Vlad: Total War
Template:Mod Information Table (map) Vlad: Total War is a compilation of 2 overhauls; the first being "Roman Expansion", for Rome: Total War, and the other (simply called "Barbarian Invasion"), for Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion. They both include new start positions, loading screens and new campaigns.
Contents
History
The first mod came into existence when Vlad (the creator) released the Roman Expansion mod onto the TWCenter Forums in 2005. While the original version of this mod appears to have disappeared, the latest version (1.5 beta) was released on the forums on April 29th, 2009. Regarding the Barbarian Invasion variant, this mod was released in its current state (v1.6) on July 11th, 2006. At present both mods appear to be unavailable for download (until such a time as Vlad decides to re-upload them).
Description
In regards to the Roman Expansion mod Vlad has stated that this mod "tells the story of the period of the Roman Republic right through to the Empire (280 BC - 250 AD). Regarding the Barbarian Invasion mod he has stated that "Vlad Total War: BI tells the tragic events of the period 376-476AD, whereupon the Huns invaded and sacked much of Eastern Europe". Both mods increase the number of units available, and provide a greater depth to the original game, with the addition of several new campaigns for both mods, new units and additional music. Both are also similar in that they include unit re-skins for various factions (e.g. the Huns) and many additional units for every faction in-game.
Features
Factions
Both mods stick to the vanilla layout of factions, with notable additions - for example:
For the Roman Expansion Mod:
- Slavic Tribes (previously non-existent in the game)
For the Barbarian Invasion Mod:
- Arabs (a previously non-existent faction)
- Celts (now a playable faction)
- Slavs (now a playable faction)
- Berbers (now a playable faction)
Units
Both mods are unique in that they both include over 300 new units into both games. Each faction in-game now contains nearly double the initial amount of available units in vanilla Rome/Barbarian Invasion. According to Vlad these units are "historically accurate and authentic, from the legions of Rome to the tribes of the Cimbri/Teutones/Suebi etc".
Map
Both mods use Mundus Magnus as the basis for the Imperial Campaign. As a result, the campaign map has been greatly expanded (from Britain to Arabia and Persia) and includes many new provinces, resources and cities (198 in total).
Combat
- Vlad's Roman Expansion and Barbarian Invasion mods use Darthmods' Formations Pack; this alters the layout of an army at the initial stage of battle deployment based upon their faction (e.g. the Triplex Acies formation for the Republican Roman factions).
- Moreover, Vlad has stated that the unit scale has been increased to "252-253 warriors in each detachment, with officers included", which results in longer battles and more epic gameplay.
Miscellaneous
- Both mods also include many new loading screens, containing images of historical battles (according to Vlad).
- Many new ambient sounds and music has been added to the game, increasing the game atmosphere (both in battle and on the campaign map)
- New flags and banners have been included for the various factions in both games (examples can be seen in the images below).
The Team
- The Team
- Vlad - Mod Creator
- Special Thanks
- Razunter - for Internet Hosting
- Partyzaan - for Loading Screens
- Riczu74 - for the Ship strat models in the Campaign.
- Atilla Reloaded - for some of the units used ingame.
- Alcibiades of Athens
- Warspite - for unit reskins
- Arcani
- Andriyko
- Odovacar - for his new Persian Standards
- TB666
- PROMETHEUS ts
- Diabetes Mellitus - for his Barbarian Standards
- Horse Archer - for his Weather Mod
- Anyan - for his Landscape Mod
- j92633 - for his Sounds Mod
- DARTH VADER - for his Formations Mod
- KALI
- Webbird - for some unit reskins
Visual Material
Example of some of the new units found in Barbarian Invasion (v1.6)
Example of the faction starting positions on the campaign map in the Roman Expansion (v1.5b)
Example of a banner seen in-game for the Roman Expansion mod (alongside some new units; notably the Germanic Warrior Women and Roman Hastati)
