Inside The Art of Total War

As promised, here are photos I took of The Art of Total War.

Here is the table of contents. The book focuses on three branches of the Total War family — Shogun 1 & 2, Empire & Napoleon, and Rome 1 & 2. There is less on Medieval & Medieval 2, and less still, a bare few pages, on Attila and the spin-offs (Battles, Arena).

20150214_101205 The art itself ranges from unit sketches to concept paintings, and even some of the original maps that the developers used as inspiration. Read on:

Here is my favourite — Shogun 2. I was quite pleased that, like me, the developers characterise Fall of the Samurai as a game about change!

20150214_101728 20150214_101630 20150214_101703Here is Medieval 2:

20150214_101850Empire and Napoleon.  Apparently, CA licensed ship plans from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

20150214_102024 20150214_101930 20150214_101959 20150214_102007 Here is Rome 2. I think the set showing the Romans operating against four different foes — Caesar marching through Gaul, legionaries fighting horsemen and elephants, and the legions conducting a siege — sums up the game’s appeal, as a costume drama of the ancient world.

20150214_102130 20150214_102040 20150214_102059Here is Attila, which CA did not lump together with Rome 2:

20150214_102239Finally, here are the offshoots, Kingdoms and Arena:

20150214_102202 20150214_102250

Can I recommend this? As an art book, it has no practical use; you could use the money for a cheap game on Steam. But the book and its contents are gorgeous, and it’s nice to have the art from the series collected in one place. If you are a Total War fan, and you are in the market for an art book, I think this is worthwhile.

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