A Boy Named Friday

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Kinda.  The AI would land troops occasionally but would never reinforce them.  They also seemed incapable of transferring troops between continents.

[undercovergeek]

My favorite TW game is Shogun 2 as well.  It has the best battlefield ai out of all the TW games I own and I own quite a few.

Never really understood the hate for Empire.  In terms of map, economic depth, and military options it is the best since the game spans the world.  I've never experienced any performance issues with the game.  It's battlefield ai is admittedly weak for anyone who has good tactical skill.  For those who are not too familiar with TW style games Empire's battlefield ai is ok I suppose.  Overall I love Empire and have spent a lot of time with it.  Try it again using Darth Mod Empire and you will be surprised.

Don't really care for Attila and it's not the historical subject matter that disappoints me.  It's the fact that you just wander around razing cities and live in tents out in the open like a berber is what turns me off.  I like managing fixed empires better. 

I suspect the new Warhammer TW game is going to be some kind of wander around the world and doing cool stuff and being entertained by prettiness but not actually playing a strategy game where you manage the economy and infrastructure of a fixed empire.  I could be wrong though.  We shall see.

Some of the rps stuff has highlighted province management and the advancement of buildings - there has to be some kind of progression built in by research and building construction otherwise all the goodies are on the table from the start

[Martok]

Yeah, so I caved and bought FOTS...and Nobunaga's Ambition too, for that matter...

Curse you, Steam Sale. Curse you!!!!

Please post impressions of Nobunaga's Ambition if/when you get around to playing it! 

Awesome bit on the best and worst TW games from RPS:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/04/best-total-war/#more-338313

We've had knock down drag out fights here over the years on this very topic.

While Shogun 2 isn't my personal favorite game in the franchise, one can't deny it's earned the near-universal praise it's earned over the years. 

Interesting that they ranked Attila second; I suspect that'll prove to be a controversial choice.  I've done nothing more than dip my toe in the main campaign (having spent most of my time with the Chucky DLC), so I'm not sure how much I can comment on it yet. 

I still honestly believe the original Medieval is overall the best of the series, but I'm glad they at least thought well enough to rank it as high as they did. 

Never played Nappy, never wanted to (even if it was by all accounts better than the pile of shit that was Empire )... 

...But I can't believe it was better than the original Shogun.  I suspect the real reason RPS didn't rank it after Medieval was to avoid having the two original Total War titles back-to-back.  ::) 

I'll definitely concur with Empire being the second-worst title in the series.  In fact, it's really almost a tie for dead last. 



Of course, my biggest objection to the list is the placement of the two Rome titles.  They should definitely be swapped.  Yes, Rome II is an undeniably flawed game, but it's also fun with a ton of atmosphere, an AI that's at least okay, and was in fairly decent shape after numerous updates. 

In contrast, Rome was a hot mess that never really got fixed at all -- but no one ever noticed simply because she was pretty.  >:( 

[Sir Slash]

I had an Empire game with the Darth Mod as Spain and the enemy English landed an army against me in Spain. My allies, the Italians also sent an army to help by ship.  :o  After defeating the English, they got back on their ships and sailed away but the Italians never did. They just stayed and wandered around Spain, my own personal guard dogs.

[sandman2575]

I had an Empire game with the Darth Mod as Spain and the enemy English landed an army against me in Spain. My allies, the Italians also sent an army to help by ship.  :o  After defeating the English, they got back on their ships and sailed away but the Italians never did. They just stayed and wandered around Spain, my own personal guard dogs.

That's pretty cool. (I assume that's Darthmod's campaign AI at work, not just patched-up vanilla ETW.) Have to say, reading this thread has me itching to reinstall ETW+Darthmod.

@Martok -- Given my shamefur dispray of shameless Steam Sale binging, I have no idea when I'll get around to Nobunaga  ;D but I'm definitely curious. What attracts me is that is sounds like it's kind of the inverse of Total War, placing emphasis on empire management and diplomacy while making battles less 'the main event' of the game. This has always been my gripe with Total War -- the strategic elements are still so rudimentary, and the game is still mostly about the battles -- which are fun, don't get me wrong, but can start to get repetitive real quick.

I like seeing how folks rank the different TW games. To be honest, I think they're all pretty great and not sure I love any one of them a lot more than the rest. Rome 2 -- esp. with DEI mod -- has become an excellent game. I think my thing with TW is: I want to love them more than I do. They feel like they're on the verge of "greatest strategy series of all time," and yet for reasons listed above, I also find them extremely frustrating and have a lot of trouble maintaining momentum with any of them...

This I can say (although I will get pelted with virtual rotten tomatoes around here for saying so): I detest Warhammer in all its garish, ridiculous manifestations and am relieved there's zero chance I'll buy Warhammer TW.  Mostly CA just needs to get going with Medieval III TW, IMO...

(Feel free to pelt away)   ;)

[Gusington]

^Many agree with you.

To be fair, RPS did mention that Rome 2 Emperor's Edition is very much better than Rome 2 was upon it's original release.

And also to be fair, I had a great time with the original Rome TW when Barbarian Invasion was released.

But for me Shogun 2 FOTS is the pinnacle.

I'm also interested to see Sandman's Nobunaga impressions. I've always admired KOEI games from afar but never played any. Another reason why I am excited for Oriental Empires when it releases, hopefully with a better title...

[Martok]

Mostly CA just needs to get going with Medieval III TW, IMO...

I believe there's an awful lot of folks -- and not just here -- who feel the same way.  With the possible exception of a Total War title set in ancient/medieval China (and with Oriental Empires hopefully coming out later this year, my appetite there should be at least partially satiated there), Medieval 3 is far & away the TW game I most want CA to make next. 

[Gusington]

The chatter over at TWC is that the Charlemagne DLC is the precursor for M3TW. Take that as you will.

[Jarhead0331]

The chatter over at TWC is that the Charlemagne DLC is the precursor for M3TW. Take that as you will.

That would be nice. Its long overdue.

[undercovergeek]

a little excited puppy part of me thinks its already in development, warhammer is a seperate team, so the other guys are doing something......

and if/when M3 is announced, like said puppy, ill pee all over the floor

[Martok]

The chatter over at TWC is that the Charlemagne DLC is the precursor for M3TW. Take that as you will.

That would be nice. Its long overdue.

Couldn't agree more, Jarhead.  Playing the Age of Charlemagne DLC has only whetted my appetite for a sequel to MTW/VI. 

Now whether or not the TWC folks have any idea what they're talking about is very much up for debate, of course.  'Twould be fantastic if it turned out to be true, though. 

a little excited puppy part of me thinks its already in development, warhammer is a seperate team, so the other guys are doing something......

and if/when M3 is announced, like said puppy, ill pee all over the floor

Also, this.  It's embarrassing to admit, but I can't deny it.  ::)  :-[ 

[Sir Slash]

Medieval 3 would be great as long as they don't forget the Monster Bombard unit. They can leave the Inquisitors out this time for my part though. BTW there is a "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" mod for M2TW for you China-Centrics.

[Gusington]

Have you played it?

[Sir Slash]

No I haven't. I saw it over at the Total War Center just the other day. I'll see if I can find it again and post a link.

[Sir Slash]

Link to the TW Center home page.   http://www.twcenter.net/    Scroll down to the 5th article for a video review. Or look at,   forums/medieval 2 hosted mods/ rise of the three kingdoms   :-[ If this turns out to be wrong.