Total War: ROME II – Empire Divided Steam

PLEASE NOTE: This content requires the base game Total War™:
ROME II to play.

• A new grand-scale Campaign Pack for Total War: ROME II
• Plunges players into the crisis of the third century, a
  critical turning-point for Rome
• Play as one of ten different factions across five cultural
  groups
• New Heroic Factions with elaborate victory conditions, famous
  leaders and crafted event-chains
• New period-specific events, dilemmas and missions
• New Campaign features: Plagues, Cults and Banditry
• Restructured technologies and unique new buildings

The year is 270 AD. A string of inept emperors and usurpers
vying for power has led the Roman Empire into near-total economic
collapse. This is its gravest crisis yet.

Eager to capitalise on Rome’s instability, barbarian tribes
gather like a storm on the borders, to plunder the riches of
civilisation.

To the east, the Sassanids set out on a grand conquest that
culminates with an assault against Roman lands. They are held back
only by a staunch defence led by Palmyra. Queen Zenobia holds fast
– but for how long?

The once-glorious legions are forced to assume a defensive
posture as their strength wanes; time is not on Rome’s side.
However, there is yet hope. Aurelian stands ready to take the reins
in Rome, though the task he faces seems insurmountable…

Will you unite an Empire Divided, and return Rome to its former
glory? Or will you become the arbiter of its final downfall?

Playable Factions

Culture: The Divided Roman Empire
Cultural traits:

• Defenders of Civilisation: +15% morale for all units in own or
  allied territory
• True Rome: Roman factions share a major diplomatic penalty with
  other Roman factions

Rome
Faction leader: Aurelian
Faction traits:

• Iron Fist: -50% resistance to foreign occupation
• Marching Orders: +15% movement range for all armies

Gallic Rome
Faction leader: Gaius Tetricus
Faction traits:

• Romanisation: Public order bonus (max +6) from presence of
  Latin culture
• Administrators: -20% political action costs

Palmyra
Faction leader: Queen Zenobia
Faction traits:

• Enlightenment Ruler: +20% research rate
• Piety: -4 Banditry for each cult building (all regions)

Culture: Germanic Kingdoms
Cultural traits:

• Terrors of the night: Can always choose to fight night
  battles
• Looters & Raiders: +150% income from raiding and sacking

Saxones
Faction leader: King Sigeric
Faction traits:

• Voyagers: +20% movement range for all fleets
• Settlers: -50% building conversion costs (all regions)

Gothi
Faction leader: Cannabaudes
Faction traits:

• Horsemanship: -20% recruitment costs for all cavalry units
• Ancestral Blades: level 1 weapons for sword units upon
  recruitment (all provinces)

Marcomanni
Faction leader: King Burkhard
Faction traits:

• Tribal Conquerors: +20% morale for all units vs Barbarian
  Tribes
• Ambushers: +50% chance of successfully launching an ambush

Culture: Eastern Empires
Cultural traits:

• Centralised Authority: -5 Banditry (all provinces)
• Silk Road: +20% income from all commerce buildings (all
  regions)

The Sassanids
Faction leader: Hormizd
Faction traits:

• Local Dominance: minor diplomatic bonus with Eastern & Nomadic
  factions
• Aswaran: +20% charge bonus for all cavalry units

Armenia
Faction leader: Narseh
Faction traits:

• Noble Guard: +3 experience ranks for commander’s unit
• Westward: Minor diplomatic bonus with all Roman factions

Culture: Nomadic Tribes
Cultural traits:

• Nomadic archers: +25% ammo for all ranged units
• Warlike people: +3 army recruitment slots in home province

Alani
Faction leader: Nikanuur
Faction traits:

• Horse lords: +2 experience ranks for nomadic cavalry recruits
  (all provinces)
• Steppe Dominance: Moderate diplomatic bonus with all nomadic
  barbarian tribes

Culture: Britannic Celts
Cultural traits:

• Heroic culture: +20% charge bonus for all units
• Sacred springs: +6 sanitation (all provinces)

Caledones
Faction leader: Segovax
Faction traits:

• Fierce independence: +20% melee attack in own or allied
  provinces
• Cultural aspirations: Moderate diplomatic bonus with all
  non-barbarian tribes

New campaign features

Heroic Factions
Five of the ten playable factions in Empire Divided are classed as
Heroic factions. These are Rome, Gallic Rome, Palmyra, the
Sassanids and the Gothi. Heroic factions have grander and more
elaborate victory conditions, and unique named faction leaders who
cannot die in battle.

Heroic factions also have their own flavourful and bespoke
event-chains, representing the tales of these characters’ lives,
which bring bonuses to their abilities and enable the player to
make meaningful choices regarding their development and that of
their faction.

New events, dilemmas and missions
Empire Divided brings a host of new events, dilemmas and missions,
both general and faction-specific, to introduce new challenges,
benefits and period flavour to your campaigns.

Banditry
This period of reduced governmental authority fosters the spread of
Banditry. Each province now has a variable Banditry level which
increases with the size of your domain and the presence of certain
local buildings. Banditry can be reduced with the presence of
armies, generals and special buildings. As Banditry grows, food
levels fall, threatening faction-wide shortages. High provincial
Banditry can also trigger special Bandit events to occur.

Plagues
Devastating diseases were commonplace in the 3rd century. When a
plague hits a settlement it hampers growth, impacts public order
and reduces income. Diseases can move between neighbouring
territories, spreading with army movement and along trade routes.
Sanitation buildings can prevent plagues from erupting and
spreading, and key technologies can improve sanitation
factionwide.

Cults
Alongside the more established religions, many cults sprang up in
the 3rd century. These are represented by special building chains
that can be constructed by any faction in any settlement. Three
different cults are available in the game: Christianity, Mithraism
and Manichaeism.

A cult building may be built for no cost, as its construction
represents your empire permitting disciples to settle within your
territory. This makes cult bonuses relatively easy to obtain,
though cults spread foreign culture, bringing disorder into your
provinces. In order to remove a cult building, a significant
expenditure is required and a public order penalty is incurred
required as this is considered persecution. Careful consideration
of a cult’s benefits and disadvantages is required but, if used
correctly, they can become a powerful tool.

New General Skills
Generals’ skill have been overhauled, and now allow the player to
customise and specialise their characters in the disciplines of
Recruitment, Combat, Strategy, Governance and Maritime
Proficiency.

New Narrative Technologies
All technology trees have been restructured and redesigned to
reflect the time-period and each of the game’s culture groups.
Moreover, technologies in Empire Divided don’t represent scientific
or technological breakthroughs; rather they represent the measures
taken by rulers to deal with specific problems facing their
empires. In this way, they help to tell the story of each faction’s
journey through the period. This is especially true for the Heroic
factions:

• Aurelian’s technologies chart the journey of an emperor who
  must reform the military, then unify and defend his empire.
• Zenobia’s technologies tell the story of her rise to
  power.
• Tetricus’ technologies reveal his Republican political views in
  an age of fractured empire.
• Hormizd’s technologies portray him as a ruler living up to the
  image of his predecessors, the great kings of the past.
• Cannonades’ technologies tell a tale of Gothic bloodlust, and
  the many challenges his people must overcome in order to unify and
  persevere.

Updated building chains

• Rome features a new Administration building, which deals with
  tax collection, agent improvement and countering banditry
• Naval Training buildings can now be constructed in the capital
  of a coastal province providing bonuses to ship recruitment
• Palmyra gains a new religious building chain that is dedicated
  to the gods Baalshamin, Aglibol, Yarhibol, Malakbel and Nabu
• Armenia gains a new religious building chain that is dedicated
  to Christianity
• Several new unique buildings are available to selected
  factions. These are Rome (the Grand Temple of Sol Invictus),
  Palmyra (the Great Colonnade, the El Kanat irrigation system and
  the Grand Temple of Baal), Sassanids (the Grand Statue of Shapur I)
  and Armenia (the Etchmiadzin cathedral – historically, the world’s
  first Christian cathedral)

New Units

Alongside the existing unit rosters from ROME II, Empire Divided
introduces a number of unique and signature units for the three
Roman factions. Each faction features its own variant style and
unique take on the classic Roman look and feel, with Aurelian’s
Roman forces bearing the closest resemblance to the classic
template.

Rome

• Legionaries
• Heavy infantry units – Praetorians, Jovianii, Herulianii
• Equites Dalmatarum – famous light cavalry
• Clibanarii and Cataphractarii – very heavy cavalry, precursors
  to medieval knights

Gallic Rome

• Taifali Cavalry – famous associated barbarian cavalry
  (distinguishing shield designs)
• Gallic Legionaries – distinctive from Roman Legionaries
• Gallic Axemen and Longswords

Palmyrene Rome

• Palmyrene Legionaries – distinctive armour and a preference for
  spears
• Hamian Archers – famous middle-eastern foot soldiers
• Palmyrene Cataphracts – eastern-looking heavy cavalry
• Armoured Camels – exotic eastern-style cavalry

System requirements