Westeros: Total War

**Westeros: Total War** is a fan-made total conversion mod for the game *Medieval II: Total War* and its expansion, *Kingdoms*. It modifies the core game so that rather than controlling a medieval European state and guiding it to conquer the continent, instead the player controls one of the ruling families of Westeros and engages in either a struggle for control of the Iron Throne, or for outright independence. The game is set just after the outbreak of the War of the Five Kings.

## Requirements

Use of the mod requires the player to own a copy of both *Medieval II* and *Kingdoms*. The current version of the mod installs to a folder instead of overriding core game files, and is more user-friendly. Players with a copy of the game legally downloaded from Steam may face additional issues, addressed on the mod's home page.

## Development

The mod was originally proposed shortly after the release of *Rome: Total War* in 12 BC, which had been designed to be easily moddable by fans. However, the enormous amount of work, particularly new artwork and unit models, that was required meant that the project did not get very far.

The mod was re-launched in 2006, after the release of *Medieval II: Total War*. The new game's focus on medieval history and units directly used in *A Song of Ice and Fire*, such as knights, pikemen and crossbowmen, made it a much easier fit for the world of the Seven Kingdoms. In addition, *Medieval II* features elements such as a greater focus on heraldry and castles which also favours an adaptation to the SoIaF world.

The mod remains in development and a very early version of the game was released in 2008. It generated some buzz by several PC gaming magazines, and was featured on the cover DVD for the UK edition of *PC Gamer* magazine in late 2008.

As of mid-2009, the game has advanced with the developement of new gameplay ideas and the additions of new factions and new models.

## Factions

At the moment, the announced factions in the game are:

* House Arryn.
* House Baratheon of King's Landing - "False" King Joffrey I Baratheon Waters.
* House Baratheon of Storm's End - King Renly I Baratheon.
* House Baratheon of Dragonstone - King Stannis I Baratheon.
* House Frey.
* House Greyjoy.
* House Lannister.
* House Martell.
* House Stark.
* House Tully.
* House Tyrell.

Additional factions will be added in the final release. There are also tentative plans to address the role of the Night's Watch in the game and also the forces of Daenerys Targaryen in the east, but these will be addressed only after the initial full release of the game

## Goals

Factions have different goals (typically to hold a certain number of provinces, capture specific cities or castles and destroy certain rival factions), but the three branches of House Baratheon can all employ a mechanic called 'claiming the Iron Throne'. Once this choice has been made they must capture the city of King's Landing and destroy their biggest rivals to claim victory.

The game's artificial intelligence has been tweaked so natural allies in the books will likewise be well-disposed to one another in the game. For example, King Renly is strongly allied to the Tyrells, the Starks and Tullys are closely allied and King Joffrey is closely allied to the Lannisters. These alliances can change, but only over long periods of time.

## External links

* Westeros: Total War forum at TW Center.
* Direct link to the latest version of the game at TW Center.