Faction thirteen - DLC: The Seleucid empire

The Seleucids

“Tolerance, diversity, strength”
Although eventually embracing many eastern customs, the Seleucids are renowned for their city building and civil engineering, driving Greek colonisation and Hellenization. Furnished with expert cavalry, including cataphracts, horse skirmishers and war elephants, Seleucid armies also sport a solid core of excellent spear and pike infantry provided by a growing number of Greek-speaking colonists.

As the campaign begins, such measures are a necessity when faced with the continuing threat from their Ptolemaic Egyptian neighbours and upheaval among the Seleucid's satrapies. Ever the opportunists however, the Seleucid kings may yet turn the tables, bringing much of Alexander’s former western empire under their sway.
Founded by Seleucus Nicator, or Seleucus the Victor, at its height the vast Seleucid Empire stretched from western Anatolia as far east as the Indus River. During the turmoil of the Wars of the Successors, the Seleucids were able to claim and expand Alexander the Great’s eastern empire, as well as parts of Asia Minor.

Seleucus sealed his overall victory at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. Fielding 500 war elephants, gained through negotiating peace on his eastern border with the Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, his forces proved decisive. The territory under his control contained a diverse range of eastern subcultures, which rapidly became Hellenized by the ruling Macedonian elite and a flood of Greek settlers.

Despite a sometimes precarious position at home, the Seleucids now plan to expand. But where? Into Ptolemaic Egypt? Or beyond, to Alexander’s former western empire in Greece and Macedon? Influenced by their cultural assimilation of eastern culture, The Seleucids have little tolerance for the concept and practice of slavery. As a heavily multicultural society, they also suffer less from public order issues arising from foreign cultures entering their territories. In battle, the Seleucids have access to a wide-ranging roster; as such, they can field capable, balanced and incredibly diverse armies and navies.

Total War Rome II: Trade Routes of Campaign map

The Roman era wasn’t just a time of war and conquest: it was also a time of exploration, discovery, alliance, and of course, trade. This map depicts every trade route and hub in ROME II’s vastly detailed campaign map. Which faction will you play as? Start planning your trade empire now!

Total War: ROME II - Naval Warfare

“The barbarians are coming! ROW FOR YOUR LIVES!”
Join us as we take a closer look at some of the naval units in ROME II, and the tactics they employ.

Naval battles work much more like land battles than ever before. Smaller, faster-moving ships are capable of outflanking larger, slower ships, in a manner similar to the cavalry/infantry dynamic. 
We'll also be taking a look at ramming, boarding, and for the first time, we'll be introducing the Firepot Dieres assault ship, and the stout, oaken Heavy Raiders of the Barbarian navies!
This new video highlights some of the new naval units in Rome II and the tactics they employ. We also take a closer look at the Medium and Heavy Raiders of the Barbarian fleets. Stout oaken ships, for stout oaken folk! 

Total War Rome II: Capital Cities

Among all the settlements and cities to be found as you conquer your way across ROME II’s campaign map, five stand out as great wonders of engineering, seats of learning, and as the hearts of empires: Alexandria, Athens, Carthage, Babylon and Rome.
It’s only right that the battle maps for these mighty seats of ancient civilisation get the special treatment, so we’ve gone to town on making them the most intricate, stunning, authentic and of course epic cityscapes we’ve ever created.
These shots also show the kind of graphical glory the ROME II engine can achieve, with a huge range of environmental lighting variables, colossal amounts of detail, and high-end graphical techniques such as depth-of-field.

Babylon
Oldest city, cultural, thriving and vibrant, with 4000 years of existence. Ancient Capital of fragmented and destroyed the Persian Empire, the city continues with the same force and virtue of the great ancient empires that ruled the land and the rivers of Mesopotamia, which makes it a prize worthy of further expanding nations.


Athens
City-port with 2000 years of existence, the city of Athens was, is and will continue to be the pearl of the Aegean sea and the Greek world. Their story tells that the native people who lives there, was designed to be a center of more advanced philosophy and the most original artistic center, but also a warrior people, well trained and organized, either by land or by sea.


Alexandria
Alexandria, a city may be recent, but it inhabits the collision of two different worlds, which are respected and new civilization in a sea of ​​cultures on the rise. She knew by the Mediterranean's Bride, not a city it is in the Hellenism world, is more richer and influential than the heart of the domains of the Ptolemaic pharaohs. From there, concentrated many commercial fleets around the Mediterranean and more advanced knowledge of the ancient world, supported with a population so large and loyal.


Carthage
The first civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic. The city of Carthage is located on the eastern side of Lake Tunis. According to Greek historians, Carthage was founded by Phoenician colonists from Tyre under the leadership of legendary Queen Dido of Tyre. It became a large and rich city and is a major power in the Mediterranean. Uniting all the Phoenician colonies since 60 years ago, by the fall of Phoenicia on the army of Alexander the Great, and his death, Carthage is a meeting point of various cultures, both Hellenistic, as barbaric, creating an army of loyal marcenários ready fight the new homeland of the heirs of the Phoenicians.


Rome

Since the year 753 BC the city of Rome was populated by different people from all over Italy from the barbarians to the north and the Etruscans (people who ruled Rome as a tyrant kings), and citizens of the Greek colonies in the south and the Samnites (warrior people and rival of Rome, and their warfare techniques are used by the Romans), making it not only the largest city in Italy, but also the heart of the republic and more organized military that the world has ever known.

Dynamic Campaign Map City Growth + Every Choise has a Consequence, not matter which culture

To showcase the incredible detail in ROME II’s campaign map, we've put together this awesome screenshot of city growth, showing off the walled city of Massalia in southern France.

Settlements and cities in ROME II grow in a very organic way, and can expand in a number of different directions, while reflecting some of your key building decisions.



In ROME II, every choice has a consequence, however great or small. Certain acts or events are accompanied with a description, and an artistic rendition of the scene. Here we've brought together four artworks from the game, depicting the same event for the Barbarian, Roman, Greek and Eastern cultures. Can you guess the nature of that event?

Let's Play - Total War: ROME II - Skirmish vs. A.I. - Macedon vs Rome

We’ve got more ROME II footage for you – this time our very own Al Bickham takes on the AI in a skirmish battle. In our 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 supress the Roman war machine. 

We're playing from the defender's viewpoint, so it's very much a case of "Come at me, bro!" as the enemy assaults his position. See how they employ their abilities and hardened military tactics to wear down our very own hero's forces, with a sprinkle of cunning thrown in for free. 
Will Mr. Bickham survive? Will his Macedonian forces survive the onslaught of the Roman advance? Or is this the end of the Macedonians? There's only one way to find out...

Total War: ROME II -- "Find a Way" (dilemma and options trailer) + Panorama Alps Campaign View

He’s Rome’s greatest enemy and one of the finest military minds in history – but who is he, and how will he find a way to outfox the might of the Roman empire?

"I will find a way -- or make one." 

These were the words of Hannibal; 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 ROME II 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. Find out in this brand new Total War: ROME II trailer, demonstrating just some of the millions of intriguing options available to you during your ROME II campaign.

Total War: ROME II launches worldwide on September 3rd 2013. For more information, visit www.totalwar.com

"Crossing the Alps? Ha! He would lose half his army!"
We’ve done it again – we’ve released another HUGE panorama, weighing in at a tasty 30000 x 6116 pixels, this time showcasing the Barbarian-held lands near The Alps in ROME II’s campaign map (click the link below to see it in all its glory).
http://tww-data.s3.amazonaws.com/panorama5/index.html