Their challenges are unique, though, informed by their neighbours, treaties and their resources. Playing either of the Roman Empires is meant to be a supreme challenge, and the overwhelming odds breed a sense of desperation that permeates throughout the campaign. Now they’re struggling to keep the seams of civilization together.

It’s a dramatic change from Rome II, which was all about building these classical superpowers. The Sassanids have more opportunities to expand early on, but eventually they can become targets as well. Particularly in the Western Roman Empire, the best strategy is to simply leave and raze their more distant provinces, while focusing on protecting the heart of the empire. Migrating hordes and the threat of the Huns bears down on them, crushing their minor settlements and raiding their lands. While Total War games are so often about expansion, playing these sprawling but vulnerable empires is more about consolidation and survival.īoth Roman Empires have a lot of pressure to deal with from the north. They are huge and powerful, but, especially in the case of the two Roman Empires, stuck in the past and slow to adapt. Much of what was once Persia is held by the Empire, and the Sassanids would really quite like it back. They’ve unified much of the east by making countless kingdoms into puppet states, and now their eyes turn west, to the Eastern Roman Empire. The Eastern Roman Empire is tougher and spread less thin, but it’s fixated on a dick-measuring contest with the Sassanids.Īs the heirs to the Persian Empire, the Sassanids have big plans. Its other half is a lot less Roman, but a lot better off.

But it’s old and fat and, let’s be frank, just not the empire it used to be. You’ve got the Western Roman Empire, a towering giant with a legacy that, thanks to Virgil, stretches all the way back to Troy.

Total war attila medieval kingdoms