Naval Battles (ETW)

Empire Total War is the first Total War game yet to have fully 3D real time naval battles. In previous games they were just automatically resolved on the campaign map. This feature has been the focus of the marketing as it is the symbol of 18th century warfare. The ETW game map consists of many different regions, ranging from the Americas to India. Therefore, the sea is more important than ever as especially the American continent can only be reached via ship. Furthermore, the land connection between the wealthy India and the European continent is occupied by the Ottoman Turks and Persians which makes sailing to the Indian continent the only option for most countries.

Trade theaters are another new feature in Empire which make naval warfare even more important. Some important trade regions of the world such as South Africa and Indonesia are not part of the main 3D map and are instead represented as trade theaters. Since land troops cannot attack trade theaters, ships are the only means to conquer and defend them.