History VideoGame / TotalWarAttila

** The game pretty much encourages you to make your own alternate histories, such as the Saxons conquering Britannia centuries ahead of schedule, the Franks invading the territories of Soussoins before the fall of Rome, or The Kingdom of Asturias completing The Reconquista in the 800s.

** Attila tends to become the Hunnic faction leader around 425 AD or so, when in history he actually ruled the Huns from 434 AD till hid death in 453 AD.

** The Nomadic factions tend to be very East-Asian like, something that, while plausible and relatively grounded in history, is somewhat exaggerated if you take into account that the hordes were composed of various tribes from all the over Eurasian steppe, which means that some of them should have European or Central Asian features.

** Subverted with Western Roman Empire faction leader Flavius Honoruis Augustus, who has the traits "Out of Favor" and "Indecisive Attacker"; you can choose to [[DoubleSubverted Double Subvert]] it if you want however.
* AnAxeToGrind: Done by almost everyone who isn't a Roman, but most well by the Nordic factions; whose Nordic Axe Warbands, Nordic Raid Leaders and Berserkers can easily hack apart even the most difficult foes and the Jute Royal Huskarls are killing machines in another level.

** The Kingdom of Asturias in the "Age of Charlemange" campaign. After the Visigothic and Subian Kingdoms were destroyed by Muslim invaders, a SoleSurvivor Visigoth Nobleman flees into the northern hills and founds The Kingdom of Asturias. If you play as them, you receive missions telling you to reconquer all of Spain.

** ''The Last Roman'' features the final shine of the Roman Empire, with Belisarius, the titular last classical Roman commander.

** Some of the factions in ''Age of Charlemagne'' were given traits and/or icons that foreshadow their appearance in the Low Middle Ages such as the Bavarians or Barcelona.

* TheLowMiddleAges: ''Age of Charlemagne'' is set in this period with medieval feudalism in full swing and the rise of Charlemagne's kingdom.

* MusclesAreMeaningful: Characters with the Healthy line of traits [[note]]Healthy, Glowing with Health, and Like an Ox[[/note]] are implied to be very muscular and robust. This decreases their chance of being hurt by agents, and increases their lifespan.

* TheLowMiddleAges:
''Age of Charlemagne'' is set in this period with medieval feudalism in full swing and the rise if Charlemagne's kingdom.

** ''The Last Roman'' focuses on the Eastern Roman Empire's attempts to retake Rome and the western territories from the Barbarian Kingdoms.
** ''Age of Charlemagne'' is set in this period with medieval feudalism in full swing and the Carolingian Empire at the height of its power.

** By The Battle of Ravenna, one of the game's playable Historical Battles, it is already in the Long Night as you find yourself commanding a Western Roman Army with the goal of defeating an Ostrogothic force led by Odoacer. [[YouCantFightFate Losing the battle (as the Romans did in real life)]] will mark an end to the Western Roman Empire, and [[ScrewDestiny Winning the battle]] is implied to reforge Rome in fire and steel cause it to re-enter the Expansion Phase.
** By "The Last Roman" Campaign, The Western Roman Empire is completely gone. The only hope is Belisarius [[TheRemnant choosing to break away from the Eastern Roman Empire and attempting to reforge the Western Roman Empire by himself]].

* DarkAgeEurope: The standard setting of ''The Last Roman'' when the Barbarian Kingdoms had successfully conquered the Western Roman Empire.

** By The Battle of Ravenna, one of the game's playable Historical Battles, it is already in the Long Night as you find yourself commanding a Roman Army with the goal of defeating an Ostrogothic Revolt. [[YouCantFightFate Losing the battle (as The Romans did in real life)]] will mark an end to the Western Roman Empire, and [[ScrewDestiny Winning the battle]] is implied to reforge Rome in fire and steel cause it to re-enter the Expansion Phase.

* DarknessEqualsDeath: Generals with one of the three Fear of the Dark Traits [[note]]Fear of the Dark, night Terrors, Noctophobe[[/note]] believe this, and as such are worse commanders during night battles.

** No beard in the game is more glorious than that of Lethuc's, mighty chieftain of the Langobards.
*** We could expect nothing less than from the leader of a tribe whose [[MeaningfulName name literally means "long beards"]].

* HordesFromTheEast:

** The marketing for the Celts Culture Pack features female archers for the [[BraveScot Caledonians]], a reference to [[WesternAnimation/{{Brave}} Brave]]. One of the archers shown in the promotional photos even bears a striking resemblance to Merida (due to having the same hairstyle and hair color).

** Another example is the very aspect of the cities in the Western Empire: if you look carefully, the church is always the central building. This is because with the decline on the civil and urban service, the administration of the cities fell upon the bishops, who were at the time elected by the inhabitants of the cities.

** In "The Last Roman" campaign, the Roman Expedition starts with two armies. They are called [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} The Watchmen]] and [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire The Brave Companions]].

** In the "Age of Charlemange" campaign, characters can take the 'Motivator' skill. It's description reads "I believe in you. [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Don't believe in you, believe in ME who believes in you]]".

** The Eastern Empire meanwhile is directed such that it gradually develops its own Byzantine identity. One that while still Roman, is more evidently embracing Greek and Eastern Christian influences.

** Emperor Justinian in The Last Roman campaign is portrayed as a spoilt brat holding Belisarius back from the greatness he deserves. In truth, Justinian was a genius in his own right and counted Belisarius among not only his best allies but also his closest friends.

** In "The Last Roman" Campaign, Belisarius's wife sends him an event at one point, asking him to adopt a boy named Theodosius. Accepting grants you a son with TWO special combat abilities. [[spoiler: Ultimately a subversion though, as Theodosius ends up sleeping with your wife]].

** In ''The Last Roman'' Campaign, Greco-Roman Paganism is almost finished off and Germanic Paganism is not even present (all the Germanic tribes present had converted to Christianity by this point). And you can't even convert as Theaters no longer convert people to Greco-Roman Paganism.

** In ''Age of Charlemagne"
'', Greco-Roman Paganism and Celtic Paganism have both been completely eradicated. Germanic Paganism (now just called "paganism") is on the decline as Charlemagne's empire invades Saxony and forces them to accept Christianity.

** In "The Last Roman" Campaign, Greco-Roman Paganism is almost finished off and Germanic Paganism is not even present (all the Germanic tribes present had converted to Christianity by this point). And you can't even convert as Theaters no longer convert people to Greco-Roman Paganism.
** In "Age of Charlemagne", Greco-Roman Paganism and Celtic Paganism have both been completely eradicated. Germanic Paganism (now just called "paganism") is on the decline as Charlemagne's empire invades Saxony and forces them to accept Christianity.

* ButtMonkey: If any faction is going to get beat up on in the trailers, it's the Romans, particularly Western. Justified, as in this time period the Western Roman Empire was falling apart and its armies were a shadow of their former self. Not to mention the Sassanids were giving the ERE a hard time as well.

** In The Roman Empires, immigrants are flooding in to escape from the hordes outside the gate (the Western Roman Empire ALWAYS has immigration), famines and food shortages occur every other winter if you fail to build enough farms (which you probably won't be able to afford to), plagues will ravage your cities if you don't build enough sanitation buildings to combat the squalor (which you absolutely won't be able to afford to), the military is beleaguered by barbarian hordes, and civil wars are inevitable. This is most visible during battles that take place in Roman cities: there are ruins around the cities, amphitheaters and theaters are abandoned (the former taken over by squatters, the latter overgrown with grass and shrubs), and the residential buildings appear dilapidated. If you are defending a Roman city with only the local garrison, then God help you; the best you can hope for is [[HoldTheLine a Pyrrhic Victory in which half your army dies defending a choke-point]], but the more likely outcome is a LastStand in which the barbarians burn neighborhoods to the ground, kill any civilians unable to hide in the buildings, slaughter the people, loots their corpses, and move on.

** ''The Age of Charlesmagne'' meanwhile fast-forwards a few centuries further to the actual dawn of the Middle Ages.

** The Norse and Germanics are [[GutturalGrowler Guttural Growlers]] who speak in vague, Dutch-accented English that can just pass for a "Scandinavian" or "German" accent. The Norse and Germanic champion agent basically sounds like a more aggressive Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger.

** It's dreadfully common to come across one or two Germanic tribes in western Europe who have decided to convert to Tengriism. This can be decades before Attila comes along to get the Huns' shit together also.[[note]]This is actually more of a gameplay mechanic than anything else though, as the AI tends to convert religions as soon as that religion becomes the majority. The Germans in this case merely had the ill luck of taking over areas with massive proportions of Tengriists.[[/note]]

** The Visigoth's faction religion is Germanic paganism. Historically, they would've been Arian Christians by this point.

** The Sassanids and their badass Middle-Eastern beards should also not be ignored.

** In the main campaign, Greco-Roman Paganism has been usurped by Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire, and it is very slowly but surely losing its following. Likewise, most of the Germanic tribes almost always abandon Germanic Paganism and adopt Christianity sooner or later. Celtic Paganism is likewise under threat in Britain, though with the Celtic kingdoms' corner position and Roman Britain on the verge of collapse, it has a much better chance of survival. Though this can be averted (The Romans can convert cities to Greco-Roman Paganism with Theaters, while Germanics and Celts can conquer lands and build temples).

** The Norse and Germanics are [[GutturalGrowler Guttural Growlers]] who speak in vague, Dutch-accented English that can just pass for a "Scandinavian" or "German" accent. The Norse and Germanic champion agent basically sounds like a more aggressive Arnold Schwarzenegger.

** In the main campaign, Greco-Roman Paganism has been usurped by Christianity as the religion of The Roman Empire, and it is very slowly but surely losing its following. Likewise, most of the Germanic tribes almost always abandon Germanic Paganism and adopt Christianity sooner or later. Celtic Paganism is likewise under threat in Britain, though with the Celtic kingdoms' corner position and Roman Britain on the verge of collapse, it has a much better chance of survival. Though this can be averted (Romans can convert cities to Greco-Roman Paganism with Theaters, while Germanics and Celts can conquer lands and build temples).

** The Norse peoples are not only playable, but are also depicted as increasingly resembling the infamous Vikings of later centuries. It's not for nothing the DLC pack to play their factions is titled "Viking Forefathers".

** The main campaign focuses on the fall of Rome and the violent closing of Classical Antiquity that gave way to the Late Antiquity. An ice age is driving the {{Barbarian Tribe}}s south across Rome's borders in search of more fertile lands, while the Huns pillage and burn everything in sight. Rome is losing its advanced construction technology, its roads, its waterworks and its old Greco-Roman pagan religion, and the entire empire is reorganising itself around the Church, sowing the seeds that will give way to the feudal system that will dominate Europe in the coming centuries.

* TheLowMiddleAges: ''Age of Charlemagne'' is set in this period with medieval feudalism in full swing and the Carolingian Empire at its height of power.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Par the course for a Total War title, it's extremely likely for events to progress in a way during the campaign that completely derails all over established history. An example to illustrate this: it is very likely for Attila the Hun to die in 445 AD. In Germano-Sarmatia. Fighting Geatish ''Vikings''.

* CallBack:
** The main menu of the game is similar to the one in ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'' and its expansions.
** The rebel factions that appear in the Roman Empire bear icons that are similar to the most prominent faction of that region in ''Rome II''.

* RatedMForManly: Probably the single manliest strategy game ever created that doesn't have the ''{{TabletopGame/Warhammer 40000 Warhammer 40,000}}'' label attached to it. And even then, it's more of an equal partnership at the top.

* HeroicSacrifice: one possible event in your court is for a stonemason to offer his services to you. In truth he is an assassin and if you accept he tries to kill your faction leader and one of your governors, generals, or other statesmen jumps in front of the blade to save your life at the cost of his own.
* HoldTheLine: In the Main Campaign, the army of The Roman Empire is greatly overstretched. The result is that very often, the only people defending a Roman city or town during an attack will be the local garrison. However, these outnumbered and beleaguered units CAN still successfully defend by taking advantage of choke-points.

* HornyVikings: The Norse factions have traits and units that foreshadow their transformation into the medieval vikings. By the ''Age of Charlemagne'' campaign, the Kingdom of the Danes faction have fully become it.

** Emperor Justinian in The Last Roman campaign is portrayed as a spoilt brat holding Belisarius back from the greatness he deserves. In truth, Justinian was a genius in his own right, and counted Belisarius among not only his best allies, but also his closest friends.
* {{Hunk}}: Chracters with the trait "Good Looking". They have a small increase in authority and an increased chance of having children.

* MovesetClone: Both the Viking Forefathers and Slavic Nations factions are this. Literally the only difference between each of the three factions in both of those culture packs is two unique units, one of which is an EliteMook version of the other. Otherwise, each faction within those culture packs has the exact same selection of units.

** Even if you manage to get the Western Empire back on its feet, the civic technologies actually encourages you to decentralize the state and has various trappings of conceptual feudalism.

* PromotedToPlayable: From ''Barbarian Invasion'': Played Straight with the Ostrogoths, zigzagged with the Sarmatians (there is no longer a "Sarmatian" faction, as it has been turned into more accurate tribal confederations, of which the Alans (who were represented by Rebels in BI) are playable, though all the others are (as of yet) unplayable), inverted with the Alemanni (initially) and an UpToEleven example with the White Huns who were only present on some of the leftover game files. With DLC taken into consideration, played straight with the Norsemen (represented by the [[ArtisticLicenseHistory Saxons]] in BI (they're now divided into the Geats, Danes, and Jutes), Celts (now represented by the Ebdanians, Picts, and Caledonians), Burgundii, and Lombardi.

* RatedMForManly: Probably the single manliest strategy game ever created that doesn't have the {{TabletopGame/Warhammer 40000}} label attached to it. And even then, it's more of an equal partnership at the top.

* RealityEnsues: The game shows the after effects of war and how taxing attacking cities can be. Razing or rebuilding cities can greatly affect your empire's economy, and the morale of your citizens and armies. Things will not be as easy as putting things back together like game board pieces.
** Even further highlighted in ''The Age of Charlesmagne'' with the inclusion of "War Weariness" as a game mechanic. Which makes fighting multiple wars on many fronts for a prolonged period of time a guaranteed way of harming your own people.