The micromanagement required is thin next to titles such as Hearts of Iron, but players who consider the campaign map little more than a lengthy pause between battles will endure a small learning curve.Īrmies are moving towns that must be supported by supply lines and depots. Strategists will find more to recommend Napoleon to them than previous titles in the series. As winter and summer each run on for six consecutive turns, to say nothing of the intemperate changing seasons, campaigns must be more thoroughly planned. Now, armies suffer from attrition as the rank and file desert the corps or succumb to sickness. Previously, moving in snow or across a desert incurred a penalty to speed - a simple trade-off one turn to the next. Unlike previous Total War games, weather has a direct impact on armies on the campaign map, adding a new layer of strategic depth. Immediately, it adds credibility to the passage of time spent on campaign, but it also increases the rotation of variable conditions that players will have to deal with. Turns are now composed of two weeks instead of Empire's six months. But Napoleon's campaign maps soon distinguish themselves and peg Independence for the prototype it was. Initially, they beg comparisons to Empire: Total War's Road to Independence mini-campaign, itself a rough blueprint for Napoleon. With this tighter focus comes much smaller and intricate campaign maps.

Each is more limited in its scope than its predecessor, and each recounts the compounding exploits of the titular general - from his command of the Republic's armies in Italy and Austria, his Egyptian campaign to crimp British trade to the subcontinent and finally, his conquest of Europe. Previous iterations of the series presented a canvas, defining the parameters of technology and tactics before stepping back to allow the player and the AI to shape the course of history in a single grand campaign. The most notable departure from Total War's traditions is Napoleon's linear narrative focus. Secondly, that Napoleon is such a dramatic overhaul of Empire, it ships as a stand-alone sequel. There's something reassuring about the predictability of the Creative Assembly's production strategy.Īs a rule, the studio takes a panoramic view of period warfare, treating both turn-based campaign strategy and spectacular real-time battles, before following that title with an expansion that focuses the lens on the exploits of a particular country, campaign or character.īy and large, Napoleon: Total War is no exception but for two further details: First, that it follows on from Empire: Total War, an ambitious title, but one that was in many ways flawed.

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