you can settle before bp ends I think
so do that..?
Imps is best raid troop
do level 3 feilds always. like priority 1 then your cps setup
For romans, EI is best raider. Tbh Imp is pretty worthless as early raider, but the EI has the advantage of 14 feilds an hour travel speed, which is pretty quick.
Can also carry 100 of each res, so they are solid raiders.
If you are raiding as roman, go for EI, maybe a few legions to help you get there (do this dependant on oasis and situation, never is there 1 strategy that will prevail in every scenario)