If it get rave reviews from the fans I might join the bandwagon, but the Steam connection(I assume here) is a killer as well

Sounds good but... Hero units?... Wait WHAT? Dynasty Warriors? ahhh... my gut says no but hopefully we see more info later on.... And hopefully it comes on Impulse!

Ugh, I was really hoping for Rome II. I'll see how this turns out. Hopefully CA will sctually try to have decent AI this time.

I'm sorry but I can't just right this game off because it might only be on steam. This is Shogun for god sakes...

I wouldn't worry about there being a Rome II. I mean it was pretty much their greatest hit...why wouldn't they make another and continue to farm us of all our money.

I used the love the total war series. I passed on empire and Napeleon for now after the no confidence vote from the majority of players at the TW fan forums.

Would there be a chance of the first Shogun to appear on Impulse?

I was hoping for WW2..damnit. Well, Shogun 2 might be good. There's a sentence there though that bothers me...

"After the excesses of Empire, Shogun 2 is taking a Zen approach. Though the word "accessible" is often code for "plain," in the case of Shogun 2, it's clear that the designers want to maintain a tighter focus on the core elements and not give in to feature creep."

Not too sure how I like the sound of that. I guess that depends on what they're calling "features" these days.

I know one thing for sure. It better have some f'kin Ninja's in it or it's a "No Sale".....LoL.

lol well said my friend.

Alot of people seem to be missing out on Napoleon: Total War.

Thats interesting because I have heard of alot of people on TWC forum who think that NTW is better than Rome. Admittedly, NTW is better in respects to AI (AI loves sniping my elite units, trying to break my centre, melee charging only when outgunned, using flanking fire, distractions etc.) and campaign diplomacy.

I might give Shogun 2 a miss though. I don't like the sound of hero units and all faction being just Japanese clans sounds dead boring, but I will reserve my judgement to a later time.

Programming the AI according to Sun Tzu's The Art of War sounds brilliant though.

Great news,

and ninjas make everything ten percent more awesome

well, the Zen-like approach at least seems to be a step in the right direction.

right ... but I have to get SOME version of Empire Total War before getting Napoleon right? or can I buy/install Napoleon as a standalone?

And furthermore, the mongols invaded Japan in the late 1200s, and sometime before or after giver or take 100 years, was when Japan attempted to invade Korea and failed horribly. China and Japan never fought before the Meiji restoration, when Japan kicked Korea's Ass, Russia's Ass, and was starting to take names, and face down China herself. That was late 1800s, like 1890 - 1920.

As far as the 1500s, this was when Japan was looking inward, only fighting among each other. The only outside influence was limited trade with China, Korea, Portugal, and the Dutch. The latter two was where Japan gained the knowledge of firearms from ... however some sort of law prevented further research to make BETTER firearms ... therefore Japan was stuck with 1500s based firearms until the late 1800s when their isolation (and stagnation/ peace n prosperity) came to a close.

Therefore it is fitting that this version of Shogun: Total war, taking place in the 1500s, is simply an internal struggle within Japan ... as historically the winner of the battle Tokugawa Ieyasu, in 1603, decided to close off Japan from foreign influence. Of note, he kicked out any and all Dutch/Portuguese immigrant missionaries, and pretty much put all Japanese Christians to death. That pretty swiftly ended Western Influence (or any foreign influence) in Japan, until Commodore Perry's Gunboat Diplomacy in the latter half of the 1800s.

During the Tokugawa Shogunate, 1603 - 1868, there was peace, agricultural revolution/transformation (45% MORE arable land), and general prosperity. This meant that the Arts were expanded upon, peace-time commercial avenues were expanded, and there was a greater sense of urbanization/ cities grew larger, more population. However, two things didn't happen which are relatively related. There was no combat/conflict during this era, and there was no advancement in weaponry effectiveness. Additionally, there was no technological advancements of any kind. The only advancements were to bring more people into the cities, have more farmland and better ways to farm, and increase proficiency in peacetime activities like literature, drama, painting, and other forms of art.

Edit: OR IN OTHER WORDS ....

The era of Mongol domination was already over, Kublai Khan (and Genghis Khan) were already dead, China and Korea were still minor trading partners but were becoming more and more ignored ... etc. Although, I suppose it would be fun to invade either Korea/Manchuria or mainland China after establishing complete Supremacy over the Japanese people. However ... the endless Chinese ... how can you fight so many?