Total War Attila: Slavs, Valentines Day, and the Swansong of The Hun

Pictured: Slavic Cataphracts

About a week ago, Creative Assembly announced what looks to be the final DLC for Total War: Attila, and this one comes in with about 2 months left before the release of CA's next big title, Total War: Warhammer. It may be a little while before we see another historical title from CA, and while this DLC doesn't exactly look as though it will revitalize the game, it may be just the thing that's needed to round out Attila's lifespan. The Slavic Culture pack is a faction pack, much like those that preceded it, containing 3 new playable faction. These factions will effectively be the final missing piece in the puzzle of Attila's campaign map. Much like the other faction DLC that came before it, this one will attend to a part of the map that is otherwise quiet, without majoy playable factions present. Like those that came before it, the Slavic pack will likely shift the meta of the game, making campaigns play out differently than they had previously. This faction announcement also comes with the news that it may be free, if CA is victorious in the Make War, Not Love competition, currently running on Steam.

Those that are familiar with my blog may recall the positive review I gave The Empires of Sand DLC. While I don't always like DLC, and believe that a game charging full retail price should always ship as a complete product, I do also believe that DLC is an important part of game development, and can vastly improve a gamer's experience if handled well. I ranted angrily at Attila's release, when CA shamelessly brought out 3 DLC's in quick succession, which I felt devalued the game (note, one was a pre-order bonus, but that has its own pitfalls). Empires of Sand came much later, spacing itself out, and coming at a time when the game was growing stale. Slavic Cultures also feels like it has come at just the right time. While CA has recently released a DLC for Attila, the Age of Charlemagne, it is a separate campaign, and does not affect the main game. A change to the main campaign at this time will spice things up one last time.

Slavic pack will introduce a whole new culture to Attila. Currently, the factions in the North-East of the map use the Germanic unit roster. The Germanic roster has copped a lot of flak for being the "generic unit roster" of Attila. It is the base roster for most of the Barbarian Kingdoms, the Great Migrator factions, the Longbeard factions, and were until recently the basis of the Alans. Attila's DLC seems to have spent most of its time chasing after cookie-cutter unit rosters, and replacing them with better developed ones. The Slavic pack will replace the factions in far-east Germania, and The Steppe with Slavs, who will have their own look and feel (view the roster here).

Who you calling German?

The new factions are the Anteans, the Sclavenians, and the Venedians. The theme of these new campaigns will be building of wonders, and the desperate fight to hold off the nomadic hordes. Life in the east of the map will be hard to begin, since you are starting in the lands that the Huns will be ravening, and it looks as if CA has built in a new "Last Stand" mode, in order to help you survive those early days. Other than that, these three factions will have bonuses such as:

Antians- These guys are consummate ambushers and, and gain bonuses for fighting in woods or by rivers, but are penalized for fighting in open ground. This will likely be annoying at first, but would lead to a unique play style. Their starting position is closest to Germania, with its prodigious forests, so it might not be too bad early on.

Sclavenians- These fellas might be the easiest ones to play of the bunch, as they gain bonuses vs nomadic tribes. Given that they start in the farthest of the eastern positions, this makes sense. Also they gain bonuses to income for enemies killed, so expect them to be the most combat-intensive faction.

Venedians- This faction gets a huge bonus to farm economy, and no penalties to squalor or happiness for the presence of farms. This is cut by a penalty to their income from commerce, industry, and culture. Their starting location is farther north than any other, so they will likely avoid combat with hordes early on, but suffer from contact with the Nordic factions. I expect a slower-paced campaign, with easier food management.

The other thing to address here is the Make War Not Love competition. According to CA, if they win Sega's little competition, they'll give us this faction pack free of charge. I like it when CA does little pro bono factions for the users, and it is sporting of them to make it up to us the players to work for our supper here. You can help get this content free, simply by playing the main campaign of Attila, and fighting as many battles as you can. You cannot auto-resolve these fights, and only victories are counted. I'm currently trying out The White Huns, and I recommend that if you want to get involved, you play a migratory faction (Huns, Vandals etc.), and that you sack and burn as many towns as you can. If Total War does not win the competition, the DLC will likely cost the usual amount for a 3 faction DLC ($8AUD in my case).

I'll look at the content in greater detail once it releases, but for now, I can say that I'm happy to see one last boost to this game as it gets closer to bowing out. In spite of my occasional frustrations, I believe in CA, and in Total War as a franchise. I believe CA is a company that loves and respects its users, even when it does occasionally clash with them on some issues. Total War: Attila was a great title, and stayed strong till the end. I hope this bow out cements its place in the hearts of its fans.