Which Total War I should download? I was thinking about giving total war rome 2 a shot

Shogun 2 is excellent for its time; make sure you get all the DLC. Its essentially 3 different games given the different time periods - the "main" Sengoku period, the "Rise of the Samurai" early period, and the "Fall of the Samurai" early Meiji era. Definitely worth playing.

Besides that, of the newer games pick up both Warhammer and Warhammer 2. Pick up the original first and be sure to get all the DLC. This will be important later on, as Warhammer 2 will allow you to unlock all of the original Warhammer races/content/DLC you own within it during its one campaign version, so its good to have it all. Warhammer 2 of course has DLC with different armies and the likes as well you can pick up.

I don't know how the Three Kingdoms stacks up or not, but it is currently the newest game overall.

They should make Total War ASOIAF. Is there some really good ASOIAF mod for some total war?

Only downside is that I don't care that much about samurai stuff. I'm more interested in European stuff like medieval, roman and greek eras.

moddb.com/mods/westeros-total-war

Hmm is this any good? Any of you tried it?

Maybe give Attila a look then. Its a little later in the Roman era but its better then Rome 2. I forgot which of the expansions/DLC are worth it though.

>less mod friendly than rome 1
seriously though what is up with their newer games being complete trash for mods? rome 1 and medieval 2 managed to remain relevant for several years despite their age thanks to modding communities alone

but with nu-TW games you can barely even edit the map. modding is mostly limited to graphical and balance changes, it's sad as fuck

I liked Cleopatra campaign.

Why is the AI in those games so garbage?
I was just playing Napoleon Total War Europe campaign as Napoleon on hard.

>Great Britain only tried to do a naval invasion once and that was within the first 10 turns. For the rest of the campaign they just sat on their island and Gibraltar without doing nothing. Their huge navy was just standing by on the english channel. I filled all 5 trade spots behind the british islands with 20 tradeships and they still didn't bother to move their fleet.
>Spain started allied with me and did fucking nothing the whole campaign. They didn't even try to capture Gibraltar despite being at war with Great Britain from the start.
>The Ottoman Empire declared war on me and allied with Austria and Russia early on but I never fought a single battle against them. Later in the campaign I offered them 100k for a peace treaty, alliance and demanded they break their alliance with Austria and Russia. They accepted it and proceeded to do absolutely nothing for the whole campaign.

Attila and Warhammer 1+2 are the best games.

Extra fun with coop with a friend, particularly Attila.

>the fact that you are limited to 1 general per army
just admit you're a cheeser. general's bodyguard are op

Medieval 2 with stainless steel mod is peak total war and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Empire with darthmod is great fun. Everything after Rome 2 ruined the series.

Sadly yes, they gutted modding to much with this engine.
I only started to play it when they added family tree so that I could roleplay.

It's worth it. Unlike the previous TW's, Warhammer and Warhammer II play way differently due to how varied the factions are in terms of rosters and mechanics.

I'm not arguing against you here, but I still don't get the whole point of "the game is good because they allow other people to make it good"
Doesn't that make the game bad? Doesn't it take away from the original point? If someone takes the Mona Lisa, paints over it in objectively better colors and visuals, are we now to say "Oh, thank god for Leonardo creating the Mona Lisa! It's so good now, 500 years later and with 100 changes!"

I would think that on some level, major devs would like to have their name and only their name on their products for as long as possible even if it isn't perfect. I can see how a game like cities skylines thrives off of modding, just not large companies with a specific brand/message to sell.

They are really only OP in Rome 1 and Medieval 2. Empire and Napoleon bodyguards are very weak also Napoleon Total War only allows a small number of generals in the whole empire depending on the number of barracks. Shogun 2 reduces the loyality of everyone by 1 for each General you hire and once the loyality is too low they will defect with half the army and join the enemy at the start of the next battle.

How's medieval 2? I'm a history professor who specialises on the Byzantium, Venetian and Ottoman empire and I'm looking for games to get my students hooked on this period.

IMO a game and a toolbox is better than just a game. Though obviously a game that suffers because it also tries to be a toolbox sucks, but besides the tools coming at the expense of the rest of the game, I only ever see it as a net win for the players

Medieval 2 has all those - stainless steel mod expands it even more.
Historically they aren't 100% but they are great to play. If you start a late campaign as byzantium for example, you dont control constantinople since the crusaders took it over, and retaking it is a major step you need to make to reestablish your empire.

Medieval 2 Total War
>Elder Scrolls mod
OR
>Hyrule Total War

Not OP, but I really enjoy Shogun 2.

Sadly, I tried to go back to it recently, and the UI just feels awkward to use coming from Warhammer 1 & 2.

Is there any mods that add quality of life?

Rome > Medieval 2 > Empire > Napoleon > Rome 2, in this order