For over 20 years now, Creative Assembly has graced us with its historical strategy game series, Total War. With Warhammer III on the horizon and Three Kingdoms wrapping up its DLC content, it is inevitable that they are going to expand their IP to yet another ancient setting to keep their historically-inclined fans (like us!) on the hook for their next major release.
Our Proposals
This series of articles will cover the most likely eras and settings in history we believe would be the next logical step. We will also talk about what features they can include or bring back that could work with these games, as well as diving deep into the new mechanics and tech trees to complement these new eras.
Total War: Pharaoh
Era: The Bronze Age [3000-1000 BC]
Setting: Greater Fertile Crescent
The premise is simple: take us back to the dawn of civilization to command the armies of the Egyptians, Babylonians, proto-Greeks, and perhaps even the apocalyptic campaigns of the Sea People leading up to the Bronze Age Collapse.
The largest shift for veteran players will be working with a primitive pre-currency economy akin to the system employed in Total War: Troy – as well as the developmental constraints of learning to master stone, bronze, and even horse domestication inhibits your ability to create your cities and elementary units. Read our detailed design proposal here.
Total War: Medieval 3
Era: 1066-1600 AD
Setting: Continental Europe / Middle-East
Total War: Medieval 2 was released in 2006 and several generations in gaming technology have passed by this highly enjoyed historical era fraught with knights, feudal rivalries, and poor sodding infantry.
Modders have since tried to make do with heavy mods to Rome II and Attila, but these merely scratch the itch. Read our in-depth design discussion here to see how we’d like Creative Assembly to revive its roots.
Victoria / Empire II
Era: 1830-1901
Setting: Global – Europe, America, Asia, Africa
Creative Assembly tried its hand with guns and canons in Empire: Total War to an unfortunately disappointing result in 2009. We see great potential in this period both politically and tactically – we would like to try again with the era, targeting the post-Napoleon scrambles for power (and even more colonies) on the world stage.
This is also an era where weapons technology blossomed from muskets and cannons to modern bolt action rifles and artillery, providing devastating battlefield results as would be seen in the Crimean and American Civil Wars. Naval power similarly see rapid evolutions, as we go from sails to ironclads to modern battleships.
Obviously, sheer scale presents a few challenges here. However, we have some ideas on how to make this manageable…
Read our in-depth design discussion here
The Great War
Era: 1901-1930
Setting: Semi-Global – Greater Europe and African Coasts
Trench warfare and attrition. Sounds like a real hoot…
We envision this Total War to be a new beast entirely. Instead of commanding individual columns of men to go over-the-top and be ripped apart by machine guns, gas, and artillery – you will instead manage the trenches, formations, and divisions from well beyond the lines. Logistics, the concentration of force, and doctrine are your weapons now – and not letting the enemy gain the upper hand on the newly evolving technologies of tanks and aircraft is equally critical.
Lastly, a new political enemy has dawned on the horizon: the ascent of communism and the widespread departure of the monarchy. Keeping your nation united under these times of stress may prove deadlier than your rival’s new guns…
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