Skirmishes between groups of troops just become a morass of bodies, which is certainly more realistic but a bit frustrating as a player who needs to see who he’s controlling.

It was dark, and so dark it was a bit hard to keep track of what the hell was going on.

What did it feel like to play, though? First of all, the battle we fought was (I believe) in England, and thus overcast. They exist, though! These cities aren’t empty! Defenders can also set up barricades at predetermined spots during the deployment phase, both giving cover to troops and potentially herding the enemy down a specific path. Though they weren’t in our demo, city maps will now include civilian bystanders who might try and fight back against the invaders or, more likely, will simply run away. For the most part, everyone is out to get you and they will combine forces to take you down on many fronts. Playing the Western Roman Empire (hereafter WRE) in Total War: Attila can be a pretty tough assignment, and, some would say, nigh impossible. Fire also spreads dynamically now, both burning down structures and negatively affecting defender morale.īut defenders have a few new tricks also. Attila Total War: Western Roman Empire Strategy Guide. Considering Rome II was a nightmare when it came to attacking walled cities, this is a much-needed change. Besieging a city for a few turns will now leave it in a partially-ruined state before you attack, making it easier to get inside the walls. Tying into the campaign map, there’s now an increased focus on siege. This both denies the enemy use of your city, forcing them to build up from scratch, and also damages the resource potential of the region temporarily. You’ll have your empire’s religion, but also potentially pockets of dissenting religions, which can cause conflict in your holdings, similar to Barbarian Invasion.Īnd in keeping with the Attila theme, you can now raze your own cities to the ground in what Creative Assembly termed “an ancient-world scorched earth policy.” Outnumbered? Don’t want your enemy to take advantage of that beautiful city you built? Burn it to the ground. Religion will also play an important part in Attila. Once a city is diseased, there’s potential to spread to other cities by way of trade or armies, which could be a good thing or a disaster depending on your intentions. If squalor gets out of control in a city, there’s a better chance of disease spreading. Creative Assembly has done away with the squalor versus public order system of Rome II, instead hooking squalor to a new disease system. That’ll be handy to, for instance, keep track of the spread of diseases.

Attila total war map