Recommend me the next Total War game

Soldato
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27 Oct 2005
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Netherlands
Hi,

I'm becoming an old fart so don't have time to play all the games that come out these days.
I'm looking for the next total war game to but but don't know if to go for Warhammer, Warhammer 2 or Three kingdoms.

Emphasis for me is on the strategic campaign, rather than the battles (I mostly autocomplete battles except the ones that don't give me good chances or battles that are interesting to me (e.g. elephant carnage, nice sea battles, nice cavalry carnage)).

I liked (from top to bottom):

1: Rome:TW + EXp's (best game out of them all by far, finished the main game with most of the factions, and played the main campaign at least 20 times, and a few times on the expansions).
2: Medieval 2 (also awesome, but plagued by bad pathfinding in the real time battles, and too much ''overhead/clutter'' with all the special characters on the map, takes ages to do a turn because it follows all the priests/heretics/merchants/etc around.). If the turn processing would be faster for experienced players and the pathfinding was better (at least on the level of Rome) I'd probably place it on par with rome.
3: Shogun 2 base game: pretty much all very nice, just to Expensive military and Realm divide is annoying. Lovely archers/ranged units finally though, nice atmosphere, etc... Also they made the help system (the encyclopedia) less clear. Second signs of deteriorating UI. But naval battles were also nice. Annoying excessive Cheating by AI on the very hard & Legendary difficulty.
4: Empire Total war (Awesome sea battles, lovely huge map with varying nations, nice trade system, just a bit bland on land battles and can be hard to get into). First signs of deteriorating UI.
5: Shogun 2: fall of the samurai (UI was less clear imho, but still good game)

I didn't like:
Rome 2 (Bad boring campaign, dumbed down in many ways, finished main campaign once and never since)
Shogun 2 rise of the Samurai (to slow)

Didn't play but own them:
Napoleon
Attila
Medieval 2 expansions

Didn't play or own:
Medieval 1 and Shogun 1
Both warhammer
Three kingdoms

Main worry is a bad dumbed down campaign with to little emphasis on economic development and trade. But also bad UI, I thought that after Shogun 2 the UI became worse and worse. But Empire started the bad UI... Also from Empire REX-ing (Rapid expansion) was made much harder with the morale systems, with it being annoyingly limiting in Rome 2.

So which do you guys think I should try first?

Buy Three kingdoms, Buy Warhammer 1/2? Or the Expansions of games of already own? Have I missed a gem in the medieval 2 expansions or Napoleon? Is Attila any good compared to Rome 2 which was meh (Only finished main campaign once and never anything after).
 
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Associate
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windy Anglesey
I have Attila and Thrones of Britannia, both have awful UI. Also, with ToB, it would take a season to travel 50 miles!?!
Both Warhammer games are good, with WHII being the best, but also resource hungry. They feature rpg-lite elements with the Lords and Heroes, but that is half the fun and they do not become too over-powered (unless you have skills mods like me).
The heroes & lords rpg is also in the latest Three Kingdoms game and it works great. I wish it was introduced better in ToB.
I would love to see A Game of Thrones licensed game, but that is never going to happen.
Medieval 3 is on everybody's wishlist, although Empires is also my secret lovechild, long may it reign.
 
Associate
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Napoleon was just a much more polished version of Empire, looked better, ran better, way fewer bugs. The campaigns are well done, but short and limited in scope, difficult to recommend if you fancy the full on grand campaign scale of the other titles. I also still found the unit rosters tricky to understand as well, lots of very similar units with only slightly different stats.

Warhammer is worth a go just to see how you like the different spin I'd say, the high fantasy setting and RPG elements were a welcome departure for me. All of the factions feel unique with their own playstyle, they all have very well defined strengths & weaknesses too. I've only played the first one but as mentioned above the second is pretty much regarded as the best, fixing a lot of the issues the first game had. The only off putting thing about them both is the amount of DLC, lots of factions hidden away behind paywalls again which is frustrating, especially when it all costs more than the base game
 
Soldato
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8,356
Couldn't "show characters movement" be turned off in Medieval?

Pretty sure there's a way round it, I had 1,000's of hours in the game with Stainless Steel mod etc I can't remember having to sit through all the AI movement.
 
Soldato
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London
Hmm I own a few of these games but couldn't get in to them at all.

However I did play the Dwarfs for a campaign in Warhammer TW1. Was good.

The Warhammer ones are good. They just too big and too slow for me.

But that doesn't mean they arn't excellent and probably what your looking for.

Play both rather than going straight to WH TW2 because if you own both games it opens up a game mode or a map (cant remember) ad you can mix and match the factions.
 
Permabanned
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I think you're going to be in a lot of disappointment I'm afraid, as the more modern titles are much more battle focused. Although I like what they are doing with WH in terms of scope, merging all three games together or something.

Suppose it's the best game ever if you have a beefy computer and are into the WH lore etc. Anyway, if I were you I'd try the MTW2 Stainless Steel mod posted above. Well worth. The Third Age mod is also quite an accomplishment.

Next time you watch lotr, you'll know where everywhere is ;)

Edit - You might need the Kingdoms expansion for these mods.


Napoleon was just a much more polished version of Empire, looked better, ran better, way fewer bugs. The campaigns are well done, but short and limited in scope, difficult to recommend if you fancy the full on grand campaign scale of the other titles. I also still found the unit rosters tricky to understand as well, lots of very similar units with only slightly different stats.

Yup, far superior game in terms of performance/bugs. As you say you don't get the world map in Napoleon which is a shame.
 
Soldato
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If you like campaign map more (as do I), why not some 4X games? Or for something similar but old school, have you played Knights of Honor before? It's fantastic!
 
Man of Honour
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28,937
Its a strange thing, I used to love the Total War series, in its early days. Medieval Total War was probably my favourite. However I've tried, really tried, to get into the last few in the series and also Total Warhammer 1 and 2 but I just cant get into them anymore. The visuals have changed, the maps have changed, the strategical side has changed a bit but the battles just seem to be much the same. The tactics I was able to use in the battles in the very first Total War game still pretty much work today. I can still sit there, hide a bunch of cavalry at the sides, tie the enemy up in the middle and then flank them with the cavalry and rout them all. As a result, I become very bored of the battle side of the game quickly these days and unfortunately the strategic map side of the game isnt deep enough to stand on its own and I end up losing interest overall. Its a pity but I end up feeling like Total War as a gaming series has had its time for me.
 
Associate
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Straya but now east London innit
I've sort of been having fun with Rome 2 and the DEI mod. It's added more depth to the game and the AI seem a bit more intelligent but the old rome 2 problems are still in the back ground.

As a long time TW player and find more enjoyment in Paradox games these days (apart from the endless dlc). Would love a Crusaders kings game with 3d battles ha.
 
Soldato
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Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2009
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Under the hot sun.
Hi,

I'm becoming an old fart so don't have time to play all the games that come out these days.
I'm looking for the next total war game to but but don't know if to go for Warhammer, Warhammer 2 or Three kingdoms.

Emphasis for me is on the strategic campaign, rather than the battles (I mostly autocomplete battles except the ones that don't give me good chances or battles that are interesting to me (e.g. elephant carnage, nice sea battles, nice cavalry carnage)).

I liked (from top to bottom):

1: Rome:TW + EXp's (best game out of them all by far, finished the main game with most of the factions, and played the main campaign at least 20 times, and a few times on the expansions).
2: Medieval 2 (also awesome, but plagued by bad pathfinding in the real time battles, and too much ''overhead/clutter'' with all the special characters on the map, takes ages to do a turn because it follows all the priests/heretics/merchants/etc around.). If the turn processing would be faster for experienced players and the pathfinding was better (at least on the level of Rome) I'd probably place it on par with rome.
3: Shogun 2 base game: pretty much all very nice, just to Expensive military and Realm divide is annoying. Lovely archers/ranged units finally though, nice atmosphere, etc... Also they made the help system (the encyclopedia) less clear. Second signs of deteriorating UI. But naval battles were also nice. Annoying excessive Cheating by AI on the very hard & Legendary difficulty.
4: Empire Total war (Awesome sea battles, lovely huge map with varying nations, nice trade system, just a bit bland on land battles and can be hard to get into). First signs of deteriorating UI.
5: Shogun 2: fall of the samurai (UI was less clear imho, but still good game)

I didn't like:
Rome 2 (Bad boring campaign, dumbed down in many ways, finished main campaign once and never since)
Shogun 2 rise of the Samurai (to slow)

Didn't play but own them:
Napoleon
Attila
Medieval 2 expansions

Didn't play or own:
Medieval 1 and Shogun 1
Both warhammer
Three kingdoms

Main worry is a bad dumbed down campaign with to little emphasis on economic development and trade. But also bad UI, I thought that after Shogun 2 the UI became worse and worse. But Empire started the bad UI... Also from Empire REX-ing (Rapid expansion) was made much harder with the morale systems, with it being annoyingly limiting in Rome 2.

So which do you guys think I should try first?

Buy Three kingdoms, Buy Warhammer 1/2? Or the Expansions of games of already own? Have I missed a gem in the medieval 2 expansions or Napoleon? Is Attila any good compared to Rome 2 which was meh (Only finished main campaign once and never anything after).

Napoleon is absolutely amazing TW. Imho the last of the "best" TW games.
Graphics might be dated but as tactics & battles going, nothing beats cannons and muskets.

After that Attila is a much better Rome 2 by miles.

Warhammer 2 is the better game from the Warhammer series tbh but gets tedious and boring.

Actually if you are one those who do not want to play the battles, get EU4 :p
Since started playing that game, TW series died for me.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Aug 2019
Posts
2,583
Warhammer 2.
Loads of great mods that help balance the AI away from doomstacks.

Steam tanks,dragons,scantly clad dark elfs and a lord of change,what's not to like.

Oh and magic! Can't beat a good vortex of flaming Skull crushing the opponent!

However it's very battle orientated.
 
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