14 DAY TRIAL // The Hannibal at the Gates campaign expansion for Total War: Rome II focuses on the Second Punic War and allows gamers to choose from five different factions as they try either to dominate the Ancient World or to simply survive these turbulent times.
The major powers in the new content are clearly the Romans, who are just starting to dominate the Italian peninsula, and the Carthaginians, who are ready to conquer the rest of North Africa and threaten both Sicily and Spain.
I loved reading about this conflict, which in many ways decided the future of the world as the ancients knew it, when I was younger and my love of the underdog means that I quickly chose to play as Carthage, eager to try out a few new strategies that would lead the faction to victory.
The Creative Assembly does a good job using objectives to guide players through actual historical events, but I decided I knew better and moved all my strength as Carthage towards Sicily, leaving Iberia altogether.
A small force was left in North Africa to take out rebels and the small factions that fractured by provinces, while I tried to secure the southern-most half of Italy and use it as a base for my invasion of the actual peninsula, which was set to culminate in the battle for Rome.
The first thing I noticed was how long it took my troops to assemble, mostly because of the way the Rome II map was re-designed for the launch of Hannibal at the Gates.
I then began to understand that the path to success against Rome required a lot of money, which meant that Carthage needed not only to hold on to but to actively expand its holdings in Spain, while making sure that trade flowed between its own cities.
This requires big armies and my own empire was starting to creak at the joints as I managed to secure Sicily and was trying to move into Italy proper.
Unfortunately, I decided to simulate one battle that involved my main assault force, led by Hannibal and with my previous elephants in support, and the roll of the dice decided that my great commander was dead.
I learned a lot from this attempted blitz campaign and I am sure that Rome will fall, as long as I take the time to secure the strategic points I need before launching my main strike.