There are some but nothing as grand as TW series.

In a time when a soldier's life could be given easily and quickly, it took extreme courage and determination for a true hero to forge a reputation for themselves.

Whether through harsh and highly disciplined training, generations of successful military tradition or world-leading technology, the Empire: Total War Elite Units are among the very best of the best.

The elite units introduce six of the most influential military forces of the 18th Century. True to the period, these exclusive elite units become available on the campaign map via a certain faction or once a specific geographical region is under control.

Each elite unit brings with it the potential to open up dramatic new strategies and turn the tide of your campaign. A cornerstone of your Empire's land or naval forces, each has the potential to be used to decisive and devastating effect.

Empire: Total War Elite Units consists of the following premium content for aficionados of the Total War series. This content is for use with Empire: Total War. Once Empire: Total War is installed the elite units will become available in the single player game.


HMS Victory — The Royal Navy's most distinguished and formidable first rate ship of the line; Lord Nelson's 104 gun flagship is one of the most heavily armed ships of the 18th Century.

Rogers' Rangers — Major Robert Rogers' company of rangers are highly trained elite light infantry, specialising in reconnaissance and special operations. They are extremely mobile in even the most challenging environments.

Ottoman Organ Gun — A viciously powerful field gun, able to inflict incredible damage on the opposing army. Emphatic proof of the Ottoman Empire's advanced knowledge of gunpowder and firearms technology.

Ghoorkas — "Better to die than be a coward" has been the motto of these elite Nepalese soldiers for centuries. Disciplined, tough and courageous, they carry a deadly 18-inch long, curved knife known as the kukri.

Corso Terrestre Guerillas — An independent light infantry guerrilla regiment, experienced in skirmish and stealth tactics. Surprise raids and ambushes are the guerillas' favoured tactics, a way to compensate for their limited number and light armour.

Bulkeley's Regiment — A French unit of Irish mercenaries with a fearsome reputation for hardiness. Exceptionally tough and resilient, they make for a highly flexible and dependable regiment

New vid, supposedly on MP but really just some more tasty in-game footage.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/44441.html

i wonder if you could play as the italians and re-establish a roman empire.

[/wishfulthinking]
[/romansuperiorityfixation]




Edit: wtf am i thinking, there was no such thing as Italy back then ... okay so maybe a Medici super nation...

heh...no Italy? I have no clue what Europe looked like in that time period, besides some basic stuff like England pwnt half the world, Spain owned the other half.

Anyway, I'm tired of waiting for this to come out. Still gotta wait till March though. I can think of very few games I care about that are coming out in the near future.

Satis, feast your eyes on this baby...

(1700 Europe)

http://www.euratlas.com/big/europe_1700.jpg

ah, much obliged. Pardon my ignorance of European history. The boot thing is Italy, right? ... rofl, just kidding.

Heres Estonia.

Belgium didn't exist either back then


What i'm looking forward the most is pwning you bitches on the campaign map with my awesome diplomacy skills (read: bribing every AI into harassing you guys with my endless supplies of gold).

Of course, i'll probably get raped on the battlefields...but I guess I'll just have to avoid those.

To join in the bragfest. On the subject of pwn-ology ... i cant immediately predict the style of which i will be thumping your butts at this game ... i guess ill have to have a peep at the game mechanics.

maybe ill follow my regular suit of play ... start the game honest and humble ... work to develop my economy ... then once someone crosses my back i will militarise, nationalise and eradicate those who threaten my lands

Hehehe...man I want this game so bad. Another month of waiting tho.

Those naval battles look like the ultimate shazizzle You can expect me to yell out naval terms during play, kinda like with Silent Hunter.

ZEROTIEFE!!

The demo is now available via Steam.

yeah, spotted you playing it last night ... downloading as we speak ... cant wait.

It's not bad. It contains two tactical battles...nothing strategic. One land battle of you being the Brits vs the Americans... I was able to beat it the first try, so I'm guessing the odds were stacked a bit in my favor. The other is a sea battle between the British (the player) and the French. I think these odds were stacked too... British 1st rate ships vs French 3rd rates. Unfortunately I was zooming in real close when I was about to board a French ship and my computer lcoked up. The game is very pretty but definitely seems to be hard on the PC. Very much like Medieval 2 brought my box to its knees at the time.

Anyway, it's good stuff and the graphics are phenomenal. The ship combat is a bit confusing but I'm sure I'll figure it out. When you start out you're at a zoomed out view that looks like a lot of other naval combat sims (like Pirates!). But then you can zoom in...and in...and in... you can see individual people running around on deck and in the rigging. It's pretty crazy.

I think I'll play again and maybe snap some screenies for you guys on smallband.

I dont know, im not so sure about this game. I think the engine is all wrong. It doesnt play like a game that meant to show you how war was fought during those times. I dare say it's practically the same engine as RTW, which was fine for M2:TW because combat is still hack & slash, but mass muskets and cannon are a different story. You need a different dynamic.

It's essentially a MTW2 mod with a naval combat minigame.

I'll spare you a list of the stupid things i saw in the demo, but i can't keep this one inside me... 1 of my horse drawn cannons took a direct hit on the wheel from an enemy cannon. You'd think the end result is a destroyed cannon, but the whole unit instantly died. Both cannons, all the men and the horses died. I mean, what the fuck?! Is it still 2004?

I can take the fact that an entire unit dies from cannon fire, but if you're attempting to communicate action with graphical representation, there has to be some kind of fucking connection between the two.