Should I buy Attila if I hated vanilla RTW2? (but loved it with DeI)

[scipioafrianus]

So Attila (and other Total War titles is seems) is currently, and for the next 42 hours, on 75% discount on Steam, so considering buying it. It has some good user ratings too it seems. However I hated HATED vanilla RTW2. Hated it as in HATED! So I installed DeI along with the 12TPY submod, and I just love it. Taking that into consideration would you recommend or discourage me from buying Attila? Is there an overhaul mod for Attila as good as DeI that might make it worth it if you can't recommend vanilla Attila?

[Spear Dog]

I haven't played an overhaul mod in Attila yet, just haven't got around and maybe won't as I use the numerous minor tweak mods and reskins to get the game I want depending on which faction I'm playing. We definitely differ in game preference as I would never play a 12tpy mod - I like things to move along and 4tpy seems pretty balanced to me.

The thing about Attila is it's extensive, complex and challenging. I've noticed more than a few threads here saying they're getting their arse kicked in vanilla. There are options as to gameplay; Horde, Empire, rising Faction or migrating Barbarians which make it a unique TW title. I'm finding it really interesting and the more I play it the more it's capturing my imagination - you can become immersed in just managing the family/tribal politics! The DLC is pretty good, at present I'm just starting my first campaign in Age of Charlemagne (as Cordoba) and it looks promising.

All that said, 75% is a very good discount and if you're ever going to risk it, now's probably the time. Get straight into it and if you don't like it get a refund (probably a good idea to review the refund policy first in case discounts affect it).

[scipioafrianus]

I haven't played an overhaul mod in Attila yet, just haven't got around and maybe won't as I use the numerous minor tweak mods and reskins to get the game I want depending on which faction I'm playing. We definitely differ in game preference as I would never play a 12tpy mod - I like things to move along and 4tpy seems pretty balanced to me.

The thing about Attila is it's extensive, complex and challenging. I've noticed more than a few threads here saying they're getting their arse kicked in vanilla. There are options as to gameplay; Horde, Empire, rising Faction or migrating Barbarians which make it a unique TW title. I'm finding it really interesting and the more I play it the more it's capturing my imagination - you can become immersed in just managing the family/tribal politics! The DLC is pretty good, at present I'm just starting my first campaign in Age of Charlemagne (as Cordoba) and it looks promising.

All that said, 75% is a very good discount and if you're ever going to risk it, now's probably the time. Get straight into it and if you don't like it get a refund (probably a good idea to review the refund policy first in case discounts affect it).

One of the reasons I love the 12TPY submod for DeI is that my generals basically keep on living for the entirety of the campaign; I hate when one of them dies from old age and I lose all of the specialization traits, skills and retainers I have chosen for them; but I guess I could still also have much fun from 4TPY too, its just a different experience. Another aspect is seasons, with 12TPY for example winter lasts a long time and getting your campaign armies caught up in enemy northern realms for 4 turns of harsh winter with neither supplies nor manpower for unit reinforcements is a very very different scenario than 4 turns of summer in a region with plenty of supplies . Seasons really matter and can have disastrous results if not careful. I like that a whole lot, there's nothing better than when your decisions really matter, for better or for worse.

It's nice what you say that players complain about getting their arses kicked, I like when it's not just carebaear all the way. I just don't hope this is accomplished by the game by simply spam spawning horde armies en masse to the east?

And you're right with 75% off there is probably never a better time to try it out. Thanks.

[Theramines]

I just don't hope this is accomplished by the game by simply spam spawning horde armies en masse to the east?

There it is.

It's a combination of both deeper gameplay and cheap horde spam which makes Attila more difficult. However, there are numerous mods both here and on the workshop that address the horde (aka the Huns) spam. I recommend Attila because it is, on balance, a far better game than Rome 2. Like you, I found Rome 2 tedious until I tried DeI, which made it a better game (have you tried DeI 1.2? It's fantastic). Rome 2 vanilla is basically a dull game dotted with infuriating bugs and poor design choices.

Attila is also dotted with bugs and poor design choices, but it can hardly be accused of being dull, especially if you play the Western Roman Empire. Graphically, it is an improvement over Rome 2, but at the cost of very poor performance. Even people running GTX 1080s complain about frame rates dipping into the low twenties and thirties in battles.

Try a few of the overhaul and startpos mods here in TWC and in the Workshop. I won't recommend any specific overhauls from TWC hosted mods because they seem to have been abandoned mostly, so I recommend trying active mods from the Workshop first.

[Abdülmecid I]

It's nice what you say that players complain about getting their arses kicked, I like when it's not just carebaear all the way. I just don't hope this is accomplished by the game by simply spam spawning horde armies en masse to the east?

My advice is definitely to avoid the game, if you disliked Rome II, because Attila is nothing but a slightly improved expansion of that game. Many have quitted the campaigns, because repetitive boredom and unrealistic diplomacy. The majority of battles concern sieges of provincial cities, which means that every battle map is identical, involving a small, "Dark age" themed town being attacked by hordes, which inevitably becomes rather tiresome, after a while. Moreover, there are still armies pointlessly cruising over the Irish Sea, although at a smaller extent, compared to the Black Sea being densely populated by Scythian armies, in Rome II. Still, however, the main issue is that, in order to provide a challenge for the player, the human-controlled faction has been set as a top priority for the AI, which means that Caledonians, Huns and Lakhmids are willing to cross the entire continent, in order to attack your small, Vandal kingdom in Iberia. Very immersive-breaking and tedious experience.

[kambiz]

There it is.

It's a combination of both deeper gameplay and cheap horde spam which makes Attila more difficult. However, there are numerous mods both here and on the workshop that address the horde (aka the Huns) spam. I recommend Attila because it is, on balance, a far better game than Rome 2. Like you, I found Rome 2 tedious until I tried DeI, which made it a better game (have you tried DeI 1.2? It's fantastic). Rome 2 vanilla is basically a dull game dotted with infuriating bugs and poor design choices.

Attila is also dotted with bugs and poor design choices, but it can hardly be accused of being dull, especially if you play the Western Roman Empire. Graphically, it is an improvement over Rome 2, but at the cost of very poor performance. Even people running GTX 1080s complain about frame rates dipping into the low twenties and thirties in battles.

Try a few of the overhaul and startpos mods here in TWC and in the Workshop. I won't recommend any specific overhauls from TWC hosted mods because they seem to have been abandoned mostly, so I recommend trying active mods from the Workshop first.

It's not just the Horde thing that is a challenge ,but also stupid Food system as well. I'm still looking for a way to turn it off entirely

[Darios]

My advice is definitely to avoid the game, if you disliked Rome II, because Attila is nothing but a slightly improved expansion of that game. Many have quitted the campaigns, because repetitive boredom and unrealistic diplomacy. The majority of battles concern sieges of provincial cities, which means that every battle map is identical, involving a small, "Dark age" themed town being attacked by hordes, which inevitably becomes rather tiresome, after a while. Moreover, there are still armies pointlessly cruising over the Irish Sea, although at a smaller extent, compared to the Black Sea being densely populated by Scythian armies, in Rome II. Still, however, the main issue is that, in order to provide a challenge for the player, the human-controlled faction has been set as a top priority for the AI, which means that Caledonians, Huns and Lakhmids are willing to cross the entire continent, in order to attack your small, Vandal kingdom in Iberia. Very immersive-breaking and tedious experience.

Generally speaking - I like Attila, but I 100% agree with everything Mr. Abdulmecid has stated here. The game is light years better than it was at release, but it remains an acquired taste and can easily test one's patience due to the immersive-breaking and tedious experience of dealing with the CAI.

There are indeed some gorgeous and unique major city (Rome, Constantinople, Ravenna, etc.) battlemaps but you will never see them as the AI is programmed not to attack walled cities in lieu of unwalled provincial towns (hence, you will see the same battle maps over and over again.)

The faction variety is honestly quite nice and each faction really does play different so that is a huge positive in my point of view. There are a ton of different religions in the game and if you want you can migrate around the map and adopt whatever faith you want. It's really fun and interactive.

Of course, I would get Attila just for the sake of trying out the AoC DLC. It is everything that both Rome II and Attila should have been.

[AQUILIFIER]

I HATE Rome II, but Attila is in my top 3 total war games alongside Medival 2 and Shogun 2!!
And I have played everything since Rome Total War

[scipioafrianus]

My advice is definitely to avoid the game, if you disliked Rome II, because Attila is nothing but a slightly improved expansion of that game. Many have quitted the campaigns, because repetitive boredom and unrealistic diplomacy. The majority of battles concern sieges of provincial cities, which means that every battle map is identical, involving a small, "Dark age" themed town being attacked by hordes, which inevitably becomes rather tiresome, after a while. Moreover, there are still armies pointlessly cruising over the Irish Sea, although at a smaller extent, compared to the Black Sea being densely populated by Scythian armies, in Rome II. Still, however, the main issue is that, in order to provide a challenge for the player, the human-controlled faction has been set as a top priority for the AI, which means that Caledonians, Huns and Lakhmids are willing to cross the entire continent, in order to attack your small, Vandal kingdom in Iberia. Very immersive-breaking and tedious experience.

Thanks for an honest opinion, this is exactly the sort of stuff I was fearing. I am a bit divided, 10 euro isn't much, but then again if Attila is not better than a couple of cheeseburgers I think I'll go with the cheeseburgers. Tough choice this

[Spear Dog]

Worth considering is the wip overhaul Medieval Kingdoms Total War, looks to be a fantastically detailed creation along the lines of MTW2. I'm really looking forward to that one. Another overhaul I've noticed (think it's also wip) is by the Russian modding team Judex-Rex; I think it's comparable to DeI (RTW2) but in the era of Attila or maybe later.

[scipioafrianus]

Worth considering is the wip overhaul Medieval Kingdoms Total War, looks to be a fantastically detailed creation along the lines of MTW2. I'm really looking forward to that one. Another overhaul I've noticed (think it's also wip) is by the Russian modding team Judea Rex - I think it's comparable to DeI (RTW2) but in the era of Attila or maybe later.

It might be worth it then just to try out, and wait for, these mods. They look to be awesome wip's btw! Thank you for the suggestions

[sgz]

I HATE Rome II, but Attila is in my top 3 total war games alongside Medival 2 and Shogun 2!!
And I have played everything since Rome Total War

Agree 100%

[♘Top Hat Zebra]

If the question were vanilla Rome II vs Attila, the latter winds hands down. Attila is much closer to Shogun 2, it's a tight, well-made campaign with features that benefit the time period. One of the best strategic maps in the series so far, just in the way that it actually feels like a struggle to manage one of the larger empires, and an entirely different sort of struggle to manage a small, one-region faction.


That said, against DEI? That's a very tough. There are some features in Attila that are basically gimmicks I suppose, but they are gimmicks I very much enjoy, like dynamic fire spreading in a settlement, or civilians running around and fleeing. The strategy map is much better in Attila, managing food and squalor and religion in a far more interesting way. But there is no population system, and no supply system.

On the other hand, with upcoming mods like Medieval and Ancient Empires, as well as intriguing mods focusing on Middle Earth and Westeros, I think Attila could hypothetically surpass DEI at some point.

As it is right now, for $10, great deal. I'd get it just for the future. I've put in plenty of hours and it's already a very fun game. But even if you don't find it particularly fun as it is now, $10 is a great investment for the future when better mods come out.

[Yerevan]

I also think it's worth 10$. But I definitively agree with this :

My advice is definitely to avoid the game, if you disliked Rome II, because Attila is nothing but a slightly improved expansion of that game. Many have quitted the campaigns, because repetitive boredom and unrealistic diplomacy. The majority of battles concern sieges of provincial cities, which means that every battle map is identical, involving a small, "Dark age" themed town being attacked by hordes, which inevitably becomes rather tiresome, after a while. Moreover, there are still armies pointlessly cruising over the Irish Sea, although at a smaller extent, compared to the Black Sea being densely populated by Scythian armies, in Rome II. Still, however, the main issue is that, in order to provide a challenge for the player, the human-controlled faction has been set as a top priority for the AI, which means that Caledonians, Huns and Lakhmids are willing to cross the entire continent, in order to attack your small, Vandal kingdom in Iberia. Very immersive-breaking and tedious experience.

Which make Attila even more frustrating than R2 because for a short time you can see the light.

[Sir Sloaks]

Its a yes from me. Attila is fantastic and an vast improvement on R2.

[RobG4]

I also got away from TW after Rome II and didn't buy Attila until a Steam sale in Nov 2016. I have been highly addicted ever since.

I LOVE ATTILA!

Get the Celts/Slavs/Norse DLC while they are on sale as well. Re-play-ability with all the various factions is great.

While the battles can get repetitive after a while, it has taken me 813 hours of gameplay to get to that point and you can always Auto-resolve. The AI can give you fits, and I don't mind it cheating to do so.

The Huns are a pain in the ass for some factions. But the Diplomacy is pretty in depth and can be a huge factor in how your campaigns develop re: the Huns.

Dive in, play it on Legendary, and have fun.

[RobG4]

Edit: Get all the factions-related DLC

[douglas]

There is a lot of similarity between several of the factions but it can be an interesting game to play if you set your own goals and rules. I have completed campaigns with 21 factions, without using Mods. Several were mind numbing I will admit, but again, I set my own task requirements to get done before achieving one of the goals.

[Kal-El]

If DEI is R2's savior what is the equivalent for Attila?

[LEXI2016]

ancient empires without a doubt looking at all the previews & the custom play