Empire: Total War FAQ 5
Hi guys,
Welcome to our fifth Empire: Total War FAQ. This month we are focusing exclusively on your Land Battle questions…
With so much of the warfare in the period being focused on the use of gunpowder, will there still be a role for melee units?
Despite the emergence of gunpowder, melee and dedicated melee units remain important parts of warfare in Empire: Total War. Flintlock, muzzle-loading small arms were unreliable, relatively slow to reload and not always accurate. If you were sensible you carried a sword, or a bayonet, or both, or an axe or almost anything as a backup weapon. Once you’d fired, you had a tactical choice: try to reload before the enemy closed to stabbing range, or charge home before he could fire and reload. Hence the need for melee combat. The comparative short effective range of musketry makes this a ticklish problem for commanders. At the start of the period, players will have to make the choice between shooting at the last moment and not being prepared for melee or fixing bayonets. The land battles are being designed so that there is no single ‘right answer’ to that decision. This ensures that the tactics of timing and manoeuvre are vitally important. The period was full of successful bayonet charges and cavalry attacks. There’s a huge, rich variety in the period and we’re determined to get all that flavour into the game. Empire is definitely not just Rome or Medieval with gunpowder units.
With ranged combat being so much more important to the way land battles work, will units be able to use cover and stances to protect themselves?
Absolutely, finding cover on the battlefield for your units introduces a brand new idea to the land battles. Buildings on the battlefield can become a tactical focus of battle because of the cover they provide. Historically, farm and village buildings often saw some of the most ferocious fighting in many famous battles of the period, from Blenheim to Waterloo. Empire allows for this by letting men deploy in buildings for the first time in a Total War game.
There is a downside, of course. Concentrating your men in buildings makes them prime targets for enemy artillery. All the buildings on Empires battlefields will be destructible so the walls can come tumbling down!
Buildings aren’t the only cover. There are deployable items such as chevaux de frise (a kind of portable barrier studded with hideous spikes and blades) and earthworks that provide partial protection for units. The walls, trees and the outside of buildings that can be used as cover too. In addition, some units (skirmishers, in particular) are trained to fire from a prone position in order to reduce their vulnerability to incoming fire.
With ranged combat now so crucial, will the land battle engine UI display areas of fire in addition to unit range?
Aside from range, the battle UI will enable the player to view a unit’s line of sight and there are elements that communicate unit movement and fields of fire (the area that can be hit by a unit with its current facing and formation).
What effects do the weather and environment have on armies in battle?
Weather and the battlefield environment will have a variety of effects on the armies in battle. Fog and smoke influence line of sight, while rain affects rate of fire (or even whether a unit can fire at all) and the chance of misfires. The environment meanwhile will have a range of effects on troops via fatigue. Troops will tire on the battlefield if they march uphill or through mud and, as result, you’ll see their rate of fire and accuracy diminish. Ground types will also affect the movement rate of all troop types, as will obstacles like walls. This only goes to promote the importance of manoeuvring your units with care. If a unit is slowed and fatigued by mud, or commanded to climb over a wall whilst under fire, they could be cut to ribbons in no time by a well-drilled enemy.
Uniforms in that time period were mostly similar, how will you keep armies from becoming clones again?
Not all units are created equal – a number of units are not ‘regular’ army troops, and have plenty of scope for variation. Each unit we are using has a variety of different faces, hair colours, haircuts and facial hair. Unit equipments, such as backpacks and ammo pouches, have a variety of positions and sizes and there is also some variation with unit weaponry.
We’re also introducing a system that allows us to alter any part of the unit on a per-unit basis, so for each unit type we can add variety wherever possible and appropriate. Even the most uniform of uniforms can have hats at different angles, some buttons unfastened, shorter or longer coat tails, different shoes and all manner of visual flavour. Of course, with the more exotic unit types the world is our oyster!
Faction colouring is done in a cunning way, and we can have slightly different areas of faction colour on each soldier. Dynamic dirt and wounding will mean that in the heat of battle, every man in the unit will display a different level of grime and injury. All of this is intended to give us as much flexibility in de-cloning the units of men as possible.
Will we have the ability to dismount men pre-battle?
Better than that – dragoon units will be able to dismount and mount during battle. Dismounting is a unit ability that won’t be available to all units and must be selected through the tech tree. This opens up many strategic possibilities – dragoons can for example, ride to buildings or areas of cover on the battlefield, then dismount and fire from the cover they’ve seized. Before battle there will also be a few units that can choose to fight on foot or horseback (but can’t change during battle).. Guns will also be able to limber and unlimber on the battlefield; this means that horse artillery will gallop to where they are most needed.
Units could deploy stakes in Medieval 2 – what kind of deployable items will be available on the battlefield?
There are a variety of weapons and defensive structures that can be deployed in battle. Some in real-time, others in the deployment stage of battle. We’ve already mentioned the chevaux de fries. This can be deployed in the pre-battle deployment phase and provide an effective defense against cavalry charges and limited cover. Other examples include the infantry earthworks and gabions (large wicker baskets filled with earth), which can be deployed pre-battle, and provide significant defensive cover form small arms and artillery fire. The latter is a defensive emplacement that offers strong protection for artillery units from small arms fire but fixes your artillery to a set field position – lose the position, and you may have lost your guns! There will also be items such as wooden stakes, depending on other factors.
How will fixing bayonets be handled – will it be an order you can issue?
The order to fix bayonets can be given to any, musket armed, infantry unit that carries them in battle (and not everyone did, strangely). At the start of the period, a bayonet plugged into the gun barrel like a cork in a bottle – the musket became a heavy spear, but could no longer fire. As the game progresses, more advanced bayonet technology becomes available, including ring bayonets and eventually socket bayonets. The socket bayonet in particular didn’t interfere with loading or firing. Actually, that’s not quite true – historically the French decided to offset their socket bayonets above the barrel exactly into the firer’s eye line. This made aiming a bit of a tricky exercise.
Will there be different types of ammunition available?
Artillery units in Empire can gain access to a variety of ammo types that can be selected by activating a unit ability in battle. Ammo types include explosive shot – these are cannon balls that fly towards their target and then burst and fragment, showering an enemy with shards of metal that can be devastating to a unit of infantry. Canister shot or grape shot works in the similar way but at a shorter range, turning a cannon into a giant sawn-off shotgun. Then there are grenades which are delivered via grenadiers on the battlefield, with their range and effectiveness based on the experience and training of the unit.
I hope you have enjoyed our Land Battles FAQ. Keep your questions coming on our official forums and stay tuned to www.totalwar.com for the latest updates!
Take care,
Mark O’Connell
Comment # 1
Absolutely awesome, i really didnt expect that much realism and tactical options.
Posted by Salazar on July 14th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Comment # 2
Great Q&A today guys. You gave a lot of new information and finally some news about land battles 
.
I hope that next month it will be about the campaine map or futher detail on land battles.
Keep up the great work!
Posted by Kevin on July 14th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Comment # 3
Will be possible play with some faction of south america? Sorry my english. Tanks
Posted by jorge on July 14th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Comment # 4
Historically buildings were used on battlefields, my question is if all cannons can knock down all buildings, for instance in the battle of Germantown (Germantown, Pennsylvania October 4, 1777) One of the reasons the Americans couldn’t win the battle (besides the fog) is that British troops garrisoned themselves in a stone house (called Cliveden, owner- Chief Justice Chew). In the battle the Americans used four three pounders to bombard the mansion, but the mansion withstood the bombardment and the British remained… So my question is if there multiple types of cannons? (can only fire certain types of shell- weight wise), and will all buildings on the battle maps be destructible?,Will some be stronger than other? Also will infantry be able to be placed into larger groups (regiments, battalions) based on where they came from geographically & will there be more commanding officers (ranks)… Also will each group of soldiers carry the the factions colors (flag) or (example :French Eagle)? And if they do will capturing (by Richard Sharpe , or being captured will these flags/(eagles) have massive effect on morale?
Thanks for the Q&A, looking forward to more on Empire: Total War in the future
Posted by Nate de Haan on July 14th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Comment # 5
Hi, i have been playin totalwar games since shogun. i have a question, when mounted soldiers are fighting that when their horses are killed that they could still fight on foot? Will Russia be in the game? And will ships be able to damage offshore citys?
Posted by Yuri on July 14th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Comment # 6
Hi, i have been playin totalwar games since shogun.Iam a big Fan.I have a question, when mounted soldiers are fighting that when their horses are killed that they could still fight on foot? Will Russia be in the game? And will ships be able to damage offshore citys?
Posted by Yuri on July 14th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Comment # 7
How do the generals/captians factor into land battles? In Medieval 2 it seemed like during the battle they were just there and if they were killed it would have no affect on the army except maybe a morale decrease. How are you going to change that in Empire?
Posted by egyptmiller on July 14th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Comment # 8
As the games progresses particular later in the period will the rate of fire improve with advances in technology, tactics and the discipline of armies?
For example would a highly disciplined well equipped regiment destroy an advancing or charging column i.e. as in waterloo
Posted by Sirlostalot on July 14th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Comment # 9
SOUNDS AMAZING. I’m glad to see field fortifications coming into play. Will soldiers be able to go prone at any point instead of holding a loose formation?
Posted by thehammster on July 14th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Comment # 10
Glad we found out more about land battles since 80% still was fought out on land.
But what about shore battles? Will they be in the game since harbors were very important targets and will there be any navy and land interaction? Would be cool to cover fire from ships at an enemy dugged in a city…which bring me to another question…
Will there be fought in villages or even parts of a city? Not all battles took place on a distance field, revolution was in the streets, forces withdrawign via sea were cut of and dugged in a city nearby.
Thx for the clearing up about land battles, I hope yo ufocus more on that cus we know by now sea battles are included. Hope you choose to answer my question about land sea interaction.
Posted by Sevicson on July 15th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Comment # 11
Thanks for the info Mark.
I am very excited to see the new things we can do with the EMPIRE Units! Can’t wait until Germany and the BIG reveal.
Posted by Scooter on July 15th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Comment # 12
Wow sounds Good But What will the drag on our computers be mines not the best of cmputers and i need to upgrade the ram(512) i need abetter comp for m2 so what will this one be like
Posted by Harry on July 15th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Comment # 13
hey im a big fan of all the total war installments. But as many other players including myself feel that there was just something about shogun and medieval that made it a great game. Ive been thiking about what it was and while there are many reasons, the one that stood out the most was the fact that when you attacked a province, you had to fight on a field battle outside the castle, then if successful you had to attack the castle. I feel that this made the game more challenging by having to spend more resources to take a province. It also made it more fun, because you were able to fight on open fields alot moreand take full advantage of all aspects of battle. Just my feeling on it…hope you can some how incorporate this back into empire!
Posted by mike on July 15th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Comment # 14
It’s great to finally get some of these BURNING questions answered. This may be the greatest RTS that has ever, is being, will ever launch!!…. That is until your next game comes out I was going to upgrade my gaming PC to work with the recommended settings for another game but i guess that it would barely make the minimum for Empire. I want the full experience that I’ve gotten from your other games. I just hope I don’t go over board and not have enough money left gor launch. Anyway keep up the amazing work, peace!
Posted by Chrat on July 16th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Comment # 15
Hi i haven’t read all Faqs so mabe you have already answered my questions,
. But will ships be able to fire as artillery against the enemy when the battle is near water, such as costal cities for example?
. Will there be more espionage missions in the campaign than in Med. II like supporting a rebellion or poisoned drinking water or something like that? ( actually i don’t care just wondering.)
. Will the game be much with kings and heirs like Medieval or is it more with generals without nobillity that you just can recruit or just assign for your armies and not just like captains or like that in medieval that just betray you so easliy.
. Will you be able to build many structures in your cities in the game and really make your own cities something else and unique from the enemies like medieval you could build huge cathedrals and be the first one to do it. So what i’m really asking for is, will there be any unique buildings or something like that?
Im sure the land battles already are improved but i really hope that they are so because with medieval there was some things that i hated in the land battles, but i can’t remember anything right now.
I think that’s all, sorry for my bad english but i’m from sweden and i’d love if sweden could be a faction too but mabe they are too small and just a minor faction. Otherwise i’m really looking forward for this game. Thanks:D
Posted by Johan on July 17th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Comment # 16
Can Empire:Total War go to the Napoleonic era or further because if they don’t them the game we be less popular and not as exciting to play on because the Napoleonic era and battles are more brutal and action orientated e.g. Waterloo, Vitoria or Borodina than battles of the 18th century e.g. Yorktown, Blenheim or Culloden. Also Napoleonic battles had more tactics and formation meaning it would make the game more colourful and informative.
Posted by John Cole on July 17th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Comment # 17
Can Cannons be captured or lost strategically. I mean can an army that captures the enemy’s cannons use it for later battles, or vice versa?
Posted by Julio Goodsaid on July 17th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Comment # 18
If a naval battle takes place along shore, is it possible for ground artillery to enter the battle and aid your fleet?
Posted by Michael on July 17th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Comment # 19
Here’s the question… will artillery be captured and used like ships can be caputered (as both are expesive pieces of equipment) or will the capture and death of artillery units be the smae as infantry or cavalry.
Posted by Pasquale Paoli on July 17th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Comment # 20
I noticed the first land pics. The red coats had a white border on their hat, on the pic they didn’t. All hats look the same (comparing usa with british). It’s that white on their hats that make them so beautiful to watch. Type: “redcoat” in google pictures and you’ll c what I mean.
For the rest I was asthonished and looking forward to found out more, can’t wait for release. I brought some ppl from other games that are in my clan aswell so we can fight toeghter online (I hope). But we’ll have to wait and see what the multiplayer will bring.
Posted by Kristof on July 18th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Comment # 21
I have been a fan of the Total War series ever since Rome Total War and I would like to say that the series is my favorite on the computer. But the two complaints I have with the series is as follows: for one the cavalry in Medieval 2 were very ineffective at chasing down routers and they could definitely learn via their roman counter parts who were efficient killing machines who effectively cut down hordes of routers while their medieval descendants had trouble staying in formation and stopped a charge prematurely frustratingly often. The second complaint that I have is that by the late game more often than not you are an unstoppable super power with no real competition in the world because all your neighbors are horribly underdeveloped a fact that always keeps me from retraining my best troops. Other than those problems I think Total War is an awesome franchise and I hope yall keep up the good work.
Posted by Christian Fleming on July 18th, 2008 at 5:07 am
Comment # 22
I’ve been wondering about beach/waterfront battles. Let’s say you have a fleet that unloads an army and that army is attacked while next to the shore. Is there any way to use the ships to fire onto land and help out the army? That would be truly awesome. Thanks
Posted by Jake on July 18th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Comment # 23
What about Solid Shot, which most artillery employed. It was not until later, around the 1850′s that light field artillery began to use explosive shot.
Another question is, will the campaign battle system be revamped so it is possible to have small scale engagements, such as other then full stacks facing each other, giving the ability to fight a guerrilla war, such as that was fought by Washington against Generals Howe and Clinton, and fought by numerous sides during the 30 years war.
I believe that the ambush function in MTW and RTW was pretty much useless, because you could not effectively ambush a much larger force with a smaller force. Will Smaller armies be able to move on the campaign map faster, due to the relative lack of a baggage train?
Posted by robert distelcamp on July 18th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Comment # 24
I love these games. Played Shogun and Original medieval. When I heard about RRome I bought a new computer to run it likewise medieval. These games cost like a grand and a half but thy’re worth it…:)
Posted by Eoineoin on July 20th, 2008 at 3:08 am
Comment # 25
Total War: Empire looks good! I am a long time fan of the Total War series. I would like to ask some questions on land battles.
Will there be a larger variety of formations?
In the past they were pretty static: loose and tight formations and some units with Schitorm ability. What about encirclement and U shaped formations common when one out numberd the enemy.
Will cannons and matchlocks back fire injuring your own units, a common experience at the time?
Will all states depend on fire-arms or will only some states?
Although fire-arms were the norm in England and Western Europe, what about other states that did not use fire-arms as the primary unit such as Eastern Europe, China or India: They did have them, but they were always the minority of the army.
Will disease affect the army?
Disease has always been the biggest killer of any army. Will this be reflected in the game? I used to do medical research on the American Civil War. Most soldiers didn’t die from combat; they died of “chronic dierrea,” “the typhus,” “dysentery” from drinking contaminated water sources en route. I saw more deaths in Nashville, Tenessee when soldiers gathered before the battle of Chickamagua and Chattanooga than in the battles themselves. An inglorious death, but the reality of war.
Will unit and/or army sizes be increased?
The Armies in the game are quite small compared to reality. Will armies exceeding 2,000 (say 5,000 ro 10,000) be possible?
Posted by Chris on July 22nd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Comment # 26
I am sure that the supplement game for Empire is well under way and that it will be fantastic. You have already heard from every diehard like myself, his or her idea on what eras should be included in the supplement game I’m sure. I thought I would add my thoughts as well, even if this were totally discarded into cyber oblivion. The American civil war was an epic time in American history: one that has never before been marketed in a successful game format. I believe with Empire that you will be the first to blow the lid off of this period of history and I sincerely believe that you will pull not only more American players but also a host of civil war geeks and history buffs to boot! The tech tree for this may be a little farther than you wanted to go i.e. repeating riffles, crank machine guns and ironclad gun boats but I believe that it would go along way in pushing your company further into the American market and endear tens of thousands of Americans to your series and create a wider fan base for you in the future.
Also I wanted to say thank you all for your hard work that you have all done from Medieval II, Kingdoms and Empire. You guy’s never rush and throw your product out half assed. It is always done with a professional pride and skill that I wish the whole gamming community would adopt.
Your Loyal Fan Ryan Lynn
Posted by Ryan Lynn on July 23rd, 2008 at 12:20 am
Comment # 27
Do you include American Indian units in total war combat? Additionally, what about trade and diplomacy?
Posted by Bill on July 24th, 2008 at 3:42 am
Comment # 28
is it a general release date or when is it released in europe?!!
billman
Posted by billman on July 24th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Comment # 29
With the introduction of real-time naval warfare, will there be certain instances where naval units can aid in the battles that are close to shore?
Posted by Brock McQueen on July 28th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Comment # 30
Hey you guys should release a short demo whenever you would be able to. It would really help me decide if i want to buy this game, and also whether or not it will work on my computer
Posted by jared on July 29th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Comment # 31
How will the troops know to fire from behind the earthworkings and other obstacles
Posted by Zach on July 30th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Comment # 32
I wouldn’t gets Empire Total War unless
1.) The AI treats the human player and other AI players the same way on all difficulty settings.
2.) The AI better get be way smarter on the hardest diffuculty settings (I can see why so many people are using AI mods).
3.) If we could somehow play as the revoloutionary America w/out modding, maybe if we had the option of starting the campaign in a later period or year, for example, in the late 18th century when the 13 colonies are under revolt.
Posted by General public on July 31st, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Comment # 33
I cannot wait for this game i am a dedicated total war fan. it has inspired me to take up games design. i have played all the previous games and none of them have featured unit entourage other than captains, will empire have characters such as musicians and flag bearers?
also will there be a hotseat campaign for empire?
thankyou and keep up the great work
Posted by brett gleed on July 31st, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Comment # 34
in empires naval warfare you have placed officers such as commodore and captains. will there be any such thing for land battles? and if so, is there any way to target them? for example in the battle of sharpsburg/antietam the killing of major general Mansfield and the wounding of Hooker were damaging to the divisions they led. also the wounding of Blucher prior Waterloo which nearly had a huge effect on european history. i ask this as a player tired of surrounding a general unit in the field, slaughtering the entire guard and then the general, fleeing all alone,escapes and lives to tell the tale.
Posted by totalwarfan on August 1st, 2008 at 4:11 am
Comment # 35
Is there any chance that in the sieges of cities that have ports for example we could see a compination of land and naval battles were somebody could use both ships and land units to defend or to attack? thank you very much
Posted by romanos on August 1st, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Comment # 36
How deep do you go with vairty of weapons? If you should order an hand-to-hand fight, will some soldiers in the unit draw thier swords while others coice to figth wtih his bayonet?
Posted by Grej on August 1st, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Comment # 37
Very interesting, I wonder thought, will Artillary units be able to be captured during a battle/will artillary be able to be spiked?
Posted by Gilroy on August 2nd, 2008 at 1:45 am
Comment # 38
Hi! just a few comments/ questions.
firstly, i dont care whem the game comes out(long as it isnt more than a year) i just want the requirements. also, could yall PLZ put the world faction limit at more than 10?like 50 possibly. you dont have to add them to the game, the modders will take care of the rest just raise the hardcoded limit PLZ. and theres some discus. at TWC about how the US will be implemented in the grand campaign, could you clarify this? lastly, your next Q/A could possibly be on Grand Camp.
Posted by Joshua on August 2nd, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Comment # 39
Is their a chance of a Napoleonic Total War?……that would be really awesome!
Posted by rude on August 4th, 2008 at 5:58 am
Comment # 40
Will there be historical characters in this game, like kingdoms ?
Posted by Frazer on August 7th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Comment # 41
This i game is practically the only one i want to get in the next year… but there are rumours that due to naval battles it will be DX10 only… is this true 
Posted by James Harrigan on August 7th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Comment # 42
Will astern or american-indian factions be more primitive in usage of gun-powder weapons then european troops?
Posted by Gordan on August 12th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Comment # 43
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have had the rome total war game now for a few years and thoroughly enjoy it, as I like all types of strategy games anyway. I have looked at the other Total war series of games and they all have one thing in common you can only create an army of 4500 troops!! Can you tell me why not more, say 20,000 as an example?? It seems to me that this would lead to much more realism as numbers played an important role back then. I noticed that even in empire total war there will again be strict limits on troop numbers I think 5000 per side. Again, Why??
Sincerely
Mike Stringer
Posted by mike stringer on August 17th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Comment # 44
Will wind direction and strenght have significant effect on manouvering in naval battles?
Posted by {Ronin}K on August 17th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Comment # 45
Looks like land battles will bring in even more excitement. However I was wondering if there will be an option to manually select which units will fire their guns, and if so, will there be a special button to order them to fire all at once?
Posted by thebonecollector on August 18th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Comment # 46
When will there be vids of infantry gameplay?
Posted by John on August 24th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Comment # 47
Can we please have some more information on the campaign map and how it will work and also some info on the system requirements of E:TW
thanks, hope to hear more soon
Posted by kiran on August 25th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Comment # 48
Thanks for post. Friends send me a link. Good thing. Subscribed on RSS! Wanna read you more!
Posted by Andy on August 25th, 2008 at 1:03 am
Comment # 49
has the “spinning” musketeer issue been fixed? (i.e. a gun-armed unit in a line rotating around its axis to shoot at enemies and opening its flank up to attack and unhinging the whole damned battle line.)
Posted by Mabuse on August 25th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Comment # 50
I really miss the fact that we can no longer record campaign battles in the total war series. Micro managing a (hardest level) crucial campaign battle does not leave enough time to sit back and admire the spectacle which seems a shame considering the graphics are so nice.
Watching meaningless “quick battles” just doesn’t do it for me I’m afraid.
Please bring this feature back.
Thanks.
Posted by jason on August 26th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Comment # 51
In the final question he mentions about explosive shot (whitch were called shells) while they did do what it says the fuse had to be cut depending on time. So im wondering if this will be realistic like cutting to short or to long or just having a dud.
Posted by Dave on August 28th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Comment # 52
wooh this is so cool this is everything i need to know for land battles awesome!!!
Posted by Tristan on August 29th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Comment # 53
Hello!
Does anyone know whether or not the Greek revolution is included in the game? Because it took place in 1821 which is within the period empire total war is associated.
Posted by gerk on August 29th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Comment # 54
you should be able to press citizens into service as levies when your city is besieged. there should also be a Napoleonic Campaign. and options to lead a rebellion as france or america.
Posted by rick on August 30th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Comment # 55
Thanks for the update!
I’d like to say I’m happy to hear about all the attention to detail, but I hope it doesn’t detract from the game’s fundamentals. In previous games I often felt like I could’ve done without a lot of the fancy things, if the game were just more fun – by which I mean, if the campaign map AI were more aggressive and challenging and if there were a bit more atmosphere to it.
No TW has matched Shogun for immersion – even the map helped in that respect, with the added bonus that the simple province system was easy enough for the AI to deal with on a strategic level. Rome and Medieval II struggled in that respect… while you became a superpower, the other starting factions remained small and passive, and geography blocked them from reacting to many of your moves. I hope that aspect of the game does not become an afterthought. I can’t wait to find out!
Posted by carlisimo on September 2nd, 2008 at 6:30 am
Comment # 56
Do you have any idea yet of what the system requirements are likely to be? Because I look to buy a computer but shouldn’t like to buy one on which i cannot play empire: total war.
thanks
Posted by steve on September 10th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Comment # 57
I was wondering if you were thinking about bringing any of your total war games to mac the mac forums are swamped with people wanting to know if and when total war will come to mac. Most will even settle with rome total war, but with the new intel processors the mac is “the most powerful system in the world”. If not the mac have you thought about maybe a PS3 game with voice command? Please Email back
Posted by John on September 11th, 2008 at 1:11 am
Comment # 58
if this game covers europe and america exactly how many factions will their be? also will you include countries like Texas Mexico and Brazil
Posted by G2zR$$ on September 11th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Comment # 59
Since ships can now be controlledin battle, will it be possible for land and sea units to interact, like a land cannon firing at a ship
Posted by G2zR$$ on September 27th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Comment # 60
What will be the minimum specification to run Empire: Total War.
Posted by mike on September 28th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Comment # 61
the game looks really great guys..just one question that i would really want you to answer..why are the soldiers in a unit so separate from each other..thanks ca..
Posted by geralde06 on September 28th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Comment # 62
did diplomacy and trade are like medieval focuses only on war or there is more complex piece adjustments that can work with the complex diplomacy of the time
Posted by ahmed on October 5th, 2008 at 1:56 am
Comment # 63
merchant have the same duty of medieval totalwar or have more realistic actions?
Posted by ahmed on October 5th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Comment # 64
are cities and castles are the same or castles built now to protect cities as in real time?
Posted by ahmed on October 5th, 2008 at 2:00 am
Comment # 65
units in 18th century was always keeping there formation while there marching (the line formation),the whole army marches homogenous keeping there lines side by side,which never happened after rome that armies keep there lines side by side while they are marching so is there a new way to fix formation of units while player moving them & the armies will move keeping the lines of units side by side with each other bec. these problem was always with phalanx was anoying
Posted by ahmed on October 6th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Comment # 66
As a defensive player in medieval 2 the chevaux de frise and gabiones are an exciting inclusion. I wonder though, will old or ruined castles still dot the landscape and or map, and will they be usable to a defender?
Posted by Trevor on October 7th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Comment # 67
Wow! Really an excellent work!! I can’t wait… XD
Posted by Odino on October 13th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Comment # 68
It’s kind of off topic but I will just write it here. I was watching the land battle trailer for the Empire Total War and realized that the hitstoricle accuracy regarding the Prussian flag is in fact wrong. Prussian banner depicted in the video was used 1870s. I suggest that the developers take consideration in changing the Prussian banner to more accurate, 1700 one. link- http://www.napolun.com/mirror/web2.airmail.net/napoleon/prussian_flag_1.gif
Posted by Andrew on October 15th, 2008 at 4:42 am
Comment # 69
Q:Hey guys I would just like to know if you will ever bring the total series to playstation?Would be hectic!!!!!!!
Posted by Roxanne on October 15th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Comment # 70
Two Words – DYNAMIC LIGHTING
In Medieval 2: Total War you could sit there for hours and do nothing and the lighting would stay the exact same.
I think Empire:Total War should include Dynamic Lighting because most battle don’t happen in 5 minutes where the sun doesn’t change.
Most battles take a day or two.
Maybe not with conflict all the time, but still.
Posted by Curtis on October 17th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Comment # 71
i think that the game should go farther up… all the way to 1880. why you may ask? i’ll say why, and so you can know why i’ll type it as well: america’s war between the states.
-the historical battles should stay, and i hope to see Antietam or Gettysburg or both. i’m also hoping to see the 1860s era units to be able to dig trenches, as that was the war that saw the end of Napoleonic tactics, and the beginning of trench warfare.
–also, you should be able to capture enemy arty in battle… that could sway the course!–
if sega isn’t watching this comment, can someone give them the comment?
Posted by ian on October 18th, 2008 at 3:19 am
Comment # 72
What are minimum and ideal hardware requirements to run Empire?
Posted by Nin on October 21st, 2008 at 1:20 am
Comment # 73
I’d like to see more detail on the cover subject, will your men be able to fire from behind farm fences and will it reduce damage by 50% or more? If somehow a staffmember could email me at joancroaks@gmail.com I would be ecstatic. Thanks.
Posted by John on October 22nd, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Comment # 74
what site can i preorder speacial forces edition?
Posted by fred on November 7th, 2008 at 1:49 am
Comment # 75
My Name is Eugene and i have a question are we goin to have a campaign that we can play online. and no more emails about the details. its just you and your friends in a room until the camping is finished? will that be possible.
Posted by Eugene on November 9th, 2008 at 4:01 am
Comment # 76
heLLO…
can u send me the empire total war spec please…?
i want to buy the game as soon as possible..
thx
Posted by faizAL on December 3rd, 2008 at 5:54 am
Comment # 77
What will be the minimum system requirements?
Posted by Sasha the Serb on December 22nd, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Comment # 78
Hello. I was just wondering if there is going to be a multiplayer campaign mode? Thank you very much.
Jason
Posted by Jason on January 19th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Comment # 79
I suddenly come to a question:
Will war start because of the succession of a country?
Posted by Iquabakaner on January 24th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Comment # 80
I dont know if this question has been asked yet or not, but are you able to set up naval-custom battles or not?
Posted by andrew on January 28th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Comment # 81
Hi again, is the special forces edition ONLY available through online pre-order, or can you buy it in march when the game comes out?
Posted by andrew on January 31st, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Comment # 82
Hello, just wanted to ask if there is another expansion for empire total war which will include Asian nations such as China, Japan etc… not forgetting south east Asian nation like Brunei, Siam, Sulu, Java which were still independent during the European Colonization within the period of empire total war.The Spaniards controls the Philippines, the Dutch controls part of Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan, the British controls the Malay peninsula,Singapore and the kingdom of Brunei which fell under the British in the late 19th century. There are more s.e.Asian nation which fight for the same cause, to protect their sovereignty from European power.
Posted by Hazmi on February 10th, 2009 at 6:54 am
Comment # 83
Can we play with some South American factions??? or maybe play the awesome Simon Bolivar’s campaign in a kind of expansion in the “The Road to Independence” mode, against the Spanish Empire…
Posted by Mike on February 10th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
