Rome 2 Total War

[Something completely different]

ok.

Since I was gone alot of new info has been released:

At twc someone managed to piece together a map which could very likely resemble what the campain map will look like:

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A video showing the battle of Teuteburg was released which shows various different combat animations and new features.
It was also revealed that the armies on the campain map can be put into different modes by the player: "Defensive, Aggressive, Ambush"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKSkBEJ_wrM

the final playable factions have finaly been revealed:

Pontus



“Ambition, Independence, Profit”

A mountainous region bordering the Black Sea, Pontus contains many fertile river valleys and ports upon which its largely agricultural and trade economy is based. This geography and location also dictate a military focus on infantry and warships. However, a mixture of Greek and Persian influences ensures the forces of Pontus are both advanced and reliable. Their bronze-shield pikemen represent a formidable military backbone, and their swift, deadly scythed chariots are rightly feared.

Its prized commodities, and the opportunism of its well-informed rulers, have enabled Pontus to remain one of the strongest Hellenistic states in existence. With connections throughout the ancient world, largely due to control of Black Sea trade and exports of timber, precious metals and valuable steel, Pontic agents are perfectly placed to gather information on their enemies abroad.

Originally of Persian origin and part of the former satrapy of Cappadocia, Pontus became a client state under Antigonus in 333 BC, after Alexander swept Darius' empire away. Essentially, Pontus is now a collection of Greek colonies, ruled by a re-emergent Persian dynasty. In 302 BC, under Mithridates Ktistes (‘The Founder’), it split from the Macedonian empire during the turmoil of the Wars of the Successors. Having successfully repulsed an invasion by Ptolemy of Egypt, Pontus is now poised to expand across Asia Minor, on into mainland Greece and beyond.

A progressive kingdom, Pontus enjoys healthy diplomatic dialogue with Greek states and successor kingdoms, and is noted for its resolution in battle, particularly against barbarian forces. However, the forsaking of its Persian origins means that eastern cultural influences within its provinces yield diminished public order benefits.

Pontus will be available day one through a free content update to the core Total War: ROME II game.

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Additionaly, the "greek city states DLC" was also announced:

Athens

“Knowledge, Wisdom, Prosperity.”



The model of democracy, Athens controls the prosperous region of Attica and its fleets continue to be a dominant force in the eastern Mediterranean. A centre of culture and philosophy, its dignitaries lead the vanguard of Greek achievement and learning.

Renowned for its architecture, art and writing, Athens has long been famed for its cultural achievements – from buildings such as the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena the patron of the city, to the plays and works of Aristophanes, Plato, Socrates, and Sophocles. In many ways, Greek culture is defined by Athens.

Throughout the Greco-Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, the city state remained both fiercely independent and a leading power of the time, but became part of the wider Macedonian Empire following Phillip II’s decisive victory at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. Following the death of Alexander the Great, his generals fought over Athens, particularly the heirs of the Antigonid and Ptolemaic dynasties.

Ever since they were advised by the Oracle at Delphi to put faith in the city's wooden walls during the Persian Wars, Athens’ military focus has long been its navy. However, continuing the traditions of the classical era, its citizens are also expected to contribute both infantry and cavalry to its armies, although mercenary troops now supplement their numbers. With a strong backbone of spear-bearing Hoplite units supported by archers, a fully formed-up Athenian army makes for a formidable sight – and a tough nut to crack.

Forever influential, but still not fully independent of Macedonian rule, Athens has the opportunity to break free and potentially found a third Athenian League, asserting authority over long term allies and adversaries alike, such as Sparta, Thebes and Corinth.

As a city state, the capital city of Athenai enjoys great wealth, and its rich classical heritage makes it easier for their conquests to convert to the Athenian way of life. Its strong naval tradition gives its fleets the upper hand, with the downside being that her land units are less developed.

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Epirus

“Growth, Legacy, Command.”



Situated on the Adriatic Sea, Epirus is a Greek kingdom formed of numerous small villages and towns, rather than the great cities of the south. An agriculture and fishing-based society, Epirus nevertheless maintains a balanced army on the Alexandrian model, consisting of cavalry, archers, peltasts, pikemen and war elephants. They also make extensive use of mercenaries from throughout the Greek-speaking world.

With an economy focused on a diverse and scattered agricultural base, most of Epirus' trade is conducted via its fishing ports on the Adriatic Sea. These also provide the basis for its fleets and a means for its dignitaries to travel abroad.

Ruled by the Molossian Aeacidae dynasty, the kings of Epirus claim descent from Achilles and Deidamea. With close connections to Macedon, through the marriage of the princess Olympias to Phillip II, Epirus prospered under the empire of their son, Alexander the Great. During the Wars of the Successors (322 – 275 BC), the Epirot throne was reclaimed through the political manoeuvring of King Pyrrhus with the military backing of Ptolemaic Egypt. In 281 BC, again with Egyptian support, Pyrrhus entered into conflict with Rome to aid the Greek colony of Tarentum. Although a master tactician, his ‘Pyrrhic victories’ have already become synonymous with success at devastating cost.

Epirus now faces many choices; across the Adriatic Sea is Rome, to the east Macedon, and to the south Sparta. Will they be potential allies, or enemies to conquer?

Epirus is a nation of great commanders and, as such, its generals and admirals enjoy a greater command aura in battle. As a nation centred more around village life than the city, Epirus also gains increased income from smaller settlements. However, their chequered past with the Greek states and colonies means they suffer major penalties to diplomatic relations with other Hellenic factions.

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Sparta

“Discipline, Glory, Conquest.”



With every aspect of their lives and society geared towards warfare, Sparta dominated the Greek world and continues to produce arguably the finest soldiers of the Hellenic period. Trained and hardened in the Spartan Agoge and Krypteia, their warriors and leaders are the embodiment of military discipline and virtue.

Composed of The Spartiates (the citizens), The Periokoi (a class of free, non-citizen merchants and traders) and The Helots (a slave class of agricultural labourers), the Lacedaemonian state was an efficient, if brutal, war machine. Where the slaves of Athens enabled its citizens to pursue art and philosophy, the slaves and non-citizens of Sparta enabled their citizens to pursue warrior perfection as soldiers and champions. Few have fought toe-to-toe with the Royal Spartans and lived to tell the tale.

Having played a prominent role in the Greco-Persian War, including the legendary stand of the 300 at Thermopylae, and after victory in the Peloponnesus, Sparta’s power and dominance only began to wane following their defeat at the Battle of Leuctra, in 371 BC, during the aftermath of the Corinthian War. They were eventually forced to submit and join the League of Corinth, under Phillip II of Macedon, following the massacre at the Siege of Megalopolis in 331 BC.

What course Sparta will take now is unclear. Historically, it became an ally of Rome during the Punic Wars. Whether it will follow this path, or conquer Alexander’s former territories, reclaiming its former glory, who can say?

Trained to a level of martial prowess few others achieve, Spartan troops are excellent warriors, and, due to their oppression of the Helot people, they suffer less public discontent due to slavery than other factions. However, due to their Laconic austerity and focus on military training, Sparta benefits less from natural resources.

And just look at those damn sexy SPARTANS (and their beards):

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aZjEGuwLAI

information was also released on steam:

System requirements:

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Minimum:

OS:Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8
Processor:2 GHz Intel Dual Core processor / 2.6 GHz Intel Single Core processor
Memory:1GB RAM (XP), 2GB RAM (Vista / Windows 7 or 8) GB RAM
Graphics:512 MB Direct 9.0c compatible card (shader model 3)
DirectX®:9.0c
Hard Drive:30 GB HD space
Additional:Screen Resolution - Minimum spec: 1024x768 minimum/ Recommended spec: 1280x1024 minimum (ALL SPECS ARE CURRENTLY NOT FINAL AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME)

Recommended:

OS:Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8
Processor:2nd Generation Intel Core i5 processor (or greater)
Memory:2GB Ram (XP), 4GB RAM (Vista / Windows 7 or 8) GB RAM
Graphics:1024 MB DirectX 11 compatible graphics card.
DirectX®:11
Hard Drive:30 GB HD space
Additional:Screen Resolution - Minimum spec: 1024x768 minimum/ Recommended spec: 1280x1024 minimum (ALL SPECS ARE CURRENTLY NOT FINAL AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME)

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info on dlc`s:

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The Greek States Culture Pack adds a new playable Culture including three new playable Factions to Total War: ROME II; for use in Single or Multiplayer Campaign modes and Custom and Multiplayer Battles.

The Greek States Culture Pack adds diplomatic Athens, shrewd Epirus and formidable Sparta as playable factions. Each offers range of special tactics to achieve cultural and martial victories, and lethal elite units to crush foes in battle.

The Greek States share a number of common goals, philosophies and general diplomatic aims. However, they are defined by their fierce independence and between them demonstrate a huge variety in approach to civil and military challenges that often brings them into conflict with the wider world, and each other.

New Features:
New Playable Factions – Athens, Epirus and Sparta each offer a unique new way to experience the campaign, with their own rosters of powerful military units, distinct traits and play styles.
The Athenian pursuit of enlightenment grants them technological and cultural bonuses;

Sparta’s dominance over the Helots allows them to maintain a larger slave population; and Epirus enjoys bonuses to settlement exploitation stemming from their village-confederation origins.

New Cultural Traits – All Greek States benefit from a bonus in battle when defending their own or an allied territory, a bonus to wealth generated by their capitals and an increase to the rate of cultural conversion within their borders.

New Cultural Objectives – Greek States have their own new set of military, economic and cultural victory conditions, as well as sharing a unique set of bonus objectives drawn from Greek history. Additionally, each faction will have to contend with its unique events and dilemmas.

New Military Traditions – Each of the Greek States has a unique top-tier military tradition:

Athenian fleets may be honoured as Children of the Aegaean, improving the ramming ability of their ships whilst allowing them to secure more income when raiding;

Spartan armies may be remembered as Peers of Leonidas, improving their melee defense capabilities and reducing their upkeep;

the armies of Epirus may be feared as Hounds of Molossus, granting them greater charge bonuses whilst allowing them to keep public order problems in check.

New Units:

In addition to the intimidating unit rosters of each faction now playable for the first time, the Greek States Culture Pack introduces a variety of unique and especially elite and deadly forces.

Mercenary Veteran Hoplites – [available to all playable factions]
From glistening spear points to earth-shaking tread, a phalanx is a sight and sound to inspire dread. With these veteran hoplites, that dread is sold to the highest bidder.

Thureos Hoplites – [Unique to Athens]
While the linen breastplates worn by these men may look flimsy, they are cool, practical and surprisingly tough. As with all hoplites, the men inside are also practical and tough warriors.

Thorax Hoplites – [Unique to Athens]
These heavy hoplites are marked by their bronze breastplate armour, a sign of wealth and status. They are armed with spears and hoplon shields, and use the phalanx formation to batter enemies into submission.

Agrianian Axemen – [Unique to Epirus and Macedon]
The Paeonian tribe of Agrianes are fierce fighters. As well as terrible killing tools, their axes are also climbing hooks for rough terrain. No sensible general would not use them in an assault.

Aspis Companion Cavalry – [Unique to Epirus and Macedon]
A king’s companions in battle are his nobles and esteemed friends. It is an honour to be a companion, to ride forth with javelin and kopis to fight for your lord and master.

Heroes of Sparta – [Unique to Sparta]
Embodying the spirit of Thermopylae, the Heroes Of Sparta bear their spears and shields with fierce pride and unrivalled mastery.

Polybolos Repeating Scorpion – [Siege Deployable available to all Greek, Roman and Carthaginian factions]
Able to make short work of even the most heavily-armoured opponents, this repeating bolt thrower sacrifices the ordinary Scorpion’s range in return for a rapid rate of fire.

Tortoise Armoured Battering Ram – [Siege Deployable available to all Greek, Roman and Carthaginian factions]
Combining devastating ramming power while affording protection to its crew, used well the Tortoise more than makes up for its lack of speed and manoeuvrability in open ground.

New Buildings:

The Monument of Lacedaemon – [Unique to Sparta]
A symbol of Sparta’s overridingly martial culture, The Monument of Lacedaemon brings cost reductions to military recruitment, significantly increases the morale of land units in the province and a global morale boost to existing units.

Oracle of Dodona – [Unique to Epirus]
This sacred grove is the domain of the priests and priestesses of Epirus. The Oracle of Dodona increases city growth, provincial happiness, wealth, and the global conversion of other factions to Hellenic culture.

Acropolis – [Unique to Athens]
A symbol of Athenian high culture and engineering excellence, The Acropolis also provides extra garrison forces to Athens, improves the city’s abilities to withstand sieges, and increases Athenian agents’ Authority actions.

Faction History:

Athens
Athens has long been famed for its cultural achievements, from buildings such as the Parthenon, to the plays and works of Aristophanes, Plato, Socrates, and Sophocles. In many ways, Greek culture is defined by Athens. Its military focus has long been its navy; however, continuing the traditions of the classical era, its citizens are also expected to contribute both infantry and cavalry to its armies.

Epirus
Epirus is a Greek kingdom formed of numerous small villages and towns, rather than the great cities of the south. An agriculture and fishing-based society, Epirus nevertheless maintains a balanced army on the Alexandrian model, consisting of cavalry, archers, peltasts, phalangites and war elephants. They also make extensive use of mercenaries from throughout the Greek-speaking world.

Sparta
With every aspect of their lives and society geared towards warfare, Sparta dominated the Greek world and continues to produce arguably the finest soldiers of the Hellenic period. The slaves and non-citizens of Sparta enable their citizens to pursue warrior perfection as soldiers and champions. Trained and hardened in battle, their warriors and leaders are the embodiment of military discipline and virtue.

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