Historique — After Strategy

Total War: Pharaoh Dynasties best faction for beginners (2026 guide)

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Pharaoh Dynasties throws a lot at you before turn one: the original Egyptian, Canaanite and Hittite leaders, four more major factions and twenty-five minor ones. For a first campaign, the safest pick is still Ramesses, in the heart of Egypt. The four factions added in 2024 (Babylon, Assyria, Mycenae and Troy) are the reason to play Dynasties, but they make more sense once the game’s systems have clicked.

This guide is not based on a campaign played by our team. It cross-checks the Pharaoh Dynasties Steam page, announcements from Creative Assembly and SEGA, and faction guides from PCGamesN, Stealth Optional, Gamepressure and GameRiv. Every piece of advice says where it comes from.

Pharaoh or Pharaoh Dynasties: what you are actually launching

Dynasties is not a paid DLC. It is a free update to Total War: Pharaoh, released on 25 July 2024. On Steam it takes the form of a separate product: owners of the base game find a “Pharaoh Dynasties” entry in their library, and that is the one to install. The Steam page spells it out: you need to own Pharaoh to play it.

The jump in scale is obvious. The campaign map almost doubles in size, with 168 new settlements, and now runs from the Aegean to Mesopotamia. New Sea Travel Lanes speed up fleets carrying armies, which makes long-range raids far easier. The game runs on Windows and, through Feral Interactive, on macOS.

Game director Todor Nikolov described Dynasties as Pharaoh’s final content addition, according to Worthplaying and Gamereactor. For a faction guide, that is good news: the balance of power described here will not shift with another expansion.

The simple rule: learn with 2023, travel with 2024

The eight base-game leaders have been covered in detail since October 2023. The four Dynasties factions are presented by Creative Assembly at culture level, and none of the guides we read rank their difficulty. That documentation gap shapes our advice: play your first campaign with an original leader, then head to the Aegean or Mesopotamia.

The eight leaders split across three cultures:

Egypt: Ramesses, Seti, Amenmesse and Tausret;
Canaan: Bay and Irsu;
Hittites: Kurunta and Suppiluliuma.

PCGamesN describes the Hittites as heavily armoured soldiers, slower but very powerful, and the Canaanites as stealthy, swift and flexible. Stealth Optional backs up the Hittite profile with strong melee infantry around Kurunta, and GameRiv credits Suppiluliuma with a decent share of medium and heavy units.

First campaign: Ramesses

Every guide we read points to Ramesses. Gamepressure tells newcomers, and anyone returning after a long break, to pick this faction. Stealth Optional calls it a good start for players new to Total War. GameRiv puts him first in its leader ranking.

Geography does most of the work. Ramesses starts in the middle of the map, which gives him two directions to expand and borders that are fairly easy to hold, according to Gamepressure. GameRiv points out that he is surrounded by weaker powers. His army is well rounded with no major weakness, and both Stealth Optional and Gamepressure highlight his Medjay units.

Gamepressure’s guide also lays out an opening routine. Put resources into the economy first, food above all, rather than military buildings. Keep the army small at the start, around ten to twelve units. Build according to what each settlement produces. Ignore the Court for the first turns, because its perks matter less than wins on the campaign map. That advice works for any leader, but it is easier to follow from Ramesses’ comfortable position.

Second campaign: Bay, Seti or Tausret, depending on your style

Bay, for politics. PCGamesN calls him a pragmatic schemer and an expert in ambush tactics. Stealth Optional agrees: Bay leans on his influence over Egyptian affairs and sets traps with his melee and missile units. GameRiv adds that his real strength lies in politics and in the legitimacy he draws from Court positions. Pick him if you enjoyed the Court with Ramesses and want to turn it into your main weapon.

Seti, for war. The rightful heir, in PCGamesN’s words, Seti goes for military expansion. Stealth Optional describes big armies of cheap troops, and GameRiv notes he starts with the largest army in the game. The trade-off is numerous but undisciplined infantry, and morale you need to watch. Take him if you want to learn battles more than management.

Tausret, for a steadier game. PCGamesN describes her as a sharp, resilient strategist. The guides disagree on her main strength: Stealth Optional stresses her economy, GameRiv her chariots and a defensive mindset. That is not a weakness. Tausret suits a player who wants to hold Egypt without rushing into war in the opening turns.

Amenmesse rounds out the Egyptian four. Guides cover him less than the other three: save him for later, once you know the Nile valley.

Factions to avoid at first

Suppiluliuma. The Hittite Great King is a defensive leader who puts his people’s happiness and morale first, according to PCGamesN. Stealth Optional calls his start by far the most challenging in the game, and GameRiv flags a fragile economy despite a solid army. A gripping campaign, but not one to learn on.

Irsu. The Canaanite leader sees governing as pointless and funds his conquests through plunder, PCGamesN writes. Stealth Optional presents him as the only raiding faction in the game, built to cause chaos across the map. Playing Irsu means unlearning how to run an empire: keep him for your third or fourth run.

Kurunta. A Hittite usurper after the crown, according to both PCGamesN and Stealth Optional, Kurunta fields strong melee infantry. His status as a pretender sets him against the established power from turn one, a tension that is easier to handle with some experience.

Babylon, Assyria, Mycenae and Troy: for later

Dynasties adds four major factions. Babylon and the Assyrians of Hanigalbat start in Mesopotamia, Mycenae and Troy in the Aegean. Twenty-five minor factions also become playable, including the Aeolians led by Achilles and Napata led by Memnon, according to SEGA’s press release.

These factions get the most out of the update’s new systems. The Dynasty system runs a family tree with strategic marriages, deaths in battle, assassinations and old age. More than 150 new and reworked units arrive, including cavalry, camel riders and faction-specific troops such as the Guards of Troy. The Sea Travel Lanes mostly serve the two Aegean powers, whose armies move by sea.

Our advice: pick Mycenae or Troy if seaborne raids appeal to you, Babylon or Assyria if you want to explore a region missing from the 2023 game. No source we read ranks their difficulty. Launch them with the habits you built in an Egyptian campaign, not as your first game.

One setting to know before you start

Dynasties adds a Lethality modifier, which SEGA and Worthplaying both describe as optional. It makes charges and missile volleys deadlier, so battles end faster and more decisively. For a first campaign, leave it off: a bad deployment already costs enough without it. Switch it on once you can hold a line and keep your archers safe.

The menu also offers the minor factions from the start. Their famous heroes are tempting, Achilles first among them, but a small faction boxed in by bigger neighbours forgives very little. Keep them for when the base game holds no more secrets.

What to remember before you hit “Play”

Ramesses to learn, Bay or Seti to go deeper, then the Aegean or Mesopotamia to get the most out of Dynasties. Suppiluliuma, Irsu and Kurunta make great campaigns, just not early ones. Pharaoh will not receive any more official content: the map you discover is the map it will stay. Take your time with that first campaign, because everything you learn there carries over to the rest.

Going further

Total War Saga Thrones of Britannia: Monotony in Strategic Phases and Battles

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

An installment of the Total War series released in 2018, Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia rode the hype around the Viking era. Developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, the game plunges us into 878 AD, when the Great Viking Armies land on the English coast and upset the balance of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

Despite high expectations and an ambitious marketing campaign, the game did not achieve the expected success. The reason: a campaign many players found monotonous — real-time battles where the AI lacks creativity, and repetitive strategic phases, an almost identical cycle over and over — army development, Viking invasion, army development, new Viking invasion.

A Solid but Underused Historical Setting

Yet the game shines through its immersion. Ten factions are playable: the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia or Northumbria, the Viking duchies of Jorvik and the Great Heathen, as well as the Gaelic kingdoms and the Picts. Each has its regional units, traditions and specific buildings. Fortified town sieges and naval battles provide welcome breathers, as does the management of esths — these temporary army levies — which force Cornelian choices between territorial defense and conquering ambition.

Why the Campaign Runs Out of Steam

The main criticism remains its overly predictable gameplay loop. The strategic AI struggles to surprise, and real-time battles lack the tactical creativity of neighboring installments like Total War: Warhammer or Total War: Rome II. The map, confined to the British Isles, further limits the variety of strategic situations. Mods and the community nevertheless extend its appeal, especially on balance and the addition of new factions.

What Thrones of Britannia Still Does Well Today

Despite its flaws, the game remains an affordable entry point into the Total War universe for those who like Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Its contained price, its honest campaign length for a Saga episode and its successful sieges make it a pleasant installment, provided you enter it with the right expectations.

Watch the official Total War Saga Thrones of Britannia trailer

https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Fu0UPnk4kc

Discover some images of the game

source: wiki.totalwar.com

Imperator: Rome — Grand Strategy Game by Paradox Interactive

Sat, 09 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Imperator: Rome is a grand strategy game developed by Paradox Interactive and released on April 25, 2019 on PC, Mac and Linux. The player embodies an ancient nation, from the young Roman Republic to the Hellenistic kingdoms, via Carthage or the Iberian tribes, at the pivotal time when Rome begins building the empire that will dominate the Mediterranean.

The game takes place between 304 BC and 27 BC, the period that sees the end of the Roman Republic and the advent of Augustus. As in most Paradox games, all nations are playable: from the post-Alexander Greek cities to the great Indian kingdoms, via the Persian monarchies and the Germanic peoples. There you will find the studio’s homemade recipe: detailed map, deep economy, demanding diplomacy and tactical real-time battles with pause.

Building an Empire, One Law at a Time

Imperator: Rome’s specificity lies in its political management. Each character has attributes, traits and loyalties that must be watched closely: governing Rome means juggling the Senate, provincial governors, ambitious generals and rival factions. Laws are debated and voted on, cultures assimilate or rebel, and every decision can trigger a major crisis. On the military side, wars are fought on a tactical map where terrain, fortifications, army composition and logistics decide the outcome of battles.

A Mixed Reception Despite Real Potential

At launch, the game disappointed some fans, who found it too close to Europa Universalis with less depth at that stage. Paradox continued free updates for almost two years — civil war rework, economy balancing, cultural content — before announcing the end of active support in 2021. Today, the mod community keeps the game alive and gives it a second youth, from total conversions to fine-tuned adjustments.

The population system adds another layer: each territory tracks citizens, freemen and slaves by culture and religion, and unhappy or unassimilated populations can swell the ranks of pretenders and rebels against your rule.

Historique — After Strategy

Total War: Pharaoh Dynasties best faction for beginners (2026 guide)

Pharaoh or Pharaoh Dynasties: what you are actually launching

The simple rule: learn with 2023, travel with 2024

First campaign: Ramesses

Second campaign: Bay, Seti or Tausret, depending on your style

Factions to avoid at first

Babylon, Assyria, Mycenae and Troy: for later

One setting to know before you start

What to remember before you hit “Play”

Going further

Total War Saga Thrones of Britannia: Monotony in Strategic Phases and Battles

A Solid but Underused Historical Setting

Why the Campaign Runs Out of Steam

What Thrones of Britannia Still Does Well Today

Watch the official Total War Saga Thrones of Britannia trailer

Discover some images of the game

See also

Imperator: Rome — Grand Strategy Game by Paradox Interactive

Building an Empire, One Law at a Time

A Mixed Reception Despite Real Potential

Watch the official Imperator: Rome trailer

Discover some images of the game

Sources

See also