SEGA has today announced that Total War: Rome 2 will receive its second major Campaign Pack DLC on March 27th, 2014. Dropping players into the Western Mediterranean at the outbreak of the second Punic War, Hannibal at the Gates features a new campaign map focused on the tinderbox geopolitical situation that brought two ancient world superpowers to all-out war; with sworn rivals Scipio and Hannibal at the very heart of the conflict.

Five playable factions will feature a wealth of new units. Main protagonists Rome and Carthage will benefit from a new civil tech tree based around diplomacy, while the challenge in the shadow of these mighty empires for newcomers Syacuse, the Arevaci and the Lusitani will be formidable.

In addition to this, another significant free content update for Rome 2 will also drop soon, benefitting all players regardless of whether they own any DLC. Details will be revealed in the next episode of community TV show Rally Point, coming soon.

Rome 2 itself has continued to sell strongly since its launch in September last year, with DLC and free content being released regularly. With more than one million units sold by the end of 2013 and continuing high performance, it remains the fastest-selling and most commercially successful Total War game to date.

“Rome 2 was hugely ambitious for our studio,” said Mike Simpson, Creative Director at CA, “We do regret that some reviewers and core fans didn’t get everything they wanted from it. We are committed to improving and adding to the game over the coming months; we very much want Rome 2 to be remembered as one of our best.”

Total War: Rome 2 – Hannibal at the Gates is available for pre-order now here, priced $14.99/ £9.99/ €14.99.

The Total War: Rome 2 Baktria update is now available as a free download to all players, SEGA has announced. The update enables players to embark on a new campaign as the great trading nation of Baktria.

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After releasing a few minor DLC packs for Total War: Rome 2, The Creative Assembly is about ready to deliver something more substantial. The developer today announced a new DLC campaign pack named 'Caesar in Gaul,' retelling that time Caesar picked a fight with the proto-Frenchmen. Arriving next week, it'll add a new campaign map with new provinces, factions, generals, units, and more.

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Blending commentary from noted historians with footage created using the Total War: Rome 2 engine, this documentary short takes a close look at one of the most devastating defeats the Roman Empire ever faced. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest saw three full legions of Rome utterly destroyed; it shook the empire to its very foundations, and offered Rome a stark reminder of the perils of an overstretched empire.

We knew it was happening, and now it has: today sees the release of patch 5 for Total War: Rome 2, as well as a free content drop and support for the Steam Workshop. According to the forum post, “This content update includes new unique Seleucid units, building and technology trees, Campaign Objectives and the Paradise of Daphne; a unique new wonder.”

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Total War: Rome 2 had a less-than-stellar launch, with technical problems that garnered it harsh reviews from users and some critics. The Creative Assembly promised weekly patches, but creative director Mike Simpson has taken a more hands-on approach with a personal apology.

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With Rome 2’s release two weeks away, Creative Assembly are already thinking ahead to post-launch support with a mix of free and paid content combined with additional bonus features.

“Rome 2 will be the biggest game we’ve ever released, in terms of scope, gameplay features and sheer weight of content,” said James Russell, Lead Designer, “but even then we’re just scratching the surface of the Roman period, an era so rich in diversity that it’s easy to foresee releasing relevant content for years after Rome 2 has shipped.”

Alongside paid-for DLC, Creative Assembly also plan to support players with regular free content and feature updates. “As with Shogun 2, we will continually improve the game’s compatibility, optimisation and integral features such as AI and gameplay balancing post-release, and plan to add to that with new control schemes and additional free formats on other operating systems,” continued Russell, “We are also very proud of how Shogun 2 is our most moddable Total War to date with over 500 user-made mods on Steam Workshop alone. We hope to support Rome 2 in a similar fashion.”

“In addition to free content, gamers can expect to see Culture Packs that add more playable factions and unique units, Feature Packs that add gameplay or wide-ranging aesthetic changes, and Campaign Packs that add entirely new story-based campaign expansions.”

While the Greek States Culture Pack DLC and free Pontus playable faction update will arrive day one; by October players will be able to add the Seleucid Empire to their playable faction roster for free and the Nomadic Tribes Culture Pack featuring the Royal Scythians, Roxolani and Massagetae as DLC.

Total War: Rome 2 will be released on September 3rd and includes the Greek States Culture Pack for free when pre-ordering from participating retailers.
Source: Press Release

Rally Point's Craig and Will attempt to unbox the Total War: Rome 2 Collector's Edition. There's one catch: they're being chased and attacked by trained war dogs.

In the latest Let's Play video, Studio Communications Manager Al Bickham's Macedonian forces take on the might of Rome in a straight-up, open terrain skirmish match. He's playing on Very Hard difficulty, so it won't be an easy task to suppress the Roman war machine.

"I will find a way -- or make one." These were the words of Hannibal Barca; Rome's greatest enemy, and one of the finest minds in military history. He would come to conquer much of Italy during his wars with the growing Republic, but before this, he achieved the impossible. In one of the most daring gambits the world has ever seen, he attacked Rome in her own backyard.

This new Total War Rome 2 trailer uses Hannibal's remarkable achievement to illustrate the multitude of ways players can outfox their opponents, and demonstrates the breath-taking scope and variety of the campaign map.

In the second Total War: Rome 2 “Let’s Play" video, Trish Ryniak and campaign designer Dom Starr from Creative Assembly discuss factions, diplomacy and the campaign map.

After watching the Romans try to outmaneuver the Egyptians yesterday, you may want to start planning your path of carnage once Total War: Rome 2 comes out this fall. A newly released interactive campaign map should be just the tool for the job if you are into that amount of detail.

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This new Total War: Rome 2 trailer highlights the story of Cleopatra, with the first glimpse of the campaign map and a taste of the battle action the press will be getting to grips with at E3 next week.

SEGA has today revealed the release date, pre-order bonus and Collector’s Edition for Total War: Rome 2. The global release date for the most keenly-anticipated Total War game yet will be September 3rd across all territories on both physical and digital formats. The game is now available for pre-order from the SEGA Store and other retailers world-wide.

Those gamers who pre-order any edition from participating retailers will receive Rome 2’s first DLC for free alongside the game on release day. This first DLC, the Greek States Culture Pack, adds three additional playable factions to the game; Epirus, Athens and Sparta.

These factions have their own unique units, buildings, missions and win conditions alongside a distinct tech tree and, in the case of Sparta, will present a considerable challenge to the advanced player wishing to restore the famous city state to its former glory.

Priced at $154.99, the Total War: Rome 2 Collector’s Edition will be produced in a single, extremely limited run; only 22,000 individually numbered copies will be manufactured. The CE contains a wealth of custom, Roman-themed games and items, bound in a leather-effect presentation box, complete with gold logo and magnetic closure; including:

Numbered copy of Total War: Rome 2:  This version comes in a debossed Steelbook case, laser-etched with your unique collector’s number in Roman numerals.

Tabula set: The Roman forerunner to Backgammon, this Tabula set comprises 30 bone-effect game pieces supplied in their own burlap drawstring bag; the board itself is built into the base of the Collector’s Edition box.

Tesserae Dice: Three replica bone-effect dice for use in a variety of games. The design is based on original Roman Tesserae, found at the archaeological site of Herculaneum.

Total War Cards: Punic Wars: Designed from the ground up to echo elements from Rome 2, Total War Cards is a game of skill and luck for two players. Involving combat, territorial control, resource management and technological development, Punic Wars consists of 58 high-quality playing cards and a game-board printed with the Punic Wars tech-tree.

Canvas Campaign Map: A reminder of the world you must conquer, this ribbon-tied canvas map depicts each of the 57 provinces of the Rome 2 campaign.

Roman Onager: A complete, fully-functional Onager, or Roman siege catapult. This easy-to-assemble kit is constructed from weathered wood and steel, measures 26cm x 12cm x 12cm, and is capable of unleashing small projectiles at a variety of inanimate objects which may have affronted the glory of your empire.

Creative Assembly revealed some staggering statistics with interesting gameplay implications at their GDC presentation. Perhaps the most interesting was the announcement that there will be 117 different factions present in the campaign, which starts players off from “the earliest days of the Roman Republic” and tasks them with building an empire.

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Developer The Creative Assembly has immortalized one of its fans in Total War: Rome 2, a 24-year-old player named James who passed away from liver cancer shortly after previewing the game last summer.

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