Total War (video game series)

Total War is a series of strategy games developed by British developer Creative Assembly for personal computers. They combine turn-based strategy and resource management with real-time tactical control of battles. Rather uniquely for real-time strategy games, flanking manoeuvres and formations factor heavily into gameplay. The first game of the series, Shogun: Total War, was released in June 2000. The most recent major game released was Total War: Pharaoh on 11 October 2023. As of April 2021, the series had sold over 36 million copies.

Main games

+Total War series Title Release date Engine Operating system(s) Expansion(s) Game collection(s) Total War Eras Total War Anthology Total War Collection Total War Grand Master Collection Game Of The Year Edition Shogun: Total War 2000 TW Engine 1 WindowsThe Mongol Invasion Warlord Edition,Gold Edition Medieval: Total War 2002Windows Viking Invasion Gold Edition, Battle Collection Rome: Total War 2004, 2010 (macOS),2016 (iOS), 2019 (Android) TW Engine 2Windows, macOS, Android, iOSBarbarian Invasion, Alexander Gold Edition, Rome: Total War Anthology Medieval II: Total War 2006, 2015 (macOS), 2022 (Android, iOS) Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS Kingdoms Gold Edition,Collector's Edition, Definitive Edition Empire: Total War 2009, 2012 (macOS), 2024 (Android, iOS) TW Engine 3 (Warscape Engine) 32-bitWindows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS The Warpath Campaign Gold Edition,Special Forces Edition,Collector's Edition, Definitive Edition Napoleon: Total War 2010, 2013 (macOS), 2025 (Android, iOS)Windows, macOS, Android, iOS The Peninsular Campaign Gold Edition, Limited Edition, Imperial Edition, Emperor's Edition, Definitive Edition Total War: Shogun 2 2011, 2014 (macOS)Windows, macOS, LinuxRise of the Samurai,Fall of the Samurai Gold Edition, Collector's Edition Total War: Rome II 2013Windows, macOSCaesar in Gaul,Hannibal at the Gates,Imperator Augustus,Wrath of Sparta,Empire Divided,Rise of the Republic Emperor Edition,Spartan Edition,Collector's Edition,Caesar Edition,Enemy at the Gates Edition Total War: Attila 2015Windows, macOS, LinuxThe Last Roman,Age of Charlemagne Special Edition, Tyrants and Kings Edition Total War: Warhammer 2016 TW Engine 3 (Warscape Engine) 64-bitWindows, macOS, LinuxChaos Warriors,Call of the Beastmen,Realm of the Wood Elves,Bretonnia,Norsca Limited Edition,Old World Edition,High King Edition,Dark Gods Edition,Savage Edition Total War: Warhammer II 2017Windows, macOS, LinuxMortal Empires,Rise of the Tomb Kings,Curse of the Vampire CoastLimited Edition,Serpent God Edition Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia2018Windows, macOS, LinuxLimited EditionTotal War: Three Kingdoms2019Windows, macOS, LinuxEight Princes,Mandate of Heaven,A World Betrayed,The Furious Wild,Fates DividedLimited Edition,Collector's Edition,Royal EditionTotal War Saga: Troy2020TW Engine 3 (Warscape Engine) 32 bit + 64 bitWindows, macOSMythosLimited Edition,Heroic Edition,Mythic Edition,Ultimate EditionTotal War: Warhammer III2022Windows, macOS, LinuxImmortal Empires,Ogre Kingdoms,Forge of the Chaos DwarfsTotal War: Pharaoh2023Windows, macOSDynastiesStandard EditionTotal War: Warhammer 40,000TBA Warcore [?]Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/STBAStandard EditionTotal War: Medieval IIITBAWindowsTBAStandard Edition

Shogun: Total War

Released in June 2000, Shogun: Total War is the first game in the series. The game is set in feudal Japan. The single-player game includes interactive videos that represented possible decisions by the player, such as converting to Christianity. The original Shogun was not a mainstream product, but attracted a dedicated fan base. An expansion pack, The Mongol Invasion, was released with the original in the Warlord Edition.

Medieval: Total War

Medieval: Total War was released in August 2002. Using the same game engine as Shogun, the game takes players to medieval Europe. The expansion pack is called Viking Invasion, and the combined edition is called the Battle Collection. It was one of the best-selling games in the Total War series.

Rome: Total War

Released in 2004, Rome: Total War is set in the Roman Republic. This was the first game to encompass what would become one of the most fundamental additions to the Total War series, free map movement as opposed to earlier versions where all movement was province-based. The game also featured the first 3D map. The first expansion pack, Barbarian Invasion, was released on 27 September 2005. Rome: Total War Gold Edition, which combined the fully patched versions of the original game and its first expansion into one DVD (instead of the original game's three CD-ROMs), was released on 14 February 2006. A CD-ROM version (a total of four CDs) was also produced. A Mac version of Rome: Total War Gold Edition, developed by Feral Interactive, was released 12 February 2010. A second expansion pack, Rome: Total War: Alexander, was released on 19 June 2006. A compilation of the original game and the two expansions, Rome: Total War Anthology, was released on 16 March 2007. The series has also spawned several popular mods such as Europa Barbarorum and Rome: Total Realism each of which seeks to create more historically accurate settings. This game was also added to mobile, offering a simplified version of the original game. Rome: Total War has won many strategy gaming awards for its realistic campaign and battlefield animation and interface. Total War: Rome Remastered was released on 29 April 2021 by Feral Interactive.

Medieval II: Total War

Medieval II: Total War, a sequel to Medieval: Total War, was released on 10 November 2006 in Europe and on 14 November in North America. The game includes much more detailed characters and features the Age of Discovery (and colonisation of the Americas) and the Mongol and Timurid invasions. An expansion pack, Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms, was announced on 30 March 2007. It was released on 28 August 2007. The Gold Edition of the game, containing the original game and the expansion pack, was released on 1 February 2008. The Kingdoms expansion pack contained 4 campaigns: the Britannia Campaign, set in the British Isles in 1258, during the reign of Henry III of England; the Crusades Campaign, set in the Middle East in 1174; the Teutonic Campaign, set in the Baltic region of Eastern Europe in 1250; and the Americas Campaign, set in the New World in 1521, during the decline of the Aztec and Maya civilisations.

Empire: Total War

Empire: Total War was announced on 22 August 2007 by Sega and had been secretly in development since the release of Barbarian Invasion.; Players choose an 18th-century faction and set out to achieve domination over the known world through military force, diplomacy, espionage and economics. For the first time in a Total War game, players have the ability to play real-time 3D naval battles. Also a feature that had been developed in the game was the decentralisation of provinces, adding greater realism in that many features, from production to technological advancement, would occur outside of the capital of the province. Empire: Total War was released on 3 March 2009 in North America and 4 March in Europe. The expansion pack, Empire: Total War: Warpath, was released in October 2009. Warpath is set in the Americas where it is possible to control one of five different Native American nations. While the game was critically acclaimed due to its innovative game play, the game has been subject to most of the criticism of the Total War series by many critics and fans after its release due to bugs; Sega claims nearly all issues have been resolved. The issues have been explained by Creative Assembly several months after the game's release. It was the first in the series to use Valve's Steamworks DRM and achievements system, thereby requiring Steam to be played. A mobile version of the game developed by Feral Interactive was released on 21 November 2024 for both iOS and Android.

Napoleon: Total War

Napoleon: Total War was released in North America on 23 February 2010, and in Europe on 26 February. The game focuses on the politics and major military campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars in the late 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century. Napoleon was released with several editions: the Standard Edition (as well as a limited-edition version of the Standard Edition), Imperial Edition, and the Emperor's Edition (available in Australia and New Zealand only). Players assume the role of Napoleon Bonaparte or one of his major rivals on a turn-based campaign map and engage in the subsequent battles in real-time. As with its predecessor, Empire: Total War, which included a special episodic United States story line, Napoleon features three separate campaigns that follow the general's early Italian and Egyptian campaigns as well as the European campaign and the Battle of Waterloo.

In the grand campaign, "Campaigns of the Coalition", the player plays as Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, or Russia in a map that spans Europe. There is also a second campaign available as DLC, the "Peninsular campaign", in which the player vies for control of the Iberian peninsula. The campaign is playable as either France, Spain, or Great Britain. Napoleon: Total War Gold Edition premiered for Macs on 3 June 2013.

Total War: Shogun 2

On 2 June 2010 Creative Assembly released a full preview of Total War: Shogun 2 set in the middle of the 16th century in Medieval Japan during a period of isolation and military conflict called Sengoku Jidai (the warring states period). The new battle engine supports up to 56,000 soldiers in a single battle, making them significantly larger than in Napoleon. Shogun 2 is the first game of the series to feature the franchise's name appearing as the primary title in an effort to increase brand awareness. The game was released on 15 March 2011.

Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is a stand-alone expansion to Total War: Shogun 2 released in March 2012. The game explores the conflict between the Imperial throne and the last Shogun around the time of the Boshin War in 19th-century Japan, 300 years after the events of the original game in a clash of traditional Samurai culture with the power of modern weaponry. There are six new playable clans (Satsuma, Tosa, and Choshu, Imperial and Aizu, Nagaoka, and Jozai Shogunate) plus four DLC clans (Tsu, Saga, Obama, and Sendai), supporting either the Imperial throne or the Tokugawa Shogunate. Also portrayed in a limited role are Britain, United States, and France, with each of whom trade deals can be struck (given the proper infrastructure) and from whom marines can be recruited. A new feature is the land and sea unit interactions which includes the ability to call in offshore artillery support barrages, coastal gun emplacements that target enemy ships, and the ability to call in campaign map bombardments – bombarding armies and cities in adjacent coastal areas of the campaign map. Other new features are railway networks, ironclad warships, improved siege battle mechanics (with upgradable tower defences, each with their own specialty), new agent types, the ability to control two armies on the battle map at the same time, a third-person shooter for torpedo gunboats, coastal batteries, Gatling guns and cannons, and a multiplayer overhaul.

Total War: Rome II