History VideoGame / TotalWarRomeII

* NeverTrustATrailer: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaDlihIqPws The Carthage Battle Gameplay Demo]] remains infamous among the Total War fanbase for advertising ''Rome II'' inaccurately. [[ObviousBeta The game's significant issues on release]] or {{Missing Trailer Scene}}s aside, it portrays Rome's forces manning their encirclement defenses, the city of Carthage having been worn and damaged from the siege, and the city's buildings actively breaking during the battle with civilians inside it which are all mechanics that do not actually exist in the game.

* ObviousBeta: A criticism among some fans and reviewers, citing ExecutiveMeddling on Sega's part to have the game released earlier than originally intended. That said, patches moved the game along into the right direction, making significant tweaks and improvements on the gameplay. {{Averted}}, by the end of 2018, the game has been put in an extremely stable and polished state, enough it's considered an excellent game in its own right. Rome wasn't built in a day.

** Schyted chariots can destroy entire units in a single charge but will be killed incredibly quickly if caught in melee for more than a few seconds.

On the 16th of September, 2014, the game was updated to the ''Emperor Edition'' for all existing and future players at no additional cost. In addition, it automatically includes the new ''Imperator Augustus'' campaign, which follows the civil war between the former members of the Second Triumvirate ([[UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} Gaius Octavian]], Marc Antony and Marcus Lepidus) and Sextus Magnus Pompey for control of the Roman Republic, while factions on the outskirts of the Republic plan to take advantage of the chaos to their own ends.

# '''''Hannibal at the Gates''''', released on the 27th of March, 2014. It follows Hannibal Barca during the [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars Second Punic War]], opposed by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, with the Hellenic city-state of Syracuse and the Arevaci and Lusitani tribes of Iberia caught up in the middle.

#'''''Rise of the Republic''''', released on the 9th of August, 2018. It took the setting back to 399 BCE in Italy and features Rome, still in its infancy, fighting for survival and dominance at a time just before the city was sacked by Brennus and his horde of Gauls in 386. Playable factions include Rome, Brennus' Senones tribe, the Etruscans, the Samnites, and the Greeks who occupied southern Italy at that point in history.

* AmazonBrigade: Several were added in the ''August Warriors'' update and ''Daughters of Mars'' {{DLC}}, including the [[TropeNamer original Amazons]]. Other examples include the Gladiatrices; bloodthristy female Gladiators that wear more armour then their male counterparts, Spearwomen; Germanic bands of powerful female warriors, and Gorgo’s Skirmishers: Female Spartan Women who go into battle with their husbands in desperate times. Most of them can be recruited as mercenaries by other factions.

* OlderIsBetter: The more elite Spartan Hoplites wear equipment, whilst not unheard of for the time period, that was increasingly becoming less and less common for Greek military units to wear, such as the super Cool Corinthian Helmets. They of course, still have much better armour and defense then the new equipment their less elite troops have.

* BladeOnAStick: Various kinds of pointy sticks serve as the primary infantry and cavalry weapon for most factions, ranging from incredibly long ''sarissa'' pikes to shorter, one-handed spears like the Greek ''dory''.

** It's possible to have a Twisted Assassin in your household, which is described as "A human computer with the soul of a cold-eyed killer. [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed In the wrong game.]]"

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Some people have complained about the "magical" unit special abilities, the most common target being the [[ArrowsOnFire flaming]] [[JavelinThrower javelins]]. The Falarica, however, was a common javelin variant that was occasionally wrapped in oil-soaked rags and ignited before being thrown.

* KillEmAll: The trailer that announced the Siege of Carthage historical battle has Scipio Aemilianus ordering his soldiers to kill everyone in the city, [[MissingTrailerScene though this doesn't show up in the final game]].

* AnAxeToGrind: An uncommon one handed melee weapon, which has the highest armor piercing ability of any one handed melee weapon but typically deals less overall damage. They're generally more accurate than spears, but less accurate than swords.

* CoolHelmet: [[UpToEleven Hoo boy]]. The game includes a ''vast'' plethora of badass Helmets from across the ancient world, such as the Roman Galea and the Macedonian Phrygian Helm. Special mention goes to the outdated Corinthian great helms of the Spartans, which include ''[[http://wiki.totalwar.com/images/d/d3/Sparta.png enormous]]'' horsehair crests, and the Carthaginian ''beard'' helmets.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: More than a hundred factions appear on the game and there are regional differences that makes them even more unique.

* ProngsOfPoseidon: Roman Gladiator Spearmen wield tridents instead of regular spears.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The ''Wrath of Sparta'' DLC is the only campaign of the game to not focus on Rome as it's set during [[UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar the Peloponnesian War]], an important event in Greek history.

The first expansion pack, ''Caesar in Gaul'', was released on the 17th of December, 2013, and follows, naturally, UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar himself during his conquest of Gaul, opposed by the various Gallic tribes (including the Arverni, led by Vercingetorix himself), the Germanic Suebi and the Belgic Nervii.

The second expansion pack, ''Hannibal at the Gates'', was released on the 27th of March, 2014. It follows Hannibal Barca during the [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars Second Punic War]], opposed by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, with the Hellenic city-state of Syracuse and the Arevaci and Lusitani tribes of Iberia caught up in the middle.

On September 16th, 2014, the game was updated to the ''Emperor Edition'' for all existing and future players at no additional cost. In addition, it automatically includes the new ''Imperator Augustus'' campaign, which follows the civil war between the former members of the Second Triumvirate ([[UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} Gaius Octavian]], Marc Antony and Marcus Lepidus) and Sextus Magnus Pompey for control of the Roman Republic, while factions on the outskirts of the Republic plan to take advantage of the chaos to their own ends.

The third expansion pack, titled ''Wrath of Sparta'', was released on December 16th, 2014. It takes place during UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar between Sparta, Athens and their allies (including the Boiotian League and Korinthos/Corinth) [[note]]Of the four playable factions, only Athens represents the Delian League.[[/note]], while the Persian Empire watches and plots from the sidelines. Given the conflict's belligerents are all classical Greeks, factions' unit rosters are nearly all symmetrical with one another. The amount of turns it takes to recruit new units is longer (a minimum of two), making defeats more significant to their faction and raises the desirability of hiring mercenaries greatly. But, anyone that takes the capitals of the key players in the war can expect to draw the ire of all of the rest of Greece, what with [[TallPoppySyndrome its intents of empire among Greece]] being clear and obvious to all of them. In addition, the campaign features greater variations in conditions as the seasons rotate; players must plan their campaigns with greater care, lest they be caught flat-footed when seasonal conditions are bad.

''Four years'' after the initial release of the game, the ''Empire Divided'' expansion pack was released on November 30, 2017. Focusing on the Crisis of the Third Century [[note]]The campaign starts in 270 CE.[[/note]], it divides the Roman Empire between Rome itself under Aurelian and the breakaway Gallic and Palmyrene Empires led by Gaius Tetricus and Queen Zenobia respectively, whilst the Sassanids led by Hormizd [[note]]Historically, Hormizd ruled for slightly over a year before dying, while his successor/brother Bahram I ruled for slightly over 3.[[/note]] and various barbarian tribes (most notably the Germanic Gothi under Cannabaudes) on the edges of the empire make use of Rome's disorder to expand their own power.

The year after, another expansion pack- ''Rise of the Republic''- was announced. It took the setting back to 399 BCE in Italy and features Rome, still in its infancy, fighting for survival and dominance at a time just before the city was sacked by Brennus and his horde of Gauls in 386. Playable factions include Rome, Brennus' Senones tribe, the Etruscans, the Samnites, and the Greeks who occupied southern Italy at that point in history. It was released on August 9, 2018.

* BadassBeard: Various units across the different factions have varying degrees in badass facial fair, ranging from the full bearded glory of the Suebi to the beard-styled {{Cool Helmet}}s of some Hellenic and Carthaginian soldiers.

* BadassMoustache: Moustaches are also popular among barbarian factions.

** One of the Iceni's political incidents is rumours about a [[KingArthur sacred sword that's been pulled out of a stone by a long foretold leader]].

* UnfortunateNames:
** One of the settlements in the Cartaginensis province is named "Arse". Sometimes, it gets occupied by the nearby '''Turd'''etani faction. Were you to try and besiege them there, they might come out...
** There's another city called "Bam".
** There's a barbarian city named "Bagacum".
** Discussion of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kush Kush faction]] will invariably include cannabis jokes.

** A number of loading-screen graphics have unstated-but-obvious inspirations to those aware of them, like one depicting Brennus about to drop his sword on a scale [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vae_victis according to the legendary Vae victus tale]], or another of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archytas Archytas' steam-propelled pigeon]] in flight.

* AbnormalAmmo: The "Beasts of War" DLC features siege weapons that can throw [[BeeAfraid bee hives]], and pots filled with [[ScaryScorpions scorpions]] or [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes snakes]]. There's also a host of special types of ammunition available to javelin throwers, and archers.

* BeeAfraid: The ''Beasts of War'' {{DLC}} introduces the Beehive Onager to Roman and Hellenic factions. It [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin launches live beehives]] at enemy units. Those that survive the initial impact take an [[ThisIsGonnaSuck understandable]] hit to their morale.

As in the original ''Rome'', if the player takes control of the Roman faction, than they must choose one of several patrician houses to represent - Cornelia, Julia, or Junia - each enabling their own unique perks. Campaign goals remain the same for the player, regardless of whichever family they select; ''how'' those goals are achieved depends on personal discretion.

* CannonFodder: ''Very'' basic melee Mob/Pleb infantry can be built from slums that arise from a population surplus square that isn't developed or provided as an innate garrison for many towns...they're pretty much guaranteed to inevitably die off and rout no matter where they attack any real melee units without a dramatic numeric advantage - they're essentially a basic ranged unit in effectiveness but without the actual range.

** Chariots are virtually useless units without being used correctly - when micromanaged and used correctly (by moving them from one side of an enemy infantry unit's flank through to its other while distracted so it can't just turn over to attack the chariots) however, they'll basically be macabre ancient lawnmowers, except the grass is men, that will make hundreds of kills.

* EncyclopediaExposita: The game comes equipped with its own internal reference guide - called (duh) the Encyclopedia - which lists unit descriptions, potential strategies and tactics, campaign footnotes, historical factoids, etc. It used to be online, however during the Power and Politics Update it was changed to be accessible offline, much like how it worked in older titles.

* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stK8aAsLBo4 intro]], you are witness to [[TheWarSequence various battles amongst the different factions]], [[CallBack like]] [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/RomeTotalWar the first game]]. However, you also get to see [[WarIsHell the slaughter and destruction]] in greater detail, as well as some soldiers [[DespairEventHorizon being broken by the very battle]]. It ends with the factions leaders looking at you in a similar way to the general from ''[[VideoGame/TotalWarShogun2 Fall Of The Samurai]]'' at the victory cutscene and with the Latin phrase ''Quo usque pro Roma ibis?'' - "[[{{Tagline}} How far will you go for Rome?]]"

* OneManArmy: Downplayed by Champions - they don't actually fight on the battlefield, but nonetheless the high-level ones with the Warfare skill maxed out apparently will go up and kill over 100 men by themselves. Harassing means they'll somehow harass an entire army presumed to be by themselves considering various other agents actions mention the use of hired assassins or soliciting traitors but Harass does not.

** The Iceni have access to Druidic Nobles. They're very effective melee combatants - almost as good as the top-tier Heroic Nobles - and can buff the morale of nearby friendly units, but have poor armour and come in the same unit size as Berzerkers (roughly half that of standard infantry).

* ObviousBeta: A criticism among some fans and reviewers, citing ExecutiveMeddling on Sega's part to have the game released earlier than originally intended. That said, patches moved the game along into the right direction, making significant tweaks and improvements on the gameplay. {{Averted}} By the end of ''2018''; the game has been put in an extremely stable and polished state, enough it's considered an excellent game in its own right. Rome wasn't built in a day.

* AmazonBrigade: Several were added in the ''August Warriors'' update and ''Daughters of Mars'' {{DLC}}, including the [[TropeNamer original Amazons]]. Other examples include the Gladiatrices; bloodthristy female Gladiators that wear more armour then their male counterparts, Spearwomen; Germanic bands of powerful female warriors, and Gorgo’s Skirmishers: Female Spartan Women who go into battle with their husbands in desperate times. Most of them cant be recruited as mercenaries by other factions.

''Total War: Rome II'' is a game in the ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' strategy series, released on September 3rd, 2013. As a sequel to ''VideoGame/RomeTotalWar'', it returns to classical antiquity and the rise of UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic[=/=][[UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire Empire]]. Several new features have been introduced, such as combined land and sea battles, an abstract "tactical" map for battlefields and the combination of territories on the turn-based strategy map into larger "provinces".

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The ''Wrath of Sparta'' DLC is the only campaign of the game to not focus on Rome as it's set during the [[UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar the Peloponnesian War]]. Additionally, the Greek city-states are the only playable factions.