14 DAY TRIAL // In the real world I live in Romania and that means I love it when history-focused strategy video games find a way to include the political entities that existed in the same area over the centuries, even if I do not end up playing as them for extended campaigns.
Total War: Rome II – Emperor Edition is designed to encompass the known Ancient world, and that means the region between the Danube, the Carpathians and the Black Sea is well simulated, with a number of provinces that can recruit solid units and deliver a lot of wealth to the owner.
Dacia can be played in the Imperator Augustus campaign as one of the outlying barbarian kingdoms which can take advantage of the civil strife inside the Roman state in order to carve out their own solid kingdom.
At the same time, gamers can get it for the Grand Campaign, with a slightly changed starting position, one of the powers that aims to capture provinces and maybe even threaten their more powerful southern neighbors.
As Rome crumbles
I started a long-term campaign with Dacia in Imperator Augustus, aiming to secure as much territory as possible in the shortest time, and that means moving aggressively against enemies.
I am already at war with the Boi and I fought a few battles with them, all of them inconclusive, before all other neighbors in the West declared war on me.
This generally leads to a lot of defensive battles, which tend to be my favorites, where I hold off attacking armies while my own forces and generals gain experience and better weapons from my developing industry.
I took out three almost full stacks before I was able to reinforce for one more turn, and then I took the fight to my enemies, taking the Boi settlement first and then turning south to see what else I could occupy.
Messing with Marc Anthony
The problem is that once I have three provinces under my control I need to decide whether to try and capture the shores of the Black Sea, which means facing plenty of archers and some cavalry that can inflict plenty of casualties, or whether to mess with the Eastern Roman faction, which is led by Marc Anthony.
The beauty of Total War: Rome II, especially in the Emperor Edition incarnation, is that it gives players options, and no matter which one is finally chosen, the result is beautiful strategic movement and then some fast and gritty tactical battles.