There is something intriguing in projects of irreversible decline, collapse and even total degradation, because as they say: “breaking is not building,” and in general, any story ends someday. These are the conclusions that the developers from Creative Assembly came to, unanimously believing that it was time to bring the real-time strategy Total War Rome franchise to the finish line. Fortunately, the creatives are not some kind of triarchs with their beloved, so instead of the dull forcing of the line, we got the opportunity to personally put our hands on the already skinny necks of the Roman Empires, completely rotten in disease and corruption. Like Opposing Force from the Half-Life universe, we are offered a look at the events of the fall of great empires from the eternal antagonists of the Romans - the barbarian tribes of the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Huns, as well as other lovers of ancient culture and part-time nomads. Looking ahead, we note that Total War Attila is not a remake of the Barbarians add-on for the first part of Rome, but an almost full-fledged part of the series, with many noticeable updates and significant optimization of the interface, which cannot be said about performance, but let's take it in order.

Briefly about the game mechanics of the Total War line

If you are keen, then at least half an ear, but you have heard about the products of Total Var. This hybrid strategy took the top RTS due to the fact that it competently combined strategic and tactical parts. Indeed, sometimes we ourselves find it difficult to distinguish tactics from strategy, but in the case of Total War Attila everything is quite simple. On the global world map, we make moves, as in, and during battles we switch to the already familiar micromanagement, leading our legions. Of course, we can close our eyes to diplomacy, sanitation, mass culture, religion and a dozen other “boring” elements and factors of this epic, because loading saves every half hour is so exciting and fun.

The decline of an empire is not for the faint of heart

Let's start with the fact that playing for the “rotting imperial West” is not just a worthy challenge for skilled commanders, but a real stress test of your skills and general understanding of this gameplay. The proletarians are bathed in lice, plump from hunger, bureaucrats of all stripes and ranks fill their pockets with taxes with impunity, and not a trace remains of the former border forts. The empire is literally bursting at the seams, and the number of available legions can be counted on one hand, so don’t be surprised that despite all your efforts, after just a dozen moves, flocks of dashing bearded men will annihilate a quarter of your provinces.

In short, the legendary difficulty suggests eternal damnation, but experienced players quickly found holes in the mechanics. For example, you can “politically incorrectly” terminate the alliance with the Eastern Empire and thereby protect yourself from a couple more packs of radical roving groups. The same thing happens with religion: why maintain expensive temples and cultural assets if manufacturing chains and elements of the military-industrial complex are claiming their place? The people will still be dissatisfied, so we use this benefit to suppress riots and other democracy, which, in general, can disrupt the atmosphere of the game, but will significantly increase the chances of a favorable outcome.

An outside view or features of playing for nomads

Another thing is the nomadic and not very barbaric tribes, whose gameplay clearly resembles the modern culture of tourism - they came to the clearing, had a lot of fun and left behind nothing but dirt and ashes. Thus, our tramps roll from one location to another, set up camps, at the same time cleaning up everything behind them with a wall of fires. The scorched area is one of the most spectacular innovations of Total War Attila, the essence of which is the so-called “wipe” of the region, which practically dooms it to death, since the restoration of such locations costs colossal sums to the already thin treasury.

It would seem that the game mechanics simply insist that it is time to burn out this intelligentsia “with fire and sword,” but as practice shows, you will have to pay bitterly for any short-sightedness in Total War Attila. We remind you that a horde is not one or two, but tens of thousands of hungry mouths that need to be fed and warmed with something during the cold season (yes, the seasons have been returned in Attila, so let’s welcome frostbite and minuses to stats). Thus, by cutting out the entire district to the roots, we are deprived of sources of food and income. In addition, scorched earth is in no way suitable for pastures, so veterans of the line recommend gripping the chairs less and thinking more about the future.

Peculiarities of playing for the Huns “liberals” faction

One way or another, the West and the Ostrogoths, as well as the barbarian tribes, can still play for “unrest”, as in, for example, but the hordes of the Huns are a different story. These free folk do not make long-term stops and are constantly on the move, so their main farming consists of raids and forays. Having one of the best cavalry among the factions, the Huns can afford a strategy that is quite flexible in terms of retreats and counterattacks, but here again there are some features. The fact is that large detachments of 50+ cavalry in urban conditions begin to wander in three corners, which turns them into an easy target even for yesterday’s outcasts with pitchforks.

It is interesting that our hero of the occasion, the semi-legendary leader of the barbarian tribes, Attila, was not even born at the beginning of the campaign. In other words, playing as the Romans you will have to live to see the great battle, and only then experience for yourself all the charm of nomadic culture and everything that follows from it. To prevent instant defeat, we recommend creating so-called buffer zones in Illyria, Austria, and Galia, where you need to place 1 legion each. Actively develop your defensive infrastructure and beware of incendiary shelling, since the game physics in Total War Attila is close to reality, where one random arrow can set a whole city on fire, and without any pigeons there.

A few words about innovations and optimization

The main difference between the Total War Attila strategy in terms of interface and graphics is the serious work on the bugs and wishes of the fans. Now all the necessary information about your state comes in separate tabs, and not in a single stream, as was the case in the previous part. At the same time, on the contrary, technological progress has removed the unnecessary, leaving all the necessary branches in one window, so in terms of interface and user friendliness, the Total Var line has taken a step forward. The global map has darkened, the bright colors have diminished, leaving the glow of fires to illuminate these dark times. The textures of fields and meadows now actively reflect the seasons, and the forest finally looks like a real grove, and not like a couple of bushes in the middle of a map. Indeed, graphical updates are always pleasing to the eye, but they also require much more system resources, so decide for yourself what to choose - plus 30 warriors per squad or global lighting of the bushes.

Let's sum up the continuation of the Total War line

The real-time strategy Total War Attila will perfectly brighten up the leisure time of series veterans, thanks to truly hardcore campaigns for the Eastern and Western Empires, in which there will be many random events and unpredictable events. These surprises will test all your tactical management skills in stressful mode, and what’s most interesting is that you will have to learn to act outside of the mold in order to twist the game mechanics like a pig on a spit. For those who are getting acquainted with the Total War line for the first time, we recommend starting with the original Rome or its equally good remake, since without proper preparation, the peculiarities of the local gameplay will quite shake your nerves.

CONSISTENCE IS A SIGN OF SKILL
The developers from Creative Assembly, despite many “ugh” from old fans of the Total War series, continue to stick to their line, earning new fans. They are reproached for vulgarizing the brutal series, they remember the first Shogun and Medival, on which they burn the second Rome, “and Vaska listens and eats,” that is, CA continue to develop the series in the given direction. Are they acting wisely? The objective answer to this question would be: yes, just a week after the release of Total War: Attila, it was the best-selling game on Steam.
That's all - while the loudest dissatisfied people are shouting, trying to create the appearance of mass discontent, the masses simply go and vote with the ruble, dollar, euro and other tugriks. A million lemmings can't be wrong. CA knows what they are doing.
In principle, immediately after the announcement of Attila, I had a clear association with Napoleon: Total War. There was a suspicion that Attila would be related to Rome 2 as Napoleon was to Empire: Total War. That is, the same independent addon that does not require a previous game, but at the same time does not differ much from it in gameplay, but simply develops the ideas inherent in the first part. Without wanting to play up the intrigue, I will say: yes, this is exactly the feeling that remained after meeting Attila in action.
Total War: Attila leaves us in the era of Ancient Rome, but moves us closer to the Dark Ages. The game begins in 395. The basic rules remain the same as in Total War: Rome II. The same division into provinces and settlements, the same technology tree, divided into two halves - military and civilian, the same limitation on the number of simultaneously roaming armies and agents, characters, even the map is close to the previous one. But everything has been strengthened, polished, brought to mind, the balance settings have become even more subtle, the appearance of the game has been refined - the graphics take another step forward. All this happened during the transition from the Empire to Napoleon.

AN INEVITABLE ANALOGY
When analyzing Attila, it is simply impossible to avoid the analogy with the add-on to the first Rome, that is, with Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion. The close duration of the action dictates the proximity of the conditions when playing for different factions. Essentially, initially we have the same thing here. Conventionally, factions can be divided into several types according to the style and pace of play for them.
Firstly, there are two Roman factions - Western Rome and Eastern Rome, the future Byzantium. Given their immense starting size and power, they should be very difficult to play. The authors generously endowed them with problems, internal and external. The main goal, at least initially, is to survive.
Then we have small barbarian kingdoms. Playing for them is, in principle, usual for Total War - gradual expansion at the expense of neighbors. And then there is a feature familiar from Barbarian Invasion - the ability to move away and go in a horde, without having a single settlement.
The third is the mighty empire of the east - the Sassanid power. Its main goal is to break Byzantium, to crush it. Or at least make her life difficult.
And finally, the highlight of this addon, or better yet, the game - the Huns. You can play for them. But this is the most scripted faction, the game for which should be subordinated to the life scenario of the legendary leader of the Huns, Attila.
If you think about it, this is exactly the situation in the Invasion of the Barbarians. Honestly, my favorite faction, both there and in general in the entire Roman series, was and remains proud Rome itself - a beautiful faction, the game for which, moreover, in Total War: Attila promises to be as difficult as in Barbarian Invasion . In what follows, I'll focus on describing the game through a brief description of the Western Rome campaign. And in the game itself I will build on the analogy with the Invasion of the Barbarians.

DEAR EMPEROR, EVERYTHING IS LOST!
Intimidated by the reviews and the in-game description, wanting to go through the campaign at least in some depth, I set the difficulty level to “Medium”. However, this turned out to be rather weak for the series veteran. And reviews of the game, as I now understand, were usually made by people who had not completed the campaign for Western Rome, and therefore were inclined to intimidate potential players with phantom horrors. That is, contrived, rather than actually seen, difficulties. But we will sort them out honestly.
The initial conditions in Rome are terrible, an inexperienced player will be pinned down. More than sixty settlements are under control. Reviewing them alone takes a lot of time. And if you consider that the settlements are hidden in the dense forests of the graphically new map, then it becomes completely difficult. But the map, despite some gloominess, turned out to be really beautiful. This is true, by the way.
Rome has 7 legions. But they are all of a greatly weakened composition - and the number of units in the stack is far from reaching 20, and the number of fighters in each unit is much less than the maximum. The available money and income do not allow us to somehow increase the army. And our war is going on simultaneously with the Quads, Jutes, Saxons, Ostrogoths, Caledonians, Picts. Deep within the empire there is a still neutral horde of Suebi, ready at any moment to attack the unprotected rear.
The population of the controlled territories is not only dissatisfied, it is also unimaginably... dirty. Yes, that's it. If earlier we had to balance between three parameters: income, food availability and popular sentiment, now the sanitation parameter has been added to them. Different types of buildings do not increase dirt in the settlement. It also provokes epidemics, which lead to a further deterioration in mood and a decrease in income. At first, almost all the provinces were overgrown with mud. It will not be possible to wash them all (buildings such as fountains, baths and aqueducts) at once - there is no money.
Worse, the balance of buildings is built so delicately and beautifully that you constantly have to fall into a pair of scissors: if we increase income, pollution will increase, if we reduce pollution, income will disappear. And hunger, but don’t forget about hunger. If the total amount of food in the country turns out to be negative, we will face not just food riots - our army will begin to scatter or die out. And, as noted above, there is nothing to replenish it with - there is no money.
I just want to cry out: “Dear Emperor, everything is lost!” Spit on Rome and start a campaign for some Franks. But a coward does not play hockey, but a weakling for Western Rome. I really don’t want to be on the list of weaklings. So let's continue.
The Roman strategy in Barbarian Invasion was to quickly cower. We abandoned distant provinces and gathered loyal troops under the leadership of loyal commanders to the heart of the state. Sometimes it was even possible to lose Rome by retreating to Spain and Africa. And from there begin the long and stubborn struggle to restore the empire. My first impulse in Total War: Attila was to do the same, but a number of circumstances, fortunately, prevented this.

WE WILL GO ANOTHER WAY
The situation with the uprisings in the second Rome and in Attila is not as radical as in the first Rome. Even if discontent reaches a boiling point, the rebel army is formed gradually, and does not throw you out of the city as before. One flying legion can easily cover a significant territory.
Total War: Attila introduced such a feature as provincial governors. Well, or a well-forgotten old thing from the first Rome has been revived. The state of the province entrusted to him significantly depends on the characteristics and skills of the governor. Besides, we always have edicts. The most popular of them is “Bread and Circuses”, which increases contentment and food supplies. Governors and generals have upgrades. If we choose the path of increasing stability here, then we can again play in favor of law and order. By the way, the legions have the same feature. and agent-priests will be useful.
Based on this, we identified the core of the power - three provinces in Italy, Africa (the capital Carthage) and the part of Gaul adjacent to Italy - installed governors here, and adopted edicts. In general, satisfaction has been strengthened to an acceptable level. Now here you can invest money in construction without fear of losing it due to an uprising. Let's start with developing food buildings and increasing sanitation. In 15-20 moves, this base will become a powerful economic core of the state and a reliable rear, and governors can be moved to other problem regions.
The second step is a decision: two full-fledged legions are better than four half-dead ones. We are merging four weak legions into two strong ones. One covers the entrances to Northern Italy, the other fights for Gaul. It was decided to sacrifice the Balkans and England at this stage.
The restored Gallic legion attacks the Suebi horde on the 4th turn of the campaign. This is the first battle in the game, and we approach it with some caution. In vain. For my taste, nothing special happened at the tactical level. Yes, the interface has been significantly improved, it is more flexible, more understandable, unit cards now look nice, but the essence of the battle has not changed. It is important to send swordsmen to the enemy spearmen. Holding back his swordsmen, mow them down with darts from light infantry. And our legionaries, who cut down his spearmen, bypass the enemy’s heavy infantry from the flank and cut them down like weeds. Of course, the enemy's cavalry must be caught with spears. And victory is in your pocket. I had 2267 fighters, the Suebi had 2205 - equal forces. But losses! 387 Romans against 2002 Suebi. Level, of course, plays a role, but experience is still more important.

EAGLES OF ROME
A little about the Roman troops. From the very beginning of the game, we have available for hire such units as: Limitans - spearmen, cohorts - swordsmen, lightly armed infantry - dart throwers, foederates - spearmen, horse scouts, and there is an onager in one of the legions. Troops can be reinforced with mercenaries, the choice of which is not small. I initially favored archers, crossbowmen (called ballistarii), and cavalry. By the way, you can recruit troops from the hordes passing through your lands. I enjoyed recruiting the mounted steppe archers.
The approach to recruiting new troops has changed slightly (compared to Rome-2). The barracks are more or less specialized. After their first level, we have to decide what we will build at the second level - shooters, cavalry or infantry. But if you don’t suffer losses, that is, don’t lose entire units, you don’t have to worry too much - since the hired soldiers will last until the end of the game. But we are not going to lose battles.
A little more about the legions. Some tricks have been added here too. The main one is the cohesion of the legion. Apparently, something similar to morality. If the legion wins, it grows, if it loses or just sits idle, it falls. It can be raised by organizing a real decimation - the execution of every tenth person. But Rome should not have any problems - there are a lot of battles, there is no time to sit idle, and the number of victories depends on the skill of the player. I have not lost a single field battle. If it was not profitable, he simply walked away from the attack.
It is very important to monitor the loyalty of commanders. These guys are capricious, and the next moment there’s a civil war. But it doesn’t look like in the second Rome. Otherwise it’s just a rebellion and a negative modifier until it is suppressed. You can put away the resin of commanders: either by adopting them into the family, or by promoting them in the service, or by marrying them profitably. The faction management interface has increased in capabilities. Noya dabbled with them only at first, but by the end of the campaign he frankly abandoned them - it was too time-consuming. But it adds liveliness to the game, the characters acquire additional life, some kind of individuality. In some ways the game is a little closer to various games from Paradox. Not Crusader Kings yet. but it’s quite Sengoku or Europa Rome.

SURVIVE? NO PROBLEM!
But let's return to the Roman campaign. Until about the 20th move, I waged a war that could somehow still be characterized as a struggle for survival. Emboldened after a successful battle with the Suebi, he began to rush with full-stack legions at any horde that appeared within reach. I still don’t risk attacking two hordes with one legion, but it’s not difficult to crush them one by one. Following the Suebi, the Vandals sank into oblivion, the Illyrians were brought to the protectorate, and the Quads and Marcomanni were stopped. By the way, the AI ​​enemy is reasonable in diplomacy - as soon as he feels bad, he runs away with an offer of peace and money.
These are all events in the Balkans and Norik (Switzerland in our opinion). The Balkans are generally completely lost, but the enemy is still stopped on the Italian border. I simply surrendered to England, disbanding the troops there so that they would not consume money. Part of the territory in North Africa was lost, surrendered to the rebels, but the lands around Carthage were retained.
Various northern barbarians periodically invade Gaul. But they prefer to simply plunder the city and retreat without occupying it. Well, okay. This means that you can beat them every other time, without worrying too much about what was looted. In 398 (by the way, there are 4 turns in a year - according to seasons) finances became so strong that I was already forming the 3rd legion. It gets easier. Annual income - 3.5 thousand. Already good. In the year 399 I formed the 4th Legion, and my income was already 7.5 thousand. These are all reasonable buildings in the core of the power and several concluded trade agreements.
The 400th year begins with a pleasant announcement of the birth of Attila and with the payment of a reward to us for completing the 1st chapter. Her goal is to live until the 400th year. It turned out to be relatively easy. And even the territorial losses are not crushing. As for the money - just fill it up. I remember how in Barbarian Invasion the Roman treasury was whistling into the red. A huge minus. To get money, they had to destroy their own cities. Everything is simpler here.
The task of the next chapter is to live until the year 420. well, judging from the beginning, it’s not very difficult. Let us set ourselves the goal of firmly holding Italy, Gaul, and Carthage. Spain - optional, if it becomes possible to allocate at least one legion there.

TIME TO EXPAND
In the year 400, the number of Roman legions was increased to five. We distribute them like this: 2 legions in Gaul, 2 legions in Northern Italy and Norica, 1 in Carthage. There is no need for money. We have not only accepted the existence of various Roman separatists - English, North Gallic or Spanish - but we even conduct profitable trade with them. Therefore, the seasonal income at the end of the 400th year with five legions is 12 thousand coins. This allows construction to expand to more and more provinces.
It is already obvious that all of Gaul is safe and can be developed. Occasionally, bands of barbarians breaking through here are effectively mowed down by two legions. Legions are very good at maintaining order in the provinces. Occasionally I move them from city to city to make people happy.
In 401, the 6th Legion appears. He goes to Gaul, and one of Gaul stomps to Spain - there is a terrible situation with popular discontent there. Two governors are also moving there. Another one goes to the Western Isles.
A counteroffensive begins in Africa. The legion there is finally reaching our standard composition. It goes something like this: 5-6 squads of swordsmen, 5-6 squads of spearmen, 3-4 light infantry, 2-3 long-range marksmen (archers, ballistarii or slingers), 1-2 squads of cavalry. Such a bundle is strong and flexible, suitable for clashes with any enemy... except the Huns. Having 6 legions of this composition, we are no longer engaged in survival, but in returning what was lost. For example, the Carthaginian legion put pressure on the Garamantes and recaptured two towns from them to the east along the coast of North Africa. This is our first movement forward, not backward.
In Germany, previously pacified barbarians like the Marcomanni attack us for the second time. The pairs of legions in Gaul and Noricum very quickly crush the barbarians, reach their capitals and take the cities by storm. But - attention! - I don’t annex them to my territory, I don’t need problems with either discontent or finding new neighbors. No, defeated barbarians invariably turn into protectorates. After a few moves, the entire German border is covered by a chain of protectorates: Gaul, Alemanni, Marcomanni, Illyria. Let them now beat and rob not us, but our enemies.

BACK TO THE BALKANS
In 407, Rome became so strong that it already had 9 legions in full combat readiness. This strength allows us to return to the Balkans. It’s all the more time since the first hordes of Huns began to roam here. While they are destroying barbarian kingdoms and Byzantine lands. It's time to take advantage of the war between neighbors and the Huns and recapture previously lost lands.
By the way, about the destruction of settlements. In total, there are up to five options for what to do with a captured city: plunder, occupy, plunder and occupy, make a protectorate and burn. The last option is new. Burn means completely destroy the settlement. That is, completely, until the ashes on the earth, until the complete disappearance of the city. The Huns prefer this option.
It is possible to restore a destroyed settlement, but it is difficult. For this we will need a legion and a lot of money, about ten thousand. We select the legion, right-click on the place where the settlement was, the option to form a colony appears. Up to half of the legion's soldiers will settle on the ground, the settlement will be restored with zero infrastructure. All buildings will have to be built from scratch. If there is a lot of money, then, in principle, it is convenient to follow the Huns across the Balkans and restore the cities under your own hands.
However, we did not get all the settlements without bloodshed. Three towns had to be recaptured from the Roman separatists. But in 408 we were already firmly standing in the Balkans. And they even sent two legions in pursuit of the Huns horde - it was very interesting to fight them.
Fighting the Huns suddenly turned out to be quite difficult. Automatic combat with superior forces is no problem, but if you go honestly on the tactical map, you can lose many. The Huns are extremely morally stable, their archers, foot and horse, are very effective, quickly mowing down unarmored soldiers. Their infantry is quite strong. The standard composition of my legion against the Huns turned out to be ineffective - there were few shooters and cavalry. It was necessary to rely heavily on hiring horse-mounted steppe archers, slingers or archers. Ballistaria are rather bad - they fire too slowly.
Besides, the Huns are the only faction that has waged a real agent war against me. I had to transfer my agents to the Balkans, otherwise the steppe barbarians were too far gone.
But all these turned out to be only episodic clashes with the main enemy. In the fall of 414, we made peace with them and began improving the provinces. Plus the final return of what was previously lost.

THE HORDE HAS COME
By 415, the problem had become the enormous burden on the treasury of the nine legions and the many sanitary buildings in the provinces. Income dropped to a meager two thousand coins. This is only enough to support the pants, but development is out of the question. I had to get serious about the economy, that is, the construction of profitable buildings. These need to be handled carefully as they increase levels of pollution and discontent. But efforts in this direction yielded a positive result: in 416 the income was already 6.5 thousand, by the end of 417 10 thousand, and in 418 almost 14 thousand.
Against the backdrop of economic growth and the pacification of the distant rear, a serious war with the Huns began. There was no news yet about Attila's coming of age, but up to five Hunnish stacks appeared within Byzantium, near our Balkan borders. It was necessary to bring 4 legions to the Balkans and place their heels in their immediate rear, that is, in Northern Italy.
This time the Huns tried not to expose individual stacks to attack, moving at least in pairs. One such pair was spotted in the fall of 417. I attacked her - I'm ashamed to say - with four full legions. The balance of forces - 10 thousand Romans against 4 thousand Huns - on the one hand, did not allow my computer to cope, on the other hand, it determined the crushing success of the auto-battle. With the loss of 2.5 thousand soldiers, we completely destroyed two stacks of Huns.
In 410, they managed to pin down another steppe army. But then the Hunnic hordes appeared to the north of Norik. They began a pogrom of the lands of the Roman protectorates. It was necessary to transfer legions from the Balkans to the north. The harsh climate, the strength of the allies and Roman valor made it possible to defeat the enemy here too. And not just the enemy, but Attila himself. In 420, he personally took command and immediately came under attack from two Roman legions with his staff. But the scripts keep this barbarian - he supposedly managed to escape.

ANOTHER STEP FORWARD
At this point we had to stop the campaign, as it was time to share our impressions as part of the review. So what kind of game did we get? Good or bad? Some old grumps say: the game is for fools. For fools? And I liked it! This is another step forward in the development of the series, in the development of ideas. Despite the fact that already with the Augustan Campaign the second Rome seemed like a finished game, familiarity with Total War: Attila still makes you say: oh no, here it is - a finished version.
Now Attila lacks only one thing - the ancient campaign attached to him. Because now the grand campaign from the second Rome looks, if not pathetic, then a little flawed. But the very spirit of that era still asks to be used. Not everyone likes to play in the dark ages, and a variety of strategic options has never hurt anyone.
Surprisingly, after so many years of development, the Total War series is by no means perceived as decaying, regressing or outdated. No, every new game has something like this. It may not suit every taste, but a million lemmings... Yes, he can’t be wrong.

Here they are galloping, Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Four? Give it up. There are hundreds of thousands of them, and they multiply faster than your slaves can clean up after their master’s orgy. While you are finishing your first morning cup of wine, a dozen more Horsemen of the Apocalypse are jumping into the saddle and anticipating how they will burst into your villa, slaughter the servants, quarter you alive and burn the whole house for the glory of Heaven. Because a roof that cannot be rolled up and put in a cart is the roof of a tomb, and the tomb is inhabited exclusively by the dead.

Approximately such ominous predictions were probably heard by the imperial Roman nobility basking in luxury at the end of the 4th century of our troubled era. It is at that time that it begins.

The air was filled with smoke and blood

Total War: Attila did not become a “name” part of the series, like , where the campaigns were based entirely on the adventures of the cunning Corsican. Attila inspired by another page in the series' history Total War- addition Barbarian Invasion, and is even dedicated to the same era, which foreshadowed one of the darkest nightmares of the civilized world. Only here this era was shown in all its perishable splendor. And with all the modesty of visual means.

The small clump on the left is the Huns' camp. In addition to production functions, it is useful because the units in it do not suffer from the vagaries of the weather. Even from frost!

But the most noticeable difference from Rome 2- artistic. It catches your eye right from the splash screen in the main menu: against the background of a red glow, endless hordes are galloping from distant flames, warlike Mongolian music is playing. Demonization in the flesh, although the Huns, the perpetrators of the Great Migration, did not plunge Europe into the darkness of the “Dark Ages” for occult reasons. But who cares when the world is collapsing?

Each of the playable factions was provided with a mournful introduction, where the player is reminded: comrade, the hour of reckoning for free days is approaching. Or vice versa - we will burn the Eternal City and trample the crops! On the campaign map, the colors are faded, red and black dominate, and fire blazes everywhere as a symbol of reckless, destructive force. Fire colorfully devours the lands that you chose to completely destroy. The boundaries of the zone of aggression around the army are marked by dancing flames.

In battle, fires have freedom. Archers with fiery arrows burn not only enemies who come under fire, not only houses and barns - even the trees in the forest where the skirmishers are hiding will flare up from arrows flying through the foliage.

The eye can't get enough of it! The dynamics of the fire are even more impressive. And very useful, by the way, if you don’t want to leave potential enemies behind.

At the same time, the desired mood is not achieved with the success that the developers hoped for. Partly because of the caution of artists who did not dare to go against reality and, for example, add crimson tones to the skies. Partly because the game is more difficult than usual, but only due to the wrong properties Total War: Attila what was advertised in the first place.

My name is Horde

Taking the lead roles in the action of the new Total War- of course, the decaying Western Roman Empire and its enemies, the Hun tribe that came from Mongolia. Byzantium will have time to mothball and fall only in the 15th century, all sorts of Franks, Saxons, Goths are just a backup dancer for the people of Attila, and the eastern Sassanid empire wasted all the fun and went to be devoured by the future Arab Caliphate.

Therefore, Rome and the Huns are played completely differently than before.

In 395, the Eternal City controlled almost all of Europe, excluding Scandinavia, Northern Germany and the territory of the future Scotland and Ireland. But the greatness of Rome is fragile: unwashed savages from all sides are testing the boundaries, and some are gnawing at the empire from the inside. The army of Rome is small, the income is negligible, and the popularity of the Senate and Caesar himself in the regions is falling. The elite is split, control is slipping away... in short, playing for Rome will turn into a painful struggle with the rules of history. Just have time to fight off the barbarians, retreat deep into the domain and frantically count the denarii, shuddering at the cost of provisions.

The symbols are now even clearer, but it can be difficult to separate infantry from spearmen in a crowd.

The Huns faction is not so much difficult to manage as it is to understand. Steppe nomads are really Nomads, they don’t have cities, but they can’t capture them. Because the horde! In fact, this trick has already been used in Barbarian Invasion, and in Attila just slightly modified.

Each army of the Huns (as well as other nomads) serves as a mobile city, where yurts for various purposes are assembled and the Hun hordes are trained. For the “parking” functions to work, the horde will have to be camped. To do this, you should hold back a quarter of the army's movement points: that is, advance three-quarters of the route - and pitch tents.

At the same time, a lot of little things come to light that might not have come into view. Thus, several hordes cannot be kept in one area at the same time: they quarrel and receive powerful fines to add to their already meager income, and they eat beyond all measure. It is better to keep the hordes at a distance and bring them into a cavalry fist only for mass battles.

In terms of income, the standard profit from buildings is always higher if the horde is camped. Many incomes are not available to her: from trade, for example. The method of earning money recommended by the game - raiding every little thing and demanding tribute - works poorly: the tribute is ridiculous, barely enough for travel, and the tributaries strive to form an alliance with your enemies and start the war all over again. Re-reasoning them again wastes valuable moves, resources and people.

Close combat always turns into a fight. This is especially dangerous for the cavalry, which will be dismantled for offal in no time, as soon as it stops.

The military doctrine of the Huns is pure horse fetishism. Horse archers, horse swordsmen: why brake infantry when there is maneuverable cavalry? That’s why battles on behalf of the Huns are demanding on fine motor skills. Run, fire a couple of volleys, run away; swoop in, clinking blades, and gallop away, dropping manure. Even small villages become a cemetery for small Hunnic forces, because there is nowhere to turn around, and the enemy has many opportunities to create a dump and fetter the actions of the cavalry. Let us mournfully remain silent about the sieges: more than one cavalry company found its stupid death at the gates.

Playing for the Huns is perhaps as intense as playing for the Roman Empire, but much more mobile, flexible and multi-variant. If you want, rush to the Caucasus, butt heads with the Sassanids, if you want, chew on Byzantine merchants, if you want, you want to be a hooligan in the Gallic forests. Everywhere it will be equally difficult for the Huns, and equally interesting for us.

Who will remember the old

Something in Total War: Attila returned on the urgent advice of the public (fans simply knocked down the score on Metacritic). For example, a family tree. Now there is more fuss with domestic politics, and promoting the right people and persecuting unnecessary people has become a routine.

Similar dilemmas will confront you if you like the path of intrigue and careerism. The range of actions is small, but the consequences for the elite are large.

Diseases and epidemics have returned in a new form: now they do not fall on you “by the will of the gods,” but serve as a direct and logical consequence of poor sanitation and high pollution. For example, good workshops and populated urban centers generate more and more garbage and sewage, and wells, as well as ditches and other primitive means of removing sewage, are useful to neutralize them. One more headache.

The professional growth of commanders is now expressed in a full-fledged skill tree (armies have the same joy at their disposal). The perks include both standard increases in zeal, authority and cunning, as well as percentage increases to any parameters, be it the maintenance of mounted units or the speed of movement on the campaign map. True, these bonuses are distributed confusingly throughout the tree, and you will have to take some extra perks to get to more useful things.

A family tree is more like a return of an old debt than a generous gift. Who wants illegitimate children?

But the promised brutal street battles with barricades and crowds in squares did not work out. That is, formally there are barricades in the game, they are allowed to be built, but not enough to correct the course of enemy troops. And there are probably too many streets to make a tricky labyrinth out of them.

But still, the rules of the siege have changed a little: the blockade of the city has lost its meaning, since it lasts ten, or even twenty moves. Help will eat up all your baldness until the townspeople finally surrender, and the military ranks will noticeably thin out.

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How to play online

Online play is available in the licensed version of the game.

As in , the game's multiplayer features both individual battles and a campaign mode, taking place on the same map as the single-player mode. Also in multiplayer you can take part in nine historical battles.

Total War: Attila crashes, what should I do?

— If every time you start the game it gets stuck on the loading screen and at times returns you to the desktop, update your video card drivers.

— If you get error 53, disable your antivirus firewall and start the game. This error occurs because the program does not allow the exchange of information with the game server.

— If the game does not start at all, check the integrity of the game files on Steam.

When will the patch come out?

Two patches have already been released for Total War: Attila: one on February 4, and the other on February 25. While the first patch mainly contains performance improvements, gameplay fixes, and patches to fix persistent crashes, the second patch adds new content to the game, fixes balance, improves the interface, and optimizes the game. It is still unknown when the next patch will be released, however, most likely, it will be released along with new DLC.

Where are the saves?

Approximate path: C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\The Creative Assembly\Attila\save_games

What to build

Different factions differ from each other in starting conditions and gameplay in general, so there is no universal path for development. The Roman economy, for example, is in poor shape at the start, so when playing as them and having a break between the barbarian raids, it is worth considering the construction of trade buildings. Unable to settle down, it was better for the Huns to divide into hordes and develop them separately.

All factions, however, should think about constructing buildings that improve sanitation in the regions - this will help prevent the plague epidemic.

How to move or change the capital

No way. Even after migration, your capital will be the first settlement you occupy.

How to defeat the Huns

After defeating Attila several times, you will receive a message saying that Attila's next defeat will be his last. After defeating him again, another message will appear confirming his death. Such a loss will reduce the Huns' ability to produce armies and allow you to defeat the nomads.

How to unlock all factions

There are only 10 factions available in the main game. The remaining nine are unlocked by purchasing three DLC packs (Culture Packs): Viking Forefathers, Longbeards and Celts.

How to appoint a governor

Only male members of your faction can be appointed to the position of governor. Go to the “Family” tab in the faction window, select the required character and transfer him to the position from the list panel on the right.

How to change religion

A change is possible if 35% of your population are representatives of the religion you need. After that, open the “Factions” window, go to the “Summary” tab and click on the “Convert” button next to a specific religion. Destroying the temples of your current religion, such as Christian cathedrals in the Western Roman Empire, will help speed up this process.

Why are barricades needed?

Barricades are used during siege to protect your cities. They, however, are placed only in predetermined places and are not particularly durable.

Where to watch political events

Political events after they first appear can be reopened by clicking on them in the upper right corner.

Where to get wood

Trade the wood with a faction that has the supply, or capture a city that has it near it. Then build the building needed to produce it.

The “Forgotten Realms” mod for “Total War: Attila” adds many new (“forgotten”, as the name suggests) kingdoms, states, or just tribes to the Grand Campaign. Most of them become available for the player to select. Victory conditions have been spelled out for everyone, unit lines have been worked out, that is, all the paraphernalia necessary for a full-fledged campaign has been created.

If we simply list the features of the modification, they are as follows:

• Added 28 factions
• Added victory conditions
• General models for all factions
• All factions are equipped with individual characteristics
• Lines of units are prescribed for everyone
• Added missions and tasks
• All nomadic tribes can settle down
• In general, the nomadic camp underwent restructuring

As you can see, the list looks quite serious and thorough. It has everything you need for a good mod. “Good wife, good house. What else does a person need to meet old age?” - said a character in one popular film. By the way, do you remember which one? So, to these words we can add: new factions, new units in the mod for “Total War: Attila”.

"Forgotten Realms", that is, "Forgotten Realms". What factions, according to the authors of the mod, have the game developers forgotten? Oh, there are quite a lot of them. And even if you cram 28 pieces into the game, you won’t be able to hook everyone. What can you do, such an era - states arose and fell apart in a matter of years.

Initially, in Total War: Attila, two hordes of Huns were playable in the Nomad group. In the mod they are added:

• Budins
• Sabirs
• Magyars
• Roksolany

To be honest, I haven't even heard of all of them. Who are the Budins and Sabirs - without the Internet I “don’t remember.” It's about the same story with the eastern empires. Previously, only the Sassanids were in this section. In the mod they are added:

• Anthropatene
• Afrigids
• Makran
• Armenia

Don't be alarmed. We will not list them all. There are too many of them. But I would like to indicate the approximate composition of the “Forgotten Realms” mod team. Next we will be more brief. The Slavic brotherhood was replenished by three Western Slavic tribes from the territory of present-day Poland and Germany. Apparently, these are the so-called Polabian Slavs.

The ranks of the northern peoples thickened. At the expense of all sorts of Jutes-Anglo-Saxons. But the center is still in the east. The “eastern states” section came into fashion, and as many as six small, often single-province factions were shoved into it.

For one of them, Abazgia (on the territory of modern Abkhazia), I tested the mod.

Abkhazia is a typical single-province eastern minor. At the start there is one region and one inferior army. There aren't even agents. But the income is quite decent. And if you conclude trade agreements with the surrounding factions, of which there are many, then things will generally be good.

There is no need to rush to hire an army yet. Abkhazia is located very favorably. From the south are single-province Transcaucasian peoples. They not only do not pose a threat, but on the contrary, they are eager to conclude non-aggression treaties. We graciously give them these treaties and expand to the north and east. In these directions there are wastelands. So, when mastering them, you will have to ring not with steel, but with gold. In a couple of years, I calmly colonized them and began to develop them.

We are building barracks in the capital. But this is a troublesome and slow process. Initially, you can hire only the lousiest rogues like Caucasian spearmen. And even those are formed in two moves. So these initial units must be protected. They're really good.

The emphasis in the troops of Abkhazia is on horse archers and light infantry. Horse archers (from the start there seem to be as many as three units) are a valuable asset when used correctly. Action on the flanks, going to the rear, distracting the enemy's shock cavalry - in general, there are a lot of options for using them. We must take care.

The composition of the Magyar army was quite surprising. I expected the horde to have large masses of cavalry, but nothing like this. They have cavalry, but only three detachments. And not a single detachment of mounted riflemen. The infantry is represented mainly by spearmen, whom in close combat my Bosporians cut down like d’Artagnan of the cardinal’s guards.

A little later, that is, by the year 400, we were already able to produce our own infantry in commercial quantities. All of these, however, are light infantrymen. But at least among them there are fighters with axes and swords. And this variety can already be used against the enemy, targeting shock infantry at their spearmen.

Further the offensive is carried out in the direction of Crimea. For, as my Abkhazians said, Crimea is ours. Chersonesos is a very large city, surrounded by walls. If the enemy's stack sits there, it won't be easy. Actually, I had to. The assault used two stacks of ground forces and one almost full fleet. Yes, yes, don’t be surprised, my Abkhazians are famous sailors. True, at this moment there are only two types of ships - slingers and swordsmen. A combined strike decides a lot. Chersonesos fell.