Age of Bronze - Upcoming Campaign Release news

The Age of Bronze Team is thrilled to announce the upcoming release of our campaign. As the culmination of months of passion, dedication, and hard work, we are excited to finally unveil this remarkable addition to the mod.

As you all know by now, Age of Bronze delves deep into the historical setting of the Late Bronze Age (1500-1150BC), presenting players with a captivating and immersive experience set in a pivotal era of ancient warfare. By meticulously reconstructing the intricate tapestry of cultures, civilizations, and conflicts that defined this period, we aim to transport players to the epic battles and political intrigue of the ancient world.

Key Features of "Age of Bronze" include:

1. A New Historical Campaign: Embark on a thrilling journey as you lead one of the great Bronze Age civilizations, such as the mighty Egyptians or the enigmatic Hittites. Forge alliances, engage in diplomacy, and wage war to secure your dominance over the ancient Mediterranean.

2. Authentic Warfare: Experience the diversity of military forces during this period, from multi-crewed chariots and heavily-armored bronze infantry to the earliest naval fleets. Master the intricacies of ancient warfare, employing unique tactics and strategies to outwit your opponents on the battlefield.

3. Iconic Factions: Embark on a thrilling journey as you lead two of the greatest Bronze Age civilizations for our initial release; the mighty Egyptians or the enigmatic Hittites. Forge alliances, engage in diplomacy, and wage war to secure your dominance over the ancient Mediterranean. Future updates in the near future will include more official, fully fleshed out playable factions (we are open to anyone creating a submod that unlocks all factions to be playable as well).

4. Cultural Authenticity: Immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of ancient civilizations, as we faithfully recreate their architecture, units, and culture on the campaign. Discover the unique customs, technologies, and wonders that defined the Late Bronze Age, adding depth and authenticity to your gameplay experience.

5. Enhanced Graphics & Audio: Feast your eyes on stunning new 2D and 3D assets created by the team, meticulously crafted to bring the Late Bronze Age to life as realistically as possible. A new soundtrack has been composed specifically for the mod as well!

Stay tuned for the official announcement of "Age of Bronze" later this month when the campaign is finally made available. We cannot wait to see the excitement and anticipation from the Total War: ROME II community as they prepare to embark on this extraordinary journey.

Join us on our social media channels to be the first to receive updates and engage with fellow bronze age admirers. Prepare yourselves for the dawn of a new era in Total War: ROME II, a story of the old world's fall that laid the foundation for the new to rise.

Q. When is the campaign coming out?

A. No later than the end of June 2023 - stay tuned by joining our social media channels (e.g. Discord, Facebook).

Q. What is the starting year of the campaign?

A. 1500BC exactly. Choosing a specific year was difficult given how sparse records can be in the time period, however we believe that this represents a good starting point for what is considered the 'Late' Bronze Age, and (based on our knowledge) introduces the Egyptians and Hittites at interesting points in their histories.

Q. Which factions will be playable in the first release?

A. For Age of Bronze's first campaign release we will be enabling Hatti (The Hittites) and Egypt for play. More playable cultures will be coming very soon after release.

Q. Are these the only factions planned for campaign play?

A. Not at all! As we already said, our roadmap for the campaign includes playable campaigns for other major factions. More news on that after we release!

Q. Is there any content that will be unfinished or serve as a placeholder?

A. Yes. Though we all hold ourselves to a very high standard of quality on this project, there is much that we will not be able to complete to standard we want by the time we release the campaign. Thus we have decided to leave base game content in its place until we can go back and get these things right.

At launch the following items will use placeholder assets from the base game:

• Battle map structures and scenery
• Battle map ships and naval units

Q. Will any real historical characters appear on the campaign map?

A. Kind of. As with any Total War campaign, Age of Bronze aims to recreate a 'snapshot in time' at the start of the campaign, at least to the extent that surviving records tell us. This means that whilst you will see notable figures at the start of the campaign, you will not see historically accurate family trees form as the campaign progresses. Whilst history is written in stone, the decisions you make for your empire in Age of Bronze are not!

Q. Will figures and events from The Iliad or other works be included?

A. Whilst we appreciate the huge significance of literary works based on or contemporary to our time, such as The Iliad and The Epic of Gilgamesh, we do not use these as primary sources nor do we view them as solid historical record. We do not view these as completely useless artefacts, however, and though you may not see a wooden horse enter the city of Troy, you may well see a Achilleus or Parizitis appear on the map from time to time!

Q. What are those 'barbarian lands' we see on the map? Are they accessible?

A. Rome II's modding tools sadly do not give us the ability to edit the campaign map as much as we would like. In an ideal world we would be able to focus the campaign map solely on Greece and the Middle-East, however in lieu of this we have made efforts to 'soft-block' areas of the map where there is not much of interest. Barbarian lands will therefore technically be accessible, but very inhospitable and not worth at all sending armies into. We believe that this is the most elegant way of restricting the campaign map.

Q. Total War: PHARAOH has been announced! But what does this mean for you guys?

A. Like you we will be watching the development of this new title with great interest, however our development plans for Age of Bronze remain completely unaffected by this. We are of course somewhat concerned to see an official Total War title come out that would seem to be treading on our existing work, but this is the risk that all modders of these sorts of games ultimately take. It is much too early to say much about PHARAOH, and many in the team (myself included) believe that Age of Bronze coming out for Total War: ROME II can and will contend with this new title on its own strengths. There is indeed much that a dedicated Total War game will be able to do that we can't, but we are still committed as ever to delivering our vision of the Late Bronze Age.

Lastly, we would again like to give a huge thanks to the Age of Bronze community for your continued support and dedication, the project would not have gotten nearly this far without it! Thank you!

-- Age of Bronze Team