Do these + gravitas traits on agents actually do anything?

[AntiDamascus]

I prefer the lot of factions to just the few interchangeable ones in S2. They had no distinction.

[Sp4]

And these ones do? The only distinction I can see with them so far is that I have heard a couple of the names, which might have been true of the ones in S2, had I grown up in Japan.

[AntiDamascus]

It's at least different units and looks.

[Sp4]

Rome 1 had this diversity as well and they only had a 'Rebels' faction.

[BroskiDerpman]

It's at least different units and looks.

For Rome 2?

It's tiers of spear men, swordsman, cav, siege equipment, etc. Just more reskins using the module (Lego like) model and color swapping to create "more variety".

Unlike in S2TW as long as you can use the next "tier" of units in a reasonable amount there isn't much reason to use the previous one unless you use them as filler or fodder.

I remember how my buffed up Yari Ashigaru were still the core of my unit stacks in S2tw due to how they were an extremely useful unit in spear wall.

Each unit had a more clear roll requiring different play styles to each specific unit.

The main thing that I see why people don't like S2tw is the culture and how it's a civil war (lack of variety) on one island nation. I took my time to read a little on the history and actually started playing s2tw from a whole different perspective.

You got to know that a Japan setting game is made because of "western" interest in the Japanese culture. You don't see China usually represented or Dai Viet, etc because those nations are in a bad standing with "western" nations and they don't influence the media with anime (sengoku basara, etc) Hence in Asia you don't talk about Sengoku Jidai in Vietnam, you talk about the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (A really popular subject) or the local stuff.

What surprises me is even though s2tw is based on one island there is still enough variety to keep you interested. I remember playing FKoC mod for m2tw and there was essentially even less variety than Sengoku Jidai. So the main thing that puts people off is culture, and variety. Next is some quirky game mechanics but those two mentioned before seem to be the main ones.

Cheers.

[Bramborough]

I think a TW game set in China or East Asia would be pretty cool. I don't know any more about this than I do feudal Japan...but the geographic and/or time sweep of a R1/R2 would be there. Could involve Mongols or other Central Asian steppe folk. Southeast Asian, Korean, and perhaps Indian cultures. Or perhaps more China-specific. Wasn't there a period of "The Warring States"? I don't know flip-all about it...but the very name sounds like fertile ground for a TW title.

This may sound contradictory coming from a guy who's already said that he passed up S1/S2 because of disinterest...I can't really explain that. .

[BroskiDerpman]

I sort of know how you feel. I at first didn't like s2tw either. For some reason one day I started enjoying the SP campaign (I now play it with an overhaul mod on a different time frame) and it was just a strange feeling; I was playing a TW campaign for more than 10 turns!. :O

If there is an east Asia TW I prefer it to have it include the steppes/ Central Asia, and south too. Or else you'd end up with s2tw on a larger scale even though China in antiquity has many different groups of people (genetically different too) it just feels awkward to me without the steppes, Korea, the sub continent, south east Asia or even Japan.

Though I think Warhammer is going to come sooner and I feel a TW taking place in east Asia won't do justice for TW for some reason. (I sort of distrust CA representing the east or anything away from Rome or Britian :P)

(Don't worry I'm not going to bash R2 :P)