Hmm..... I doubt it would be 20 hours learning, Drewman.

In fact, it would be 100 hours or so... Wait! Don't misunderstand me. This IS cool indeed. You can go into Shogun, look at the map, try kicking(or clicking) around a bit and know everything you need to bring peace(or more blood?) to Japan. Those flanking and slaughtering people in the battle and the campaign alike is just human nature. Nobody needs to learn it. Ha ha ha!

However, after you played for one campaign, you notice may be you shouldn't just ride your Takeda horsemen over the map and rather add a few more monks and archers into your armies. You begin to use tactics NATURALLY. You will not be pressured by the "need" to learn the functions to play like some pathetically complex games. Also, you begin to realize what kind of buildings benefit and such. After several campaigns, you still feel the need to test new knowledges....and kill your foes.

This is what was once in Shogun and Medieval, and also have, to some extent, in Rome. It's just that hardcore players wants to have the same old magnificent experiences of "Oh the ****!! I should've known this long before, now... let me see how the Turks will fare this time." and "The rain is coming! The Mongols are doomed!" or "My soldiers follow my orders exactly, fight bravely, dying reasonably, and are *not being slaughtered by my own men*" feelings.

That won't take the attractive simplicity (for everyone) out of the game. I just want to get the old simple-and-complex(in depth) Total War back. In fact, more and more people who were once simply satisfied with the click and kill of Warcraft and Age of Empires would become new hardcores. I am one of them, as the start...