Total War Series, Shogun, Medieval, Rome, Empire, Napoleon, etc... Options

[hazmick]

I really like Attila, it's got a lot of depth compared to other TW games, and the battles themselves are better than they've ever been. Religion is still a feature, but it's not too much of an obstacle when conquering (at least in my experience). Other than that it still has all the other features - naval battles, politics, family etc.

I haven't played the BI expansion, and it's been about 10 years since I last played RTW so it's hard to compare the two. You might be able to find some Attila gameplay videos on youtube, but I'd definitely say it's worth a look. Not sure how much it's going for on Steam these days.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I really like Attila, it's got a lot of depth compared to other TW games, and the battles themselves are better than they've ever been. Religion is still a feature, but it's not too much of an obstacle when conquering (at least in my experience). Other than that it still has all the other features - naval battles, politics, family etc.

I haven't played the BI expansion, and it's been about 10 years since I last played RTW so it's hard to compare the two. You might be able to find some Attila gameplay videos on youtube, but I'd definitely say it's worth a look. Not sure how much it's going for on Steam these days.

Atilla is $44 and some change on Steam... for now.

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: May 18 2017, 12:12 AM

[SubRosa]

How easy is it to mod? Creating new units, things like that?

[hazmick]

Not 100% sure on making mods, but I believe the assembly kit it uses is similar to that of previous Total War games. Lets you change database entries, textures, models, maps etc.

[hazmick]

Update on today's Western Roman Empire:

The day started on a sad note, with the death of the Ebdanian high king, who was our ally. His son (who is married to my Emperor's niece) then took the throne, and wasted no time starting wars with the Picts, Geats, Jutes, and Danes. They all then decided to declare war on me in return, so I was forced to abandon my alliance with the Ebdanians and spend way more time than I'd like convincing the Picts and Northerners to agree to peace.

At the same time, my 4th Legion moved south to attack Carthago and the surrounding towns in the African province. Poor Carthago was all but ruined when I arrived, after changing hands a few times before the Garamantians took it. I swiftly claimed the region and began the long and costly repairs process, before reinforcing the area with the newly formed 7th and 8th Legions.

The 7th moved to attack the neighbouring province of Tripolitana, while the 8th headed south to claim the Sahara. I was expecting a weak force of Garamantians at every town, but instead each town had been claimed by individual groups who had all their units stationed there for defense. Pretty tough work, especially since my soldiers suffer attrition when travelling in the desert.

In political news, I adopted one of my generals into the family. My Emperor is only 26 years old, but has already lost 5 children (none of whom reached 5 years old). Kind of odd to adopt someone your own age as your son, but by doing so I can assign this general to be a retainer for the Emperor's brother (our best general) and learn from him.

I also changed my faction's religion from the unpopular Latin Christianity to Roman Paganism. Paganism is quite popular with northern factions, who I spend a lot more time dealing with. I want to make an alliance with the Danes, who have quite a strong position up north, before taking some land in Belgica to start linking my main forces in Italia with my Britannian outpost. I still have to finish my Africa conquest though, which should take quite a while.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Update on today's Western Roman Empire:

The day started on a sad note, with the death of the Ebdanian high king, who was our ally. His son (who is married to my Emperor's niece) then took the throne, and wasted no time starting wars with the Picts, Geats, Jutes, and Danes. They all then decided to declare war on me in return, so I was forced to abandon my alliance with the Ebdanians and spend way more time than I'd like convincing the Picts and Northerners to agree to peace.

At the same time, my 4th Legion moved south to attack Carthago and the surrounding towns in the African province. Poor Carthago was all but ruined when I arrived, after changing hands a few times before the Garamantians took it. I swiftly claimed the region and began the long and costly repairs process, before reinforcing the area with the newly formed 7th and 8th Legions.

The 7th moved to attack the neighbouring province of Tripolitana, while the 8th headed south to claim the Sahara. I was expecting a weak force of Garamantians at every town, but instead each town had been claimed by individual groups who had all their units stationed there for defense. Pretty tough work, especially since my soldiers suffer attrition when travelling in the desert.

In political news, I adopted one of my generals into the family. My Emperor is only 26 years old, but has already lost 5 children (none of whom reached 5 years old). Kind of odd to adopt someone your own age as your son, but by doing so I can assign this general to be a retainer for the Emperor's brother (our best general) and learn from him.

I also changed my faction's religion from the unpopular Latin Christianity to Roman Paganism. Paganism is quite popular with northern factions, who I spend a lot more time dealing with. I want to make an alliance with the Danes, who have quite a strong position up north, before taking some land in Belgica to start linking my main forces in Italia with my Britannian outpost. I still have to finish my Africa conquest though, which should take quite a while.

Give'em hell, Haz! Roma invicta!

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Really starting to get a better feel for the game. Figured out what Khajiit was doing wrong when moving units around and we won several battles before calling it quits early this morning around 3am. About to go play some more now.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Disaster! We went to take a city in the heel of the Italian boot (forget the name) and when we got there we discovered it was a city with a stone wall. Khajiit must not have been paying close attention because he didn't build any siege equipment other than the catapult things he already had. Well, making use of the resources at hand, we set the catapults to attack the gate while the army stayed out of range of the archers on the wall. We didn't seem to be getting anywhere with the gate so Khajiit had the catapults focus on the wall. We were making a hole in the wall when all of a sudden, the battle ended. In a defeat for my forces! WTF?! We lost no men and one (or more) of their buildings was on fire!

We missed the turn limit for taking that city and therefore got no bonus from the senate but we were determined to take that town. On the second try, we built a siege tower and sent it against the wall. They burned it down. Meanwhile my catapults were pounding away at the wall and eventually made a breach. Khajiit then sent every body we had into the breach. They were no match for the flood of Julii that came pouring in, but in taking the town we lost too many men. Another restart is on the horizon.

[SubRosa]

hazmick: Hail Caesar!

It sounds like the diplomacy side of the game is as poorly done as ever. In RTW1 your allies were guaranteed to attack your sooner or later. Usually sooner. Trade agreements were useful as it generates more money for you. But other than that, everyone is your enemy, whether they claim to be your friend or not.


ChesireKhajiit: For sieges, I prefer using Onagers (that might be the catapult you are referring to). But you cannot get them until the later game, as they are high-tier unit. I think there is a Ballista unit as well, but it does not do anywhere near enough damage to walls as the Onagers do.

My tried and true tactic is use two Onagers for siege assaults. What you want to do is look for a street with a clear line from the walls to the town square, without going past towers. Or past as few towers as possible. Then set up your Onagers opposite that spot. Have them knock a hole in the wall there, and then knock out the towers to either side of the breach. That allows you not only get into the city, but also gives you a direct path to the square. Ideally without being under fire by enemy towers along the way.

You can also add some trickery to your attack by placing the rest of your army opposite a different city wall. The AI defenders will concentrate most of their army to oppose them, and leave the wall facing your Onagers bare. Then when the battle starts, and your Onagers are knocking down the wall, you have your entire army march around the city to the Onagers. They should be in position in time to attack by the time the breach has been made and the adjacent enemy towers silenced. Just be careful not to walk into range of the enemy towers along the way.

Without Onagers your options are more limited. Against wooden walls all you need is a ram or two. Or elephants. Just be careful to stay in the open lanes between the enemy tower's fields of fire. Against stone walls I found siege towers are the best option. In this case you want to take an enemy gatehouse, again with the clearest line of advance to the town square. Use multiple towers to either side of the gate, and use your best shock infantry in them. If you have to advance along the back of the walls before you can get to the square, send more siege towers against the wall along the route, and take all the towers. That way you won't be shot at as you advance deeper into the city.

You can combine a mine with siege towers as well. Use the mine on an opportune stretch of wall, and knock it down. At the same time use your siege towers to take the towers to either side. That essentially does the same thing as using Onagers, just with a higher butcher's bill.

If you have a really well defended city, don't be afraid to simply blockade them and wait them out. If you are lucky, they might sally out. Then you can fight them in the open. Just don't get too near the walls and towers. But even if they don't sally, you will eventually starve them out.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: May 20 2017, 04:46 PM

[hazmick]

hazmick: Hail Caesar!

It sounds like the diplomacy side of the game is as poorly done as ever. In RTW1 your allies were guaranteed to attack your sooner or later. Usually sooner. Trade agreements were useful as it generates more money for you. But other than that, everyone is your enemy, whether they claim to be your friend or not.

Pretty much, though it does depend on what traits the enemy leaders have. The Ebdanians, for example, had the 'likes strong empires' trait so they were good friends, but then the king died and his son took over. The son had the 'hates strong empires' trait so the relationship quickly soured.

[hazmick]

Update: Brought the campaign to a close today.

My conquest of Sahara went better than expected, as the Garamantian king Akinidad was killed while attacking the town of Sabrata. He foolishly split his army while attacking, which allowed my smaller garrison to pick his army off group by group. Once the south was under control, I made an alliance with the Suebians, who had complete control of Spain.

Here's the map at the end of the campaign. I'm quite pleased with how it ended up, and I really don't think I could have expanded much more without losing control. My 10 legions did a good job keeping all of the provinces in line, but with a 12 army limit there's not much more I could do.

I'm going to start a campaign as the Saxons next - one of my favourite factions in the game. I'll try and remember to get some screenies this time around too.

[SubRosa]

Was there a time limit that ended the game? Or did you meet the victory conditions for the WRE?

There is a 12 army limit? How does the game determine what an army is?

It is interesting to look at the map. I can figure out a few of the factions, but most I can only guess at from their symbols. I am guessing you bought map info from the Huns, who seem to have split up in the far east, with one group going due west across the Ukraine and the other south along the coast of the Caspian Sea.

[hazmick]

I just decided to end it. I'd achieved all victory conditions except 'Survive until 425 AD', so I'd just have a few dozen turns of waiting around.

Your army limit is tied to your imperium level (in the base game that's how much tech you've researched, but I use a mod that ties it to the land you own instead) and by 'army' it means generals. There's a separate limit for naval forces. I think the max limit might be more than 12, but at my imperium level that's what I had.

As for the map - starting as WRE, with ERE as an ally, I had most of the map already revealed. The stuff to the East was revealed by one of my spies, who just ran all the way along that revealed line.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

hazmick: Hail Caesar!

It sounds like the diplomacy side of the game is as poorly done as ever. In RTW1 your allies were guaranteed to attack your sooner or later. Usually sooner. Trade agreements were useful as it generates more money for you. But other than that, everyone is your enemy, whether they claim to be your friend or not.

Related to this, we got a Senate mission to take a town from the Gauls. Well, Khajiit had made an alliance with the Gauls a bit earlier so it was either try to get the town by might or by a deal. We tried diplomacy first, but the Gauls were having none of it. After 3 attempts with deals, we were forced to send in an army to take the town. It was a combined force of 50 or so cavalry and around 450 infantry (the entry level sword and shield legionnaires). We ran into an army just outside the town so we decided to attack that army opting for an open battle instead of initiating the town assault. The enemy had reinforcements, so they were separated into 3 different groups (2 of which were absurdly small). We swiftly destroyed the two smaller groups and then engaged the larger group. We managed to handily defeat the larger group but somehow or other our cavalry went... missing. Khajiit is certain it wasn't destroyed, but when it came time to assault the town the cavalry was just gone. Well, in any case, the town was easily taken since most of its defenders died in the previous battle. Man, Khajiit hated breaking that alliance (the Celts are his people after all). Curse you Senate!

[hazmick]

Well, in any case, the town was easily taken since most of its defenders died in the previous battle. Man, Khajiit hated breaking that alliance (the Celts are his people after all). Curse you Senate!

I hope the reward from the Senate was worth it!




I made a start with the Saxons this evening. The Saxons start in the city of Tulifurdum, in the province of Frisia. I share the province with the Franks in the town of Flevum and the Angles in the town of Angulus. My immediate plans are to take the rest of Frisia. I'll start with the Franks on the coast, which will allow me to get some trade going by sea, before moving against the Angles.

A surprise visit from the Caledonians (who I haven't even met yet) turned out to be an offer of marriage between my king's son and their king's daughter. She seems nice, and has some good traits, so I accepted.

Just before logging off, the Rugians (who lived in the province to my east) were destroyed by the Burgundians. The Burgundians immediately offered me a trade deal and some gold, both of which I accepted. I began producing furs as soon as I could, so now I have quite a good source of income as well as a potential ally.


Here's the world map in turn 1

Here's the family tree

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Well, in any case, the town was easily taken since most of its defenders died in the previous battle. Man, Khajiit hated breaking that alliance (the Celts are his people after all). Curse you Senate!

I hope the reward from the Senate was worth it!




I made a start with the Saxons this evening. The Saxons start in the city of Tulifurdum, in the province of Frisia. I share the province with the Franks in the town of Flevum and the Angles in the town of Angulus. My immediate plans are to take the rest of Frisia. I'll start with the Franks on the coast, which will allow me to get some trade going by sea, before moving against the Angles.

A surprise visit from the Caledonians (who I haven't even met yet) turned out to be an offer of marriage between my king's son and their king's daughter. She seems nice, and has some good traits, so I accepted.

Just before logging off, the Rugians (who lived in the province to my east) were destroyed by the Burgundians. The Burgundians immediately offered me a trade deal and some gold, both of which I accepted. I began producing furs as soon as I could, so now I have quite a good source of income as well as a potential ally.


Here's the world map in turn 1

Here's the family tree

The Saxons seem like a solid choice for creating a Dark Age empire with. Good luck Haz! Down with Franks!!

So is there a way to do campaigns with nationalities other than Romans in RTW? Also, is there a TW game which features ancient/medieval China as a playable faction or factions?

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: May 19 2017, 04:44 AM

[hazmick]

So is there a way to do campaigns with nationalities other than Romans in RTW? Also, is there a TW game which features ancient/medieval China as a playable faction or factions?

If I remember correctly, you unlock some new factions after completing your first campaign. There are also two expansions, Barbarian Invasion and Alexander, that add more factions.

There hasn't been a Chinese TW yet as far as I know. The closest is probably Shogun and Shogun 2, set in Japan.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

So is there a way to do campaigns with nationalities other than Romans in RTW? Also, is there a TW game which features ancient/medieval China as a playable faction or factions?

If I remember correctly, you unlock some new factions after completing your first campaign. There are also two expansions, Barbarian Invasion and Alexander, that add more factions.

There hasn't been a Chinese TW yet as far as I know. The closest is probably Shogun and Shogun 2, set in Japan.

Ah ok, it makes sense that factions would unlock as you play. Khajiit thinks a TW game with ancient China would be really cool! You know what else he thinks would be really cool? Total War: Tamriel (or a game very similar). It would be awesome.

So Khajiit was up till 6am CST playing on a Julii Short Campaign. Should've remembered how easy it is to lose track of time with these types of games. The dominos appear to be about ready to fall, hopefully we will get a few more generals/governors because as of now we are out due to losing not one but two generals while taking a Gaulish stronghold too near my territory. We had two really big armies with the AI leading one (seemingly a mistake) and the only thing Khajiit can figure out is that this one wasn't paying close attention to the map because strong enemy units kept showing up on the hilltop plaza area and both our generals were killed when the battle broke down into attrition.

[SubRosa]

CondateFeles: I have forgotten what the Senate missions were like. I modded them out of my RTW games a looong time ago, and turned the Romans into a single faction. That allowed me to repurpose three of the Roman factions into new factions.

My advice is to just ignore the Senate missions unless they are something you were already planning on doing. In the end, you are going to have to fight the Senate and all the other Roman factions anyhow. There is no point trying to get on their good side. Because the more powerful you become, the more they will hate you anyway.

It is possible your cavalry unit got wiped out when you were not looking. The downside to the real time nature of RTW is that it is hard to keep track of everything going on at once. Especially with units in woods. Light cavalry has an auto-skirmish feature that makes them automatically retreat whenever an enemy unit comes near. But Heavy (melee) cavalry will just sit them when someone walks up and attack them. Then they will go into combat, and they won't stop until either they or their enemy is wiped out. I pause the game a lot, usually every few seconds, so I can look at everything.

Concerning playable factions, I think when you destroy a faction, it becomes available to play. But that does not work for every faction in the game. Some were never meant to be played by a human. You can kind of guess which ones when you look at their units lists, because some are rather sparse. However, you can make them all instantly available by modding a text file.

This will work if you have RTW 1.5.

Go to: RTW\Data\World\Maps\Campaign\Imperial_Campaign\descr_strat.txt

Make a copy of it for a backup to be on the safe side. Then open it up. You will see the beginning looks like this:

;

Custom campaign script generated by Romans Campaign Map Editor

campaign imperial_campaign
playable
romans_julii
romans_brutii
romans_scipii

end
unlockable
egypt
seleucid
carthage
parthia
gauls
germans
britons
greek_cities

end
nonplayable
romans_senate
macedon
pontus
armenia
dacia
numidia
scythia
spain
thrace
slave

end

Change it to look like this:

; Custom campaign script generated by Romans Campaign Map Editor

campaign imperial_campaign
playable
romans_julii
romans_brutii
romans_scipii
egypt
seleucid
carthage
parthia
gauls
germans
britons
greek_cities
macedon
pontus
armenia
dacia
numidia
scythia
spain
thrace
slave

end
unlockable
end
nonplayable
romans_senate
end

Do not change the rest of the file. Just the beginning section I have shown here.

The interface in the campaign selection screen is only made to display 20 factions, so the rebel/slaves are not shown there even if you unlock them as above. If you want to play them you have to move one of the other factions to unlockable or nonplayable. I put the senate in nonplayable, but that is just a matter of personal preference. However, if you do choose to play as the Senate do not click on the Senate tab, otherwise your game will crash.


If you have an earlier version of RTW you will also have to edit the RTW\Data\Text\campaign_descriptions.txt file to add in something (anything) for a campaign description for the formerly nonplayable factions. Again, be sure to make a backup copy of the file before you edit it. Add the following:

{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_ROMANS_SENATE_TITLE}SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANUS
{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_ROMANS_SENATE_DESCR}The Senate and People Of Rome

{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_ARMENIA_TITLE}Armenians
{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_ARMENIA_DESCR}Armenians

{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_DACIA_TITLE}Dacians
{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_DACIA_DESCR}Dacians

{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_NUMIDIA_TITLE}Numidians
{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_NUMIDIA_DESCR}Numidians

{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_SCYTHIA_TITLE}Scythians
{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_SCYTHIA_DESCR}Scythians

{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_SPAIN_TITLE}Iberians
{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_SPAIN_DESCR}Iberians

{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_THRACE_TITLE}Thracians
{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_THRACE_DESCR}Thracians

{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_SLAVE_TITLE}Rebels
{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_SLAVE_DESCR}Rebels

This Page has links to lots of articles about modding RTW 1


hazmick: I played the Saxons a bit in RTW 1: Barbarian Invasion. I liked their shield wall ability. But it was a tough start with only one province, and lots of enemies around.

Your faction leader looks like a superhero in that Sutton Hoo helmet!

This post has been edited by SubRosa: May 19 2017, 10:42 PM

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

it is hard to keep track of everything going on at once. Especially with units in woods.

Ugh yeah Khajiit lost a major battle because of this. We were going up against a Gaulish army in a heavily wooded area between France and the Iberian Peninsula (closing in on their final strongholds). It was so dense Khajiit couldn't see what was going on and the enemy came up on us while we were trying to find a way out the forest. It must be said, though, that this one didn't handle the situation very well. Khajiit's very own version of the Teutoburg Forest, lol! "Give me back my Legions!!

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: May 20 2017, 12:52 AM