I suppose it shouldn't be a HUGE suprise that TWR2 is the next destination. We got medieval 2, shogun 2 and now rome 2. Can we expect Empire 2 after that?

Ships and armies can now take part in the same battles when the situation demands it. As troop-carrying biremes crashed into the shore, Roman boats armed with catapults kept their distance and provided covering fire for the dismounting troops, who formed into ranks before charging up the beach towards the walls. I later asked if this ‘rolling start’ meant that the deployment phase was a thing of the past, but that’s not the case – instead, CA are looking to be more flexible about how battles can begin, based on various circumstances. Beach landings are a confirmed feature, according to lead battle designer Jamie Ferguson, and there’s room for other non-traditional openings as well.
We've already seen the start of this synergy in FotS with ships providing off-map artillery provided they are close on the campaign map, but fully integrated into the battle itself? Sounds pretty fun.

“We’re … trying to focus attention on a much smaller number of armies and a smaller number of more significant battles” James Russell explains. “We’re trying to reduce the management you’ve got to do [with] assembling armies, and that kind of thing.”One example of this kind of refinement will be the ability to govern whole provinces made up of a number of individual regions. Rather than delving into the micromanagement of each individual territory, it sounds like it’ll be possible to set policies for an entire region – but when it comes to warfare, each one of those areas will need to be conquered separately. “We still have that strategic depth where a province is made of up several regions which you can conquer”, Russell says. “And what that means is that you can have the benefit of scale but you don’t have the management detail.”
Nope. I don't like it. I want the ability to micromanage CA. I want more control over my people, more flexibility in how i rule them, more, not less. Empire completely ruined everything in that regard when it tried to bunch everything up into one massive province, or have you forgotten one province France? Empire gave me a HUGE disconnect feeling when it came to ruling my faction. I never felt like i controlled a powerful entity due to the total lack of civic depth.

Shogun 2 was a step in the right direction. Letting me control more provinces without globbing them together needlessly made me feel, not only that i was making real progress as i built and conquered, but let me feel like I was ruling over a growing political entity. It allowed for more flexibility in both how I managed economic and military building. Not once did I ever say to myself "You know i wish all this control was taken away from me."