The developers of Total War: Medieval 3 at Creative Assembly are asking players which flags they’d like to carry when the game launches.
The Middle Ages had plenty of interesting factions, including major players on the European chessboard and minor nations, but Creative Assembly has to select the ones that we’ll be able to play as.
Of course, there are a few that are already ironclad, as they’re pretty much a must. These are as follows.
- Kingdom of England
- Kingdom of France
- Sultanate of Rum (Anatolian Turks)
- Byzantine Empire
- Kingdom of Jerusalem
- Holy Roman Empire
These were selected according tothe following criteria.
- How well known is this faction known among the public and among fans of history? What factions do people expect, and which factions would be missing for most people if they weren’t part of the playable set? Everyone knows England and may want to play as England, whereas other realms are less known.
- How unique is the starting situation, and how interesting or varied are the paths that a faction may take throughout a campaign? A faction with a unique starting situation may rise in priority a bit compared to a faction that has a more generic starting situation or limited paths through a campaign.
- How unique or compelling would potential mechanics of this faction be? If a faction lends itself to interesting unique mechanics, then that can move the needle to include them as playable factions.
That being said, there’s room for more, and that’s where we come in.
We’re now asked to express our opinion on a survey to express which factions we’d like to add to the six mentioned above. Of course, this will inform the decision, but the developers will retain some creative control in the end.
It’s worth noting that the start date will be 1140, and the shoirtlist of factions we can vote for is as follows.
- Italian City States and Merchant Republics: Champions of mercantile and communal tradition, and counterpoint to Imperial ambitions in Italy.
- Republic of Venice
- Republic of Genoa
- Republic of Pisa
- Commune of Milan
- Realms of Eastern Europe: Budding kingdoms between worlds; combining Christian, Cuman, and Orthodox influences.
- Duchy of Greater Poland
- Kingdom of Hungary
- Theme of Bulgaria
- Northern European Kingdoms: Aspiring young realms that rose to great power by the end of the medieval period.
- Kingdom of Scotland
- Kingdom of Norway
- Kingdom of Denmark
- Kingdom of Sweden
- Iberian Powers: Christian kingdoms in the melting pot of the medieval world, and exposed to a variety of cultures, religions, and influences.
- Kingdom of Castile
- Kingdom of Leon-Galicia
- Kingdom of Portugal
- Kingdom of Aragon
- Sicily: Norman legacy continued through the unrelenting kingdom in the south of Italy.
- Kingdom of Sicily
- Muslim Empires: Great dynasties with even greater ambition that forged lasting empires across large parts of Europe, the Levante, and the Near East.
- Almohad Caliphate
- Fatimid Empire / Ayyubid Sultanate of Saladin
- Zengid Atabegate
- Crusader state of Antioch: A multi-cultural bastion of Orthodox and Catholic Christianity at the Levante.
- Principality of Antioch
- The pan-Caucasian empire: Georgia reached its golden age throughout our timeline and maintained a stronghold at the edge of Europe.
- Kingdom of Georgia
- Balkan realms: Resilient realms that resisted throughout the centuries and forged their own path through medieval history.
- Grand Principality of Serbia
- Kingdom of Croatia
If you’re ingterested in more medieval warfare games beyond the Total War series, you can check out Chronicles: Medieval and Crusader Kings 3.
