I loved the TW series

Played Shogun, Medieval 1, Rome, Medieval 2... Stopped after that, Apparently its a good thing I did.

Personally I loved every TW game I played.

So I'm probably going to check Shogun 2 out.

Others might not like idea of hero units... But I'm not them. I think it sounds cool!

*Edit*

@RavenX

If they don't have Ninjas... It will be a crime against both Gaming and History.

lol well said my friend.

In the first Shogun, there was Ninja's... in fact they was called "shinobi" but it is the same... they are the spy from the other total war game... espionage, sabotage, assasination was their job...

Alot of people seem to be missing out on Napoleon: Total War.

Thats interesting because I have heard of alot of people on TWC forum who think that NTW is better than Rome. Admittedly, NTW is better in respects to AI (AI loves sniping my elite units, trying to break my centre, melee charging only when outgunned, using flanking fire, distractions etc.) and campaign diplomacy.

I might give Shogun 2 a miss though. I don't like the sound of hero units and all faction being just Japanese clans sounds dead boring, but I will reserve my judgement to a later time.

Programming the AI according to Sun Tzu's The Art of War sounds brilliant though.

The idea of all factions being Japanese clans sounds ... AMAZING!!!!! I just hope its done well.

If Napoleon is given good reviews, I may have to check it out. However ... do I have to get original Empire TW to get Napoleon?

Great news,

and ninjas make everything ten percent more awesome

CA had better have learnt some serious lessons from ETW & NTW or it'll bomb.

well, the Zen-like approach at least seems to be a step in the right direction.

So do I, however I fear that this limited variety may effect gamepay in a bad way. I would love to be able to invade Korea and fight the Chinese and Mongols as this happened historically and round about the same time as this game.

Some features such as the seiges, night battles etc. sound incredibly exciting.

No. If you want the game, only get whatever version is available in your country that has the heroes and elite regiment packs because they add so many more units.

right ... but I have to get SOME version of Empire Total War before getting Napoleon right? or can I buy/install Napoleon as a standalone?

And furthermore, the mongols invaded Japan in the late 1200s, and sometime before or after giver or take 100 years, was when Japan attempted to invade Korea and failed horribly. China and Japan never fought before the Meiji restoration, when Japan kicked Korea's Ass, Russia's Ass, and was starting to take names, and face down China herself. That was late 1800s, like 1890 - 1920.

As far as the 1500s, this was when Japan was looking inward, only fighting among each other. The only outside influence was limited trade with China, Korea, Portugal, and the Dutch. The latter two was where Japan gained the knowledge of firearms from ... however some sort of law prevented further research to make BETTER firearms ... therefore Japan was stuck with 1500s based firearms until the late 1800s when their isolation (and stagnation/ peace n prosperity) came to a close.

Therefore it is fitting that this version of Shogun: Total war, taking place in the 1500s, is simply an internal struggle within Japan ... as historically the winner of the battle Tokugawa Ieyasu, in 1603, decided to close off Japan from foreign influence. Of note, he kicked out any and all Dutch/Portuguese immigrant missionaries, and pretty much put all Japanese Christians to death. That pretty swiftly ended Western Influence (or any foreign influence) in Japan, until Commodore Perry's Gunboat Diplomacy in the latter half of the 1800s.

During the Tokugawa Shogunate, 1603 - 1868, there was peace, agricultural revolution/transformation (45% MORE arable land), and general prosperity. This meant that the Arts were expanded upon, peace-time commercial avenues were expanded, and there was a greater sense of urbanization/ cities grew larger, more population. However, two things didn't happen which are relatively related. There was no combat/conflict during this era, and there was no advancement in weaponry effectiveness. Additionally, there was no technological advancements of any kind. The only advancements were to bring more people into the cities, have more farmland and better ways to farm, and increase proficiency in peacetime activities like literature, drama, painting, and other forms of art.

Edit: OR IN OTHER WORDS ....

The era of Mongol domination was already over, Kublai Khan (and Genghis Khan) were already dead, China and Korea were still minor trading partners but were becoming more and more ignored ... etc. Although, I suppose it would be fun to invade either Korea/Manchuria or mainland China after establishing complete Supremacy over the Japanese people. However ... the endless Chinese ... how can you fight so many?

Napoleon is a standalone !!!

I hope they don't include the Geisha unit with this version. The unit was way to powerful. I have to have an army of shinobi(s) following all my faction hiers and top generals to minimize the damage of any Geisha.  Plus with a Geisha you didn't need to worry about training up your own ninjas just race to Geisha tech and then wipe out all the opposing faction heirs - game over. If they do include them I hope the tone them down to say a  mid level ninja or something.

Ninjas and samurai, how else?

Soo this is the one where they go console with a dumbed down version and give the PC users, to their horror, the same version and act suprrised and hurt when the PC users throw it back in their faces?

Steam 

http://static.sega-europe.com/newsletters/shogun2/UK/index.html