Huns (RTW:BI Faction)

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The Huns are one of the playable factions in the Barbarian Invasion for Rome: Total War.

Game Play

Starting Position

The Huns start the game as a horde army without any cities, nearby the village of Campus Saurometae. Their immediate targets are the Roxolani (to the immediate south) and the Sarmatians (to the southwest).

Win Conditions

The Huns must hold 15 Settlements, including: Northern Italy, Thracia

Units

The Huns were a steppe people, naturally reliant on horses. The Huns have some of the best cavalry in the game, but are lacking in infantry. Missile cavalry are a staple of the Hunnic armies, and can be used to devestating effect. The Huns unfortunately have no ports to speak of, so you'll have to take someone else's port, if you want a navy.

Unique Units

The Hunnic army's cavalry and cavalry archers give them the easy option of the Cantabrian Circle (firing at enemies from far away) while the cavalry charge in repeteadly.

Strategy guides

At the start of the game, you have 9 horde armies at your disposal, mostly composed of cavalry units of course, and also 4 units of spearmen each. An immediate target for attack would be defenceless village of Campus Saurometae. It might be best just to pillage Campus Saurometae rather than taking, because of it's small population, the drain on your treasury and of course the fact that your fierce army's strength is halved. Rather, try heading south into Roxolani territory and taking their capital, its a minor city, which very unfortunately for the Roxolani, happens to have no walls. From their you may start your empire, and spread death accross Europe. You can also choose to stay in Horde mode for a while, but remember that your money is dwindling away, so sack often, and take into consideration, the cost and upkeep of hiring mercs.

In the beginning of the game, the more ambitious, however, may wish to head south with their armies pillaging/sacking villages along the way to add to your treasury and settle in richer lands.

History

The history of the people known to the West as the Huns can be traced back to what's now Mongolia, where many of the "steppe empires" made their start. From 315 to 25 BC, a fierce people known to the Chinese as the Hsiung-nu controlled vast tracts of land. The Hsiung-nu made regular raids into Qin china (sometimes very close the capital), and the china of their successors, the Han. The Chinese regarded the Hsiung-nu as half-human demons, because of tehir brutality, and their affinity for horses. several walls were built to keep the Hsiung-nu at bay, and these were later combined and improved to form the famous Great Wall. During the Han empire, the Emperor Wudi launched raids into Hsiung-nu territory. From 119 - 110 BC, the Hsiung-nu were continuously attacked, and their empire made weak. In 48 BC, their empire collapsed, and the region was without a single power, just warring tribes.

Around 350 AD, the tribes began to move west, and by about 370, they began to reorganize into one nation again. These people became the Huns. The historical evidence for a Hunnic presence, by the way, is bronze cauldrons, their famous recurve bows, and their calling card - a pile of deformed and burnt skulls. Now there were actually two types of Huns, White and Black. They split around this time, and went their seperate ways. The Black Huns were the ones in this game, who headed west into Europe. The White Huns went south into India and destroyed the Gupta Empire. Many other tribes were displaced by the Huns and headed west as well. In 363 AD, the Huns appeared in Europe; this is why the game starts in this exact year. The Huns did not immediately move into the Eastern Empire, but instead terrorized northeastern Europe. Many peoples were assaulted and displaced, including the Goths who headed south into Dacia, where they were treated to Roman hospitality (enslavement).

In 434, a boy by the name of Attila was born. Attila and his brother, Bleda were to succeed their father upon his death. In 441 AD, a campaign was begun in the Easter Empire, the Huns razed many cities to the ground, including Sofia and Belgrade. In the end they exacted a tribut on the Eastern Empire of 2,100 pounds of gold a year. The brothers co-ruled the Confederation for a time, and their was peace. However, at one point, Attila killed his brother in a duel of sorts, and became leader of the Hunnic Confederation. He then set about reaking havoc on the Eastern and Western Empires, going as far west as the city of Orleans in Central Gaul. He earned the name "Scourge of God" becaue of his brutality. He then went for the prize of the West, Roma herself. He would have attacked the city, but Pope Leo I persuaded him to spare the city, and Pricus of Panium was able to negotiate a shaky peace settlement. The Huns were allowed to settle in what's now Hungary (modern Hungarians are mostly Magyars, not Huns. Magyars arrived about 600 years later).

The Huns were prone to in-fighting, and so when Attila died in 453, the Hunnic Empire collapsed and faded into history. 23 years later the Western Roman Empire met the same fate. The name Attila is synonomous with the Huns. Attila was one of the most reviled human beings in history, then and even today.

See Also

• Factions in BI

Barbarian Invasion Factions
Eastern Roman Empire | Western Roman Empire | Huns | Goths | Sarmatians | Vandals | Franks | Saxons | Alemanni | Sassanids | Celts | Burgundii | Lombardi | Roxolani | Berbers | Slavs | Romano British | Ostrogoths | Eastern Roman Rebels | Western Roman Rebels | Rebels