A Commander Is You / Total War

The Total War franchise has many different factions in each of its iterations.

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Regular Games

Rome: Total War

Rome: Total War:

• Base Game:
  • Romans: Pre-Marian Reform: Generalist. Mix of light and heavy infantry, archers, skirmishers and light cavalry. Post-Marian Reform: Brute/Elitist. Heavily armed and armored Legionary infantry (and to a lesser extent cavalry), huge array of siege weaponry, mediocre ranged units. Can feel like a Spammer when fighting against them, since all three Houses will simultaneously wage war against you.
  • The Greek Cities: Brute/Specialist. Almost no ranged units, below-average cavalry, but increasingly heavy hoplites, including the super-tough Spartans.
  • Macedon: Brute/Elitist. Some of the best hoplite/pikemen infantry, companion cavalry, not much else of notice.
  • Egypt: Generalist. Good all around roster, with heavy phalanx units, melee infantry, archers and the ever fearsome chariots.
  • The Seleucid Empire: Elitist/Generalist. Good pike-phalanx units, good cavalry including cataphracts and war elephants, also good heavy infantry, although not cheap. Best units take more than 1 turn to recruit.
  • Parthia: Ranger/Guerilla. Appallingly bad infantry, yet has some of the best cavalry in the game, with cataphracts, War Elephants, and horse archers.
  • Pontus: Specialist/Brute. Mediocre Infantry, but can recruit cataphracts and chariots.
  • Armenia: Generalist. Average all around roster, with better cavalry than infantry.
  • The Gauls: Spammer early on, Specialist later. Lots of mediocre warband infantry, but gains access to Chosen Swordsmen and Forester Warbands — the perhaps best archers in the game — later.
  • The Germans: Spammer/Guerilla early on, Specialist/Brute later. Throw huge hordes of Spear Warband at you early in the game, aided by Screeching Women and Night Raiders, but later gains access to Gothic Cavalry, Chosen Axemen, Chosen Archers and Berserkers, who hit with all the force of an elephant.
  • The Britons: Specialist. Mediocre Infantry, no normal cavalry, but fearsome chariots.
  • Spain: Guerilla. Excellent skirmishers and light infantry and cavalry, but almost nothing that can hold a battle line for more than a few moments.
  • Dacia: Generalist. Good all around, with a few stand outs, like Falxmen and Chosen archers.
  • Thrace: Brute. Hoplites and pikemen combined with more barbarian shock infantry, not much in terms of ranged units and cavalry.
  • Scythia: Ranger/Specialist. Focused on (ranged) cavalry to the point that their most basic unit isn't a warband like with other "barbarian" factions, but Horse Archers. Able to destroy pretty much anything on the open field, but rather ill-equipped for sieges.
  • Carthage: Elitist. Good Infantry with the Sacred Band as the top elite, but their true trump card are the elephants.
  • Numidia: Guerilla. Mediocre infantry, but lots of good skirmishers, both on foot and mounted.
• Barbarian Invasion:
  • Huns: Brute/Ranger. Lots and lots of cavalry, light, heavy and missile alike. Mediocre infantry. May feel like Spammer in the early game due to vast numbers.
  • Goths/Ostrogoths: Generalist. Good all around, with a focus on cavalry.
  • Sarmatians/Roxolani: Brute/Ranger, with more focus on Ranger. Lots and lots of cavalry, light, heavy and missile alike. Mediocre infantry, average archers.
  • Vandals: Brute. Mediocre infantry, very good cavalry, melee and missile alike. May feel like Spammer in the early game due to vast numbers.
  • Franks: Brute/Elitist. Focused on heavy troops both cavalry and infantry. Some light troops in support.
  • Saxons: Generalist, leaning towards Guerilla early on, later more towards Brute. Average units all around, with the Hearth troops as the elite.
  • Celts: Brute/Specialist. Focused on heavy infantry, with a wild array of all kinds of troops in support, including Celtic chariots. Many of their troops lack armour, however.
  • Sassanids: Elitist/Specialist. Poor selection of infantry, but has access to cataphracts and War Elephants.
  • Alemanni: Generalist, leaning towards Brute. Good all around roster, with some fierce heavy units such the Lombard Berserkers and the Golden Band.
  • Burgundii/Lombardi: Generalist. Good all around, with more focus on infantry than cavalry.
  • Romano-British: Generalist. Good all around, with the Graal Knights as the top elite.
  • Slavs: Generalist. Good all around, with more focus on cavalry than infantry.
  • Berbers: Guerilla. Lots of fast, light troops, but nothing that could really stand up to the heavy troops of other factions.
  • Western Roman Empire: Generalist/Pariah. Good choice in every branch, but poor stability and surrounded by enemies.
  • Eastern Roman Empire: Generalist, leaning towards Brute. Good choice in every branch, but can field Clibanarii and Cataphracts, that punch through any enemy line, no matter how heavy they are equipped.
• Alexander:
  • Macedon: Elitist/Specialist. Macedon has a limited selection of infantry and a vast array of cavalry, but all of their units are very powerful and excel at what they do. If anything, their main weakness is their relatively mediocre ranged capabilities.
  • Persia: Ranger/Spammer. Persia has mediocre melee infantry but they can field massive armies and most of their units can provide sizable ranged support. They also have capable cavalry, including cataphracts, scythed chariots, and War Elephants.
  • India: Brute/Ranger/Specialist. India has only one dedicated melee infantry unit (a Cannon Fodder levy spear unit), but they have good ranged units and a vast selection of cavalry, including chariots and of course War Elephants.
  • Barbarians: Brute. Have access to some hard hitting units, particularly infantry.

Medieval II: Total War

Medieval II: Total War:

• The Byzantine Empire: Ranger/Unit Specialist (missile cavalry & naval), with traces of Economist; Generalist in Crusades. Below average infantry; strong archers, despite the lack of armor-piercing longbows or crossbows; very bad early heavy cavalry (though by the late game it is competitive thanks to Latinkon and Kataphraktoi) and Vardariotai, the best horse archers in the game, available right from the start; the unique Fireboat unit makes early to mid-game naval battles very one-sided. Holding one of the biggest cities in the world gives them a economic head start, though being surrounded by hostile factions, they need it. Quite dominant early on but they soon hit a technology ceiling and other kingdoms will catch up. The Crusades campaign gives them more heavy infantry and the devastating Greek Firethrower.
• Denmark/Norway (Britannia/Teutonic): Brute. Has some of the best shock infantry, with Viking Raiders and Dismounted Huscarls early on, which are later replaced by Norse Axemen, Swordstaff Militia and Obudshaer. Most infantry and cavalry fight with axes so armour-piercing is abundant, but their archers and crossbowmen are subpar. While Norway does have a few unique units - Gotland Footmen, Sami Axemen, and Svenner - Denmark can acquire these units in the Teutonic campaign via the Kalmar Union.
• Egypt: Generalist/Economist. Good all-around army, with some really outstanding units such as the Tabardariyya and the Mamluks. Holds some of the richest provinces in the game, and as such boast a very powerful economy.
• England: Ranger early on, Generalist later. Starts out with excellent Longbowmen archers and Billmen to protect them, and later get much stronger equivalents like Retinue Longbowmen, Armoured Swordsmen (a Dismounted Chivalric Knight with more armour and less upkeep), and English Knights for a well-rounded army.
• France: Brute Force/Elitist. Has some of the best heavy infantry and cavalry in the game, but also fields very good late ranged units in their Aventuriers (armoured crossbowmen) and Scots Guard (armoured longbowmen) and very good gunpowder artillery later on.
• The Holy Roman Empire: Brute Force/Elitist. Has some of the best heavy troops in the game, both infantry and cavalry, but more focused on infantry. Though like the Byzantines they are lacking in late-game technology, though in practice this is an Informed Attribute; their late-game professional troops are on the same level as those of other European factions.
• Hungary: Guerilla/Ranger. Starts with good light infantry and ranged cavalry (but no heavy melee cavalry); later gets excellent heavy cavalry & Hussars, one of the best light cavalry in the game, but their heavy infantry is always lacking.
• Milan: Spammer early on, Specialist/Technician later, Economist through out. Starts with lots and lots of cheap and better-than-average Italian militia, but later gets units like Famiglia Ducale, Genoese Crossbowmen and their Militia variant, also Musketeers and Monster Ribaults once Gunpowder has been discovered. Genoese Crossbowmen are the best missile infantry in the game, but Milan's melee infantry and cavalry options are lackluster, leading them into a Specialist role. Like Venice on the other side of Italy, Milan has a very good starting position to build up a trade empire.
• The Moors: Economist/Guerilla/Unit Specialist (cavalry): Very good skirmishers and desert units, strong sword infantry in the Urban Militia and Dismounted Christian Guard, adequate heavy cavalry, and in the late-game very dangerous gunpowder units with Sudanese Gunners and Camel Gunners. Potential Game-Breaker with Timbuktu and Arguin, two of the richest provinces in the game, isolated from everyone else in the world and almost impossible to lose once you take them.
• Poland: Guerilla early on, Brute Force later. Needs to employ hit-and-run-tactics early on, due to the generic Mailed Knights being replaced by ranged Polish Nobles, but gets some very good heavy cavalry units later. Generally lacks missile infantry
• Portugal: Guerilla early on, Brute/Elitist later. Has some of the best skirmisher units in the game that stay useful throughout the game, but later gets things like Conquistadores from New World settlements (both mounted and on foot), Portuguese Arquebusiers and Aventuros (elite pikemen).
• Russia/Novgorod (Teutonic): Spammer early on, later Ranger, Technician or Generalist, depending on the playstyle. Lots of cheap troops early on. Good all around roster mid-game, with excellent cavalry units, both melee and missile. Like all the Eastern factions, it relies more on cavalry (especially missile cavalry) then Western Europeans.
• Scotland: Brute/Unit Specialist (melee infantry). All Scotland's melee infantry hit hard on the charge with near-unbreakable morale and shred armour like chainsaws, and they also have good pikemen, but by far the worst ranged (with poor range and zero access to armour-piercing, though they can hold their own in melee) and cavalry (they don't get any heavy cavalry past early-game Feudal Knights) selection in the game.
• Sicily: Spammer early on, Generalist later. Starts with high-quality Italian militia, above-average Muslim Archers, and excellent Norman Knights once Palermo has been upgraded once; later fans out into an average all around, but without the Carracoccio Standard for Italian armies morale can be a problem.
• Spain: Guerilla early on, Brute/Elitist later. Has some of the best skirmisher units in the game that stay useful throughout the game, but later gets units like Sword & Buckler Men, Tercio Pikemen and Conquistadores once they capture settlements in America.
• The Turks: Guerrilla/Ranger early on, Brute force/Technician later. Starts out with mostly light infantry and ranged units, later gets Qapukulu, Janissary units and Monster Bombards, becoming a real force to be reckoned with.
• Venice: Spammer early on, Specialist/Technician later, Economist throughout. Starts with lots and lots of cheap and better-than-average militia, but later gets units like Stradiots (one of the best light cavalry in the game), Venetians Archers and armor-piercing Venetian Heavy Infantry. Venice is in a good starting position to build a trade empire and benefits a lot from gunpowder technology.
• The Papal States: Spammer early on, Elitist/Specialist/Technician later. Starts with lots and lots of cheap and better-than-average militia, but later gains better quality units as with the rest of the Italian factions. All the while, they also have access to the unique Papal Guard and later on Swiss Guard, fanatical heavy infantry.
• The Mongols: Ranger/Spammer. Some of the best cavalry and ranged infantry in the game, but mediocre melee infantry. Spammer comes into play as, when they first arrive, they typically come with six or more armies at maximum power and elite generals, soon followed by another eight armies a few years later. These reinforcements will continue until they have either found a new home or are destroyed completely.
• The Timurids: Ranger/Spammer. Similar to the Mongols, with the addition of Gunpowder and their unique Elephant units.
• The Aztecs/Mayans/Tlaxcalans/Tarascans (Americas): Spammer/Loyal. Huge numbers of high-morale infantry, but with primitive weapons. Still, an invasion force will be hard pressed to cut their way through thousands of bloodthirsty and fanatical infantry units. The Mayans do have a slightly different roster with access to a few specialty units, most notably the Hornet Throwers.
• Apachean Tribes (Americas): Ranger/Spammer early on, Technician later. Rely on large numbers of light ranged troops, but can recruit cavalry and gunpowder units once they beat enough European armies with them.
• Chichimec Tribes (Americas): Spammer early on, Technician later. Same as Apaches, but with a greater emphasis on melee infantry.
• Ireland (Britannia): Guerrilla/Technician. Lots of skirmishers and light troops, very good Calivermen gunpowder units (infantry and cavalry), and some decent light and medium cavalry too. Unfortunately they lack quality spearmen and heavy cavalry, and their line infantry while decent are also unreliable.
• Wales (Britannia): Guerrilla/Ranger. Wales has a focus on superior longbowmen (better even than England's) and light infantry, but no real heavy infantry and cavalry. Many Welsh units have multiple functions; their Magnelwyr gunners for instance also have heavy armour and an axe, so they are quite capable faux-heavy infantry as well.
• Kingdom of Jerusalem (Crusades): Brute/Elitist. Focused on heavy troops, both cavalry and infantry, with some support troops. Slightly more cavalry-focused, including a unit of heavy cavalry with double the unit size and a cheaper alternative knight unit, allowing for larger armies.
• Principality of Antioch (Crusades): Brute/Elitist. Focused on heavy troops, both cavalry and infantry, with some support troops. Slightly more infantry-focused, with armor-piercing shock infantry, some with two-handed weapons.
• The Teutonic Order (Teutonic): Brute/Elitist/Technical. Brimming with heavy troops, with some of the elite knights causing fear. Have little in the way of skirmishers with mostly mediocre ranged units save the Livonian Auxiliaries.
• Lithuania (Teutonic): Guerilla/Loyal as Pagans, Generalist as Christians. Unable to stand to the Teutonic Order man-to-man, but with some really scary pagan melee troops and high-morale religious fanatics. After their conversion to Christianity, they get heavier infantry and some gunpowder troops.

Total War: Shogun 2

Total War: Shogun 2:

• Shimazu: Loyal (loyal generals)/Generalist (stronger Katana Samurai and unique Heavy Gunners)
• Mori: Unit Specialist (naval). Superior ships and unique wako pirate infantry. Kind of a pariah as naval advantage does not count for much in this game.
• Chosokabe: Economist (farm income)/Ranger (archers of all sorts)
• Hojo: Industrial (castle-building)/Technical (siege weapons)
• Oda: Spammer early game (ashigaru). Later-game, can be led in a Generalist direction with elite ashigaru units (matchlock and long yari ashigaru) and/or Ranger by spamming matchlock ashigaru.
• Tokugawa: Diplomat/Espionage (metsuke)/Guerrilla (kisho ninja); a pariah faction due to starting position (beginning as a vassal clan) and a lack of any particular military advantages. Also because of a bug in the base game (that can be fixed with patches and mods), their unique kisho ninja are actually worse than normal kisho ninja.
• Takeda: Unit Specialist (cavalry); something of a pariah due to the ubiquity of Anti-Cavalry.
• Uesugi: Elitist (warrior monks); a Pariah faction due to starting position and the difficulty of setting up a monk infrastructure.
• Date: Brute (all units get a charge bonus, stronger No-Dachi Samurai)
• Hattori: Espionage (ninja)
• Ikko-Ikki: Highly unconventional. Spammer (powerful Loan Sword Ashigaru and large but weak normal ashigaru units)/Elitist (warrior monk)/Espionage (can conquer through Ikko revolts without invading), but with a weak economy (no metsuke). The faction's strength is disputed; it's been argued as both a pariah and a Game-Breaker.
• Otomo: Ranger (gun units)/Espionage (spreading Christianity).
• Christians in general: Research (churches)/Naval (Nanban Trade Ships)/Espionage (spreading Christianity damages enemy public order, and Christian revolts can be used to take over provinces without starting a war).

Total War: Rome II

Total War: Rome II:

• Rome: Generalist/Elitist/Game-Breaker all the way. They have cheap, very strong infantry, a wide selection of auxiliaries that help cover any potential faults (good skirmishers, elephants, and even some javelin cavalry), and even some decent cavalry. Not unbeatable, but certainly a challenge even in the hands of expert players.
• Carthage: Generalist/Elitist/Economic. They have access to a large variety of high quality units (although most are mercenaries), and unlike in the first game they actually have Archers, but they lack really cost-effective soldiers, and because their fielding so many mercenaries, money will usually be an issue, as will the size of your armies. They also have access to War Elephants, which, if used properly, can utterly wreck armies. If they manage to survive the onslaught of Rome, they have quick access to the fruits of the entire Mediterranean, which can greatly boost their already powerful economic structure.
• Macedon: Elitist/Brute. The heirs of Alexander have a very solid roster, focused on strong pike and spear infantry backed by terrifyingly brutal shock cavalry, including the all mighty Companion Cavalry. However, they are the only Successor Kingdom without any War Elephants.
• Egypt: Elitist/Economist/Spammer. They roster combines cheap and plentiful levy units with some powerful heavy-hitters, particularly in the infantry department, though their cavalry is somewhat weaker compared to other Successor Kingdoms. Campaign-wise they have a strong economy given their capital of Alexandria and additional food output in each region due to the Nile Valley.
• Seleucid: Elitist. The Seleucids have some of the most powerful units in the game, including very strong heavy infantry, armored archers, cataphracts, and armored War Elephants. However, they can only access to their best units by the late campaign.
• Baktria: Elitist/Economist/Ranger. Compared to other Successor Kingdoms their infantry selection is somewhat weaker, but they make up for it with strong cavalry and skirmishers. Their location and ties to the Silk Road also grants them additional wealth from commerce.
• Greek Factions: Generalist. Large rosters with good units in just about every category. In particular, they tend to focus on heavy hoplite infantry with the rest of the roster being of average quality at the least.
• Sparta: Elitist/Unit Specialist...with a surprising aspect of Pariah. They have extremely powerful (but generally expensive) hoplites, such as the legendary Heroes of Sparta, to pull their weight in battles, but their lacking in almost every other category, it's very hard to use them effectively giving Sparta a serious case of Crippling Overspecialization.
• Eastern and Desert factions: Ranger/Unit Specialist. Their rosters have average infantry at best but tend to have excellent skirmishers, both foot and mounted. They also have great melee and shock cavalry, particularly cataphract
• British Tribes: Brute/Technical/Spammer. They have a great selection of units, especially infantry, but they don't have any of the specialized units or cost-effective units of other factions. They heavily rely on their extremely good chariot units to do much of their damage, and like the Germans, they can always rely on numbers...
• Gallic Tribes: Brute/Spammer: Similar to the above, but with the addition of fielding several very nasty sword warriors decked out in extremely heavy armour that pound through everything that's thrown against them, making them a nightmare to fight in defensive battles. In addition, they have decent cavalry, and ranged units. Like most "barbarians" their armies are also very plentiful.
• Germanic Tribes: Brute/Guerilla/Spammer/Technical. They have strong infantry (particularly Bersekers) and many of their units get the "scare" ability, which makes them horribly damaging to enemy morale, but their units are otherwise of unremarkable quality. As a "barbarian" faction, there will be never a shortage of troops to call upon, as most of their roster is very cheap, and plentiful.
• Steppe Tribes: Ranger/Unit Specialist all the way. They rely on their shock cavalry and missile cavalry to get anything done and have no infantry units to speak of in regular custom battle.
• Iberian Tribes: Guerrilla. They have good light infantry and skirmishers for ambushes and their melee infantry excel in the cut-and-thrust of melee even against Romans since they have high melee defense (meaning that they are highly likely to dodge attacks in melee) but are highly susceptible to missile fire as they have poor armor.
• Daco-Thracian Tribes: Brute/Guerilla/Unit Specialist. They make use of infantry with staggeringly high charge stats to break enemy infantry, but they lack armor and don't have great non-melee units with the exception of skirmishers (which are of above-average quality and can hold well in melee). Their warriors are also not very good in standing melee, as they lack proper shields.
• Illyrian Tribes: Pariah. Generally very poor unit choices and one unit of sub-par cavalry. Really, Illyria is considered the worst of the worst, and are usually wiped off the map by turn fifty; nothing but a tactical genius can make these guys good. To add insult to injury, their first factional bonus relies on recruiting masses of mercenaries for a single or a couple of turns and disbanding them shortly after but they lack the economical groundwork to capitalize on that and their second bonus revolves around raiding other factions to stay afloat, and they are just at the doorstep of Rome.
• Gallic Rome (Empire Divided): Brute/Elitist/Unit Specialist. Very strong heavy infantry even when compared to the other two Roman factions as well as some skirmishing chariots, but the rest of their roster suffers as a result.
• Palmyra (Empire Divided): Elitist/Ranger. Their heavy infantry lean more towards spears and pikes rather than swords (which makes them weaker when up against other heavy infantry). However, their true strengths lie in their strong variety of skirmishers and cavalry, including armored archers, cataphracts, and scythed chariots.
• Tarchuna (Rise of the Republic): Generalist. A balanced selection of infantry supplemented by skirmishers, cavalry, and chariots.
• Samnites (Rise of the Republic): Brute/Unit Specialist. Strong heavy infantry but mediocre in all other respects.
• Iolei (Rise of the Republic): Guerilla/Ranger: A good variety of fast moving skirmishers and infantry, including unique Armor-Piercing Runners, but their units are relatively fragile when compared to other factions.

Total War: Attila

Total War: Attila:

• Base Game/The Last Roman:
  • Western Roman Empire: Generalist. Have a versatile roster with a greater emphasis on heavy infantry and armor-piercing missile units (javelins and crossbows). Campaign wise, a major Pariah and Self-Imposed Challenge as it is the first faction in a Total War with a Legendary difficulty, as it is plagued by instability and barbarian invasions.
  • Eastern Roman Empire: Generalist. Have a versatile roster with a greater emphasis on shock troops, heavy cavalry, and skirmish cavalry.
  • Roman Expedition: Generalist. Have a versatile roster that strikes the balance between the Western and Eastern rosters.
  • Sassanid Empire: Balanced/Ranger. The Sassanids have a flexible roster with a wide array of units, but their roster places particular emphasis on missile units and cavalry. They have access to several specialty units, such as cataphracts, mounted crossbowmen, fire bomb throwers, and armored War Elephants.
  • Desert Factions: Ranger. Their rosters have average infantry at best (weaker than the Sassanids) but tend to have excellent ranged units, both foot and mounted. They also have great melee and shock cavalry, including camels.
  • Huns: Ranger/Unit Specialist. The Huns have some of the best cavalry in the game and can field them in massive numbers, but at the expense of their infantry.
  • White Huns: Ranger/Unit Specialist. The White Huns place less emphasis on cavalry compared to their cousins, but have a more well balanced roster including War Elephants.
  • Germanic Tribes: Brute. Most Germanic Tribes have a great selection of units with a particular emphasis on infantry (some more so than others), As a trade-off, they usually have weak ranged capabilities.
  • Vandals: Berserker. Unlike other Germanic factions, which have well-armored elite infantry in the mid-game, the Vandals instead have access only to Vandal Berserkers until the late game, who deal high damage but lack the armor to withstand in protracted fights against other elites. Likewise, they also have access to Sarmatian Warhounds, which can utterly shred any unit in the game as long as they attack from the flank and the rear. Both of these units give the Vandals an active playstyle that demands aggressive flanking in order to make the most out of their high damage but fragile units, since otherwise they'll just be ground down by the enemy's superior armor. To help these berserkers actually reach their targets without dying of arrows and cavalry, the Vandals also have access to powerful Sarmatian Horsemen—powerful medium cavalry units specialized in fighting other cavalry and non-spearmen infantry.
  • Alans: Brute/Ranger/Unit Specialist. The Alans have a typical nomadic roster with a strong variety of cavalry. Their infantry selection as to be expected is quite limited, even moreso than the Huns and White Huns; most of their infantry are either shock infantry or warhounds with no ranged infantry at all.
  • Saxons/Nordic Tribes: Brute/Unit Specialist. Compared to their southern counterparts, the Nordic Tribes have an even greater emphasis on infantry at the expense of the rest of their roster. They also have very strong naval capabilities.
  • Celtic Tribes: Guerilla/Ranger. All Celtic units have vanguard deployment, allowing them to be deployed outside the regular deployment zone for ambushes or sneak attacks. Their units tend to be lightly armored but are fast and excel in the cut and thrust of melee combat, and they (barring the Picts) have a wide variety of ranged units and. They have a poor selection of cavalry, but this is partially offset by their access to the best wardogs in the game.
  • Slavic Tribes: Guerilla/Technical. Most Slavic units are unremarkable in quality, and they have the worst selection of cavalry in the game (they only have three units of skirmish cavalry; even the Celtic Tribes at least get a unit of melee cavalry to complement their selection of skirmish cavalry). They have unique poison archers that can inflict severe damage over time to enemy units (as in, one stray shot and an enemy unit can drop to half strength within a matter of seconds).
• Age of Charlemagne:
  • Kingdom of Charlemagne: Generalist. Have a versatile and diverse roster with good units in every aspect.
  • Kingdom of Asturias: Guerilla/Unit Specialist. Their roster primarily relies on javelin-armed skirmishers, both on foot and horseback, which are short-ranged but quick moving and pack Armor-Piercing Attacks.
  • Avars: Ranger/Unit Specialist. As a faction with nomadic roots, they rely primarily on their cavalry and missile units to carry the day for them.
  • Emirate of Cordoba: Ranger. Their roster has average infantry at best (weaker compared to other European factions), but they make up for it with strong ranged infantry and cavalry.
  • Kingdom of the Lombards. Brute. Have a slightly more diverse roster compared to other factions, with a particular emphasis strong infantry with Armor-Piercing Attacks.
  • Kingdom of the Danes: Brute/Unit Specialist. The Danes have very strong melee infantry, but the rest of their roster suffers as a result, to the point of being the first non-American faction in the Total War series to not have any cavalry.
  • Kingdom of Mercia. Brute. Like the Danes, the Mercians specialize in strong melee infantry, but their roster is a bit more well rounded in other respects.
  • Westphalia: Brute/Guerilla. Strong melee infantry and skirmishers that are capable in guerilla warfare.

Thrones Of Britannia: A Total War Saga

Thrones of Britannia: A Total War Saga:

• English Kingdoms: Generalist/Brute. Have a balanced roster, although it is one primarily focused on infantry.
• Welsh Kingdoms: Generalist/Guerilla/Ranger. The Welsh have slightly weaker infantry than other factions, but they have the best archers in the game. They also have the best variety of cavalry out of all the playable factions on the campaign, and all of them are able to skirmish including the heaviest options.
• Mide: Guerilla/Ranger/Unit Specialist. Many of their units are lightly armored but are highly mobile and excel in guerilla warfare. They also have capable javelin-armed skirmishers, both on foot and on horseback, which offers them superior Armor-Piercing Attacks.
• Circenn: Guerilla/Ranger. Compared to Mide they focus less of javelin-armed skirmishers and instead on archers and crossbowmen. They also have stronger infantry that are more durable than their Irish counterparts.
• Great Viking Army: Brute. Their roster combines elements from both English and Viking rosters, with strong heavy infantry, including Berserkers and long axemen, armored archers, and reasonable cavalry.
• Viking Sea Kings: Brute/Unit Specialist. Similar to the Great Viking Army but with even heavier emphasis on heavy infantry at the expense of the rest of their roster.
• Normaunds: Generalist/Game-Breaker: Heavily armored troops in all respects, including Norman Knights that outmatch even the heaviest Welsh cavalry.
• Norse: Brute/Unit Specialist/Game-Breaker: Almost entirely composed of heavy infantry (they have weak skirmishers and only one unit of light cavalry), but are some of the best in the game.

Total War Warhammer Trilogy

• Total War: Warhammer:
  • The Empire: A Balanced/Generalist/Diplomat faction, with a combination of light and heavy, melee and ranged infantry and cavalry, and artillery both mundane and arcane, perfect for taking on all comers. Additionally, the Empire has access to a wider range of magic than most factions (barring the High Elves, Lizardmen, and Tzeentch), giving it numerous options for healing, buffing, debuffing and damage-dealing. The key weaknesses of the Empire are a lack of air units outside of high-level Lord/Hero units and a relatively weak infantry line — as a human faction their elite melee infantry will rarely beat other factions' own elites. They have good starting relations with surrounding factions which in turn allows for easy confederation in order to absorb smaller friendly nations without a fight, and following their rework in The Hunter and the Beast, their campaign gameplay now revolves around managing the various Elector Counts to unlock province-specific unique units and artifacts.
  • Greenskins: A Brute/Spammer faction. Orc-focused armies tend to put more emphasis on "Brute" while Goblin-focused armies tend to focus more on "Spammer", but cheap and effective melee units are a cornerstone of both. The Greenskins are however let down by poor options for technology, trade and diplomacy, and can suffer attrition losses if their armies go too long without a good fight. Their campaign revolves around building up reputation among other Greenskin tribes though constant warfare which not only boosts growth, income, and public order, but once maxed out allows for a WAAAAGH! to be called, which works much like Crusades and Jihads in Medieval II. When a WAAAAGH! is called, AI-controlled armies with exclusive units will spawn alongside the player's armies with the intention of destroying a target enemy capital, and destroying said capital grants a trophy with permanent effects that scale based on the enemy faction's prior strength.
  • Dwarfs: A rare example of an Elitist/Technical/Loyalist faction. They are slow-moving and small in number, but a combination of heavily armoured and disciplined infantry with devastating ranged weaponry and artillery can turn them into well-coordinated Mighty Glaciers. Instead of spellcasters, they have Runesmiths who instead use Rune Magic, which does not use winds of magic but instead has all of its spells share the same cooldown. Their campaign revolves around the Great Book of Grudges and they are immune to civil wars. Having a lot of unfulfilled grudges will result in public order penalties, while resolving grudges grants special bonuses and Runes. They also have the unique Oathgold resource which they can use to craft powerful artifacts and Runes.
  • Vampire Counts: A Spammer/Technical faction. Their force is built around weak and expendable undead fodder (which can be created instantaneously and on the move) with a variety of powerful combat monsters, flying units, and magical abilities to support them. They have no ranged weaponry of any kind. The Vampire Counts can also corrupt an enemy's land, causing attrition losses to armies and also potentially causing uprisings in their provinces.
  • Bretonnia: An extremely unusual Elitist/Spammer/Unit Specialist faction. Peasant infantry are cheap, plentiful, and tend to die in droves. Meanwhile the various Bretonnian cavalry units, the specialty of the faction, are all quite powerful and highly mobile. This encourages a hammer and anvil style of combat in which disposable peasants keep the enemy busy while knights position themselves for a lethal charge from behind. They also have the best flying cavalry in the game, which makes them one of the strongest human factions when it comes to aerial combat. Generally speaking, Bretonnia requires a fair deal of micromanaging to use effectively, but can be very deadly in expert hands.
  • Warriors of Chaos: An Elitist/Brute/Gimmick faction, less concerned about having overwhelming numbers of disposable units like many other factions and instead focused on having a few very powerful soldiers who pound the enemies into the ground and easily instill fear into the heart of the enemy. Chaos Warriors control no cities; they produce no buildings and gather no income, they only recruit warriors through their armies and sustain themselves by constantly raiding enemy cities. Similarly to the Vampires, they also spread Chaos corruption into provinces.
    • After their rework accompanying the Champions of Chaos DLC, the Warriors are now a sedentary faction and maintain their own settlements. They can now recruit marked units from each of the four Chaos Gods, making their roster both expansive and versatile. Their Gifts of Chaos system allows them to sacrifice the souls of their enemies to each of the four Chaos Gods for different bonuses, including the ability to requisition daemon units, but the Chaos Gods must be kept satisfied with constant souls otherwise these boons are lost. Their other new mechanics focus around upgrading individual Lords, Heroes, and units. The Path of Glory allows their Lords to devote themselves to one of the Chaos Gods to gain different upgrades, culminating in becoming a powerful Daemon Prince. Meanwhile, individual units can be upgraded into superior units after gaining enough experience, and can also be given specific marks to unlock new upgrade paths and bonuses. However, it is worth noting that only certain Legendary Lords have access to all four of the Chaos Gods, while others are locked to a specific Chaos God but in return have easier access to daemon units from said Chaos God and borrow the campaign mechanics from their monogod factions.
  • Beastmen: A Spammer/Guerrilla/Brute faction. They rely heavily on ambush tactics on the grand campaign, their hordes being invisible and capable of traveling through hidden "Beastpaths". In combat they hit hard but have really poor leadership, relying heavily on their units' superior mobility and numbers, but will fall apart in prolonged combat. They are the only dedicated horde faction in the game. As such they cannot maintain settlements, but have a unit ability to raze and corrupt a region, along with a mechanic similar to the Orcs' WAAAAGH!, spawning AI-controlled armies to assist your own hordes. They do not suffer attrition when two hordes are near one another and their units are completely free but are limited only by unit caps that can be expanded through their unique Dread resource, meaning you can quickly create new hordes in order to flood the map with your forces, especially in the later stages of the game.
  • Wood Elves: A Ranger/Guerrilla/Elitist faction. They have some of the best archers in the game. Even their basic archers have extraordinary range and can fire while moving, allowing them to attack while getting into position. Higher tier archers have outstanding armor piercing damage and can fire in any direction without having to change facing. On the other hand they also have the tree spirit units, which are Mighty Glacier infantry and monsters capable of dominating infantry engagements. However, most of their units have poor defense and suffer in prolonged combat, and the powerful monsters will also do very poorly against fiery attacks; as such, the wood elves are an army reliant on skirmishing, motion and a lot of micromanagement.
  • Norsca: A Brute/Gimmick, just like their parent army — the Warriors of Chaos. The Norscans have hard hitting units like the Warriors but in general are much less armored. However, this is offset by their access to a number of extremely powerful monstrous units such as War Mammoths, Skin Wolves, Fimir, and Frost Wyrms that pound the enemy into submission through pure violent power. They have a number of powerful quirks like their Berserker and Frostbite abilities, which allow them to become insanely stronger the longer they remain in battle and significantly slow their enemies in combat, respectively.
• Total War: Warhammer II:
  • High Elves: A Generalist/Elitist/Ranger/Intrigue faction with lots of expensive units that are capable of fighting in multiple scenarios, as well as having some of the best magical capabilities out of any race in the trilogy as they have access to all eight lores of magic plus the Lore of High Magic. In the Grand Campaign they can use influence to quickly develop alliances or trick other factions into war. Examples of their extremely generalist units include: Lothern Sea Guard, which are effective, though not great, archers with shields (allowing them to resist other archers), decent melee stats (allowing them to briefly stand against basic infantry) and a bonus against large creatures (making them dangerous to cavalry that catches them). The Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower is an extremely accurate artillery piece that can switch between having a bonus against large creatures (to snipe monsters) and against infantry (to disrupt infantry formations). The Swordmasters of Hoeth are greatsword infantry with high damage and a bonus against other infantry, this almost always means not having shields and thus being weak to archers but the Swordmasters get the shielded status anyway because they can deflect arrows with their swords. They also have access to powerful archers that can hold themselves in melee, such as the Sisters of Avelorn and Shadow Warriors, and a number of powerful flying monsters, including the best dragons in the game. If anything, the only flaw in their roster is their lack of artillery outside of the Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower which is near-useless in siege battles.
  • Dark Elves: A Balanced/Technical/Brute faction. Their roster parallels that of the High Elves but with a greater emphasis on bloodthirsty melee infantry, crossbow-wielding skirmishers, and ground monsters such as Cold One Knights and War Hydras. Their units require more micromanagement than most but ultimately they have effective answers to nearly anything. However, if their units aren't managed well and get caught in unfavorable matchups they tend to fall apart. Their unique battle mechanic, Murderous Prowess, causes an army wide damage bonus once a certain number of units have been killed.
  • Lizardmen: An Elitist/Brute/Research faction. The Lizardmen are a technomagically advanced civilization that has degenerated due to its leaders meditating through millennia of corruption and decay. Their main combat units have become half feral, sometimes going insane in combat and not responding to orders. However, they benefit from powerful infantry and a wide selection of monster units ranging from Stegadons to Dread Saurians to Coatls, while Lords and Heroes wield sophisticated magic. Their settlements can be joined together into a massive Geomantic Web they can use to enhance all aspects of their civilization. Their research is extensive and highly effective.
  • Skaven: A Spammer/Guerilla/Ranger faction. The Skaven have huge numbers of incredibly cheap, incredibly weak units with horrifically low leadership (making them extremely prone to routing en masse) and the ability to ambush other armies while attacking. This represents the idea that Skaven are everywhere and will come swarming in from all sides. With their Menace From Below faction ability they can even produce free units of infantry anywhere on the map a few times each battle that can serve as an Action Bomb. In campaign their Food mechanic prevents them from holding large amounts of territory encouraging them to sack and raze enemy cities instead of conquering them. As DLC has been released, they leaned more heavily into ranger, but are always Guerilla in battle, with each lord focusing on a different strategy for distracting the enemy for the weapons teams to deal damage: Traditional Mors buffs infantry to hold just long enough, Pestilens uses Summon Magic, Rictus keeps the enemy chasing disposable skavenslaves all over, Skryre uses Monowheel Mayhem screening units while boosting teams, Eshin uses McNinja skirmishers, and Moulder focuses on Elite Tweak Playing with Syringes.
  • Tomb Kings: A Spammer/Technical/Turtle faction. The Tomb Kings are one of the most powerful defensive factions in the game, alongside the Dwarfs. They have access to hordes and hordes of hardy, if offensively weak, skeleton infantry, which can hold enemies in place for long periods of time, whilst their more powerful and fast units, such as horsemen, chariots, and the various constructs can go in for the kill. They make heavy use of their signature Lore of Nehekhara to further support their skeletons, and make them last longer (whose sustainability is enhanced even further with their battlefield mechanic, Realm of Souls). Unlike the Vampire Counts, they do have archers and powerful artillery, which let them turtle even more. On the campaign, their units are completely free but are instead limited by unit caps that can be increased via expanding infrastructure, which is offset by the fact that the Tomb Kings on their own have a relatively poor economy.
  • Vampire Coast: A Spammer/Technical/Ranger Faction. The pirates of the Vampire Coast are an interesting faction: they're not able to field a traditional infantry line, as their zombie infantry are have such poor stats, while their sole elite infantry, the Depth Guard, are only half the unit size of regular infantry. That said, they get armour piercing firepower in volumes the Dwarfs could only dream of, have a cannon that is almost map-ranged, and their Lore of the Deep gives them a few spells to jam up enemy charges and disrupt their lines to buy more time shooting. On the campaign map they have a very weak domestic economy, very poor expansion options on the outset, but thanks to a mechanic for creating secret pirate coves on enemy port settlements, can rapidly become a small but connected, wealthy power, with several semi-horde armies that let them have a presence anywhere on the map.
  • The Rogue Armies are nonplayable Gimmick factions that are totally focused on one particular tactic or theme. For instance: only cavalry, only units that fit a pirate theme, only monsters, hilariously impractical amounts of artillery, and so on.
• Total War: Warhammer III:
  • Kislev: A Brute/Ranger/Unit Specialist faction. The Kislevite roster has two specialties: Hybrid melee/missile infantry and powerful cavalry. Almost all of their infantry (excluding the elite Tzar Guard) possess both melee and ranged weapons, allowing them to whittle their opponents down with missiles before charging into close combat; as a result, their missile units tend to have much more armor and are thus more survivable than those of most factions (barring the High Elves and Cathayans). Their cavalry roster is also diverse, ranging from Horse Archers to powerful bear cavalry and sleds. Kislevite cavalry excel upon the charge and cause fear, but as a trade-off, they tend to be less armored than their Imperial and Bretonnian counterparts. Several of their units also have the Frostbite ability, allowing them to slow down enemy units in combat. Unlike their fellow human factions, they have no flying units to speak of.
  • Cathay: A Turtle/Ranger faction. The Cathayan roster focuses on defense with special buffs for their ranged and melee units, which results in them having superior ranged firepower and an excellent and survivable frontline consisting of a diverse array of armored melee and ranged infantry. That said, Cathayans tend to be slow-moving and easy to flank, which is not helped by the fact they have the worst cavalry out of all the human factions. They more than make up for these disadvantages through their flying machines, animated constructs, artillery, and dragon sorcerers.
  • Khorne: An Elitist/Brute faction. The Khornate roster focuses on powerful, heavily armored troops that charge into the heat of combat and slowly get even more powerful the more casualties they inflict. They have access to powerhouse units such as Skullcrushers, Bloodthirsters, and Khornebulls that excel at breaking the enemy lines with their charge. As a trade-off, Khorne is the only faction in the game without access to magic and has limited ranged options such as Skull Cannons.
  • Tzeentch: A Technical/Ranger faction. The Tzeentchian roster is made up of several weaker troops that rely on ranged attacks, offensive spells (with the Lore of Tzeentch being entirely damage or debuff spells) or hit and run tactics to do damage. Out of all the monogod factions, they have the best ranged capabilities, and they have the potential to be the most magically adept faction in the game as they can upgrade their Lords of Change (both as Lords and single entity monsters) to wield a wide range of spells from different lores of magic, allowing for whole armies of spellcasters without resorting to Hero spam. All Tzeentch units come with Barrier, a damage shield that recovers when a unit is not engaged in combat, emphasizing a hit and run style of play. Their roster has few units with staying power, relying on Forsaken to hold the line. In their place there are several fast flying units, such as Doom Knights, Screamers of Tzeentch, and Burning Chariots, which can perform fast, damaging hit and run, or bombard enemy lines with ranged firepower.
  • Nurgle: A Brute/Technical/Unconventional faction. The Nurglish roster relies on slow-moving but extremely resilient units that whittle down their enemies through spreading diseases, such as Pox Riders, Beasts of Nurgle, and Great Unclean Ones. On the campaign map, Nurgle plays less like a traditional faction and more like a gradually spreading infestation. Their buildings are not manually upgraded but instead evolve over time into higher tiers of infrastructure, and they do not summon their forces at full strength but instead have them grow to their full strength over time after being summoned. They also have access to the Plague Cauldron which allows them to concoct different sorts of Mystical Plagues that ravage their enemies while growing their own forces.
  • Slaanesh: A Guerrilla/Technical/Espionage faction. The Slaaneshi roster emphasizes speed, armour piercing and poison attacks, and relies on chariots, cavalry and generally fast moving units such as Hellstriders, Hellflayers, and Fiends of Slaanesh, some of which gain significant bonus damage from flanking attacks due to having the Devastating Flanker attribute. However, their Crippling Overspecialization leaves their roster without units with strong staying power, and they have almost no way to deal with flying units as none of their units have ranged attacks outside of spells and they have no flying units outside of Furies, which are merely Cannon Fodder. Slaanesh also relies on debuffing spells and abilities to weaken their enemies, and gain bonuses and abilities from killing routing units. On the campaign map, Slaanesh focuses on creating vassals, debuffing opposing factions through Hero actions, as well as seducing enemy units into switching sides for the duration of battles, making them a faction focused on undermining other factions.
    • After the release of the Champions of Chaos DLC, all monogod factions also Elitist/Brute due to having access to marked Chaos Warrior units.
  • Daemons of Chaos: A Generalist/Unconventional/Elitist faction. The Daemons of Chaos faction combines the daemon units of all four Chaos Gods above into one army led by a Daemon Prince, allowing for a mix and match of different units from the different factions to cover all bases. However, outside of the campaign they have only access to daemon units and not some of the cheaper generic mortal units available to each individual faction. On the campaign map, the Daemons of Chaos focuses on devoting captured settlements to the four Chaos Gods or Chaos Undivided, and customizing their Legendary Lord, The God-slayer, to fit each situation. They do however lose out on the unique and powerful campaign abilities of the individual Chaos God focused factions in place of adaptability.
  • Ogre Kingdoms: A Brute/Elitist/Unit Specialist faction. Almost all Ogre Kingdoms units are of monstrous size barring the Gnoblars (who exist only as Cannon Fodder), and are extremely devastating on the charge. Though they have limited ranged options, those that they do have such as Leadbelchers and Ironblasters can do monstrous damage to any enemy battle line at the expense of having more limited ammunition. However, Ogre Kingdoms units are limited in terms of model count and so can be overwhelmed by more numerous enemies if improperly used.
  • Chaos Dwarfs: An Elitist/Economist/Industrial/Ranger faction. The Chaos Dwarfs boast heavily armored units with powerful ranged capabilities, including some of the strongest war machines in the game such as the Iron Daemon and Dreadquake Mortar. Unlike their uncorrupted cousins, they have powerful monstrous units such as Bull Centaurs, Bale Tauri, and K'daai Destroyers as well as access to proper magic including the destructive Lore of Hashut. However, just like their uncorrupted cousins Chaos Dwarf units are expensive and limited in number, and other than Greenskin slaves and Hobgoblins serving as Cannon Fodder they lack reliable mid-tier options. Their campaign mechanics are extremely intricate with a heavy focus around resource management and industrial development evocative of a Paradox Interactive game.

Game Mods

Thera: Legacy of the Great Torment

Thera:

• Kingdom of Avalon: Balanced/Generalist. A good mixture of archers, medium and heavy infantry and powerful cavalry.
• Gaelic Nations:
  • Balanced/Generalist in Version 3.
  • Guerrilla/Spammer in Version 4. Strong emphasis on rushing and ambush tactics with light barbarian infantry.
• Bons Chevaliers/Royame de Merevangi: Elitist. Very powerful heavy cavalry, with heavy infantry as support.
• Ducado de Sangre Valiente: Elitist. Emphasis on elite close-combat troops and advanced firearms.
• Povos de Hispania: Guerrilla/Ranger. Very little in the way of heavy infantry or cavalry, but light infantry are very mobile, good at hiding and ambushes, and a lot of their troops wield javelins.
• Faustian Reich: Elitist/Ranger. Masters of ranged combat with advanced firearms, but with a limited unit roster.
• Men of Valhalla: Brute. Strong emphasis on infantry with heavy, armour-piercing axes and strong charges. What did you expect?
• Men of Wotan: Balanced/Ranger. A balanced unit list , boasting stronger than average ranged cavalry.
• Romuli Empire: Balanced. Excellent heavy infantry, good (but not great) archers and gunpowder, and good cavalry.
• League of Privateers:
  • Balanced/Generalist in Version 3. A bit more emphasis on ranged, but still decent melee troops.
  • Ranger in Version 4. Have probably the most powerful gunners in the entire game, but close-quarters troops are limited and roster is comparatively small.
• Grand Duchy of Dracule:
  • Brute in Version 3. Focus on light/missile cavalry, with super-heavy Blood Knights, but lacking in both kinds of infantry.
  • Balanced/Generalist in Version 4. The roster has been rounded out to include decent missile and melee infantry, as well as gunpowder units.
• Teutonic Order: Brute. Focused on powerful heavy infantry and cavalry, but with a lack of good light infantry and mediocre archers.
• Holy Order Of The Pale Knight: Elitist. Has some of the best infantry and cavalry in the game. They need it, considering their starting location....
• Tahar Caliphate: Ranger/Balanced. Great ranged units and cavalry, including War Elephants.
• Vashta Sultanate: Generalist. Lacking in heavy armour at first, but they can develop some fairly powerful heavy troops later on.
• Barka Caliphate: Ranger/Brute. Depends on how you build the army, but compared with the Vashta, they're a lot stronger on the heavy infantry and cavalry front.
• Lao Che Khanate: Ranger. The archery faction, through and through, with great cavalry to boot and some modest infantry.
• Sycorax Nation: Technical/Ranger. A variety of versatile but fragile units barring War Mammoths and a mishmash of technology, making them powerful if used properly.
• Warriors of Kukulkan: Brute/Spammer. More emphasis on the Brute side. They also have unique lizard cavalry units.
• Paynal Empire: Brute/Spammer. More emphasis on the Spammer side.
• Uruk Dominion: Elitist/Brute. Best heavy infantry in the game, with a list built around charging and supporting the charge, but with a total lack of cavalry or artillery.

Third Age: Total War

• Third Age: Total War:
  • Gondor: Elitist/Brute. Decent heavy cavalry and infantry with good armour stats, but archers are comparatively weak and units are costly to recruit and maintain.
  • Rohan: Balanced. Cavalry are pretty tough, although they lack decent heavy infantry, in the early game at least. This means they dominate in the open fields of their home turf, but fall apart once they hit a solid fortress.
  • Dale: Balanced. Average in all respects. Dale's heavy infantry is good but not as good as Gondor's, Dale's cavalry is good but not as good as Rohan's, Dale's longbowmen are good but not as good as the Elves', and Dale's light infantry are good but not as good as Eriador's.
  • Eriador: Guerilla/Spammer. Many units are cheap but comparatively weak in straight-up fights, with emphasis on light infantry, militia and rangers, forcing reliance on stealth and/or Zerg Rush tactics. However...
  • Arnor: Elitist. Has the strongest units in the game all-round. Borderline Game-Breaker, but then you have to play as Eriador to unlock Arnor anyway.
  • High Elves: Elitist. Extremely strong units all across the board, but the high cost of units combined with the standard Elven birth-rate problem means that armies will be relatively small.
  • Silvan Elves: Elitist/Ranger. Like their High Elf cousins, small, powerful armies of elite units, but with a much greater focus on archers at the expense of cavalry.
  • Dwarves: Brute/Unit Specialist. Tons of powerful axe/pike infantry who are extremely dangerous in melee and heavily armoured, but they have limited options for long-range engagements, and almost no cavalry at all (save for extremely rare Dale mercenary cavalry units). Because of this, Dwarven armies shine in offensive and defensive siege battles, but struggle in open battles.
  • Orcs of Gundabad: Spammer/Guerilla. Standard Orc numerical superiority combined with many skirmisher units who are good at hiding.
  • Orcs of Misty Mountains: Brute. Expect to fight Trolls a lot when fighting this faction.
  • Rhûn: Balanced, although cavalry are Elitist. Basically, Gondor's Evil Counterpart.
  • Harad: Balanced/Spammer.
  • Isengard: Elitist/Brute. Tough Uruk-hai heavy infantry, Wargs and crossbows.
  • Mordor: Spammer/Technical. Huge hordes of useless Orcs, supported by extremely powerful and expensive one-of-a-kind units and generals with strange abilities.
• The sub-mod Divide and Conquer introduces whole new playable nations and reworks existing ones for a campaign-centric game:
  • Angmar: A Balanced faction with a well-rounded roster of medium-quality hillmen and orc infantry units with armour-piercing and Warg riders. You can take Iron Crown battalions which are more elite along with Barrow Wights in regions with barrows.
  • Bree-land: A primarily Economist faction with a strong emphasis on trading over martial prowess. Bree's early game is defined by Guerrilla/Spammer play thanks to their unique (and surprisingly good) hobbit militia and woodsmen units, but lacking any real heavy-hitters outside of the occasional Dunedain or Greenway unit. After the Barracks Event, Bree-land becomes even more of a Spammer faction as their late game units are among the worst (but cheapest) in the game, but the booming economy hopefully lets you field them in great number in addition to plentiful mercenaries and Dunedain-associated units (depending on whether you took the "Isolationist" or "Friends of the Dunedain" choice). This approach is encapsulated by Bree-land's trademark elite unit, the Merchant Swordsmen: lavishly equipped, well-armoured and reasonably priced swordsmen with relatively poor offensive stats and melee defence skill to reflect a lack of training.
  • Dale: Dale is the Ranger faction for the Northmen, with many of the best archer units from bottom-to-top tier that aren't Elves. After the Barracks Event, they become a fairly potent Tank faction by adding a solid core of pikemen and armoured polearm infantry, perfect for guarding their powerful archers from cavalry and other threats. However the other parts of the faction's roster are fairly mediocre, with cavalry nothing to write home about. Also might be an Economist, as they can become quite wealthy through connections with the Dwarves of Erebor.
  • Dorwinion: Dorwinion is a small, mixed human/elf nation in the east notable for its valuable wine trade, which gives it a booming economy and a strongly Economist flair. The early roster is fairly Spammer with low-cost militia troops, but the Barracks Event presents a tantalizing choice: they can either set their Elven population to work on the economy, freeing up more professional Northmen units into the roster (Balanced); or they can recruit the Elves, giving them fairly powerful Avari missile troops (Ranger/Guerrilla). On top of changing how the army functions, whether your nation takes on more human or Elven influences changes the visual appearance of your units.
  • Dwarves: Split into three factions from Third Age, the Dwarves retain their Brute/Turtle options with an Elitist take; simply put, Dwarven units can outfight and outlast practically any non-Elven equivalent. The Dwarves are also Economist, as even the nomadic Khazad-Dûm will be sporting an embarrassment of riches once the mines open up, helping to compensate somewhat for the exorbitant costs of their mighty units. However Dwarven units are very slow-moving and limited to infantry, so unless they bring some human mercenary cavalry then it can be easy to outmaneuver them in the field; though they excel in sieges.
    • Erebor: Takes the Brute approach to the max. When Smaug sacked Erebor, it taught the Dwarves there that a good defense is a strong offense. Their heavy axe-wielding troops will butcher the unfortunates on the business end, especially on the charge. That said, they lack not only cavalry but even missile troops outside of short-ranged throwing axes, leaving them fairly tactically predictable and with few options.
    • Ered Luin: Something of a Technical/Turtle hybrid. Ered Luin's Dwarves are far-removed from warfare and this is reflected in their relatively weak units in direct melee (for Dwarves, mind). The chief weapon of the Dwarves of Ered Luin is the crossbow, supported by pikes. The Dwarves of Ered Luin have the option of accepting Sauron's gifts and turning against the Free Peoples, which let them recruit Grimborn Reavers, menacing falchion-wielding Black Knights which bring them more in-line with the Dwarven baseline.
    • Khazad-Dûm: Turtle approach, to the max. Given that the Dwarves will be retaking the Misty Mountains from the Goblins of Moria and fighting in tight corners, the expedition adopts a doctrine of extremely heavy armour and shielding to quite literally push the goblins back and out. They also have nimble archers to shoot into the flanks of their enemies. However they lack the striking power of Erebor's mighty melee units.
  • Harad: The Rangers of the Easterlings, with units boasting very high offensive power and mobility but poor protection and vulnerability to missile fire (though they are adept at fighting at range themselves). After the Barracks Event, you will have elite infantry and cavalry with Dunedain-tier fighting ability with Orc and Wild Men-tier durability. The ultimate unit of Harad is the Mûmakil, powerful war elephants that literally trample everything underfoot... but can be easily killed by concentrated missile and artillery fire thanks to their massive hitboxes. Mûmakil are strong, but you cannot be careless even with them.
  • High Elves: The High Elves are, simply put, the greatest individual warriors in Middle-Earth, Elitist taken to the absolute max, as nearly all of their units are some of the absolute strongest in the entire game for their tier. Take the Lindar Guards for example, their cheap town militia unit with comparable stats to Gondor Infantry sitting a full tier above them (and that's no slight against Gondor, remember that their infantry are very good quality by Mannish standards). Their end game infantry and archers are beyond comparison, apart from maybe Rohan eclipsing their high-tier heavy cavalry. But this isn't a license to think you can brainlessly steamroll Middle-Earth with a Badass Elite Army, as their units are relatively small models-wise and very expensive for what they can do; lesser troops are quite capable of outflanking and overwhelming them. And your powerbase is splintered between two kingdoms on opposite sides of the map, so if Rivendell or Mithlond fall then you might have trouble getting them back.
  • Khand: A Central/Far Asian-inspired faction, the Variags of Khand are Rangers with a toolbox for Hit-and-Run Tactics. They have almost unique access to horse archers, which are among the finest missile cavalry in Middle-Earth. However, while Khand's non-mounted roster does include some reasonably hard-hitting units, it has very little tactical variety (to the point where it is bereft of polearm infantry) and simply lacks the sturdiness to be able to hold a line for long; they'll need to ally with the Blue Wizards and the Orocarni Dwarves if they want any infantry that can truly duke it out in an extended slugfest.
  • Númenóreans: The four factions in this group are sort of a mix of Generalist and Elitist; their troops generally have well-rounded stats and tend to be better than equivalent units from other Mannish factions, if also more expensive. The Númenórean factions also all have impressive economic capabilities (at least potentially), including far more building/upgrade options than other Mannish factions, making them sort of Economist/Research factions as well.
    • Ar-Adûnâim: Very much the Númenórean Brute, victory will mostly hinge on their infantry's ability to crush their foes in a head-on clash, especially since the Ar-Adûnâim's core roster has zero cavalry until the late game. There's even an element of Spammer to their gameplay, since unlike their nobler kindreds, the lowest tier of the Ar-Adûnâim's core roster includes a few cheap Cannon Fodder units to support a lineup that is otherwise roughly on par with those of the other Númenorean factions. They can also take a more Balanced approach by recruiting other factions' units through the auxiliary system (in particular, it'll be their chief means of getting cavalry).
    • Dol Amroth: Their low/mid-tier roster is probably the most Generalist out of all the Númenóreans, being solid but not particularly spectacular outside of their excellent lancer cavalry. However, Dol Amroth's elite units are a whole 'nother story, with their elite cavalry in particular being the best Mannish horsemen in the entire game.
    • Gondor: Their roster is something of a Jack of All Stats, as they can recruit a wide variety of very good region-exclusive units from their various fiefdoms to supplement a reasonably solid mainline. Gondor's only real weakness is that their cavalry will be outclassed by almost everyone else's (though this is slightly compensated for by being able to train some Amrothian cavalry); as such, Gondorian tactics will often tend towards Turtle tactics, especially since the majority of their most elite units are spear/polearm infantry. To get their best units, you will have to grapple with Mordor to reclaim territories such as Minas Ithil.
    • Northern Dúnedain: They tend to have a very Ranger/Guerilla playstyle in the early/mid-game, with some of the finest non-Elven archers in all of Middle-earth and a core pre-Barracks Event roster well-suited to pulling off devastating hit-and-run tactics in the forests of Eriador. Additionally, they also boast some excellent melee infantry and cavalry which makes them arguably the most tactically diverse of their kin. That said, while the core Dúnedain roster remains Elitist throughout, most of it is only easily recruitable within the former heartlands of Arnor, meaning that if the Northern Dúnedain want to expand beyond Eriador, they'll have to adopt a more Balanced roster made up of whatever local troops they can recruit through the "Beacon of Hope" system, since they need to have a high enough culture in order to recruit Dúnedain units.
  • Orcs: The servants of Melkor trend very strongly towards Spammer, with cheap to hire and maintain units boasting large model counts and subpar stats (with one noteworthy exception in Gundabad). The Orcs are not terrible, but they certainly favour quantity and sheer variety over quality.
    • Dol Guldor: Guerilla/Ranger-focused Spammers whose roster is reliant on archers, skirmishers, stealth, and sheer numbers, to the point of being the only orc faction with a "true" Ranger unit. They're also a bit of a Gimmick faction, as a key tactic will be using their poison arrows to break the morale of their foes.
    • Orcs of Gundabad: Despite being orcs, they are the most overall Elitist of the evil factions, with only the Elves and (some) Dwarves able to outmatch them in a direct fight. The Orcs of Gundabad spent generations in exile in the freezing mountains and wastelands of the north, growing quite strong and hardy against the biting winds and cold. Tactically, Gundabad has a Brutish roster that is focused around quickly getting into melee with the enemy, being comprised mostly of lightly-armored but hard-hitting infantry. However, they can become more Balanced/Spammy with the "Subjugation" system, which allows them to recruit units from other orc factions (and Angmar) as they expand their territories.
    • Isengard: Fairly unchanged from the original Third Age, Isengard has a Brutish heavy infantry-focused roster. However, even though Uruk-hai units are better than equivalent orc units at each tier, Isengard is still pretty Spammy pre-Barracks Event, with only a few standout units like the half-orcs and the Berserkers. However, once the late game hits, Isengard becomes a lot more Elitist, gaining heavily-armored Uruk-hai who can outmatch even the descendants of Númenor in direct combat.
    • Mordor: If it wasn't for the existence of the Goblins of Moria, Mordor's main roster would be the Spammer par excellence of the entire game, with a relatively Brute-like focus on hordes of cheap-as-chips orc infantry due to their mostly mediocre archery and complete lack of mainline cavalry outside of a few units they can recruit from the Men of the East. However, Mordor's non-Orc elites are on the complete opposite end of the quality-vs-quality scale, being some of Middle-earth's very best. Not to mention you get the Immortal Nazgul and the Big Bad Sauron himself, the latter having the Relentless trait.
    • Goblins of Moria: The Spammiest faction in all of Da C, with their goblin mainstays being even cheaper, weaker, and more cowardly than regular orcs. Even their "elite" general's bodyguard unit are only just about better than low-tier Númenórean infantry. Indeed, their roster generally has the largest unit sizes for each tier in the entire game. Which isn't to say that the goblins are all about trash Cannon Fodder; their roster is probably the tactically diverse of the orcs and includes some fairly unique special units.
  • Rhûn: Perhaps the most Balanced faction, the Easterlings have a very well-rounded roster that holds up reasonably well in terms of both quality and numbers. Like in vanilla Third Age, Rhûn in the early game is more Ranger-focused with a plethora of ranged units, but becomes more of a Brute/Tank faction once they can start training the heavily-armored Lôke-Khan units. However, while most Rhûnnic units are at least solid for their tier, their roster doesn't particularly excel at anything either, outside of their fire-based Gimmicks.
  • Rohan: The Men of the Riddermark are definitely a Ranger-focused faction thanks to their varied and well-rounded plethora of solid-to-excellent cavalry, but this is balanced by the non-mounted part of their roster being fairly mediocre for the most part (being particularly lacking in ranged units), if still better suited for holding a line than Khand's.
  • Silvan Elves (Lothlorien, the Woodland Realms): These Elves are masters of the Ranger/Guerrilla approach, with their plethora of excellent longbow archer troops and mastery of forest-based stealth. But they are also no slouch in melee combat either, their rosters compensate for their high cost and low unit sizes by being almost just as Elitist as the High Elves', with their only hole being their relative lack of cavalry. In general, the Woodland Realm's units tend to be more focused on dealing damage, while Lórien's are generally more defensively-oriented.
  • Wild Men: In general, Middle-Earth's three most primitive Mannish factions are Guerrilla/Spammers whose greatest strengths are numbers and stealth. Though they may not be quite as quantity-over-quality as the orcs, the Wild Men are definitely solid runner-ups. In particular, they arguably have the worst late-game rosters in all of Middle-earth, since the relative quality of their units starts to really fall behind once the Barracks Event hits.
    • Dunland: Very much a Brute faction that relies on overwhelming the enemy in close combat, Dunland actually has some pretty decent mid-tier melee units (though they still lack any real "elite"-caliber ones). However, their roster has rather pitiful ranged capabilities and is not quite as stealthy as the other Wild Men's, though this can be somewhat compensated for if Dunland manages to complete the "Unite the Clans" script and starts recruiting from Enedwaith's more skirmish-oriented roster.
    • Enedwaith: Victory here will require a Ranger playstyle, since Enedwaith's units will almost always be outclassed in a straight fight. Instead, their primary strength is their skirmishers; any unit — even the mighty Dwarven and Elven units, that finds itself the recipient of an Enedwaith javelin volley is not going to be existing for much longer. Their weakness in close combat can be somewhat compensated for by completing the "Unite the Clans" script, which allows them to recruit from Dunland's sturdier roster.
    • Vale of Anduin: The "jack-of-all-trades" of the wild men, the Valesmen are something of a Technical/Specialist faction; they can't spam units on the level of the other wild men, and while their roster as a whole is tactically versatile, their units individually tend to be rather specialized to the point where none of them can really fill the role of an all-around mainline unit, making victory particularly reliant on carefully coordinated tactics. That said, if they do have a strength, it would be their archers, who can hold their own even against those of Dale and the Northern Dúnedain, and their Beorning axemen, who can quickly fell even the mightiest of dwarves and elves.

The Elder Scrolls: Total War

The Elder Scrolls: Total War

• Imperials: Balanced/Generalist. As the most balanced race in Tamriel, the Imperials have a varied unit roster not lacking in any particular regard and actually many of the strongest options. Imperial racial traits for commanders give bonuses to decreasing unrest, using siege equipment in battles and decreasing the costs of units.
  • Empire of Tamriel: Economist. You can recruit Imperial Legion units from core Cyrodiilic provinces and weaker auxiliary legion units from far-flung provinces; this presents a challenge because you will likely be attacked from all sides and experience uprisings within your territory too, so you might find yourself holding the line with the local stop-gap troops until The Cavalry arrives from the Cyrodiil heartland. In addition you also have the various Knights of the Nine units, two factional mage units, and the largest and most developed city on the map - the Imperial City. You also control the economically important Rumare Bay area and several vassals across the continent. Basically you are England from MTWII: Britannia or the Western Roman Empire in Atilla, on paper you're the military and economic superpower but you will need all that power because everyone else will be gunning for you.
  • Kingdom of Colovia/Kingdom of Cyrodiil: Roughly similar roster to the Empire, but you start as their vassal with a smaller territory in western Cyrodiil. This is a double-edged sword, because while the Empire will protect you, it limits your expansion options until they wane sufficiently enough that you can safely betray them. You do also get a unique knightly unit, the Knights of the Hour.
• Nords: Balanced/Brute/Two-Handed Infantry Specialist. The Nords have a fairly good position to start with as they have a collection of fairly developed settlements and a territory protected by vast mountain ranges to the west, east and south. Nords can recruit superior infantry options, with two-handed swordsmen and axemen devastating on the charge with good morale too. You also have the Nine Divines religion, making expansion out of Skyrim proper relatively pain-free. However you pay the price in other areas: the Nords' cavalry selection is limited, they have no native mage units apart from inferior College of Winterhold mages, and their naval power is poor, leaving them vulnerable to a northern seaborne invasion. Nord racial traits for commanders improve command, morale and hitpoints for infantry as well as economic bonuses for mines.
  • Haafingar Hold: Balanced/Economist. Haafingar is the hold of the recognised High King of Skyrim, relatively cosmopolitan and civilised, and has Eastmarch as a vassal. You have a strong economic position but watch out for the growing threat of the Reachmen and possibly Orsinium. Also keep in mind Eastmarch will likely not be your willing subjects for long.
  • Eastmarch Hold: Elitist/Brute. Eastmarch gets a unique Stormcloak unit roster with a bit more variety, and their position next to Fort Dawnguard allows them to a route to gain powerful vampire hunter infantry and crossbowmen. Your chief threats will be the Dunmer to the east as well as the possible Akaviri invasions in late-game.
• Bretons: Spammer/Economist. The Iliac Bay is one of the most powerful economic regions in the game if unified, many of the towns have a great deal of development and advanced for navy building. Even though their martial units are quite weak by the standards of the races of men, they have a nice selection of factional mages. Many of these petty kingdoms are fairly small and Orsinium presents a serious threat if not handled carefully. Breton racial traits increase the value of trade and farming as well as commanding mage units, but nothing to really help your military units.
  • Kingdom of Wayrest: Economist/Cavalry Specialist. Wayrest is relatively rich by the standards of the Breton kingdoms, and has access to powerful heavy cavalry options like the Knights of the Rose — though their infantry are a bit weak.
  • Kingdom of Daggerfall: Brute. Daggerfall has access to powerful infantry and cavalry units, but few elite archers meaning they might struggle against armoured units at range. They have the powerful Knights of the Dragon.
  • Kingdom of Shornhelm: Elitist. Focus on elite heavy infantry and missile troops, but limited elite cavalry. They get Rivenspire Vampire Hunters, to help quell potential vampire insurrections in your lands. Unfortunately you also are relatively poor next to the other Breton factions and you're right in Orsinium's firing line at start. This is probably Bretons on hard mode, so have fun.
  • Kingdom of Evermore: Ranger/Guerrilla. Evermore borders several threats including the Redguards of Hammerfell and the Reach, giving them a unique perspective on warfare. They forgo the traditional Breton knights and cavalry in favour of lighter skirmish infantry and missile cavalry with javelins.
• Redguards: Spammer/Berserker/Ranger. The Redguards have a focus on lighter units with high attack power but less protection, especially cavalry and archers. Their economy is fairly weak to start with, but you can recruit military units from cities owing to their martial culture and there is room for development. Redguards culturally distrust magic so they have no factional mage units to speak of. Their lands are split between two Clans listed below who vie for control of Hammerfell before turning their gaze outwards. Redguard racial traits increase their cavalry command, trade and piety.
  • Clan of Crowns: Brute. Slightly weaker economic position with their lands divided, but stronger unit roster boasting good infantry and the Katafracts cavalry.
  • Clan of Forebears: Ranger. Slightly weaker units but a better position. Your lands are located on the Iliac Bay making trade with the Breton realms achievable. You have more unique archers and "medium" cavalry like the Knights of the Moon and the Knights of the Wheel.
• Kingdom of Orsinium: Elitist/Horde. The Orcs are the finest armoursmiths and heavy infantry in Tamriel and it shows in their roster. You have all armour upgrades available immediately, and excellent Lightning Bruiser infantry along with archers who can deploy stakes — though no cavalry to speak of and one factional mage unit which isn't really the best. If they lose all their settlements they can become a roving horde until they conquer more; something to keep in mind when under continual crusader attacks from the Breton realms and the Redguard clans (trust me they will be out for your blood). Orsimer racial traits significantly improves their troop's morale, hitpoints, mining, command when fighting Redguards or Bretons, and money gained from looting.
• Dunmer: Generalist/Ranger/Technical. The Dunmer are fairly balanced as races go, mainly focusing on infantry with plenty of unique options for that. Only Morrowind is a crowded land which is often devastated by clan warfare and in the Fourth Era by volcanic eruptions and Argonian invasions, making economic development difficult. Dunmer racial traits improves their command when defending and when using mages, while also increasing value of trade and piety.
  • Tribunal Temple/Great House Indoril: Elitist. The Tribunal Temple has three powerful generals who are basically immortal demi-gods, and access to some really powerful special units. But you start in the middle of Morrowind surrounded by hostile neighbours.
  • Great House Hlaalu: Diplomat. As one of the less xenophobic Dunmer factions, Hlaalu has strong diplomatic ties to the Empire and a very balanced roster including rare pikemen and horse archers.
  • Great House Redoran: Brute. Conflicts with the Nords and the Ashlanders have given House Redoran a strong martial inclination. They have some of the best heavy infantry of all the Dunmer and among the best in the game, with strong cavalry too, but weaker missile troops.
  • Great House Telvanni: Gimmick/Research. This is the only Dunmer house with access to a unique factional mage unit, and they get access to mages as a general's bodyguard too. Their infantry selection is also quite good.
  • Great House Dres: Spammer/Technical. The weakest roster among the Dunmer, low quality melee infantry but it has Argonian Slave Mooks to bolster their armies, as well as solid cavalry and a mage unit.
  • Ashlander Clans: Ranger/Technical/Gimmick. Northern cousins of the Dumner houses with access to strong archers and missile cavalry and large, highly mobile armies. Ashlander racial traits give them large bonus to looting, trade, ambush, piety, command when using cavalry, recruiting units and small bonus to movement points. They are a horde faction who start without a settlement to call home, but they have permanent named forts to act as something of a power base. It also bares noting they do not share their religion with the other Dunmer (worshipping the Daedra rather than the Tribunal), making diplomacy and expansion tricky.
  • Great House Dagoth: Spammer/Technical/Pariah. Technically a Dunmer faction but in practice really not. Dagoth has access to many undead and monstrous creatures, with large unit sizes. They have few missiles but the ones they do have are mages. Many of their units are also quite scary, letting them break enemy morale. However they have a fairly bad start, because they follow a different religion from the rest of Morrowind and stand alone against all the other Dunmer factions who hate their guts.
• Black Marsh/Kingdom of Argonia: Guerrilla/Turtle/Gimmick. The Argonians have a roster focusing on light skirmisher and missile infantry which are also fast-moving and amphibious, allowing them to cross the sea via rivers. The Argonians can horde, allowing them to persist after their settlements are taken, a prospect easier said than done given how the terrain favours them strongly. However many of their settlements are poorly developed, their strange culture and religion leave them few prospects for allies outside Black Marsh, and they have a very limited list of cavalry and mages to choose from. Their racial traits give them bonus for ambush, health, and bonus command when fighting the Dunmer.
• Khajiit: Balanced/Technical/Economist. The Khajiit enjoy a relatively safe starting position as the Empire is often otherwise occupied and too busy to help the Wood Elves of Valenwood who will likely be your first victims. Your unit roster has a good variety of lighter infantry and missile troops on foot. You have plentiful access to mercenaries and many kinds of special unit for hire, and cities with the economic development to support them. However you have fractured lands surrounded by rebel settlements to gobble up before you can call Elsweyr properly unified and your access to magic is not great. Khajiit racial traits increases their trade and command when fighting night battles, giving them a useful strategic advantage.
  • Kingdom of Pelletine: Ranger. Tend to have lighter strike infantry and archers, with Moon Archers being among the best available to any faction. You also don't start with a large city, the nearest being the rebel-held city of Torval.
  • Kingdom of Anequina: Elitist. Generally stronger than Pelletine in regards to infantry and cavalry, with access to unique missile cavalry.
• Kingdom of Valenwood: Guerrilla/Ranger. The Wood Elves are simply put the finest archers in Tamriel, with deadly missile skirmishers as well as fairly strong hybrid bow and sword infantry equally capable in melee or at a distance. They can also potentially revive the Ayleid culture and recruit some really strong units in the old Ayleid-style. Their lands in Valenwood aren't exactly rich but they are easy to defend. However they have no real heavy infantry, no factional mages and very limited cavalry. The Wood Elves get racial bonuses for fighting in stealth, ambushing armies on map, and line of sight, encouraging a "strike 'em hard then run away" playstyle.
• Altmer: Elitist/Technical/Magic Specialist. Because their homeland is an archipelago, the High Elves have a strong trade-based economy supported by the game's strongest starting navy and an easily defendable position. United under a single banner, Summerset has the potential to match or even exceed Cyrodiil in power. They have some of the strongest mage units as well as a good all-rounder unit list, and they can recruit Valenwood's units if allied to Valenwood or if they have conquered it. However their low fertility limit the size of their armies, and their alien Altmer Pantheon religion and racist arrogance does them no favours in diplomacy with other races. Altmer racial bonuses increases their battle surgery, recruitment, tax collection and command when using mages or fighting men.
  • High Kingdom of the Summerset Isles: Elitist. Really strong roster boasting top-tier Royal Chosen units, and generally has access to powerful generals with great traits. They also possess Alinor, a powerful city; and Firsthold, a well developed castle. Losing either will set you back greatly as recruitment for Altmer is poor. You're also right in the path of the Maormer Invasion crisis if that happens, so have fun!
  • Council of Thalmor: Espionage/Gimmick. You have unique access to Thalmor Justiciars and the Thalmor Guild giving you strong spy units, with the potential to foment uprisings in Summerset and beyond. However you start in a much poorer position than Summerset and everyone hates you.
• Worm Cult: Spammer/Berserker/Gimmick. You are the only faction in the entire game that does not need population to recruit from cities. You have a roster of expendable chaff infantry with unbreakable morale, backed up by powerful mages and some very strong vampire units available in Volkmar and High Rock. You get access to strong starting generals like Harkon and Mannimarco, and some generals already with the vampire and werewolf traits. That being said, your starting economy sucks because your settlements are undeveloped and scattered across the continent and rarely able to help each other besides, and you are locked out of diplomacy with most factions.
• Hordes of Oblivion: Elitist/Berserker. Like Worm Cult but even crazier. You have the absolute best heavy infantry of all factions, strong cavalry and disposable scamp mages providing fire support. Daedroths are monstrous infantry who can outrun all but light cavalry and crush most enemies in close. You have Daedric Princes like Molag Bal and Mehrunes Dagon as your starting generals with stupidly high stats, and you can also recruit vampire units too. But again, you are the invading faction — it's you vs. everyone, as everyone else on Nirn wants you wiped from the face of it. On top of that, having poor settlement management and religion spread can make it hard to fund and sustain their mighty hordes.

Hyrule: Total War

Hyrule: Total War:

• Hyrule: Generalist: They have a solid range of troops of all types but do not excel in any one area.
• Kokiri: Spammer/Guerilla: Lots of units of huge size, but individual Kokiri are weak and prone to fleeing. However, they move fast, have good mobility on both the tactical and strategic map, and rarely get exhausted.
• Gorons: Brute/Unit Specialist: Gorons hit hard, and their troops pretty much define the idea of Lightning Bruiser, with infantry hitting as hard as most factions' heavy cavalry. Just don't expect them to do well at range.
• Zora: Ranger: Very powerful at a distance, especially with their artillery, and their armies can cross any body of water.
• Shiekah: Guerilla: Small units that can hide anywhere and hit with extreme damage when they attack a formation from behind. Able to steal money from neighbors and move in and out of territorial-seizing stance at will.
• Laranyu Province: Ranger/Guerilla: Good at mobility and fighting at range, but not so great up close due to light armor.
• Ordona Province: Ranger/Unit Specialist: Ordona has good archers, but they also have the best cavalry in the game.
• Ghoma: Spammer: They're pretty much Zerg Rush: The Faction, though they throw in some shockingly-powerful heavy units at the highest tiers of their military.
• Gerudo: Ranger: One of the better cavalry factions and with good archers, but infantry are more of a Glass Cannon than anything else.
• Darknut Legion: Brute/Unit Specialist: Their entire army is heavy infantry with swords (save for Fokka Knights). Of course, this makes them very vulnerable at range and when faced by cavalry, but they are utterly terrifying in close combat.
• Moblin: Brute. All about attacking with raw, brute force and huge soldiers.
• Lizalfos: Guerilla/Spammer: Lightly-armored troops who come in large numbers and also move extremely quickly. Specializing in flanking maneuvers and ambush.
• Deku: Ranger/Spammer: Come in huge numbers with good ranged ability. You'll need to use it, because the Deku have the worst morale in the game....
• Labrynna: Technical/Elitist: Labrynna is the only faction with working gunpowder, steampunk mecha, and other Renaissance technology.
• Fairies of Tarm: Ranger: Masters of long-range combat withd dazzling beams of bright, cheery death.
• Twili: Elitist/Technical: Twilight's troops are powerful and psychologically terrifying, but cannot move very quickly in Hyrule proper and tire easily.
• Ikana: Technical/Elitist: Ikana has some of the best troops in the game. They also can't replace them directly; their soldiers have to return to Hyrule through various rifts in their lands.** Stalfos: Technical/Spammer: Stalfos troops are recruited from the dead of those armies they defeat, letting them assemble a powerful but brittle force that neither tires nor breaks and routs.
• Order of the Wizzrobe: Technical/Ranger: An army of wizards, essentially. Devastating at a distance, terrible up close. Can cause rebellions in vulnerable provinces by converting the local population and inciting revolt.

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