-Send scouts to the northwest, west, southwest, south, and southeast to recon the area- try to gather intel from the locals on nearby cities, regional powers, and any other sites of interest.
-Attempt to contact other local bandit gangs to negotiate non-aggression pacts with them.
[6]Your scouts have no trouble blending in with the locals, and manage to earn the trust of several important figures in each area, and are able to give detailed reports on each:
Northwest: This area is ill-suited for banditry. Most of the wealth is traded along the rivers, making it hard to raid merchants. On top of that, the city of Fiumefurt is heavily fortified, surrounded on three sides by river, and by a moat on the third. It can only be accessed by crossing one of the three heavily-guarded bridges, and almost all the region's wealth is centred in the city, making raids either unprofitable (on the countryside), or suicidal (on the city).
However, if you could execute a successful raid, it would pay off in droves; much of the region's wealth is in precious metals, extracted from the northern mountains, and highly prized by all of the Storm Coast.
West: The city of Shola is a mysterious place. Your scouts have little interest in staying there long, and report that the wealth of the city is [average]. There is some banditry in the local area, nothing significant, though.
South-West: Ligoria is a fairly wealthy region, with profitable farms and numerous merchants. However, banditry in the region is low, and your scouts report why: the new Queen is a warrior at heart, and many of her subjects seek her favour by slaughtering innocent bandits. You feel that entering this region would be quite dangerous, at least until things settle down, and the locals end their inquisition against banditkind.
South: Your scouts have the most trouble getting into the town of Mileth; the people are not very accepting of strangers, and your scouts got several strange looks despite doing nothing suspicious. The city and the surrounding area are quite wealthy, and the people tend to look out for themselves, rather than working together- banditry is fairly common, and fairly profitable.
South-East: Your scouts report that Polca, its citizens, and the surrounding area, are entirely average, and of no interest whatsoever. They recommend not going there, and definitely not sending them back. After some pestering as to why the area is to be avoided, they report that it was 'foggy' and 'creepy'.
[6]It appears that, much like the Storm Coast itself, the bandits of this area are mostly disorganised. Most bandits do their own thing in small groups, without any real planning or organisation. The concept of doing things differently worries them, slightly. You manage, however, to convince the 'leaders' of the largest groups to meet you in your camp.
A dozen bandit leaders, each with a few followers, arrives at your camp to discuss your 'non-aggression pact'. [3]Despite their inexperience with organised banditry, they are not complete fools. They elect one of their number to serve as a spokesperson, an old man with an eyepatch and several scars, who seems more confident in himself than the rest.
He waits for you to speak first.
Let the troops paint their shields with the Emblem of Ligoria and wear uniforms similiar to those the Ligorian Army uses. Then raid the City-State closest to Ligoria, attack during the night, the men shouting "FOR LIGORIA" during the raid. Plunder and enslave as much as possible before vanishing into the night. Be sure to leave enough people alive to tell the story
[6]Galam, as a hub for mercenaries, has plentiful stocks of mercenary-uniforms for soldiers of every city-state on the Storm Coast. You manage to acquire actual Ligorian (mercenary) uniforms, banners, and shields. You get some strange looks from the quartermaster when you ask for them, but he complies without complaint when you show him your identification.
Before you go looting, what exactly is the composition of your forces? 3 units of what? And when you say, closest city state, uh, which one do you mean? There's Shola, Mileth, or that island.