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Since its release in 2007, the Kingdoms expansion for Medieval 2: Total War has received some impressive mods. The medieval setting lends itself perfectly to full conversions, and the community has embraced replicating beloved fantasy settings of all sorts -- as well as simply shifting the historical settings elsewhere in the world's timeline.
Medieval II: Total War is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game, the sequel to 2002's Medieval: Total War and the fourth game in the Total W. Medieval II: Total War is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game, the sequel to 2002's Medieval: Total War and the fourth game in the Total War series by Creative Assembly. It was released on 10 November 2006 for Windows.
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While mods for this game are generally slower to show up than others in its genre, it's clear that the modding community has put in a lot of hard work. (Some mods have even taken years to complete.) To honor that dedicated community and highlight their awesome work, here's a few of the best mods for Medieval 2: Total War: Kingdoms that have come about recently.
Call of Warhammer: Beginning of the End Times
Modder: Beginning of The End Times Team
Inspired by an older Warhammer mod, the Call of Warhammer: Beginning of the End Times is intended to provide a more dynamic experience for Medieval 2. The mod boasts a map which is said to be triple the size of the original mod, and gives access to a ton of factions.
Another cool update in this mod is that the Chaos Incursions will now gather their forces over time rather than spawning randomly near their target, as in the original mod. While the Chaos Incursion gathers its forces, players can hire unique mercenary groups to help them when they need a quick army.
Tsardoms Total War
Modder: Wallachian
Moving the action to the Balkans, Tsardoms Total War drastically changes the game by introducing a new area and new factions to match. The player is thrust into the fall of the Roman Empire and the following struggle between nearby regions. Additionally, with this new setting, players will be able to fight through some notable historical battle of the time period and area.
There's no specific release date as of now, but there is a 'Battle beta' that players can check out on ModDB.
Chronicles of Myrtana
Modder: rafmc1989
Strategy games are all well and good, but the Chronicles of Myrtana mod aims to create a more unique RPG experience for Medieval 2: Total War: Kingdoms. The mod follows the events of the Gothic franchise, with expansions and addons included in the story.
The intent to make a faithful Gothic mod led to unique RPG elements being utilized throughout the story, as the player takes control of the hero and begins his journey through the story of the Gothic series.
Download the mod here.
The Last Kingdom
Modder: echuu
Starting in the year 865, The Last Kingdom mod explores the conflicts of Northern Europe. Players can choose from 13 factions to battle for supremacy across the Isle of England and the mainland. This mod includes new historical heroes and units for players to expand their control.
The period of the Viking invasion is a big draw for the community, with the mod clocking in at a 9.6/10.
Third Age: Total War
Modder: TW_King_Kong
With a medieval setting, it was only a matter of time before someone created a Lord of the Rings mod. And while there might be a few out there, Third Age: Total War is one of the best. It's so good in fact, that it has a considerable number of submods all on its own.
Third Age includes the major factions that you would expect from the LOTR setting (Gondor, Rohan, Isengard), as well as less commonly known factions (Rhun, Harad, and Dale). The full map of Middle-Earth includes settlements straight from the lore and locations with historical significance, like the Three Towers.
Tamriel Total War
Modder: Tamriel Total War mods Team
The Elder Scrolls is a beloved series among many gamers, and this mod brings all Medieval 2's strategic fun of world domination to the land of Tamriel. This mod contains a detailed map of Tamriel, and the 20+ factions each have their own territories to start with, based on the lore of The Elder Scrolls series.
Players take part in a variety of historical events -- starting around the time of The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, and ending 50 years later. With such a long time period, players are likely to take part in a few key events from both Morrowind and Oblivion.
Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms has a ton of mods available. The few mentioned here don't even scratch the surface of all the awesome content the game's community is making. If you're looking to take your strategic warfare to a new place or time, there are plenty of options like the ones we've mentioned here. Check out ModDB for even more!
What are your favorite mods for Medieval II: Total War? Let me know down in the comments!
If someone walked up to you in the pub and offered you control of a country for a fiver, you'd probably have some questions you'd want to ask. Like - say - what's wrong with it? 'Oh, nothing. Nothing at all,' he'll explain. 'I mean, there may be a bit of a war on but...'
What kind of war, you'd ask, noting the hesitation.
There's a pause before a sheepish admission: 'Well... kind of a total war.'
And then you'd say yes. Especially if you hear it's four kingdoms for fifteen quid from certain online retailers.
With Empire: Total War announced, Kingdoms basically exists to help tide us over until Creative Assembly finish assembling their creation. To that end, it's quite the collection. Where most add-ons give one campaign, this goes for four. Crusades (set around the third Crusade), Teutonic (last Pagan nation of Lithuania versus German knights), Britannia (the United Kingdom in a highly un-united state - rumble!) and Americas (some day you will find the cities of gold... and fight over them) and... oh, this seems a bit familiar, yeah?
Since our first impressions a month or so back almost morphed into a full review - which is what happens when the preview code is of a full game, and basically fully functional - I'd recommend everyone reading that as well as this. In fact, I insist. Everything I said in there is still true, and all good reasons why Total War fans should totally get this. In fact, because that's so positive, I'm going to pretty much concentrate entirely on my reservations with extended play - and that they're relatively unreasonable reservations should say much.
![Medieval Kingdoms Total War Game Medieval Kingdoms Total War Game](/uploads/1/2/5/7/125745164/420038063.jpg)
Seriously, read this againand return to my petulant whining.
Okay - obvious stuff. The AI won't satisfy the hardcore, though it does the job well enough in most situations. There's some odd control stuff in Medieval II - charging doesn't seem as instinctive as it was in previous versions, and it remains so here. When the pieces automatically move around the map following orders, you really should be able to mouse-over them to discover what they were rather than relying on memory. Usual Total War bugbears, basically.
In fact, it's the usual bugbears which are highlighted at moments in the four campaigns. Most noticeably, the American campaign which is about the conquering of the new world. Unlike something like Civilization, which can be about deeply asymmetrical warfare (tanks versus cavemen, if you're ultra-rubbish), Total War - while the tech differences undoubtedly matter - it's not quite as extreme. They're normally between two civilisations in the same broad 'age', in Civ terms. The problem comes when you're having a side which functionally isn't - what do you do? The main problem isn't actually balance. The American Campaign primarily pitches the Old Worlders against New Worlders, with one having numbers and the others having technology. That's fine. The problem comes in playing the New Worlders.
This is best shown by playing the Apache tribes. Apaches don't build castles. They don't build walls, though can repair them in towns of places they capture. They don't get ships, making transport a bitch. They don't have horses yet - historically, of course, The Best Of All The Animals were only brought to the Americas by the non-Americans. So they're infantry only, and overwhelmingly a missile-based army. The problem with all these things which have been coded to create historical semi-realism is that it creates a limit of the tech-tree they can climb. They solve this by Total War's normal solution - we see it in old Rome games with the Legions and whatnot - of introducing the ability to make better unit types as time progresses. Which feels a bit cheap, as they're just the normal types with better stats as - well - if they changed their abilities too much, they wouldn't be the Apache anymore.
This is kind of one of the problems running through Total War games. You don't really get to change history. Sure, you can make - as I did - the Apache run rampant over the continent, but fundamentally the Apache don't change by their experiences significantly. What would Apache civilisation be like when they'd got hold of the Gold of the Incas, for example? Pretty much identical. One of the standard problems that the harder-core Total War fans have is with the quasi-fantastical units - the flaming pigs in Rome, for example - but when you severely changed history, you need that imagination to cover the holes and populate that alternate history. It matters less when it's just one bunch of European peasants hitting the other, but the more extreme America campaign makes its limitations all too clear. The Total Realism mod for Rome has a feature where rather than being able to recruit any of your units pretty much anywhere, only those in the locale are available. So if you're in Spain, you recruit Iberian soldiers. A similar system here may have been an idea, if only for variety's sake...
It's worth stressing that as much as the execution may lack in details like this, Kingdoms remains a series of re-freshening experiences. In the case of the Apache, armies of Dog Soldiers covering the hills, raining down arrows on the Aztecs like a New World Crécy, or sweeping out of the forest to engulf the embattled French are unlike anything in any other Total War game, and as such invigorating. Old mechanics are repolished, with the Apache's Warpath functioning much like a Crusade. The other sides have their charms. The Aztec's human sacrifice is lovingly detailed and completely different from the tiny Spanish forces and their heavy dependence on the local mercenaries. Alongside its unusualness, the different characters of the factions is the America campaign's greatest strength. Some may eventually grow a little repetitive, but the familiarisation of the new is a kick.
And this is Kingdoms at its worst. The Crusades and the Teutonic campaign fight it out for being the main act, both playing to the core design of Medieval while having enough character to justify playing again (And seriously - I repeat from the first impressions - the Greek Flamethrowers are at least eighteen kinds of splendid). Seriously, I really, really mean it - go read all this again and feel excited.
In fact, I will too. Let's go together.
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Woah. That sounds great. I'm going to go get me one now.
8 /10
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