Creative Assembly released Attila on 17 February 2015 and set the Grand Campaign in 395 AD, the year Theodosius died and the Roman Empire split permanently in two. Ten factions are playable in the base Grand Campaign, and the Western Roman Empire opens with more provinces than it can garrison, more armies than it can pay and a treasury already sliding. A cooling climate drives fertility down across the north while the Huns arrive from the east. This is the Total War where burning your own city is frequently the right decision.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Razing, sacking and occupying settlements
Capturing a settlement gives three answers. Occupation keeps the buildings and inherits the public order problem, sacking takes the money and leaves the settlement intact, and razing burns it into a ruin any faction can later colonise. Playing the Western Roman Empire you will raze provinces you own, denying the Huns anything to capture, which is a decision no earlier Total War asked you to make.
The migration and horde mechanic
Migratory factions including the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals and Alans can abandon their settlements entirely and travel as hordes carrying their population inside their armies. A horde builds camp structures within the army, recruits while moving and can settle again wherever it takes a region. The Huns are the extreme case, since they cannot hold permanent settlements at all and are built to keep moving.
Climate cooling and fertility
The campaign models a cooling period across its hundred year span. Fertility drops in northern provinces as turns pass, food output falls with it, and factions in Scandinavia and Germania are pushed south by conditions rather than by armies. A Danish or Geatish economy planned around turn 1 fertility will quietly starve somewhere around turn 80.
Sanitation, squalor and plague
Every building adds squalor and sanitation buildings subtract it. Let the balance tip and plague appears, then spreads along trade routes and with moving armies, cutting growth and public order across an entire province. Armies carry infection, so a besieging force can lose a campaign to a disease it picked up two provinces earlier.
The family tree, gravitas and civil war
Settled factions run a family tree where gravitas is the political currency. Generals accumulate it through office and victory, and if one family accumulates too much relative to yours the result is civil war. The politics panel lists adoption, marriage and rather less diplomatic options for managing a rival who has become too successful.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Total War: ATTILA combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Roman Empire | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Eastern Roman Empire | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Sassanid Empire | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Huns | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Visigoths | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Total War: ATTILA builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Legio Comitatenses | The Late Roman field army infantry and the backbone of both Roman rosters. | Roman line infantry in any pitched battle where you need the centre to hold |
| Limitanei | The frontier troops who historically controlled the border and acted as an early warning system against incursions. | Garrison duty and public order in provinces that do not warrant a field army |
| Plumbatarii | Legionaries carrying the plumbata, an iron dart that out-ranges the older pilum at the cost of penetrating power. | Breaking up an enemy charge before it reaches your line |
| Scholae Palatinae | The super heavy cavalry of the Western roster and the elite of the army. | Flanking charges and killing enemy generals once the lines are engaged |
| Carriage Ballistae | Mobile bolt throwing artillery available to the Roman rosters. | Field battles against dense infantry formations, and defending walls in a siege |
Legio Comitatenses: The Late Roman field army infantry and the backbone of both Roman rosters. Comitatenses were the mobile strategic reserve of the period rather than border troops, and in game they hold a line against Germanic infantry that cheaper units simply cannot.
Limitanei: The frontier troops who historically controlled the border and acted as an early warning system against incursions. They are cheap, they are not good, and that combination makes them the correct garrison unit for provinces you intend to keep but cannot afford to defend properly.
Plumbatarii: Legionaries carrying the plumbata, an iron dart that out-ranges the older pilum at the cost of penetrating power. In practice they soften an approaching shield wall before contact, which matters against Germanic infantry that wins prolonged melee.
Scholae Palatinae: The super heavy cavalry of the Western roster and the elite of the army. Expensive, few in number, and decisive when committed against an exposed flank or a general's bodyguard rather than sent into the front of a spear formation.
Carriage Ballistae: Mobile bolt throwing artillery available to the Roman rosters. Against the massed infantry that Germanic and Hunnic armies field, bolt artillery firing into a packed formation does far more work than the unit count suggests, and it redeploys faster than static siege engines.
Full breakdowns in our Total War: ATTILA weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Roma | Turns 1 to 40 as the Western Roman Empire, a mid campaign target for anyone else | High income, large population, strong building slots, and the political weight that keeps Western public order from collapsing |
| Constantinopolis | Turns 1 onward as the Eastern Roman Empire, a late campaign objective for the Huns | Exceptional defensive value, high trade income from the strait, and the Eastern Empire's main recruitment centre |
| Ravenna | Turns 1 to 60 as the Western Roman Empire | Defensible Italian position, court and administration buildings, and a fallback capital when Roma is threatened |
| Carthago | Turns 10 to 70, contested by the Vandals in most campaigns | Grain production that feeds Italia, strong trade income, and denial of the Vandal migration's historical destination |
| Ctesiphon | Turns 1 onward as the Sassanid Empire, a very late objective for Rome | Stable fertility, Zoroastrian religious centre, and the Sassanid heavy cavalry recruitment chain |
Roma: The old capital, still enormously valuable and no longer the seat of the Western court. Holding Roma is a public order and prestige question as much as a military one, and losing it to a horde is one of the fastest ways a Western campaign unravels.
Constantinopolis: The Eastern capital and the strongest defensive position on the map, sitting on the strait between Europe and Asia. Its walls and its position mean a competent Eastern player can lose most of the Balkans and still be entirely secure behind them.
Ravenna: The Western court's seat in this period, chosen historically for its marshes and defensibility rather than its size. In campaign terms it is the settlement that keeps a shrinking Western Empire administratively alive after the outer provinces are gone.
Carthago: The centre of Roman Africa and the grain supply the Western Empire cannot survive without. This is also exactly why the Vandals go for it, and why a Western player who has already abandoned the north must hold Africa at almost any cost.
Ctesiphon: The Sassanid capital on the Tigris and the anchor of the eastern half of the map. Unlike almost everywhere else, this region is barely touched by the cooling climate, which makes the Sassanid economy the most stable in the game across a long campaign.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Ten factions are playable in the base Grand Campaign: Western Roman Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, Sassanid Empire, Huns, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Alans, Franks and Saxons. Everything else on the playable list comes from a culture pack, so check what you actually own before planning a Langobard campaign.
- Razing is not a punishment mechanic, it is an economic tool. A ruined settlement denies the enemy a target, removes the garrison cost, and can be recolonised later, which is why the standard Western Roman opening involves burning provinces you technically still own.
- Sanitation is per-province, not per-settlement, so a single filthy minor settlement will spread plague through the province capital. Check the province summary rather than each town individually when you queue construction.
- Fertility falls over the campaign in the north and the effect is severe. Any faction starting in Scandinavia or northern Germania should have a plan for moving south, and Attila's own migratory pressure arrives on top of a food problem you already have.
- Armies carry plague between provinces and across borders. When an infected army returns from a campaign, park it away from your best province until the infection clears rather than marching it straight into your capital's garrison.
- Gravitas is a zero sum contest between families. If a rival general is winning battles and holding offices while your own family stagnates, civil war is a matter of turns, and the politics panel gives you several ways to prevent that which do not involve waiting.
- Horde factions can build camp structures inside their armies, which means a migrating faction still has an economy and a recruitment chain. Do not treat a horde as a temporary state to be exited quickly; the Vandals and Visigoths can campaign as hordes for decades.
- Provincial edicts apply to a whole province and can be swapped every few turns. Rotating a growth edict during construction and a public order edict after conquest is far more efficient than leaving one set for the entire campaign.
- The Last Roman campaign pack puts you in Belisarius's expedition to Africa with five playable factions including the Roman Expedition, while Age of Charlemagne jumps to 768 AD with Kingdom of Charlemagne, Westphalia, Kingdom of the Danes, Avars, Kingdom of the Lombards, Kingdom of Mercia, Kingdom of Asturias and the Emirate of Cordoba.
- Fire is a real battlefield mechanic here. Fire arrows and burning buildings change how settlement battles play out, and a defender who ignites the right structures can break an assault that outnumbers him considerably.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Trying to hold the entire Western Roman Empire. The starting provinces cost more in garrison and administration than they generate, and a player who defends everything is bankrupt by turn 20 with no army left to defend anything.
- Building economy structures without checking sanitation. Squalor accumulates quietly, plague arrives suddenly, and a province that looked prosperous for thirty turns loses growth and public order in three.
- Settling a horde too early. The horde state gives mobility and recruitment while you look for good ground, and factions that settle at the first opportunity often end up in the north where fertility is about to collapse.
- Ignoring the family tree until the civil war notification appears. Gravitas accumulates over many turns, so by the time the warning arrives the rival family is already stronger than yours and the war is largely decided.
- Fighting the Huns in a set piece battle on open ground. They are horse archer heavy, they will not close, and an infantry army with no cavalry screen will be shot to pieces while it walks. Fight them in terrain that limits their movement or do not fight them at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which faction should a new player choose?
Not the Western Roman Empire, whatever the campaign selection screen implies. The Eastern Roman Empire has a functioning economy and defensible borders, and the Sassanid Empire is even more forgiving because no horde is coming for it. Save the West for a second campaign.
How is Attila different from Rome II?
Same engine lineage, very different pressures. Attila adds the migration and horde mechanic for whole factions, a cooling climate that reduces fertility over the campaign, razing as a standard strategic option and fire as a battlefield mechanic. The result is a game about managing collapse rather than expanding an empire.
Do I need the DLC?
No, the base Grand Campaign has ten playable factions. The culture packs add Viking Forefathers with the Danes, Geats and Jutes, Longbeards with the Alamans, Burgundians and Langobards, Celts with the Caledonians, Ebdanians and Picts, Empires of Sand with Aksum, Himyar and the Tanukhids, and Slavic Nations with the Anteans, Sclavenians and Venedians.
Why is my whole faction starving?
Two causes usually stack. Fertility has dropped in your northern provinces because of the campaign's cooling, and you have built military or industrial buildings on tiles that previously produced food. Check the province food balance every ten turns rather than only when the notification appears.
Can the Western Roman Empire actually survive?
Yes, but not by defending its starting borders. The workable approach is razing or abandoning Britannia and the outlying provinces in the first ten turns, disbanding armies you cannot pay, and consolidating around Italia and the African grain supply before the Vandals reach Carthago.
More Total War: ATTILA Guides
- Total War: ATTILA Best Builds
- Total War: ATTILA Tier List
- Total War: ATTILA Walkthrough
- Total War: ATTILA Beginner's Guide
- Total War: ATTILA Tips & Tricks
- Total War: ATTILA Weapons Guide
- Total War: ATTILA Combat Guide
- Total War: ATTILA Boss Guide
- Total War: ATTILA Maps & Locations
- Total War: ATTILA Crafting Guide
- Total War: ATTILA Classes & Characters
Similar Games
If you enjoy Total War: ATTILA, check out these related guides:
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- Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Guide: strategy game with similar mechanics
- RimWorld Guide: strategy game with similar mechanics
