Total War: Three Kingdoms was released for Mac on May 23, 2019, the same day as the Windows release (an impressive feat). But more importantly, with some calling it the best Total War in years, is the Mac version good enough to earn a spot among the best strategy games for Mac?
Total War: THREE KINGDOMS – Eight Princes ChapterPack
About this content
The year is 291 CE, and a generation has passed since thetumultuous events of the Three Kingdoms period began. Despite thetripartite division of power which brought the conflict to astalemate, and the brief unification of the kingdoms under the Jindynasty, civil war is no more than a heartbeat away.
For the Jin is a dynasty divided. Its many ruling princesare hungry for greater power, each with ambitions – and methods –of their own. Eight stand above all others… will they rally totheir emperor and empress? Or carve a legacy for themselves thatwill echo through the ages?
The Eight Princes Chapter Pack is set 100 years after the eventsof Total War: THREE KINGDOMS, and features a new cast of playablefactions led by the foremost princes of the Jin Dynasty. TheseEight Princes offer feature substantially different campaignmechanics, focussing their playstyles in fascinating and uniqueways
Playable princes
Each of the eight playable princes adhere to the five corecharacter classes of the base game, and have their own sets ofcampaign mechanics which strongly focus their gameplay style.
Sima Yong: the shrewd defender
Class: Vanguard
Playstyle focus: defence and infrastructure
Unique units:
Sima Yong has a particular focus on defence and infrastructure.All garrisoned armies increase reserves and faction support, andhelp to decrease construction costs in his settlements. His uniqueMilitary Security building chain improves noble support, incomefrom all sources, boosts prestige and provides additionalgarrisons. His unique Military Supervision assignment furtherboosts income from all sources, but at the cost of noblesupport.
Known for his talent at identifying capable people, Sima Yonghas an increased chance for Man Of The Hour events triggering afterbattles.
Sima Jiong: the imperious regent
Class: Commander
Playstyle focus: centralised government
Unique units:
Sima Jiong’s unique resource is Control, which increases noblesupport and decreases corruption. Control is generated by thefaction leader, and through military successes, but is lost throughmilitary losses and the assignment of ministers at court. To combatthe latter and increase control, Sima Jiong has a unique courtaction enabling him to cast out powerful characters fromministerial positions.
Sima Jiong’s unique administration building chain generatesfurther control while reducing corruption, and his commanderieshave access to a unique Micromanage Commandery assignment, boostingincome from all sources and reducing corruption, at the cost ofsome control.
Sima Yue: the imperial overseer
Class: Sentinel
Playstyle focus: politics and internal government
Unique units:
Sima Yue’s unique resource, Influence, decreases constructioncosts and time and increases his faction’s research rate. It isgenerated through special assignments in his commanderies, and lostthrough military defeats. It also decays naturally over time.
His unique Labour economic building chain boosts populationgrowth and reduces construction costs. His court also features twounique ministerial positions: the military emissary which reducesrecruitment costs and enables the Military Interference assignment,and the Provincial Advisor, which reduces corruption and enablesthe Provincial Inspection assignment.
Sima Ai: the principled administrator
Class: Champion
Playstyle focus: internal development
Unique units:
Sima Ai’s unique resource is Reformation, which improves tradeinfluence and research speed, while reducing corruption.Reformation is generated by settlement development, as Sima Ai’sunique Reformed Infrastructure trait means that buildings incommandery capitals influence the increase – and decrease – ofReformation.
To further enhance Reformation, Sima Ai’s faction also hasaccess to two unique commandery assignments. RestructureAdministration boosts Reformation gain and any Reformation gainsfrom commandery buildings, while Regulate Markets decreasesReformation, but enhances income from commerce, silk andspices.
Sima Ying: the beloved governor
Class: Strategist
Playstyle focus: characters
Unique units:
Sima Ying’s court differs from all others, as characters who areassigned to any ministerial position grant factionwide effects – atrait normally reserved only for the prime minister, heir andfaction leader. Assigning a smart combination of characters to SimaYing’s court can therefore have a powerful and wide-rangingimpact.
Sima Ying also has access to a stronger variant of theGovernment Support agricultural building chain, which grants extrabonuses to income from peasantry and food production from farms inthe same commandery.
Sima Lun: the usurper prince
Class: Commander
Playstyle focus: espionage and diplomacy
Unique units:
Sima Lun’s unique faction resource is Subterfuge, and hisplaystyle is heavily dependent on deception and espionage. Sima Lunhas extra spy slot available from the start of the campaign, andgenerates his unique resource through the actions performed by hisspies. Subterfuge can be spent on inciting proxy wars, performingdiplomatic deceptions, and increasing the effectiveness of thefaction’s undercover network. Subterfuge is also generated SimaLun’s unique Judiciary administration building chain, which alsoimproves income from family estates.
Sima Liang: the rightful regent
Class: Champion
Playstyle focus: lawful rule
Unique units:
Sima Liang’s faction has a unique government type called Domain,which restricts the number of counties which can be governedwithout incurring penalties. However, his faction also has accessto the unique resource of Jurisdiction, which increases hisfaction’s maximum domain size, and greatly increases income fromthe faction leader’s estates, replenishment, and the chance tocapture characters. The main source for Jurisdiction is factionswho submit to his leadership through a unique Cooperation vassalagetreaty. Jurisdiction is also generated through Judiciaryadministration building chain, which also fights corruption.
Sima Wei: the tempestuous general
Class: Vanguard
Playstyle focus: aggressive expansion
Unique units:
Sima Wei’s unique faction resource is Fury, and is generatedthrough military victories and conquest options. Fury reduces unitupkeep, increases replenishment, and impacts the diplomaticattitudes of other factions towards Sima Wei. Fury decays overtime, so maintaining military momentum is the key to success withSima Wei. But he also has some tempting tools to release his Furyand to show his generous side: he has two unique administrationassignments – Reward the Nobility, which boosts support fromnobles, and Rally Conscripts, which further enhancesreplenishment.
Sima Wei also has a unique court action – Present Gift – whichimproves the recipient character’s relationship with him.
Sima Wei’s Conscription military building chain brings higherstarting ranks for new recruits, a bonus to seasonal retinuedeployment, a boost to replenishment and a reduction inredeployment costs.
Faction advancement
A prince’s faction ranks differ from those of the warlords ofthe Three Kingdoms period, advancing from minor prince to grandprince, then imperial prince.
You also now have the choice of whether to pursue theemperorship for yourself, or preserve the existing emperor and ruleas his regent. Your choice between these two positions is basedvery closely on the alignments paths you choose to followthroughout the campaign.
Alignments
The alignments system grants new choices in how you shape yourfaction over time. The four alignments – Wealth, Spirit, Might andMind – all grant different bonuses, and their adoption is driven bya wealth of bespoke new events and dilemmas. As your associationwith specific alignments grows, you’ll begin to encounter eventsand dilemmas themed specifically around those alignments.
Your alignments also inform the dilemma you’ll face when youcapture the emperor. The outcome of this dilemma in turn defineswhether you ascend to the highest faction rank of Emperor orRegent.
Each alignment grants increasing bonuses to aspects of yourfaction:
Wealth: Increasing your faction’s alignmentwith this aspect offers rising bonuses to income, trade andprestige.
Spirit: Increasing your faction’s alignmentwith this aspect grants rising bonuses to your faction’s foodproduction, diplomatic relations, noble support and prestige.
Might: Increasing your faction’s alignment withMight brings factionwide bonuses to your armies’ campaign movementrange, mustering times, retinue upkeep and prestige.
Mind: Increasing your faction’s alignment withthe Mind boosts character experience gains, your faction’s researchrate, available administrator positions and prestige.
Noble Support
The war of the 8 Princes was largely a struggle for supremacyamong the nobility. To reflect this, public order is now known asnoble support. Low noble support will cause a rebellious noble-ledarmy to spawn.
However, the sources of positive and negative noble supportthroughout your infrastructure are thematically very different topublic order, as the aristocracy’s needs and desires are differentto those of the people. Maintaining stability through noble supportwill depend on different building choices to the Three Kingdomsperiod. Likewise, unlike public order in the base game, growingcommandery populations do not have a negative impact on noblesupport.
The Eight Princes Chapter Pack adds a royal bounty of new content to Total War: THREE KINGDOMS, including:
Read the Total War blog to unravel the stories of the ambitious Jin princes.
Buy the Eight Princes Chapter Pack from the Feral Store or Steam.