One of them is the political system that governs factional power struggles. My time in charge of the Sassanids was a lot more comfortable, and gave me a chance to play with the game's other novel additions. I needed a true empire, and the Sassanids seemed like a fine, fine choice. My homeless armies were a horde once more, and while I could have established a camp anywhere I chose (using the stance menu), I abandoned my dreams of roaming the plains and razing towns.
I tried to fill my coffers by demanding tributes from other civilizations via the diplomatic menu, but I had too few puppet states. From my lone city a group of traitors rose, and I knew my chances of dominating the landscape were now too low for me to carry on. They were restless and lived in squalor I'd done a poor job of giving them incomes and infrastructures. Meanwhile, I hadn't been feeding my populace. It was a joy to return to the series' giant battlefields (I certainly wasn't going to auto-resolve a battle I had little chance of winning), but General Saphrax and his under-armored spearmen and bowmen were annihilated. I was able to retreat the first time the Huns approached, but upon a second attack, I was forced to fight. Alas, the Huns, who had been busying themselves harassing a nearby Eastern Roman city, broke away when one of my armies-known by the not-so-intimidating title "The Tree-Breakers"-journeyed too close. I selected the diplomacy tab and rang up Evaric, the leader of the Gepid tribe for no particular reason I just figured I'd take a militant stance early, and chose technologies from my research tree that would support an aggressive approach. My visions of exploiting the new Total War options of plundering and pillaging were obscured by a crushing truth: I wasn't ready to face my would-be oppressors.
#Rome total war 2 politics full#
Such settlements aren't blessed with full fertility, so I knew that I wouldn't be filling my food stores as quickly as I'd like, but I presumed my fledgling village might provide some sustenance for the years to come. I began as a horde, but I chose to settle quickly into an abandoned settlement and sent my two pre-existing armies out to conquer. It was not an easy situation to inherit, particularly given how new the mechanics of migratory peoples was to Total War. What I didn't know is that by 395 AD, the year TW: Attila's grand campaign begins, the Huns had already subjugated the Ostrogoths. I knew little of the Ostrogoths, but a life without borders sounded terribly appealing. Disappointingly, playing as the Huns was not a possibility in the preview version, but I wanted a taste of the migratory life, and thus decided I would lead the Ostrogoths to victory against the other cultures dominating the late fourth century. This became clear during the hours I spent in the last week playing a pre-release version of Creative Assembly's upcoming strategy game Total War: Attila. The life of a nomad is lonely and dangerous.