Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Just a Thought - Total War: Huángdì

  1. #1

    Default Just a Thought - Total War: Huángdì

    I just remembered a thought I had a long time ago while playing the original Rome; that the Chinese Spring and Autumn/Warring States Period would be a really cool setting for the series.

    Picture it, the game starts in 722 BCE, the year Duke Yin of Lu begins keeping his record which becomes the standard source for later histories. Several decades have passed since the 771 BCE sacking of the Zhōu capital by the Marquess of Shēn and his allied Quǎnróng "barbarians", who overwhelmed the Zhōu chariots with heavy cavalry from the steppes. The Zhōu king has lost much of his power outside of a small royal demesne despite claiming the mandate of heaven.

    Though the Fēngjiàn feudal system remains largely intact in name, the quilt of feudal states strewn across China for the sake of the country's defense have grown increasingly independent and distinct as cultural entities, producing philosophers espousing unique worldviews and visions for the duty of a good ruler and the shape of an ideal state.

    I imagine that some turns into the game an election is held which simulates the election of Duke Huán of Qí as Hegemon. Perhaps whichever Han-culture state is most popular with the other factions nominally under Zhōu would become hegemon, and that the cycle of the most popular and powerful state becoming hegemon would continue for some number of cycles until the majority of the states are consolidated and only a few remain.

    Perhaps the factions begin something like this early map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_(sta...ou_Dynasty.png

    -with Lǔ (the homeland of Confucius)

    -Qí (one of the most powerful early states, centered on Shandong)

    -Sòng (the birthplace of Mòzǐ and Zhuāngzǐ)

    -Zhèng (birthplace of Lièzǐ and Shēn Bùhài)

    -Chén

    -Cáo

    -Cài (birthplace of Lǐ Sī)

    -Chǔ (very powerful and culturally diverse southern state, birthplace of the founder of Daoism, Lǎozǐ, and the great poet and statesman Qū Yuán)

    -Yān (a state on the northern periphery, with a unique maritime frontier culture and advanced defensive walls, as well as knife and tea currency)

    -Wú (whose king Sun Tzu served, often at war with Chǔ)

    -Yuè (a unique hybrid of Han and what would become Vietnamese culture in the southern frontier)

    -The unique frontier kingdoms of the Sichuan valley, the walled cities of Shǔ and the slave state of Bā

    -The royal demesne of the King of Zhōu, to which the Han-culture factions pay homage.

    -The state of Qín, on the western frontier and settled by ethnically distinct semi-outsiders.

    as well as other minor states which could be represented, like Suí, Lái, Xú, Zōu, or Téng; or Jì, which was the name of the city that would become modern Beijing, which began its life as a free town on the what was then the shore of the sea, one of bronze age China's few city states. etc.

    -Also this map https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring...e_Hegemons.png -and this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring...ilosophers.png which places the birthplaces of various philosophers.

    And most importantly, the state of Jìn, which is among the most powerful of all the states and has its own internal fiefdoms with loyalty to the Jìn lord. Jìn itself would be like Rome in vanilla Rome 1, which inevitably breaks up as it did historically. Wèi, Hán, and Zhào, which each become powers of their own. This event ushers in the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States Period.

    A map which might look something like this at this point, with some alternate history to twist things around https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrin...tes_Period.png or this map https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrin...de-Reiche2.jpg

    Happenings in the state of Zhào also cause a substantial rift between the Warring States Era and the period before, which is the adoption of mounted heavy cavalry by King Wǔlíng, who ordered his soldiers to dress like barbarians and adopt mounted archery tactics which, while unpopular, proved devastatingly successful (Wǔlíng was the first Zhào ruler who dared to style himself King) and rapidly caused the disappearance of the chariot from the Chinese battlefield even before the invention of the stirrup, along with the beginning of the Iron Age in China around the same time, which revolutionized the quality of weapons.

    Another major development was the Lián Nŭ repeating crossbow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeat...genu-payne.jpg which, while traditionally attributed to Zhūgě Liàng, is actually much older with an extant example surviving from the fifth century BCE.

    Developments in agriculture caused populations to rise rapidly and cultivation to become more efficient with increasingly good flood management, defensive border walls began to be constructed by the various states, not just in the north; many of which merged over time. And the warring states each produced large numbers of great philosophers and religious teachers who founded schools of political and economic thought, aesthetics, epistemology, military theory, ethics and metaphysics which contended and formed the foundation of China's immensely important philosophical tradition.

    The various states each developed their own regional identities which continue to exist to this day, a rich diversity of culture, religion, language, and ethnicity. Towards the end of the period a small group of the most powerful of them controlled the majority of the country, resulting in a map like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrin...sAll260BCE.jpg

    "Barbarian" peoples also harass the borders of China and can be learned from, bring trade, bring allies or bring ruin. Whoever eliminates or vassalizes all their Han-culture rivals and takes the capital of Zhōu becomes the first Emperor of China, whose philosophy would define the course of a civilization.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Just a Thought - Total War: Huángdì

    Does anyone else find this interesting? CA setting a game in China is really exciting to me as I am a student of East Asian history and philosophy. I think that there are many eras of Chinese history which would be excellent for a total war setting.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Just a Thought - Total War: Huángdì

    There's many possibilities, CA can develop a few more DLCs to cover Spring and Autumn period, Warring States to Sixteen Kingdoms.
    The usual trend for CA is usually develop a number of DLCs before moving on to the next Project.
    A Member of Clan SG


    "水无常形,兵无常势"

  4. #4
    Ja mata, TosaInu Forum Administrator edyzmedieval's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Fortress of the Mountains
    Posts
    11,389

    Default Re: Just a Thought - Total War: Huángdì

    Well we have the 8 Princes DLC for TW 3 Kingdoms, so I guess expect more bite-sized campaigns.
    Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.

    Proud

    Been to:

    Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.

    A Painted Shield of Honour - 1313. Templar Knights in France are in grave danger. Can they be saved?

  5. #5
    The Count of Bohemia Senior Member Cecil XIX's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Neo-Richmond
    Posts
    2,433
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default Re: Just a Thought - Total War: Huángdì

    I think you're on to something. As long as the game keeps selling, a Warring States expansion is guaranteed. It'll be the "big" expansion, similar to how FOTS was to Shogun 2 or Attila to Rome II. I don't think it will be announced until after Troy, though.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Single Sign On provided by vBSSO