Female characters don’t command armies, (at least not in Mide, and I didn’t get far enough to encounter any Viking spear maidens or women warriors of Ireland) but they are not insignificant to the game. I found scrolling through these pages a delight, and took the time to get to know a little bit about each of my generals, and, when applicable, their wives. This more focused approach to both maps and characters gave me a surprising connection to my army and generals, even within the short hour and a half I had to explore the game. It’s also a much more intimate type of campaign, one where each character, king and general have their own page, featuring their history, portrait, age, family tree, and personality traits.
Gone are the massive maps which span continents and centuries, as they’ve been limited to the far more restricted area of the British Isles, large and detailed though the map is. Thrones of Britannia is striking out in a new direction from the tried and true Total War formula. There was a lot to read, a whole lot of it. With my people fed and the call to arms raised, I gave into my inner menu nerd and began exploring every menu, checking out each portrait, and reading every description, tips, and world news I could get my hands on. The longer you stay put, the faster your ranks swell, whereas moving causes confusion for would-be soldiers and slows this process. It’s not a simple matter of having enough gold and food to pay and feed them, recruitment is a process, and at times a very long one. You see, in Thrones of Britannia, troops don’t magically appear at your beck and call, it takes time for people to learn that you’re recruiting, to pack up their lives, and journey to where your armies are stationed. My generals dug themselves in, raised their banners, and lo and behold, a new battalion of troops appeared! At least… part of a new battalion appeared. Like any good king dealing with the ever-present threat of roaming Viking hordes, I quickly invested gold into expanding my farms, then promptly set to work raising an army. Mide is not a large kingdom, in fact it’s downright small and surrounded on all sides by potential enemies, (or potential allies!) and features little more than a capital city and a pair of lesser settlements. With ambitions of rising to become High King of the land that will eventually become Ireland, it was my job to build armies, protect my border, form trade agreements, alliances, and ultimately help my kingdom survive a bloody and uncertain period of history. A beautifully animated cutscene, featuring characters drawn in the iconography style of the middle ages, set the scene: The British Isles have won a decisive battle against the invading Viking armies, who have settled across the land, and created a fragile peace. In this hands-on demo A Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, the first for this title, I took on the role of Flann, the petty king of Mide, one of the ten playable factions in the newest installment of the Total War series.
A massive, animated map of Ireland, as it was in 878 AD spread out before me, brought to life with wandering war bands, petty kingdom capitals, lesser settlements, and even the occasional wandering deer.
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