14 DAY TRIAL // As the armies of Lepidus’ Rome and Octavian line up somewhere in the middle of Spain, among trees and near a river, I see a lonely unit on the minimap, belonging to my adversaries, moving at speed towards my lines.
I first figure it's a cavalry scout that is being used to simply see how I am placing my units or maybe to make sure that his ballistae hit the right targets when the combat begins in earnest.
But, unfortunately for Total War: Rome II – Emperor Edition and its Imperator Augustus campaign, it’s just the enemy general and this is not a scouting missions but a suicide one.
The issue has been present in the franchise for a while now and it involves mounted leaders, who should hang back behind their lines in order to boost morale and to use their special abilities, charging ahead at full speed in order to crash into enemy lines.
Their death puts the computer-controlled army at a disadvantage and makes the rest of the engagement easier than it should be for the player, which tends to ruin one of the most important elements of the Total War experience.
Inconsistency and a possible fix
The biggest issue is that the suicidal attack does not always happen and tends to affect mostly those generals who have horses and are relatively fragile, unable to actually win the battles they engage in.
Basically, Roman legates tend to charge, which is very bad for their troops, while some barbarian generals who use infantry units stay put and simply fight in the line.
This inconsistency can be a big problem and it will probably be one of the first things that The Creative Assembly will try to fix with the first patch for the Emperor Edition.
In the meantime, players should be prepared for some weird behaviors and for some battles that are won in much easier fashion than they should.
I have chosen to simulate a lot of the smaller engagements, where the suicide issue is clearly seen, and to try and set up my forces in the bigger battles so that the effects are lessened as much as possible.
Total War: Rome II – Emperor Edition and the included Imperator Augustus campaign offer great value for the money to all strategy fans, but the team working on the title needs to figure out a complete solution to the suicidal general attack problem as soon as possible.