks of 70+ armys from the enemy aI, therefore i cant continue to build my GDP to get more troops per turn. if i expand any more i cant defend the larger amount of spots the ai can attack from, and in the end i result in a lower GPT. this is the method i found to give me the best chance so far, but it still isnt working

no need to build cities, just roll your stacks into the enemy and wipe it up

@Davo, for the most part I agree with Timinator. Focus on capturing the north and east half (the coastal area) of the map so your AI partner can focus on the western and southern battlefield.

For a bit more detailed of an explanation
This screenshot may be helpful: https://prnt.sc/ok4r1x

The area in the red border was my base (and what I prioritized the first few turns. When AI 2 is about to breach your partner's final defenses (encroach on your border), send him some reinforcements so that you can focus on the seaside battlefront.

Only build cities if you have left over gold, the 5 for +1 isn't worth it in the beginning as AI 2 has a relatively high army count at the start.

You begin by expanding as fast as possible and take the whole north east. when your ai friend meets enemy the enemy your ai freind will be beaten. send him stacks of 20 to keep his commander. to destroy those 60 stacks, keep a stack of about 30 to 40 near him, he will attack it but make sure yo keep ypur commandrr plus 40 armies to retake it

It is like you are the core, an inspiration from Lepanto's level "Bring Hell to Earth". The only difference is that you will support your AI and beat the opposing AI in any direction it goes into. Cities are useless on the level, and your ally is useful, in terms of defense.

for my win, I needed citiee