FAQ

General Information

What is Napoleon: Total War?
Napoleon: Total War is the newest game in the popular Total War series, which is developed by The Creative Assembly and published by SEGA.

How is it different from previous Total War games?
Unlike previous Total War games like Medieval 2 Total War and Rome Total War this is more story based focusing on one character like Alexander, but more updated and detailed.

In Alexander: Total War the main objective was to complete Alexander’s exploits that warranted him being one of the finest commanders in military history in just one hundred turns facing against a notoriously difficult AI.

In NTW however things are different, as the game is separated into three campaigns, just like the Kingdoms expansion for Medieval 2: Total War.

What types of campaigns are in the game?
The three campaigns detail Napoleon Bonaparte’s story from untested commander to Master Of Europe within a decade. The first two segments are story based.

The first is the Italian campaign that began in spring 1796. Here Bonaparte with his inexperienced army faced the coalition of the formidable Austrians along with Piedmont-Sardinia and potent Italian allied states such as Naples and Venice. The campaign in Italy would begin his rise to prominence.

The second campaign is in the Middle East beginning in 1798 where Napoleon landed in Egypt to cut off the lucrative trade routes the British controlled. Here he must contend with the Royal Navy as well as the Ottoman Empire who controlled the desert lands of the Middle East. In addition there are also Bedouin raiders and the Mamluks with their devastating cavalry that can rip unsuspecting infantry to shreds.

The third campaign is the Grand Campaign of 1805-1812. Here you can lead Napoleon and the French to domination throughout Europe from the hot rocky lands of Spain to the freezing steppes of Russia. In the grand campaign you can additionally play as one of the other major European nations to either block French ambitions, aid them or even have your own intentions.

What is the overall time span of Napoleon Total War?
The time period is between 1796-1815 from where Napoleon made a name for himself in the mountains of Northern Italy and culminated in being crowned Emperor Of France before his eventual demise at the Battle Of Waterloo in June 1815.

Is Steam still being used?
Yes, Steam is being used. You will need to have Steam installed on your computer to play the game but you only have to go online once to activate it, after that you can put Steam in offline mode and still play the game.

What are the minimum requirements?
The same as Empire Total War that is:

  • 2.4Ghz single core processor
  • 256MB Gfx card (DX9 compatible)
  • 1GB RAM (For XP, 2GB if using Windows Vista or 7)

The game will run with DirectX 9.0, so Windows XP will be a minimum requirement but the game will also run with Vista and Windows 7.

What is the game rated?
The game is rated 16+.

Gameplay Information.

What are the playable factions?
In the Italian and Egyptian campaign oyu can only play as France. In the European campaign you can play as France, Great-Britain, Austria, Prussia or Russia.

What changes have been made to NTW since Empire Total War was released?
There have been several changes to NTW.

Firstly the Warscape physics engine has been considerably tweaked to fit the Napoleonic period: terrain plays a more important role and cannonballs can now make small craters on the field. There are considerable changes to the campaign, diplomacy and battles on both land and sea.

What’s different on the campaign map?
The campaign map has got several new features.

  • One turn represents just two weeks unlike six months in Empire: Total War.
  • Generals can now be selected from a list, each one with their own attributes, but you have only a limited number of generals available.
  • Introduction of an attrition system where if your armies spend time in punishing terrain like the deserts of Egypt and Syria or the hostile territories of Russia your units will lose morale and men.
  • To stave off attrition a new feature of supply lines is introduced where constructing depots and building up conquered farms will secure vital supplies for your armies.
  • Able to plunder cities so to gain money more quickly, but at the cost of angering the population. There is also the new drop in feature where you can play campaign battles online against other players.

What about diplomacy?
For diplomacy there is a wide array of options such persuading nations to declare war on a particular country, or to help with your war effort. You can also introduce trade embargos on countries to stifle the trade that helps their economy. In addition the research and tech-tree have been overhauled as well. Moreover there is the option of liberating certain major provinces when capturing them. By doing this you will create a new faction in that location that is friendly to you, fields an army and is your protectorate.

Anything new on the battlefield?
On the battlefield there is new content as well.

Historical characters from the Napoleonic era will feature in the game. Certain figures include Marshall Ney, Kutuzov and the Duke Of Wellington including several others.

Over 355 units with new art and models for every unit and uniform and on lower settings 64 different faces on each person so the armies no longer consist of clones.

There are new buildings in the battlefield like farms where thanks to the new garrison system it’s easier to get men in and out of buildings than in ETW where there were some difficulties.

Path finding has been changed when manoeuvring troops into buildings and over certain obstacles like low walls and bridges.

There are also special abilities for certain types of units. Generals are more important now having a morale-boosting aura effect that is easily locatable in the battlefield. Like in Kingdoms Napoleon has a special war cry ability boosting nearby allied troops’ morale.

Napoleon can fight on the battlefield, but he must be used wisely. If he is killed in battle for the first time he’ll be sent back to Paris for rest and recuperation, but if he is killed again he’ll stay dead. As you’d expect this is of major impact to your campaign.

For naval aspect there is one notable change. A new feature where crewmen can abandon their fighting positions to repair damage suffered during battle.

Are there be any historical battles for us to get our teeth into?
All of Napoleon’s major battles such as Waterloo, Austerlitz and Trafalgar are available as historical scenarios, playable with either side.