'Say you have the 13th Legion,' Bickham said, referencing a legion he took into battle at the Rezzed game conference last month. And if that army is slaughtered to the last man, the traditions they bled for aren't lost. Armies can be renamed, and whatever symbol you set as their standard will appear on the legionary character models. Rome II tracks the history of each army, listing wins and losses and years in service. I'll have those on my front line doing my city bashing for me.' Those guys are going to be city smashers, you know? They're going to be really good shots and very damaging with their onagers and ballistas and scorpions and stuff. 'I've spent six of my possible 10 points as an army's been leveling up in siegecraft and heavy infantry. The same system also applies to Rome II's agents.Īnd where armies previously just grew stronger and gained morale with experience, they'll now gain their own set of specializations in the form of traditions for siegecraft, cavalry, and infantry types. Rome II simplifies choosing the abilities and buffs commanders bring to the battlefield.

In Shogun II, you could specialize generals by choosing a path through the tech tree, but you'd probably be wasting a few points along the way. If you mainly use your generals to rally and inspire troops, focusing on those abilities will make them horse-mounted masters of morale. Previously acquired skills can also be leveled up in place of acquiring new ones. Instead of progressing a general through a tech tree as he levels up, you now assign one skill at every level (with a cap at level 10).

In Rome II, traditions extend the upgrade system used for commanding officers to whole armies. They've done that for the last 100 years, right? That's what is all about.' Remember Band of Brothers? He's talking about those guys: 'They're all about their small unit tactics and being in enemy territory and working, effectively, guerrilla warfare. 'Think about the 101st Airborne,' Bickham said at a recent preview event for Rome II. As you might expect from Creative Assembly, Studio Communications Manager Al Bickham explained the army tradition system with a historical comparison.

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