Easiest Total War game to start a campaign?

[HistoryPlayer]

I want to learn how to play campaigns and Im looking for easiest historical Total War to get more familiar with the newest ones. I found Pharaoh a bit complicated with lots of concepts. Which title do you suggest?

[azaris]

Rome 2 is braindead easy.

[Kendji]

WH

[HistoryPlayer]

Originally posted by Kendji:

WH

I dont play fantasy I want historical titles

[Franck]

Originally posted by azaris:

Rome 2 is braindead easy.

+1

[V_]

Rome 2 base campaign with Macedon, Epirus, or Egypt. Macedon would be my suggestion, you'll be involved in minor wars at the start allowing you to practice battles in a simple manner. It also has a good starting position.

[Klutch]

they all have different gimmicks, but if you can handle the clunky interface, Shogun 2 is the definitive total war game.

[Kendji]

Originally posted by HistoryPlayer:

Originally posted by Kendji:

WH

I dont play fantasy I want historical titles

Empire

[Seti]

Spartan: Total Warrior

[Kelly Too Sweet]

Originally posted by HistoryPlayer:

I want to learn how to play campaigns and Im looking for easiest historical Total War to get more familiar with the newest ones. I found Pharaoh a bit complicated with lots of concepts. Which title do you suggest?

When you're new to Pharaoh its appears much more complicated than it is due to the number of individual, new mechanics you're presented with and assuming the choices we make in them will need to be measured by how they influence our choices in others. As you become more familiar with the game. you realize that they don't. In almost all cases, you're weighing decisions on whether you want buff A or buff B because there's no 'negative outcome'. 9/10 times a 'negative outcome' is not getting a buff. The 1/10 being something like losing your court position.. Where even that will likely just be losing buffs lol.

The multi-resource system is also deceptively simple but it's harder to make that realization when you're new and presented with the above scenario and every 1-2 region faction has 1.5-2 stacks by turn ~10. So stick with it and don't be intimidated, it's the most simplified historical title. Easiest historical is probably R2 due to extremely passive AI.

[Vilela53]

Originally posted by HistoryPlayer:

I want to learn how to play campaigns and Im looking for easiest historical Total War to get more familiar with the newest ones. I found Pharaoh a bit complicated with lots of concepts. Which title do you suggest?

I suggest you stick with TW Pharaoh. If you try another TW, you won't want to play Pharaoh again. Pharaoh has a lot of options to customize the campaign, so make adjustments, select the easiest difficulty and don't be scared by the various mechanics presented, because, when they are not bugged, they have little practical relevance.

In my opinion, the ranking of the most difficult ones is: Attila, 3K, Med2, Warhammer 3 and Shogun 2. I think these are the least suitable for beginners.

[25th LRSD]

They are all a bit different. My favorites are TW 3 Kingdoms and TW Atilla, Atilla has some great mods for the campaign . Rome 2 like most have said it pretty cake but also boring IMO

[HistoryPlayer]

Originally posted by 25th LRSD:

They are all a bit different. My favorites are TW 3 Kingdoms and TW Atilla, Atilla has some great mods for the campaign . Rome 2 like most have said it pretty cake but also boring IMO

I read Attila is the hardest but maybe if you play as Rome? Maybe is the easiest if I play with Attila and the Huns?

[Dark Sun Gwyndolin]

Originally posted by HistoryPlayer:

Originally posted by 25th LRSD:

They are all a bit different. My favorites are TW 3 Kingdoms and TW Atilla, Atilla has some great mods for the campaign . Rome 2 like most have said it pretty cake but also boring IMO

I read Attila is the hardest but maybe if you play as Rome? Maybe is the easiest if I play with Attila and the Huns?

@#$% no, don't even think about touching Attila until you've gotten comfortable with the core mechanics. It has a ton of dangerous hazards like Squalor, Fertility, and cultural / religious turmoil that can easily brick your economy. You're not just fighting other factions, but the world itself.

If you're new to Historical Total War, I would recommend starting with Rome 2 if you prefer maximalist games (huge number of factions, straightforward mechanics), or Shogun 2 if you prefer minimalist games (single Japanese culture, high degree of polish). Both games have a huge number of side campaigns, so there's plenty of content.

[Klutch]

Shogun 2 is 77% off at Fanatical, and Indie Gala. Great sales right now.

https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/total-war-shogun-2?aff_track=CJ&CJEVENT=ac546c561a2e11f0836c00040a1cb829&utm_source=CJ&cj_pid=6305441&cj_aid=13212017

https://www.indiegala.com/store/game/total-war-shogun-2/201270_m?ref=itad


Empire

https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/total-war-empire-definitive-edition?aff_track=CJ&CJEVENT=fa5b133b1a2e11f0824500010a1eba22&utm_source=CJ&cj_pid=6305441&cj_aid=13212017


Romance Three Kingdoms

https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/total-war-three-kingdoms?aff_track=CJ&CJEVENT=12ea0e101a2f11f0834f00040a1eba24&utm_source=CJ&cj_pid=6305441&cj_aid=13212017

[azaris]

Originally posted by Kelly Too Sweet:

Originally posted by HistoryPlayer:

I want to learn how to play campaigns and Im looking for easiest historical Total War to get more familiar with the newest ones. I found Pharaoh a bit complicated with lots of concepts. Which title do you suggest?

When you're new to Pharaoh its appears much more complicated than it is due to the number of individual, new mechanics you're presented with and assuming the choices we make in them will need to be measured by how they influence our choices in others. As you become more familiar with the game. you realize that they don't. In almost all cases, you're weighing decisions on whether you want buff A or buff B because there's no 'negative outcome'. 9/10 times a 'negative outcome' is not getting a buff. The 1/10 being something like losing your court position.. Where even that will likely just be losing buffs lol.

The multi-resource system is also deceptively simple but it's harder to make that realization when you're new and presented with the above scenario and every 1-2 region faction has 1.5-2 stacks by turn ~10. So stick with it and don't be intimidated, it's the most simplified historical title. Easiest historical is probably R2 due to extremely passive AI.

Pharaoh is pretty difficult for newcomers, as can be observed by reading this forum.

If you don't play the trade game, you get dogpiled by everyone. The dynasty system can also lead to a civil war without the player understanding what is going on. Plus the administration costs are very overtuned and make it challenging to actually maintain multiple armies when you don't know how the economy works.

If you ignore special cases like WRE in Attila, I think it's actually the hardest historical TW game.