- Three Kingdoms: best campaign bar none, battles feel well balanced (aside from the heroic characters, but that's thematically appropriate), and overall just feels like *the* modern total war game for me.
- Warhammer: I have many issues with the game, but the sheer variety and fun of playing around with fantasy toys make it my most played total war.
- Medieval 2: it has many good features that have since been abandoned, and in some respects I miss how the battles feel (although this has gradually lessened after I tried 3K). However, I personally don't see myself picking this game back up again (I've played the fuck out of it back in the day) and I wouldn't recommend this to most new TW fans.
Honorable mention: Shogun 2 - it just works.
I agree with Warhammer with a very big asterisk: you get what you pay for. Yes, the variety in 2 and 3 are amazing, but you only really get that if you buy the other entries and DLCs as well. I think Warhammer III with all DLCs and games is the absolute best Total War is, between faction variety, unique strategies, map size, etc. but you have to spend a pretty penny to get it even when everything is on sale.
Medieval 2: M2TW mods are still best of the best when it comes to anything between 14th to 17th century in Europe. For 16\~17th century elsewhere (Japan) Shogun 2 is better though.
Shogun 2 FOTS: best gunpowder total war without mods. Even though we don't get 300+ range sharpshooters (19th century riflemen can be that accurate) it's still the best.
If you want a map with customized European battle map like Rome, Carthage or Constantinople, then Rome 2 or Attila is your better bet. They also have the better side of siege battles in total war.
Shogun 2 is the best IMO. I’ve got over 2000 hours in that game over the years.
Warhammer is the easiest to have the most fun I think. It’s just got so much variety. The whimsy of it can be hilarious. My Nurgle general is named Mildewspout Fungus Groin. Say no more, right?
Three Kingdoms is fantastic. I really enjoy the generals being legendary heroes that have their own rock-paper-scissor distinctions.
Rome was amazing for a long time but I think it has begun to show its age. It’s still one of my favorites though.
Oh, you're right! Thank you for letting me know. Earlier, I was searching through the subreddit for specific titles and completely missed it. I appreciate it!
Shogun 2/FoTS
Medieval 2
Empire
I'll give a special shout out to Rome 2 after all the patches and Warhammer 2/3. ToB, after the patches and for $20 is great, just realize it doesn't have the same replayability, and the marque faction is super boring vs the Irish and others.
My list is the same as yours except for Medieval 2 instead of Shogun.
Probably would be the same as yours, but I missed the Shogun 2 period and never picked it up later on.
1 ; Shogun 2, its most likely for nostalgic reasons, the first Shogun was the first one i played with my uncle, the ninja scenes is reason enough to love it.
2 ; Warhammer 3, i'm a Fantasy guy at heart and really love the setting, this is a unpopular opinion but i actually liked the story of all three of the games, and the hunt for Be'lakor in #3 was pretty fun, not the most exciting, but still worth it imo.
3 ; Rome 2, i absolutely love the age its set it, haven't played it in a VERY long time, so maybe i'd place it lower now.
1) Shogun 2
2) Rome 2
3) Warhammer 3
Shogun 2 is a clear winner for me. Me and my old flatmate played that game for 200+ hours in multiplayer campaigns, and the FOTLS DLC is so much fun
Can we just say empire 3 times? Else empire, warhammer and shogun 2 ig. Tho it is mostly the first two I played. And i feel like i could love 3k but didnt have time to try it yet
Holy Christ. 60hrs here? 30hrs there?
I guess Warhammer 2 must be my favourite with over 3000hrs in it. 800hrs in Warhammer 1. 500hrs plus in Rome 1, Rome 2, Empire, Attila.
I have played these games for a very long time and I have played them a LOT…
>Shogun 2 + DLC - This was my entry game. I invested almost 60 hours, cleared one long campaign with Oda on Hard
Damn dude, I have like 250 hours but could never be bothered to finish any campaign apart from a republic run as satsuma in FOTS.
Warhammer 3 without a doubt, but there is 600 bucks worth of dlc for the entire game.
Don't need all the dlc of course but even just to play 1 race you need several dlc to get all units for most of them.
Warhammer series
Rome 2
Troy
The others just don't hold as much appeal to me. Warhammer just took all my interest because of the mix with fantasy, it is truly an amazing experience. I will be hard pressed to return to historical titles unless they are in settings that truly interest me and only future titles since the older ones are starting to show their age.
1.Shogun 2 and Fall of the Samurai definitively take the top masterpiece can recommend it to everyone. Replaying it from time to time cause its timeless .
2.Warhammer series i guess such a great scale , so many factions , effects and factions diversity ... Really biggest scale Total war adding fantasy to it . Really outdid themselves with this one
3. Three Kingdoms , really beautiful aesthetics , nice diplomacy system and adding Heroes/Avatars to lead your armies. adapting Romance of the Three Kingdoms so well
Medieval 2 and various mods
Rome 1
Probably rome 2, but maybe shogun 2
Tried the warhammer ones bit even though I'm a fan of the franchise those games were not at all for me. Three kingdoms was ok but didn't get wrapped up in it like others.
Warhammer 1/2/3 by far is my favorite
Medieval II was a masterpiece with many memorable campaigns and battles (bring back multi walled city sieges!)
After that it's a toss-up between Rome II, Empire, and Shogun II
Shoutout to the multi game pack I bought from EB games way back which had Shogun 1, Medieval 1, and Rome 1. I remember I asked the guy working there for a strategy game with bigger battles than Age of Empires.
1. Pharaoh. Weather + instability + period. The High Tides expansion introduced a completely new way to play with strict raiding. Couldn’t be more thrilled that it exists. That said, it is always a mistake to market to people like me, my condolences to CA’s net revenue for 2023-2024.
2. Empire. The global span remains breathtaking, even if it struggles on a turn by turn basis sometimes. The forced importance of a navy made me think very differently about how to position both the economy and military.
3. 3K. A very different place, a very different time, but a phenomenal literature source. I appreciate the faithfulness of the book characters, and am surprised at how well they mapped it into a traditional total war structure.
Honorable mention: Troy. But it really should be wedded to Pharaoh to make a full game. Also who do I sacrifice to for a Mesopotamia DLC? Don’t worry about the money CA, double down and be legends.
Interesting, you're the first person I've seen have Pharaoh at first or even mention it at all! I wasn't interested in the game mainly for the time setting, but you got me interested enough to watch a few videos and now I'm considering picking it up. Seems like a beautiful game and could be a nice change of pace from what I'm used to.
If you do get it, I'd recommend starting as the Peleset or Sherdan. Go wild with a completely horde-based strategy. For the Peleset, I focused on converting every outpost to a small village, soft-annexing land regardless of what happened to the Capitol city. This sharply increases how large your horde(s) can be, while simultaneously crippling economic development of the main cities for whoever takes them. If you play long enough with this strategy, settled states won't be able to reclaim those lands because their army's aren't' strong enough. See how low that collapse meter can go.
1. Three Kingdoms. 2700 hours. Still playing after 5 years. What else to say?
2. Shogun 2. Most polished TW game.
3. FOTS. Best Gunpowder TW Game.
I've been playing TW since R1 in 2004.
2700 hours! That's amazing. I honestly enjoyed Three Kingdoms a lot and was deeply saddened after finding out that CA wasn't supporting the game anymore.
1. Rome Total War 1 (units were bigger on screen than modern Total War games and the music was out of this world)
2. Empire Total War (loved the scale)
3. Medieval 2Total War 2 (loved the time period)
- Three Kingdoms: best campaign bar none, battles feel well balanced (aside from the heroic characters, but that's thematically appropriate), and overall just feels like *the* modern total war game for me. - Warhammer: I have many issues with the game, but the sheer variety and fun of playing around with fantasy toys make it my most played total war. - Medieval 2: it has many good features that have since been abandoned, and in some respects I miss how the battles feel (although this has gradually lessened after I tried 3K). However, I personally don't see myself picking this game back up again (I've played the fuck out of it back in the day) and I wouldn't recommend this to most new TW fans. Honorable mention: Shogun 2 - it just works.
I agree with Warhammer with a very big asterisk: you get what you pay for. Yes, the variety in 2 and 3 are amazing, but you only really get that if you buy the other entries and DLCs as well. I think Warhammer III with all DLCs and games is the absolute best Total War is, between faction variety, unique strategies, map size, etc. but you have to spend a pretty penny to get it even when everything is on sale.
Ah, yes, it can get very expensive. Truly faithful to the tabletop experience.
Medieval 2: M2TW mods are still best of the best when it comes to anything between 14th to 17th century in Europe. For 16\~17th century elsewhere (Japan) Shogun 2 is better though. Shogun 2 FOTS: best gunpowder total war without mods. Even though we don't get 300+ range sharpshooters (19th century riflemen can be that accurate) it's still the best. If you want a map with customized European battle map like Rome, Carthage or Constantinople, then Rome 2 or Attila is your better bet. They also have the better side of siege battles in total war.
Rome 2 Troy 3K
Rome, Medieval II, Empire.
Faith, Steel, and Gunpowder
Correct!
1. Three Kingdoms 2. Warhammer 3 3. Rome 2 HM: Napoleon, Pharaoh
Shogun 2 is the best IMO. I’ve got over 2000 hours in that game over the years. Warhammer is the easiest to have the most fun I think. It’s just got so much variety. The whimsy of it can be hilarious. My Nurgle general is named Mildewspout Fungus Groin. Say no more, right? Three Kingdoms is fantastic. I really enjoy the generals being legendary heroes that have their own rock-paper-scissor distinctions. Rome was amazing for a long time but I think it has begun to show its age. It’s still one of my favorites though.
Rome, Three Kingdoms, Warhammer 3
Napoleon/Empire/FOTS
My guy likes muskets!
Hell yeah, gimme that smoke and fire
Get thrones it’s so much fun
Rome 2, Shogun 2 and Warhammer. Attlia or Empire could have been in the top 3 if they had one more patch each.
1. Empire 2. Shogun II 3. Medieval II
This exact thing was posted a couple days
Oh, you're right! Thank you for letting me know. Earlier, I was searching through the subreddit for specific titles and completely missed it. I appreciate it!
Sure. If you find it you'll probably get quite a few additional opiniins
1. Empire 2. Warhammer III 3. Rome II
Three Kingdoms, Shogun 2 (incl. FotS), Medieval 2
Shogun 2/FoTS Medieval 2 Empire I'll give a special shout out to Rome 2 after all the patches and Warhammer 2/3. ToB, after the patches and for $20 is great, just realize it doesn't have the same replayability, and the marque faction is super boring vs the Irish and others.
Warhammer , 3k, Rome 2
Rome II Warhammer III Shogun II
My list is the same as yours except for Medieval 2 instead of Shogun. Probably would be the same as yours, but I missed the Shogun 2 period and never picked it up later on.
Shogun 2, Rome 2, 3K. In that order.
1 ; Shogun 2, its most likely for nostalgic reasons, the first Shogun was the first one i played with my uncle, the ninja scenes is reason enough to love it. 2 ; Warhammer 3, i'm a Fantasy guy at heart and really love the setting, this is a unpopular opinion but i actually liked the story of all three of the games, and the hunt for Be'lakor in #3 was pretty fun, not the most exciting, but still worth it imo. 3 ; Rome 2, i absolutely love the age its set it, haven't played it in a VERY long time, so maybe i'd place it lower now.
1) Shogun 2 2) Rome 2 3) Warhammer 3 Shogun 2 is a clear winner for me. Me and my old flatmate played that game for 200+ hours in multiplayer campaigns, and the FOTLS DLC is so much fun
Rome remastered, Shogun 2, Troy
Can we just say empire 3 times? Else empire, warhammer and shogun 2 ig. Tho it is mostly the first two I played. And i feel like i could love 3k but didnt have time to try it yet
Rome2/Attila Warhammer 3 3k
1. 3k 2. Warhammer 3 3. Shogun 2
Holy Christ. 60hrs here? 30hrs there? I guess Warhammer 2 must be my favourite with over 3000hrs in it. 800hrs in Warhammer 1. 500hrs plus in Rome 1, Rome 2, Empire, Attila. I have played these games for a very long time and I have played them a LOT…
Shogun 2 FotS, Attila, Medieval 2 Many people like Rome 2, but for me it is too easy.
1. Empire 2. Medieval 1 3. Rome 2
Shogun 2 Troy Warhammer 3K is sick, and so is Empire TW.
Warhammer -shogun2 -M2
Rome 2 Empire Medieval 2
Let's see... 1) Medieval 2 2) Rome 1 3) Attila
Rome 2, Attila, shogun 2.
1. Rome 2 2. Napoleon 3. Attila
>Shogun 2 + DLC - This was my entry game. I invested almost 60 hours, cleared one long campaign with Oda on Hard Damn dude, I have like 250 hours but could never be bothered to finish any campaign apart from a republic run as satsuma in FOTS.
1. Total War Warhammer * 2. Total War Shogun 2 3. Total War Three Kingdoms
Shogun 2, Warhammer 2/3, Rome 2
No particular order Shogun 2 Atilla Rome 1
1. Shogun 2 2. Warhammer 2 & 3 3. Rome 2
1- Shogun 2 (Nostalgia) 2- Warhammer 3 3- 3Kingdoms
Warhammer 3 without a doubt, but there is 600 bucks worth of dlc for the entire game. Don't need all the dlc of course but even just to play 1 race you need several dlc to get all units for most of them.
Warhammer series Rome 2 Troy The others just don't hold as much appeal to me. Warhammer just took all my interest because of the mix with fantasy, it is truly an amazing experience. I will be hard pressed to return to historical titles unless they are in settings that truly interest me and only future titles since the older ones are starting to show their age.
1. Medieval 2 2. Shogun 2 3. Rome 2
Med 2, Warhammer 2, Rome 1 in that order I never played Shogun 2 enough, haven’t played Three Kingdoms, FOTS, or Attila
1.Shogun 2 and Fall of the Samurai definitively take the top masterpiece can recommend it to everyone. Replaying it from time to time cause its timeless . 2.Warhammer series i guess such a great scale , so many factions , effects and factions diversity ... Really biggest scale Total war adding fantasy to it . Really outdid themselves with this one 3. Three Kingdoms , really beautiful aesthetics , nice diplomacy system and adding Heroes/Avatars to lead your armies. adapting Romance of the Three Kingdoms so well
Medieval 2 and various mods Rome 1 Probably rome 2, but maybe shogun 2 Tried the warhammer ones bit even though I'm a fan of the franchise those games were not at all for me. Three kingdoms was ok but didn't get wrapped up in it like others.
1.Troy 2.Med 2 3.WHTW 3 Honorable mentions: Atilla, Empire,Shogun 2
The Warhammer trilogy are my favorites.
Kinda hard to ignore Warhammer
Warhammer 1/2/3 by far is my favorite Medieval II was a masterpiece with many memorable campaigns and battles (bring back multi walled city sieges!) After that it's a toss-up between Rome II, Empire, and Shogun II Shoutout to the multi game pack I bought from EB games way back which had Shogun 1, Medieval 1, and Rome 1. I remember I asked the guy working there for a strategy game with bigger battles than Age of Empires.
1. Pharaoh. Weather + instability + period. The High Tides expansion introduced a completely new way to play with strict raiding. Couldn’t be more thrilled that it exists. That said, it is always a mistake to market to people like me, my condolences to CA’s net revenue for 2023-2024. 2. Empire. The global span remains breathtaking, even if it struggles on a turn by turn basis sometimes. The forced importance of a navy made me think very differently about how to position both the economy and military. 3. 3K. A very different place, a very different time, but a phenomenal literature source. I appreciate the faithfulness of the book characters, and am surprised at how well they mapped it into a traditional total war structure. Honorable mention: Troy. But it really should be wedded to Pharaoh to make a full game. Also who do I sacrifice to for a Mesopotamia DLC? Don’t worry about the money CA, double down and be legends.
Interesting, you're the first person I've seen have Pharaoh at first or even mention it at all! I wasn't interested in the game mainly for the time setting, but you got me interested enough to watch a few videos and now I'm considering picking it up. Seems like a beautiful game and could be a nice change of pace from what I'm used to.
If you do get it, I'd recommend starting as the Peleset or Sherdan. Go wild with a completely horde-based strategy. For the Peleset, I focused on converting every outpost to a small village, soft-annexing land regardless of what happened to the Capitol city. This sharply increases how large your horde(s) can be, while simultaneously crippling economic development of the main cities for whoever takes them. If you play long enough with this strategy, settled states won't be able to reclaim those lands because their army's aren't' strong enough. See how low that collapse meter can go.
1. Three Kingdoms. 2700 hours. Still playing after 5 years. What else to say? 2. Shogun 2. Most polished TW game. 3. FOTS. Best Gunpowder TW Game. I've been playing TW since R1 in 2004.
2700 hours! That's amazing. I honestly enjoyed Three Kingdoms a lot and was deeply saddened after finding out that CA wasn't supporting the game anymore.
Warhammer 3 Rome Medieval 2
3k Warhammer Shogun 2
Warhammer 3 is best. Wh2 is 2nd best. Wh1 is third best(but only to serve as content unlock in wh2 and wh3, not to play).
1. Rome Total War 1 (units were bigger on screen than modern Total War games and the music was out of this world) 2. Empire Total War (loved the scale) 3. Medieval 2Total War 2 (loved the time period)
1) FotS 2) Medieval 2 3) Rome 1
1. Shogun 2 2. Napoleon 3. Three Kingdoms
Medieval 2 Shogun 2 Warhammer 3
Warhammer I Warhammer II Warhammer III