Sega — 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: Warhammer 3: how to confederate and vassalize a faction (2026 guide)

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT

To confederate in Total War: Warhammer 3, you generally need a faction of the same race, good relations and clear military superiority: the option then becomes available in diplomacy. Several races follow their own route, however. Vassalization depends even more on your race, because the pact is not open to everyone and Chaos has conquest routes.

This guide is up to date with Patch 9.0.4 from October 2026. Creative Assembly publishes no complete list of these rules, so the guide cross-checks official notes, 2022 guides and player reports, and says each time where the information comes from. Nothing here comes from a played campaign.

Confederation or vassalization: the difference

The two pacts differ in both effect and cost.

Point	Confederation	Vassalization
Effect	The two factions merge	The target stays independent, under your protection
Gain	Regions, armies and lords	Loaned army and a share of income
Target’s treasury	Not recovered	Not recovered
Control	Direct	Limited to orders and coordination
Main cost	Higher upkeep	Reliability if you break the treaty

The Gamepressure diplomacy guide and the Game Rant guide point to the same trap: you get the regions, not the money. A late confederation can therefore sink a budget that is already tight.

How to confederate through diplomacy

This route applies to races without a dedicated mechanic. It rests on three conditions.

Same race. A faction of another race does not qualify, whatever your relations.
Good relations. Gifts, trade pacts, alliances and attacks on its enemies all raise them.
Military superiority. The target must feel clearly weaker than you.

Update 2.0 shifted the balance: confederating a minor faction became harder, and confederating a major faction became easier. Reliability also feeds into the AI’s decision, according to Gamepressure.

In practice, relations alone are not enough. In a 2024 Steam thread, players describe a Bretonnian faction refusing at 280 relations. They list several acceptance factors, to be read as signals rather than rules.

Military alliance. It often comes before the deal.
Target in trouble. A faction fighting on too many fronts, or close to dying out, gives in sooner.
Missing leader. The death of its Legendary Lord would make it more open.

Rules by race

This table gives the known route for each race and the age of the information. Lines drawn from a 2022 guide may have changed, especially for races reworked since then.

Race	Confederation route	Origin
Dwarfs	Great Book of Grudges, base 7,500 settled grudges	Hotfix 5.0.3
Vampire Counts	Dedicated panel: unique tasks, hefty cost, Blood	Official blog, August 2026
Bretonnia	Up to 6 technologies, then a dilemma	Game Rant, 2022
Greenskins, Norsca	Beat the rival leader, then a dilemma	Game Rant, 2022
High Elves	Patrons of the Realm, 11 seats of power	Update 7.0 announcement
Wood Elves	Oak of Ages at tiers 2 and 3, up to 6 quests	Game Rant, 2022
Beastmen	Heavy superiority, with Dread able to force some lords	Game Rant, 2022
Lizardmen	Strong positive diplomatic modifier required	Game Rant, 2022
Dark Elves, some humans	Diplomacy: superiority and good relations	Game Rant, 2022

For Dwarfs, Hotfix 5.0.3 halved the base cost, from 15,000 to 7,500. Hotfix 5.0.4 adds that minor factions no longer raise the price of Legendary Lords.

The Empire deserves an in-game check. Game Rant described forced confederation through Fealty in 2022, but the Thrones of Decay rework split Imperial Authority from the Elector Counts system, now unique to Karl Franz. If you play another Empire leader, do not trust the old guides.

Repanse de Lyonesse would be an exception in Bretonnia: players say she uses standard diplomacy because her technology tree differs.

Vampire Counts: the most fluid case

The free update blog announces a series of unique tasks and a hefty cost to confederate another Legendary Lord, with Blood spent on it. The Red Duke, for his part, is confederated through the technology tree.

The notes partly contradict each other on target size. Patch 9.0.3 replaces the 5-region limit with a ratio: you need more than three times its regions, and the change also covers this panel, for new campaigns. Patch 9.0.4 nevertheless fixes the display of a condition of no more than 5 regions. What matters, then, is the panel tooltip in your own campaign.

How to vassalize

The Gamepressure guide describes a “become my vassal” pact: the target places itself under your protection, lends its army and gives up part of its income. That deal is not offered to everyone, though.

A November 2024 player survey compared the base diplomacy of each race’s first leader in Immortal Empires. It is neither official nor newer than 9.0, but it is the most complete list found.

Pact in base diplomacy	Races
Available	Daemons of Chaos, Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, Tzeentch, Warriors of Chaos, Tomb Kings, Vampire Counts
Missing	Bretonnia, Cathay, Dark Elves, Dwarfs, Empire, Greenskins, High Elves, Kislev, Lizardmen, Ogres, Skaven, Vampire Coast, Wood Elves
No diplomacy	Beastmen
Not tested	Chaos Dwarfs, Norsca

The survey leaves out campaign abilities and vassalization through war. A race listed as missing may therefore get a vassal some other way.

Conquest routes

Chaos holds the best-documented methods.

Subjugation. Update 2.1 lets Warriors of Chaos subjugate human and elven races.
Final settlement. Archaon and Be’lakor can confederate other Warriors of Chaos by capturing their last stronghold.
Dark Fortresses. Occupying a Dark Fortress in a Norscan homeland capital gives you that faction as a vassal while you hold its homeland.
Archaon in 9.0. A defeated Chaos Legendary Lord joins Archaon, and their regions go to a new vassal if they are not Warriors of Chaos.

That last route excludes Beastmen, Chaos Dwarfs, Daemons of Chaos and Norsca. Patch 9.0.4 also fixed forced confederation for Warriors of Chaos, which was vassalizing by mistake, so older player reports on that point no longer hold.

Making a vassal useful

On paper, a vassal is a free buffer. Several limits still deserve your attention.

Modest income. Players rate tribute as low, while a vassal with plenty of regions holds up better alone.
Reliability. Hotfix 4.0.2 confirms that breaking a treaty with a vassal affects your reliability.
Absorption. A Greenskin or Norscan vassal can vanish if a rival leader of its race beats it, according to a 2022 thread.
Archaon. Since Hotfix 9.0.2, vassals not aligned with Chaos break vassalage if you join Archaon.
God-aligned lords. Valkia, Festus and Vilitch give their vassals specific bonuses, on top of spreading their corruption.

The quietest risk comes from mixed alignments. Players report that Order vassals get along badly with Chaos or Skaven vassals, which blocks some deals.

Confederate or vassalize: which to choose

The choice depends on what you want to take.

Confederate if you want a Legendary Lord, their armies and their regions, and your budget can absorb the upkeep.
Vassalize if the target protects a border and you do not want to manage its settlements.
Wait if the target is healthy: pushing it into a hard war seems to work better than piling up gifts.

If you play a race without a vassal pact, confederation remains your only diplomatic tool for absorbing a rival. To pick a faction by strength, see our Immortal Empires tier list.

Going further

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 — Mid-2026 Update (Warcore, Factions, Release Window)

Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

As of May 9, 2026, five months after the official reveal of Total War: Warhammer 40,000 at The Game Awards 2025, the project has moved out of rumor territory and into a mid-development preview phase. Creative Assembly has set the foundations — engine, tone, key art, narration — and the community is starting to form sharper hypotheses about what this first 40K Total War will actually look like. Here’s the full status: what’s confirmed, what’s still uncertain, and what really changes compared to the Warhammer Fantasy trilogy.

At a glance:

Official announcement: The Game Awards 2025, trailer narrated by David Harbour, key art by Paul Dainton (legendary Games Workshop artist)
Warcore engine: brand-new proprietary engine, distinct from the Total War: Warhammer 3 engine — this is CA’s biggest technical pivot in years
Likely factions: Space Marines visually present, plus 3–5 expected canon factions (Orks, Tyranids, Chaos, Necrons, Eldar) — no official roster published
Release window: not dated — new engine = long development, analysts bet on late 2026 to 2028
Cross-platform: the Total War series is coming to Xbox and PlayStation, which makes a console day-one launch credible

The TGA 2025 reveal: what was officially confirmed
The Warcore engine: why a new engine?
Likely factions: Space Marines, Orks, Tyranids… and the rest?
Release window: what CA and analysts are saying
Cross-platform: Total War on Xbox/PlayStation (a series first)
Total War: Warhammer 40K vs WH3: what changes?
Going further

The TGA 2025 reveal: what was officially confirmed

On December 11, 2025, on the stage of The Game Awards, Creative Assembly ended more than three years of rumors by officially announcing Total War: Warhammer 40,000. The reveal came as a polished cinematic trailer, with no gameplay, but loaded with strong production signals.

Three things from that reveal deserve a closer look:

1. Narration by David Harbour. The trailer is carried by the voice of the American actor (Stranger Things, Hellboy 2019, Black Widow), an Emmy nominee. That’s not trivial: Creative Assembly and SEGA have never invested at this voice-casting tier on a Total War trailer before. Choosing a mainstream English-language actor signals global marketing ambition, not a niche product targeting hardcore lore fans only.

2. Key art by Paul Dainton. For those who don’t know the name: Paul Dainton is one of the most iconic Games Workshop illustrators, behind dozens of codex covers and 40K product art over many years. Trusting Dainton with the key art rather than an in-house CA artist is a direct signal to Warhammer fans: the project is being treated with respect for the visual canon that GW has built.

3. The Warcore engine. This is probably the biggest technical reveal: Creative Assembly has confirmed that the game runs on a brand-new proprietary engine called Warcore, and not on an updated version of the Total War: Warhammer 3 engine. We dig into this in the next section, but it’s the point that changes everything.

What was not confirmed at TGA 2025: no specific named faction, no gameplay mechanic, no date, no specific platform. CA produced a brand teaser, not a product preview.

The Warcore engine: why a new engine?

This is the most structurally important element of the announcement, and the one with the most concrete consequences for what comes next.

Creative Assembly has been iterating on the Warscape engine (introduced with Empire: Total War in 2009) for over 15 years, generation after generation. The Warhammer Fantasy trilogy (2016, 2017, 2022) pushed Warscape to its limits: large-scale magic, massive flying creatures, unique hero unit visuals. But the engine was clearly showing its age — performance and AI complaints about the late Warhammer 3 patches are direct evidence of that.

Why change now? Several likely reasons:

Warhammer 40K = galactic scale. The 40K universe isn’t continental, it’s inter-system. The legacy engine was designed for terrestrial campaign maps, not for modeling dozens of worlds spread across a galactic sector.
Ranged combat dominance. Where the Warhammer trilogy was built around melee and magic, 40K is a universe where 80% of units shoot. Bolters, lasguns, gauss flayers, plasma rifles: ballistics is central. Warcore is probably reworked to handle trajectory consistency and large-scale cover AI.
Cross-platform. If the series is coming to Xbox and PlayStation, the engine has to be designed with console targets from day one — which Warscape never was.
Modern architectures. Multi-core, ray tracing, DirectStorage, GPU compute: an engine designed in 2024–2025 starts from a radically different baseline than something iterated since 2009.

Direct implication: a brand-new engine is expensive and slow. That’s argument number one behind the long release-window estimates (see below). You don’t ship a Total War on a fully new engine in 18 months.

Likely factions: Space Marines, Orks, Tyranids… and the rest?

No official roster has been published as of mid-2026. What follows is therefore reasonable speculation, based on visual hints from the trailer, Paul Dainton’s key art, and Creative Assembly’s commercial logic.

Very likely at launch (3 to 5 base factions):

Space Marines (Adeptus Astartes). Visually present in the trailer and key art. The absolute commercial flagship of the 40K franchise. Near-certain faction at launch. The open question is which chapters will be represented (Ultramarines as the generic baseline, more likely Blood Angels and/or Space Wolves for gameplay diversity).
Orks. The classic comic-brutal counter to Space Marines. Horde mechanics and victory-driven growth (the “Waaagh!”) fit naturally into the Total War format. Very likely.
Tyranids. Pure Lovecraftian horde. Asymmetric, terrifying, perfect for embodying the non-Chaos xenos threat. Likely — it’s the most natural pick for a third faction that’s neither Imperium nor Chaos.

Likely (launch or near-launch DLC):

Chaos Space Marines. The corrupted mirror of the Space Marines, with a corruption mechanic that would echo Archaon in Warhammer 3.
Necrons. Legendary technological faction, progressive awakening mechanic, very tactical gameplay.
Eldar (Aeldari). Extreme mobility, fragility, psykers — an interesting design challenge.
Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard). Numerical, artillery-heavy, consistent with the “total war” tone of the franchise.

Let’s stay clear-eyed: Creative Assembly has confirmed zero factions by name. All names above are community probabilities, not studio commitments. The trailer showed Space Marine silhouettes and a generic grimdark setting — nothing more.

The other structural question is the release model: a single standalone game? A trilogy like Warhammer Fantasy? A base game plus several years of DLC? No official communication. Given the cost of a new engine, the most likely bet is a substantial base game with 4–6 factions, expanded over 4–5 years of DLC.

Release window: what CA and analysts are saying

Officially: no date. Creative Assembly gave no window, not even an approximate one, at the TGA 2025 reveal. And the studio probably won’t anytime soon.

Here’s what we can reasonably estimate from the known elements:

Not before late 2026. Warcore is brand new, the announcement is barely 5 months old, and there’s no public gameplay yet. A pre-late-2026 release is technically possible but commercially implausible.
2027 = credible median estimate. That’s the window most strategy analysts are pointing to. Far enough out for Warcore to stabilize, close enough that the TGA 2025 announcement effect doesn’t evaporate.
2028 = realistic conservative scenario. If you factor in Creative Assembly’s classic delays on big projects (Warhammer 3 slipped, Pharaoh was reworked), 2028 is the “no surprises” horizon.

What pushes toward a long development:

Brand-new engine (see previous section)
Sensitive IP — Games Workshop won’t tolerate a rushed product on 40K
Cross-platform validation on consoles
CA’s classic 12–18 months of marketing teasing before launch

What could accelerate:

SEGA pushing for regular releases (shareholder pressure)
Creative Assembly probably started Warcore well before 2024 — the TGA 2025 reveal doesn’t mark the start of development, just its public unveil

What to watch: SEGA’s summer 2026 conference (likely Gamescom) and TGA 2026 in December, where we expect a first gameplay reveal with at least one officially named faction.

Cross-platform: Total War on Xbox/PlayStation (a series first)

This is a less-discussed but structurally important signal: the Total War series is coming to Xbox and PlayStation. The information comes from editorial coverage around the TGA 2025 reveal (TweakTown notably) and isn’t yet a product-specific confirmation for Warhammer 40K, but it changes the nature of the project.

Why this is new: Total War is a PC-native franchise, optimized for mouse and keyboard, with complex UIs (empire management, battle orders, micro-management). No Total War has ever launched day one on a modern console. Aside from Total War Battles (mobile) and a few exotic ports, the series is fundamentally PC.

Why it’s doable now:

Current consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X) have the raw power required
Modern Xbox/PS5 controllers have enough buttons and modifiers to map a Total War UI — given heavy UX work
The Warcore engine is built for multi-platform from the start
The console RTS market has solidified (Halo Wars 2, Age of Empires on Xbox, Iron Harvest)

The UX challenge: the real question isn’t raw performance, it’s translating Total War complexity to a controller without betraying it. If CA pulls it off, it’s a major commercial play — the 40K console market is massive (Space Marine 2 demonstrated this). If CA fails, it could even hurt the PC experience (UI degraded by cross-platform constraints).

As of mid-2026, nothing is confirmed for Warhammer 40K specifically. But SEGA’s strategic trajectory clearly points to a multi-platform launch.

Total War: Warhammer 40K vs WH3: what changes?

Assuming the Warcore engine is purpose-built for 40K (and not just a Warscape repackaging), here’s what should fundamentally change compared to Warhammer 3:

Aspect	Warhammer 3 (reference)	Warhammer 40K (anticipated)
Engine	Warscape (2009 lineage)	Warcore (new, 2024–2025)
Strategic map	Continental, medieval fantasy	Inter-system, galactic sectors
Dominant combat	Melee + magic (Winds of Magic)	Long-range fire + psykers
Unit scale	Human/elf/dwarf regiments	Space Marine squads, Ork hordes, Tyranid swarms
Magic / supernatural	Winds of Magic, channeled spells	Psyker powers, Warp, Necron tech
Sieges	Medieval castles	Hive cities, ruined industrial worlds
Economy	Gold + province growth	Imperium credits? Sector resources? (TBC)
Platforms	PC only	PC + Xbox + PlayStation (likely)

The real design challenge for Creative Assembly is managing the melee → ranged transition. Modern Total Wars are built around the clash of lines, the moment two infantry blocks crash into each other. In 40K, that moment is statistically rarer: most engagements resolve at range, with cover, suppression, and a few elite melee units (Space Marines, Tyranids in close combat) standing as exceptions.

If CA simply replicates the fantasy dynamic with a sci-fi reskin, the game will feel flat to 40K fans. If they reinvent too much, they lose the Total War core audience. It’s a fine balance — and that’s probably why the studio took the time to build a dedicated engine rather than adapt Warscape.

Going further

To dig deeper into the Total War ecosystem and the WH40K expectations, here are our reference articles:

Total War: Warhammer 3 — full overview and fantasy RTS guide (Total War hub cornerstone)
Total War: Warhammer 3 factions tier list (Immortal Empires 2026) — to understand how CA balances massive rosters
Total War: Warhammer 40K — everything we know about the ultra-grim RTS — pre-announcement analysis, useful to compare with what we know now
Creative Assembly announces Total War: Warhammer 40,000 — the raw announcement-day news
Total War: 25 years of history, from a crazy project to Medieval 3 and beyond — to frame CA’s overall roadmap

One thing to remember at mid-2026: Warhammer 40K is no longer a rumor, but the project is still far from release. The technical bet on the Warcore engine and the cross-platform opening make it potentially the most ambitious Total War ever launched, but also the riskiest. Next expected milestones: summer 2026 (first gameplay) and TGA 2026 (officially named faction). We’ll come back to this each step of the way.

Sources

Humankind Complete Guide: 4X Civilization Alternative 2026

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Watch the official trailer:

Introduction: Humankind’s Bold Bet on Civilization Building

When Amplitude Studios and SEGA launched Humankind in August 2021, they did so with a revolutionary premise: what if you didn’t have to pick a single civilization at the start and play it for the entire game? What if, instead, you could combine cultures across eras, building a truly unique civilization that evolved through history?

This single idea — the culture combination system — is what defines Humankind and separates it from its most obvious competitor, the Civilization series. After years of patches, DLC, and community feedback, Humankind in 2026 is a significantly improved game from its launch version. It’s not without flaws, but for strategy fans looking for a fresh take on the 4X formula, it offers something genuinely different.

This guide covers everything from optimal culture picks to advanced strategies, DLC recommendations, and how Humankind stacks up against Civilization VII in 2026. For broader context, see our best PC strategy games 2026 ranking.

The Culture System: Humankind’s Core Innovation

How Culture Selection Works

Humankind divides history into six eras: Neolithic, Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Early Modern, and Contemporary. In the Neolithic era, everyone starts as a generic nomadic tribe. From the Ancient era onward, each era presents you with approximately 10 cultures to choose from, each belonging to one of seven affinities.

When you pick a culture, you gain:

A Legacy Trait — a permanent passive bonus that stacks with all future culture choices.
An Emblematic Unit — a unique military unit for that era.
An Emblematic Quarter — a unique city district with special bonuses.
An Active Ability — tied to your culture’s affinity, usable once per era.

The crucial insight is that Legacy Traits stack permanently. By the Contemporary era, your civilization has accumulated six Legacy Traits — one from each era. This creates enormous build diversity and strategic depth.

The Seven Affinities

Each culture belongs to one of seven affinities that define its playstyle:

Affinity	Focus	Active Ability	Best For
Agrarian	Food & Population	Harvest food bonus	Tall play, population growth
Builder	Production & Wonders	Faster construction	Infrastructure, Wonder rushing
Aesthete	Culture & Influence	Culture bomb	Cultural dominance, border expansion
Merchant	Gold & Trade	Trade bonus	Economic strategies, buying power
Militarist	Combat & Conquest	Combat strength bonus	War and domination
Scientist	Research & Technology	Research burst	Tech rushing, late-game advantage
Expansionist	Territory & Outposts	Cheap expansion	Wide play, many cities

Top Culture Combinations

Here are some proven culture paths that synergize well:

The Science Steamroller: Babylonians (Ancient) → Mayans (Classical) → Joseon (Medieval) → French (Early Modern) → Japanese (Contemporary)

This build stacks science bonuses across eras, ensuring you always have access to advanced technologies before opponents. By the Early Modern era, you should be an entire age ahead in tech.

The Military Juggernaut: Mycenaeans (Ancient) → Romans (Classical) → Mongols (Medieval) → Spanish (Early Modern) → Soviets (Contemporary)

This path provides exceptional military units and combat bonuses in every era. The Mongols in the Medieval era are particularly devastating — their cavalry can sweep across the map.

The Cultural Empire: Egyptians (Ancient) → Khmer (Classical) → Franks (Medieval) → Mughal (Early Modern) → Americans (Contemporary)

Stacking culture and builder bonuses lets you generate influence at an incredible rate, spreading your civilization’s borders and absorbing rivals through cultural dominance.

The Economic Powerhouse: Phoenicians (Ancient) → Carthaginians (Classical) → Ghana (Medieval) → Dutch (Early Modern) → Japanese (Contemporary)

Gold-focused cultures accumulate wealth that can be converted into military units, bought buildings, and diplomatic leverage. Money makes everything easier in Humankind.

The Six Eras: Detailed Strategies

Neolithic Era: The Foundation

The Neolithic era is unique — you don’t have a city, just a nomadic tribe. Your goal is to explore, hunt animals, and collect curiosities (which provide science and influence) while growing your population.

Key Principles:

Explore aggressively. Curiosities provide valuable science stars early.
Hunt animals for food. Each food star earns you another population unit that converts to citizens when you settle.
Don’t rush to advance. Staying in the Neolithic an extra few turns to accumulate 6-7 population gives a massive start. However, don’t wait too long — other players picking cultures first get priority choice.
Find a good settling location. Scout for a tile with river access, food resources, and strategic resources nearby.

Ancient Era: Setting the Direction

The Ancient era establishes your civilization’s identity. Your first culture choice matters enormously because it shapes the next 50+ turns.

Top Ancient Cultures:

Egyptians (Builder): The Pyramids emblematic quarter provides massive production bonuses. Combined with the builder affinity’s faster construction, you can rush early Wonders like the Stonehenge or the Pyramids of Giza. Excellent for players who want to build tall.
Harappans (Agrarian): The Canal Network provides food bonuses that accelerate population growth. More population means more citizens working tiles, which accelerates everything else. The strongest “generalist” Ancient pick.
Mycenaeans (Militarist): If you want to conquer early, Mycenaeans provide combat bonuses and the powerful Promachoi unique unit. An early military rush can eliminate or cripple a neighbor before they get established.
Zhou (Aesthete): Generate massive culture early, unlocking civics and border expansion faster than anyone else. Culture is underrated in the early game — it translates to real strategic advantages.

Classical Era: Expansion and Conflict

The Classical era is when empires begin to clash. You should have 2-4 cities by now and be encountering other civilizations regularly.

Key Considerations:

Military readiness is essential. Even if you’re playing peacefully, AI civilizations become aggressive in the Classical era. Maintain a defensive army.
Attach outposts to cities. Each outpost attached to a city extends that city’s territory and resource access. Prioritize attaching outposts with luxury or strategic resources.
Build districts aggressively. Makers Quarters, Farmers Quarters, and your emblematic quarter should be the priority. Production snowballs — the more you have, the faster you can build everything else.

Medieval Era: The Power Spike

The Medieval era is where certain culture picks become game-defining. The Mongols are the most notorious — their cavalry hordes can sweep across the map and conquer multiple cities in a single era. Even if you’re not picking Mongols, you need to be prepared to defend against someone who does.

For non-military players, the Medieval era is about consolidating. Build Wonders, develop infrastructure, and research key technologies that unlock advanced buildings and military units.

Early Modern Era: The Global Stage

By the Early Modern era, the map is fully explored and all civilizations are in contact. Diplomacy, trade, and religion become increasingly important. This is also when gunpowder units arrive, fundamentally changing military dynamics.

Key Early Modern Cultures:

Ottomans (Militarist): Powerful gunpowder units that dominate the battlefield.
French (Aesthete): Massive culture generation that can flip enemy cities through influence.
Dutch (Merchant): Economic bonuses that fund everything else. The Dutch East India Company emblematic quarter is exceptional.

Contemporary Era: The Final Push

The Contemporary era is a sprint to the finish. Every remaining Fame star matters, and the culture you choose should complement your existing strengths to maximize final-turn scoring.

Endgame Tips:

Focus on completing as many era stars as possible in every category.
Build remaining Wonders — they provide significant Fame.
Transcending (staying in your current era’s culture) can be worth it if you’re close to completing additional stars.
Nuclear weapons become available — they’re devastating but cost enormous production and Fame penalties.

City Building and District Placement

District Types and Placement Rules

Humankind’s city-building revolves around districts, which are placed on specific tiles around your city center. Each district type benefits from different adjacency bonuses:

District Type	Primary Yield	Adjacency Bonus
Farmers Quarter	Food	Adjacent to rivers, other Farmers Quarters
Makers Quarter	Production	Adjacent to mountains, other Makers Quarters
Market Quarter	Gold	Adjacent to other Market Quarters, harbors
Research Quarter	Science	Adjacent to mountains, other Research Quarters
Emblematic Quarter	Varies by culture	Usually benefits from specific adjacency
Commons Quarter	Stability	Reduces city instability
Garrison	Defense	Military bonus, city defense
Harbor	Naval + Gold	Coastal tiles, enables naval units

Placement Tips:

Cluster districts of the same type for adjacency bonuses. A row of three Makers Quarters benefits from each other’s proximity.
Place emblematic quarters thoughtfully. They often have unique adjacency requirements detailed in their description.
Don’t forget Commons Quarters. City instability grows with size. An unstable city suffers significant penalties. Build Commons Quarters proactively.
Plan ahead. District placement is permanent. Think about where future districts will go when placing current ones.

Wonders

Wonders are special buildings that provide powerful bonuses and significant Fame. Each Wonder can only be built once globally — if another civilization completes it first, you lose your investment.

Tips for Wonder building:

Commit fully or don’t start. Partial Wonder construction that gets sniped wastes enormous production.
Builder cultures have an inherent advantage in Wonder races. If you’re not playing a Builder culture, only contest Wonders you’re confident you can finish first.
Prioritize Wonders that match your strategy. A science-focused civilization should rush the Library of Alexandria, not the Colosseum.

Combat and Military Strategy

Army Composition

Military units in Humankind are organized into armies on the overworld map. When armies clash, combat occurs on a tactical battle map where you command individual units.

Balanced Army Composition:

2-3 melee infantry (frontline)
1-2 ranged units (damage dealers)
1 cavalry (flanking and pursuit)
1 siege unit (for city assaults, when needed)

Tactical Combat Tips

Use terrain. Units on hills gain defensive bonuses. Forests provide cover from ranged attacks. Rivers slow movement.
Flank with cavalry. Melee units attacking from behind deal bonus damage. Cavalry are fast enough to reach rear positions.
Protect your ranged units. Place infantry in front of archers and crossbowmen. Ranged units are fragile but deal excellent damage from safety.
Use auto-resolve wisely. For overwhelming advantages, auto-resolve saves time. For close battles, manual control can turn the tide.
Emblematic units are powerful. They’re stronger than generic units of their era. Build and use them aggressively before advancing to the next era makes them obsolete.

Diplomacy and Religion

The Diplomatic System

Humankind’s diplomacy was significantly improved by the Together We Rule DLC, which added the Congress of Humankind (a United Nations-like body), espionage, and more diplomatic actions.

Key diplomatic features:

War justification: You need a grievance against another civilization to declare war without massive penalties. Grievances accumulate through border disputes, religious tensions, and broken promises.
Demands and treaties: You can demand resources, territory, or vassalization from weaker civilizations. Treaties provide mutual bonuses.
The Congress of Humankind (DLC) allows civilizations to propose and vote on global resolutions that affect everyone.

Religion

Religion in Humankind works through tenets — religious bonuses chosen when your religion reaches certain follower thresholds. Religion spreads through influence and dedicated religious units.

A strong religion provides:

Stability bonuses for cities following your religion
Science, gold, or production bonuses from tenets
Diplomatic leverage — shared religion improves relations

Modding Scene

Humankind has a healthy modding community, supported by the mod.io integration built directly into the game and Steam Workshop support.

Recommended Mods (2026)

Humankind Community Patch: A comprehensive balance mod maintained by top community members. Adjusts AI behavior, unit balance, and pacing. Considered essential by many players.
Expanded Cultures: Adds entirely new cultures to each era pool, increasing the already substantial variety.
Better AI: Improves AI decision-making in combat, expansion, and diplomacy. Addresses one of the game’s most common criticisms.
Larger Maps: Enables map sizes beyond the default maximum, ideal for 8-player games.
UI Improvements: Quality-of-life changes including better tooltips, district placement helpers, and resource overlays.

Humankind vs. Civilization VII: The 2026 Verdict

This comparison is inevitable, so let’s address it directly.

Feature	Humankind	Civilization VII
Culture Flexibility	60+ cultures, mix per era	Fewer options, era-based transition
Combat	Tactical battle maps	Hex-based strategic
Multiplayer	Up to 8 players, async	Larger scale, better matchmaking
AI Quality	Improved but still inconsistent	Generally stronger
Modding	mod.io + Steam Workshop	Strong Workshop support
Price (2026)	Frequently on sale, excellent value	Full price
DLC Model	Culture packs + expansions	Season passes

The honest verdict: Civilization VII is the more polished, complete product with a larger community. However, Humankind’s culture combination system offers something Civ cannot — the ability to build a truly unique civilization every single game. At its frequent sale price, Humankind offers exceptional value for 4X fans who want variety and experimentation.

If you enjoy one, you’ll likely enjoy the other. They complement rather than compete.

Tips for New Players

Don’t rush through eras. Staying in an era to complete more stars earns additional Fame. Advancing too quickly means missing out on potential stars.
Build districts early and often. Infrastructure snowballs. The earlier you build production, the faster everything comes afterward.
Pay attention to stability. An unstable city can rebel and become an independent faction. Build Commons Quarters and religious buildings to maintain order.
Scout aggressively in every era. Map knowledge is always valuable. Know where resources, opponents, and natural wonders are.
Don’t neglect culture output. Culture unlocks civics, which provide powerful passive bonuses. A civilization that ignores culture falls behind in key policy areas.

Conclusion

Humankind is a game that dared to challenge the king of 4X strategy — and while it didn’t dethrone Civilization, it carved out a genuine identity through its innovative culture combination system. In 2026, with years of patches and DLC behind it, Humankind is the most polished and content-rich it has ever been.

For strategy fans who’ve played hundreds of hours of Civilization and want something that feels familiar yet fresh, Humankind delivers. The ability to combine 60+ cultures across six eras creates near-infinite replayability, and the tactical combat system adds depth that traditional Civ lacks.

For more 4X strategy, check out our Old World guide — another excellent Civilization alternative — and our comprehensive best PC strategy games 2026 ranking.

Your civilization awaits. What will it become?

Sources

Company of Heroes 3: factions, campaign and tactical habits for 2026

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Company of Heroes 3 carries an odd burden. It is the return of a respected RTS name, but it is also a game whose campaign layer can feel less precise than its battles. In 2026, the healthiest way to approach it is to drop the nostalgia tax. The Italian map gives context, pace and useful pressure. The real heart of CoH3 is still somewhere smaller: ten seconds of squad control, a flank opening, an MG changing angle, a veteran unit retreating before it disappears forever.

This guide is not trying to sell Company of Heroes 3 as a perfect comeback. It is here to help you choose a faction, understand what the Italian campaign does well, and stop playing CoH3 like a mass-production RTS. In this series, losing a veteran squad can hurt more than losing a building.

What CoH3 still does well in 2026

Company of Heroes 3 is most convincing when it accepts its tactical scale. The maps are not as broad as a wargame, and the armies are not as huge as Total War, but every wall matters. A squad in the wrong street can melt in seconds. A squad in the right cover can hold an entire approach long enough for your mortar or light armor to change the fight.

The Italian dynamic campaign adds a strategic wrapper, but it does not turn CoH3 into grand strategy. Read it instead as a generator of tactical situations: where to attack, which company to commit, which ability to use before a difficult battle. If you expect a campaign map with the depth of Total War, you may be disappointed. If you want your battles to have context, it does the job.

The useful question is therefore not “is the campaign deep enough?”. It is “does the campaign push me into interesting tactical fights?”. When the answer is yes, CoH3 still has bite.

Which faction should you start with?

The four factions do not just offer different unit lists. They teach different habits.

Faction	Good fit	Habit it teaches
US Forces	Clean first campaign	Keep initiative with flexible infantry and mobile support
British Forces	Methodical players	Turn defensive positions into offensive footholds
Wehrmacht	Patient players	Buy time until heavier tools arrive without losing the map
Deutsches Afrikakorps	Mobile play	Strike quickly, back out quickly, avoid static fights

For a first serious campaign, US Forces remain the clearest entry point. They forgive more mistakes, expose the basic cover system well, and let you learn vehicles without making the whole army depend on one fragile trick.

British Forces are better when you already enjoy building a strong position before pushing out. Wehrmacht rewards patience and punishment: you survive awkward early moments so later units can matter. Deutsches Afrikakorps is exciting, but it asks more from your movement and retreat timing.

Four habits that change most battles

The first habit is retreating early. Many new players wait until a squad is almost dead before pressing retreat. That is too late. A surviving squad keeps its veterancy, returns to the front and repays the time you invested in it. A dead squad is a debt.

The second habit is flanking. An MG42 locking a street should not be respected like a wall. It should be moved. Smoke it, go through a garden, force the pivot, then commit the squad that was not suppressed. CoH3 rewards geometry more than courage.

The third habit is combined arms. Infantry alone gets punished by armor. Armor alone gets stopped by anti-tank and loses map control. Even in single-player, keep at least a basic answer to each threat: infantry, suppression, indirect fire, anti-vehicle pressure and a way to scout.

The fourth habit is tempo. Capturing a fuel point is not a good deal if it costs two veteran squads. Sometimes the profitable move is to give up ground for three minutes, then return with smoke, mortar fire and a light vehicle when the enemy line is already stretched.

How to read the Italian campaign

The Italian campaign works best when you do not try to run everywhere. Secure a beachhead, keep companies close enough to support each other, and treat ports or airfields as structural objectives rather than checklist icons. The common mistake is opening too many fronts because the map invites it. CoH3 punishes scattered forces quickly.

Your priorities should stay readable. Hold a simple supply line first. Improve a few companies instead of smoothing upgrades across everyone. Use strategic abilities before difficult battles, not after they go badly. Avoid automatic engagements when a manual battle can preserve veteran squads. Do not launch a major offensive without anti-armor options, even if the map appears open.

The campaign becomes more enjoyable when you stop treating it like a conquest puzzle and start treating it like a pressure system. Its job is to ask: which fight do you actually want to take?

Mods and multiplayer: keep the learning clean

The modding scene exists, but it does not have the long historical weight of Company of Heroes 2. For your first hundred hours, stay close to the vanilla game, perhaps with interface improvements or light fixes. Big realism mods can be interesting, but they also change timing, lethality and unit value. If you start with them, you may not know whether you are learning CoH3 or a rewritten ruleset.

For multiplayer, start with 1v1 or 2v2 before diving into 4v4 chaos. Large team games are spectacular, but they hide your mistakes. You can win without understanding why, or lose without identifying when the game turned. A 1v1 is harsher, but it teaches faster.

Quick diagnosis after a lost match

Use the replay like a tactical ledger. On the first pass, look only at squad wipes: Riflemen, Grenadiers, team weapons and light vehicles lost before they created value. On the second pass, follow fuel points and cutoff points. If your army was fighting near the wrong resource, the battle may have been lost before the first tank arrived.

Then check the support layer. A mortar that never forced an MG to move, an anti-tank gun facing the wrong road, or a scout unit arriving after the vehicle timing are all concrete signals. They matter more than blaming faction balance. CoH3 rewards players who can name the mistake: bad cover, late retreat, unsupported armor, no smoke, no reconnaissance, or a fuel point defended past its value.

Reading a defeat honestly

The right question after a loss is not only “which enemy unit was too strong?”. Ask which squad died for no reason, which point was defended too long, and which support weapon was never protected. CoH3 becomes clearer when you read a battle as a chain of small debts.

If you lose an infantry squad early, you also lose its future veterancy, its map presence and the chance to force a flank later. If you send out armor without scouting, you may hand the opponent a perfect anti-tank timing. If your mortars sit too far back, they never answer the MG at the moment it matters. These mistakes are not dramatic, but they explain many matches that slide away slowly.

A useful habit is to replay the minute before the disaster, not the last ten seconds. The battle was often already going wrong before the vehicle exploded or the point was lost. That is why CoH3 still works: it does not demand impossible speed, it demands that you recognize the fight you should refuse earlier.

Practical case: a squad can be worth more than fuel

Imagine two Riflemen contesting a fuel point. A German MG reveals itself, and a light vehicle is moving down the road. The impatient player stays, throws a grenade late and loses a squad. The stronger exchange is less heroic: retreat the suppressed unit, use smoke or mortar fire if available, then return with something that can force the MG to pivot.

That small decision explains why CoH3 remains interesting despite its uneven campaign. The game does not only reward taking territory. It rewards preserving veterans, rotating damaged squads and refusing fights where the opponent already prepared the ground.

Sources and media

This rewrite uses the official Company of Heroes site and the Steam page for Company of Heroes 3. The screenshots above are Steam media tied to steamAppId 1677280, matching the local game sheet.

Verdict

Company of Heroes 3 is not flawless, and that is exactly why it needs an honest guide. The campaign map can feel uneven, and some missions blur together. Its battles, however, still have that particular tension where one tiny decision changes everything.

Play it for what it does with clarity: tense, readable tactical command. If you learn to save veterans, flank support weapons and refuse bad engagements, CoH3 becomes more than a license returning. It becomes a very good RTS classroom.

For more World War II strategy, read our Hearts of Iron IV guide and our top PC strategy games 2026.

Total War Warhammer 3: where to start in Immortal Empires

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Total War Warhammer 3 has become a cathedral of content. It is impressive, generous, sometimes wonderful and honestly intimidating. The wrong reflex is trying to understand everything before starting a campaign: every lord, every DLC, every mod, every school of magic. You will never leave the menu.

The better reflex is the opposite: choose a readable faction, play twenty turns seriously, lose a few battles, and only then widen the door. Warhammer 3 is not difficult because of its rules. It is difficult because it gives too many options too early.

Start small in Immortal Empires

Immortal Empires is the huge sandbox map of Total War Warhammer 3. It is also the best mode to play today, provided you do not treat it like an encyclopedia. Your first campaign should teach three things: hold a province, compose a coherent army and choose your wars.

Do not try to optimize every building. Look first at your economy, recruitment and immediate enemies. If your first province is stable, you are learning. If you move in three directions at once, you are being carried by the map rather than reading it.

Three good first campaigns

Karl Franz, Empire
A very readable general teacher. Correct infantry, solid ranged units, useful cavalry, clear artillery and accessible magic. You will learn diplomacy, multiple threats and classic battles.

Tyrion, High Elves
Strong for learning ranged power, economy and clean armies. Less chaotic than many Old World positions.

Thorgrim, Dwarfs
A strong choice if you enjoy holding a line. Dwarfs forgive some micro mistakes, but they force you to think about placement, artillery and endurance.

Avoid factions with very special mechanics or explosive starting positions for a first campaign. Skaven, Daemons of Chaos and some DLC factions are fantastic, but better once you already know how to read a battle.

Battle basics: line, fire, flank, magic

The basic recipe still works. Your infantry line fixes the enemy, but it does not win alone. Archers, guns or cannons often do the real damage. Cavalry and fast units punish flanks, not solid centers. A lord or hero holds a dangerous point when the line shakes. One well-timed spell is worth more than ten panic casts.

Magic often separates a clean victory from an expensive mess. Do not cast because the spell looks spectacular. Wait until the enemy is grouped, blocked or already committed. A zone spell launched too early creates noise; the same spell when two regiments are packed against your line can decide the battle.

Mods: start light

The Warhammer 3 Workshop is enormous, but it can ruin the learning process. For a first campaign, keep the list short:

Community Bug Fix Mod for known fixes;
one interface improvement if it helps you read information;
possibly a camera mod to observe battles better.

Keep SFO: Grimhammer, Radious and large lord packs for later. They can be excellent, but they change balance. If you begin with them, you will not know whether you are learning Warhammer 3 or a deeply rewritten version of it.

Reading a lost battle

Warhammer 3 can make a defeat look like it came from an overpowered monster or a spell you did not understand. Sometimes that is true, but the causes are often smaller. The line was too stretched. Ranged units lost their angle. Cavalry charged too early and got trapped. The lord chased a secondary target while the center collapsed.

After a failed battle, start with formation. If fast units were too far away, they could not save the flanks. If your shooters were behind a slope or wood, they may have spent the battle searching for line of sight. If magic went into scattered units, it produced noise instead of a swing.

This reading matters more than a tier list. A faction considered strong can collapse when deployed badly. A simpler faction can win cleanly if the plan is coherent: fix, shoot, flank, then pursue only when the enemy line breaks.

When to open DLCs and big overhauls

The right time to install huge mods or buy a new race is not “when you are lost”. It is when you know what you want to change. If you want longer battles, an overhaul can make sense. If you want a more aggressive campaign style, a specialized lord may be a good purchase. If you only want the game to feel less confusing, add interface clarity before adding content.

That discipline avoids the buffet effect. Warhammer 3 can become a game you collect more than you play. One finished campaign with few mods teaches more than ten starts overloaded with novelty and abandoned around turn 25.

DLC: buy for factions, not fear

The commercial trap is obvious: there is always a faction you do not own. Resist it. Buy a DLC because you genuinely want to play its lord or race, not because a tier list calls it central.

For beginners, one complete campaign with content you already own is better than five DLCs launched for ten turns each. Warhammer 3 reveals itself over time: when your economy holds, enemies close in and your main army becomes a real identity.

A simple first-campaign checklist

Before ending turn, ask three questions. Is the starting province secure? Can the main army answer the next enemy stack? Is the economy strong enough to replace losses after one bad battle? If the answer is no, expansion should wait. Warhammer 3 punishes players who mistake map access for campaign control.

In battle, use the same restraint. Keep infantry connected, protect artillery, give missile units a clear line of sight, and do not send cavalry into the center just because it is fast. If a lord, monster or spell wins the fight for you, still ask what would have happened without it. That is how the first campaign teaches the game rather than only carrying you through it.

Practical case: why Karl Franz teaches better than exotic starts

A first campaign with Karl Franz quickly gives the player understandable problems: a province to secure, hostile neighbors, a fragile economy, and armies mixing infantry, ranged units and cavalry. It is not the most original campaign, but it is a good classroom. You see why a line breaks, why artillery needs protection, and why declaring one more war can ruin an already tense front.

Starting with a very exotic faction can be thrilling but misleading. If your economy depends on a special mechanic, if your army ignores normal morale rules, or if your lord compensates for every mistake, you may learn an exception before learning the game. Save those campaigns for the moment when you can already explain why a battle was lost.

Sources and media

This rewrite uses the Steam page for Total War: Warhammer III and the official Total War page. The screenshots above are Steam media tied to steamAppId 1142710.

Verdict

Total War Warhammer 3 does not need more gigantism. It already overflows. The best advice for 2026 is almost anti-spectacular: choose a simple faction, play slowly, understand your defeats, and only then open the door to DLC and mods.

Approached like that, Warhammer 3 stops being an endless menu and becomes what it does best: a factory for absurd, readable battles full of monsters, cannons and decisions that turn on one good moment.

For more Total War, read our Napoleon Total War guide and our Immortal Empires faction tier list.

Total War: Warhammer

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Total War: Warhammer is a real-time strategy game released on May 24, 2016, developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, plunging you into the Warhammer universe. There you lead one of the sixteen distinct factions of the Warhammer world. Each faction has its own characteristics, troops and command units.

The game offers large-scale real-time battles with thousands of units fighting simultaneously on the map. You can also explore and conquer new territories on the campaign map. In addition to real-time battles, you can also plan and manage your empire through city management, unit production and diplomacy with other factions.

Beyond its roster, the game also shines through its presentation: the battlefields remain readable despite the chaos, the voice acting brings each faction’s leaders to life, and the soundtrack blends Warhammer’s epic tone with the series’ orchestral punch.

Paid DLC

The Realm of the Wood Elves - Adds the Wood Elves faction.
The Bretonnia - Adds the Bretonnia faction.
Norsca - Adds the Norsca faction.
The Queen & The Crone - Adds two new heroines for the Dwarfs and High Elves factions.
Call of the Beastmen - Adds the Beastmen faction.
The Grim & The Grave - Adds new units for the Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings factions.
The Curse of the Vampire Coast - Adds the Vampire Coast faction.
The Hunter & The Beast - Adds new units for the Empire and Bretonnia factions.
The Land of the Tomb Kings - Adds the Tomb Kings faction.
Blood for the Blood God - Adds new gameplay features and visuals for bloody battles.

Free DLC

The Foundation Update - Adds new features for existing factions.
The Update of the Living Dead - Adds new units for the Vampire Counts faction.
The Update of the Dead - Adds new units for the Tomb Kings faction.
The Update of the Old World - Adds new units for existing factions.

Watch the official Total War: Warhammer trailer

Discover some images of the game

Sources

Total War: Warhammer 2

Sun, 22 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Total War: Warhammer 2 is the second Total War game set in the Warhammer universe, developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. Released on September 28, 2017, it follows Total War: Warhammer (2016) and was followed in 2022 by Total War: Warhammer 3, which concludes the trilogy.

The campaign scenario takes place in the New World: the kingdom of the Dark Elves of Naggaroth and the island-continent of Ulthuan, stronghold of the High Elves. The Great Vortex, a maelstrom of unleashed magic at the heart of Ulthuan, drives the whole plot: each faction must perform rituals to channel or corrupt this energy, offering varied campaign endings and memorable cinematics. Four races are playable — the Lizardmen, the High Elves, the Dark Elves and the Skaven — each with its own storyline, quests and emblematic units, from war dinosaurs to flying dragons.

Mortal Empires: Merging the Installments

One of Warhammer 2’s major strengths is its compatibility with the first game: the maps of both games can be merged to create Mortal Empires, a giant sandbox campaign where all the factions of both installments clash on a single map. This mode is carried over and enriched in Total War: Warhammer 3 under the name Immortal Empires. It is one of the strongest arguments for investing in the full trilogy and enjoying the twenty or so cumulative playable factions.

Battles, Between Sieges and Titanic Melees

On the combat side, the game keeps the series’ proven formula — tactical deployments, destructible sieges, monstrous units — while broadening the range of situations: naval battles between High Elf and Dark Elf corsair fleets, jungle fights for the Lizardmen, underground invasions of the Skaven tunnels. Magic plays a central role, each army having reserves of winds of magic that fuel the most devastating spells. Multiplayer lets you face other players on the same campaign maps or in quick online battles.

The Game’s DLC

Mortal Empires
Blood for the Blood God
Rise of the Tomb Kings
The Queen & the Crone
Curse of the Vampire Coast
The Warlock & the Prophet
The Hunter & the Beast
The Shadow & the Blade
The Warden & the Paunch

Watch the official Total War: Warhammer 2 trailer

Discover some images of the game

Sources

Total War: Three Kingdoms

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Total War: Three Kingdoms is a Total War installment by Creative Assembly focused on China during the legendary Three Kingdoms chronicles. Like the other episodes, it mixes a turn-based strategic mode with real-time battles.

The main scenario begins in 190 AD, during the fall of the Han dynasty. The young emperor’s manipulation by the warlord Dong Zhuo and his excesses lead to the rebellion of a coalition of local lords, plunging China into a civil war that will last for decades. Each lord pursues his own dream: restore the empire, build a kingdom, or simply survive the turmoil.

Two Ways to Play

The game offers two distinct modes. Record mode, faithful to history and the chronicles, focuses on managing generals, their armies and the balance of power between factions. Romance mode, more romanticized, borrows from epic tales and hero duels, with characters whose individual abilities are remarkable. This duality lets you approach ancient China both from the historical angle and from the heroic tale angle.

The game was particularly praised at launch, with scores of 16/20 on Jeuxvideo.com or 8/10 on Gamekult. Unfortunately, in 2021 Creative Assembly announced the end of support for the game, provoking a wave of anger and heavy bashing on Steam. Despite this premature end of support, Three Kingdoms remains one of the most polished episodes of the saga in terms of real-time battles.

The Game’s DLC

As always with Total War, the game received many paid DLCs:

Yellow Turban Rebellion released in May 2019
Reign of Blood released in June 2019
Eight Princes released in August 2019
Mandate of Heaven released in January 2020
A World Betrayed released in March 2020
The Furious Wild released in September 2020
Fates Divided released in March 2021

Note that two free mini-DLCs are also available:

Dynasty Mode released in August 2019
Tao Qian released in January 2020
White Tiger Yan released in March 2020
Shi Xie released in September 2020

Watch the official Total War: Three Kingdoms trailer

Discover some images of the game

Sources

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

Total War: Warhammer 3 - Game Guide and Fantasy Universe

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Total War: Warhammer 3 was released on February 17, 2022 and takes place in the fictional Warhammer universe. It follows Total War: Warhammer released in 2016 and Total War: Warhammer II released in 2017. In this game, turn-based strategy is mixed with real-time tactics. It was developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega.

Warhammer, What’s That?

Many peoples share the territories of the Warhammer world. Most of them are humans from the Old World, Araby, Norsca, Nippon and Cathay.

There are also many other non-human races: some are biologically close to humans, like vampires, halflings (hobbits) and ogres, or physically like elves and dwarfs. Other races are completely apart, like the green-skinned races (orcs and goblins), the skaven, the lizardmen, trolls and other monstrous creatures.

Wikipedia

As in most Total War games, you control cities and provinces. You can develop their economies and their economic or military buildings. Indeed, through these choices you will be able to focus either on increasing your treasury or on recruiting well-equipped and well-trained soldiers. The difference here? Magic, monsters and creatures of all kinds!

The Developers’ Synopsis:

The world is on the brink of chaos.

The last roar of a dying god tears the border between worlds, opening a portal to the Realm of Chaos. The four Ruin Powers — Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch and Slaanesh — emerge from this maelstrom, spreading darkness and despair.

The fierce warriors of Kislev and the vast empire of Grand Cathay are on the front line, threatened by a Daemon Prince seeking revenge and destruction against those who corrupted him. All will be caught up in the coming conflict. Will you manage to triumph over your daemons… or command them?

Watch the official Total War: Warhammer 3 trailer

Discover some images of the game

Total War Attila

Mon, 08 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Ah, barbarian invasions… We have all heard about them at least in school, or rather in middle school. The terrible Attila, king of the Huns, the battle of the Catalaunian Plains, etc… it brings back memories and it is chilling.
That is exactly the period that Total War Attila covers!

Like the other Total War games, it is a mix of turn-based strategy phases and real-time battles. In this installment you can embody three main types of powers.

First, the declining the Roman Empire. Saving the Roman Empire is quite a challenge.
But probably easier from Constantinople. I tried several times to hold the Western Roman Empire together in this game… but I admit it is really very very difficult!

Second, the terrible and wicked barbarian invaders.
On this side there are many choices. The Franks or the Saxons, for example, who try to expand their nascent kingdoms while taking care not to get caught between the Huns and the remnants of the Roman legions.
The “horde” peoples such as the Visigoths or the Vandals are also a real novelty in a Total War. By playing these powers you start the game without fixed territory. Your people move around, living off plunder. It is up to you to choose your future capital to create your future kingdom!

Third, the terrible Huns!
The Huns… well, it is like the “horde” peoples… but much much more powerful! By playing this power, well… you can really do whatever you want. You can create an established kingdom in Central Europe or destroy the entire Roman civilization. Your call!

DLC Side

Besides the downloadable content adding new peoples such as the ancestors of the Vikings or the Burgundians, two main expansions stand out:

Age of Charlemagne, which lets you play a campaign about the rise of the Carolingian Empire
The Last Roman Campaign, which lets you play a scenario about the campaign led by the Eastern Roman Empire against the new Vandal Kingdom of Carthage.

Watch the official Total War Attila trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/h9xmbMLyMuo

Discover some images of the game

source: wiki.totalwar.com

Total War Rome 2

Mon, 08 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Total War: Rome II is the second installment of the Rome Total War games. Once again, like any proper Total War, it mixes turn-based strategy phases and real-time battles (a little feeling of recycling this sentence in every article about a Total War game).

As its name suggests, the game is set in Antiquity, more precisely during the Roman era. The main campaign begins during Rome’s rise. It is not yet a great empire but is beginning to dominate Italy little by little. If you want to play the Republic, you can thus decide to expand in a fairly historical way. Or explore other possibilities (uchronias are fun).
For example, head full steam east! Conquer Greece, Anatolia and why not all the way to Persia and reconstitute Alexander the Great’s empire? Or head north and subdue the Germanic tribes and become a powerful continental empire.
In short, the possibilities, as always in this type of game, are infinite!

You will have understood: the map is big, bigger than in the predecessor Rome: Total War. From Britain to Persia via Arabia and Central Europe… there is plenty to do!

The game also brings a new political management system. Indeed, powers are made up of factions that compete for power. These power struggles can, for example, lead to revolts or even civil wars. You will therefore have to be vigilant about these intrigues. It would be a shame to build a huge empire only for it to split at the first opportunity.

The game received several DLCs adding mostly new playable factions, but some offer new campaigns focused on a very specific period and event.

Caesar in Gaul: campaign focused on the Gallic Wars
Hannibal at the Gates: campaign focused on the Punic Wars
Wrath of Sparta: campaign focused on the Peloponnesian War
Empire Divided: campaign focused on the civil war in the empire
Rise of the Republic: campaign focused on Rome’s rise in Italy

Watch the official Total War: Rome II trailer

https://www.youtube.com/embed/1OHV628oGiU

Discover some images of the game

source: wiki.totalwar.com

Total War Shogun 2: Dive into Medieval Asia and Rule Japan!

Sun, 07 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Total War Shogun 2, like any proper Total War, mixes turn-based strategy phases and real-time battles. Like Total War: Three Kingdoms, this installment plunges us into a period rarely covered by the series: medieval Asia. In Total War Shogun 2, it is feudal Japan and its famous samurai that take center stage.
You will embody a daimyo (Japanese warlord) in his quest for supreme power: the title of shogun in the old imperial capital of Kyoto.
Total War Shogun 2 introduces a small graphical revolution in the Total War universe: the 3D campaign map! It may be a bit gimmicky for some, but this change brings welcome immersion to the campaign phases. Indeed, in my opinion these phases could sometimes feel a bit “flat” in older installments.

Two DLCs were released for the game, each covering a pivotal period of the shogunate.

Rise of the Samurai was released on September 27, 2011. It focuses on the 1180-1185 period, which saw a great conflict in Japan that elevated the samurai to the status of ruling class.

Fall of the Samurai was released on March 23, 2012. As its name suggests, it covers the period popularized in the West by the film The Last Samurai. You will be able to play the samurai who fought foreign influence, notably British, American and French.

Multiplayer rounds out the package with head-to-head campaigns and quick battles, where two daimyos can clash over Japan for dozens of hours. The AI opponents field varied armies, so every campaign feels different from the last.

Watch the official Total War Shogun 2 trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/W48QJP710-c

Discover some images of the game

Sources

Official Total War website

Napoleon Total War: Complete Guide 2026 (Strategy, Mods, Tips)

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Napoleon Total War (NTW) is one of the most iconic installments of Creative Assembly’s Total War series. Released in 2010, it remains in 2026 a reference for fans of historical strategy and the Napoleonic era. Here’s the complete guide to rediscover this classic.

Why Napoleon Total War still has a particular rhythm

Napoleon Total War stands out because its battles ask three arms to cooperate:

Infantry holds ground, trades volleys and forms square when cavalry threatens.
Cavalry is strongest when it finds a flank, a retreating unit or an exposed gun line.
Artillery creates pressure from a safe position, but becomes a liability once the line breaks.

That division of labour is the useful lesson for a first campaign. A battle rarely improves because every unit is ordered forward at once. It improves when the infantry fixes the enemy in place, artillery forces a response, and cavalry waits for an actual opening.

Available campaigns

Italian Campaign (1796-1799)

Young Bonaparte conquers Italy. Ideal starting campaign: smaller scale, few nations, learning the mechanics.

Egyptian Campaign (1798-1801)

Bonaparte in the East. Exotic campaign with new units (Mamluks, camels) and fortress sieges.

Grand European Campaign (1805-1812)

The most ambitious. Play 20+ European nations (France, UK, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, Ottomans…). Conquer Europe as Napoleon, or stop his domination as Wellington / Kutuzov.

Historical battles

Standalone scenarios: Austerlitz, Jena, Borodino, Waterloo. Perfect for quickly testing tactics without committing to a campaign.

Campaign map strategy

Economy first: invest in industry before army. 3 industrialized provinces beat 10 agricultural ones.
Active diplomacy: alliances and treaties prevent two-front wars. Offer neutral provinces to buy peace.
Concentrated army: prefer 2 XXL armies over 5 medium ones. NTW AI collapses against a well-managed total army.
Tech research: prioritize rifled artillery + Minié rifles = absolute tactical superiority over AIs.

Best Napoleon Total War mods

1. DarthMod Napoleon (THE essential mod)

An overhaul often chosen by players who want a different balance and battle pace. Read its installation instructions carefully and keep a backup of the vanilla setup before deciding whether its interpretation of morale, fatigue and AI fits you.

2. NTW3 (a focused multiplayer and historical project)

Napoleonic Total War III is a long-running ModDB project built around documented unit rosters, maps and coordinated play. Its own page describes Army Corps and Theatres of War modes, so it is best approached as a distinct project rather than a small visual patch for a vanilla campaign.

3. Masters of Europe

Massive Grand Campaign extension: new minor nations, scripted events, unique challenges.

4. Ultimate Commander

Subtle balance mod: more historical consistency, unit adjustments, small gameplay bonuses.

Tips to win your NTW battles

Infantry

Square against cavalry, never line against frontal charges.
Fire at will for multiple targets, volley fire to concentrate on one.
Reserves 200m back to counter-attack.

Cavalry

Charge from flank or rear, never frontally into line infantry.
Cuirassiers = punch, hussars = pursuit, dragoons = versatile.
Always have 2 cavalry units to exploit a breakthrough.

Artillery

Place it on high ground, ideally central.
Use cannonballs at long range, canister up close.
Always protect it with at least 1 infantry or cavalry unit.

Orders

Holding the line: the square holds defensively, enemy bleeds in charges.
Hammer and anvil: your infantry pins, your cavalry rolls behind.
Defensive hill: high ground + artillery = huge bonus vs AI.

Learn one campaign before trying to optimise Europe

The Italian and Egyptian campaigns are useful not because they are disposable tutorials, but because they keep the strategic map focused. You can see how a battle affects recruitment, money, diplomacy and the next turn without managing every great power at once. Use the first few turns to learn what your infantry can hold, how much ground artillery needs, and how quickly cavalry loses its value when it charges a prepared line.

The Grand European Campaign makes more sense once those habits are in place. Do not treat every neighbour as a target. Pick one frontier, keep a reserve behind the main army, and use diplomacy to avoid turning a local war into a continental emergency. A modest objective that preserves a trained army is often more valuable than a province that opens a second front.

A practical battlefield routine

Before unpausing, look for the ground that protects your guns and gives infantry a clean field of fire. Place artillery where it can work without blocking a retreat. Keep one infantry unit uncommitted as a reserve, then use cavalry to threaten flanks rather than to start the battle. When the enemy advances, the useful question is not “can I charge now?” but “which unit will be exposed after the volley exchange?”

Historical battles make this routine more readable. At Austerlitz, Jena, Borodino or Waterloo, test one infantry line, one artillery position and one cavalry reserve. Watch range, elevation, fatigue and the route your units use to reinforce the frontline. Restart with one smaller change when the formation collapses. Comparing two positions teaches more than repeating the same cavalry charge until it happens to work.

Before the first volley

Use the deployment phase to give each unit a job. Infantry needs a line of fire and enough space to form square. Artillery needs elevation, a clear arc and protection from cavalry. Your mounted reserve needs room to move behind the frontline without crossing friendly fire. If one of those conditions is missing, fix it before the battle starts instead of trying to rescue the formation with a late charge.

This also makes campaign decisions clearer. A province with a defensible hill, a road for reinforcements or a useful bridge can matter more than a flashy attack route. The tactical map rewards preparation, and that preparation is what carries over from one battle to the next.

Mod installation without losing the base game

Start Napoleon Total War once without modifications and create a vanilla save. Back up the relevant save folder before installing an overhaul. Then add one project, follow its own documented version order, and create a fresh campaign. Do not assume an existing save will understand new units, scripts or campaign files.

NTW3 in particular publishes a core download and follow-up patches on ModDB; read the project instructions rather than mixing files from old tutorials. DarthMod and other overhauls also deserve a clean installation path. The point is not to build the biggest mod folder. It is to know which project created the battle and campaign behaviour you are enjoying, so you can repair or reproduce it later.

Conclusion

Napoleon Total War is still worth returning to when you want battles where infantry, cavalry and artillery have visibly different jobs. Learn the line first, choose a campaign with a manageable frontier, then decide whether a modded project gives you the kind of campaign or multiplayer experience you want. That order keeps the game’s strengths visible instead of burying them under a giant install list.

Sources: Napoleon Total War Definitive Edition on Steam, Napoleonic Total War III on ModDB, and its documented downloads.

Empire: Total War — Dive into the 18th Century with This Strategy Saga

Sun, 31 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Empire: Total War is one of the most famous games of the Total War franchise, focused on the 18th century and the birth of colonial empires. Developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, it was released in 2009 and, like the other installments, mixes a turn-based strategic mode with real-time battles.

Its particularity: three distinct theaters of operations — Europe, North America and the Caribbean, and the Indian subcontinent. This expanded world map completely changes the strategic game: securing your maritime trade routes becomes as vital as conquering inland provinces.

Land and Naval Battles

Land battles are of course present, but Empire: Total War stands out through its large-scale naval battles: ships of the line fighting broadside to broadside, bombardments of coastal forts, skirmishes against Caribbean pirates. Fleet management and control of trade routes are at the heart of victory, as is diplomacy with the native powers of America or India.

Your goal is to take control of a power of the era and establish the mightiest empire possible, by force or by diplomacy. But beware: religious conflicts, popular revolts and even a revolution can destabilize any power, even the most fearsome and solid ones.

A few months after release, The Warpath Campaign expansion added a whole new campaign focused on the conquest of North America and the rivalries between France and Great Britain. Today, the Definitive Edition available on Steam lets you download the game and its expansion in a single pack.

The sound design deserves a mention too: cannon fire, rigging creaks and the murmur of port cities give each naval battle a cinematic weight that few strategy games of the era matched.

Watch the official Empire: Total War trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yrmsh54J-nA

Discover some images of the game

Sources

Official Total War website

Medieval 2 Total War

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Medieval 2 Total War is one of the most famous installments of the Total War saga. In this game, turn-based strategy is mixed with real-time tactics. It was developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega.

As in most Total War games, you control cities and provinces. You can develop their economies and their economic or military buildings. Through these choices, you will be able to focus either on increasing your treasury or on recruiting well-equipped, well-trained soldiers. These provinces let you raise medieval armies and defend your kingdom — and of course try to expand it. But beware! If the population is unhappy, you will have to fight many revolts. Not an easy job being a medieval lord!

But after all, it is not all about war! You can also take power over the rest of Europe through diplomacy, with royal marriages, or by sending religious envoys to convert a province’s population.
The map consists of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Games span a large portion of the Middle Ages, from 1080 to 1530.

The specificity of Total War games lies in the mix between turn-based strategic phases and real-time battle phases. Indeed, when two armies meet or during a siege, you can take control of your troops and lead them to victory!

The mods deserve a special mention: Stainless Steel and Third Age transformed the base game so thoroughly that many players spent years on them, extending the 1080-1530 timeline with new factions, units and campaigns.

Watch the official Medieval 2 Total War trailer

https://www.youtube.com/embed/8eMMVZBBT_s

Discover some images of the game

Sources

Total War Saga: Troy — Dive into the Bronze Age and Face Mythical Heroes

Sun, 24 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Total War Saga: Troy, by Creative Assembly, had a rather original release. Indeed, it was first available on the Epic Games Store in August 2020, free for almost a year. It then went on sale on Steam in 2021, much later…

Discovering the Bronze Age and the Age of Heroes!

As its name suggests, the game tackles the mythical period of the Trojan War and the Iliad. Hero combat (in duel format), large land and sea battles, and economic development are all there!

On the program?
**Fight to save or conquer the kingdom of Troy by embodying one of the eight mythical heroes, including the famous warrior Achilles, the noble protector Hector, the rebellious prince Paris and the vengeful king Menelaus.
In the middle of a battle, it is possible to call upon mythical units inspired by Greek mythology creatures, such as the Minotaur, the Cyclops, the Giants and the Centaurs.

So, a soft spot for the Greek camp, or rather the urge to save the legendary city of Troy?

DLC Side

As always with Total War, the game received many paid DLCs:

Amazons released in September 2020
Blood & Glory released in October 2020
Ajax & Diomedes released in January 2021
Rhesus & Memnon released in December 2021

Note that two free mini-DLCs are also available:

Artemis Religion Pack released in October 2020
Hephaestus Pack released in January 2021

The economy underneath all this stays true to the Total War formula: taxes, trade and province development fund your armies, while god-favored heroes can turn the tide of a whole campaign with a single duel victory.

Sega — 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: Warhammer 3: how to confederate and vassalize a faction (2026 guide)

Confederation or vassalization: the difference

How to confederate through diplomacy

Rules by race

Vampire Counts: the most fluid case

How to vassalize

Conquest routes

Making a vassal useful

Confederate or vassalize: which to choose

Going further

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 — Mid-2026 Update (Warcore, Factions, Release Window)

Table of contents

The TGA 2025 reveal: what was officially confirmed

The Warcore engine: why a new engine?

Likely factions: Space Marines, Orks, Tyranids… and the rest?

Release window: what CA and analysts are saying

Cross-platform: Total War on Xbox/PlayStation (a series first)

Total War: Warhammer 40K vs WH3: what changes?

Going further

Sources

Humankind Complete Guide: 4X Civilization Alternative 2026

Introduction: Humankind’s Bold Bet on Civilization Building

The Culture System: Humankind’s Core Innovation

How Culture Selection Works

The Seven Affinities

Top Culture Combinations

The Six Eras: Detailed Strategies

Neolithic Era: The Foundation

Ancient Era: Setting the Direction

Classical Era: Expansion and Conflict

Medieval Era: The Power Spike

Early Modern Era: The Global Stage

Contemporary Era: The Final Push

City Building and District Placement

District Types and Placement Rules

Wonders

Combat and Military Strategy

Army Composition

Tactical Combat Tips

Diplomacy and Religion

The Diplomatic System

Religion

Modding Scene

Recommended Mods (2026)

Humankind vs. Civilization VII: The 2026 Verdict

Tips for New Players

Conclusion

Sources

Company of Heroes 3: factions, campaign and tactical habits for 2026

What CoH3 still does well in 2026

Which faction should you start with?

Four habits that change most battles

How to read the Italian campaign

Mods and multiplayer: keep the learning clean

Quick diagnosis after a lost match

Reading a defeat honestly

Practical case: a squad can be worth more than fuel

See also

Sources and media

Verdict

Total War Warhammer 3: where to start in Immortal Empires

Start small in Immortal Empires

Three good first campaigns

Battle basics: line, fire, flank, magic

Mods: start light

Reading a lost battle

When to open DLCs and big overhauls

DLC: buy for factions, not fear

A simple first-campaign checklist