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.
These tips go beyond the basics. They're the strategies experienced players use to play more efficiently, the hidden mechanics most people miss, and the optimizations that compound over a full playthrough. If you're just starting, check our beginner's guide first.
Essential Tips
1. 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
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.
2. Razing is not a punishment mechanic, it is an economic tool
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.
3. Sanitation is per-province, not per-settlement, so a single filthy minor settlement will spread plague through the province capital
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.
4. Fertility falls over the campaign in the north and the effect is severe
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.
5. Armies carry plague between provinces and across borders
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.
6. Gravitas is a zero sum contest between families
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.
7. Horde factions can build camp structures inside their armies, which means a migrating faction still has an economy and a recruitment chain
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.
8. Provincial edicts apply to a whole province and can be swapped every few turns
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.
9. 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
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.
10. Fire is a real battlefield mechanic here
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.
Advanced Strategies
Build Optimization
The difference between an average build and an optimized one is massive. See our builds guide for full breakdowns.
For Western Roman Empire (A-Tier):
- Focus on Razing, sacking and occupying settlements combinations for maximum output.
- Core gear: Legio Comitatenses
- Stat priority: Offensive stats first
For Eastern Roman Empire (A-Tier):
- Versatile approach that handles any situation.
- Core gear: Limitanei
- Stat priority: Balanced stats
Mechanic Interactions
Understanding how Total War: ATTILA's systems interact is where the real optimization lives. Our combat guide covers this in detail.
Razing, sacking and occupying settlements + The migration and horde mechanic: Capturing a settlement gives three answers. Combined with 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.
Climate cooling and fertility + Sanitation, squalor and plague: The campaign models a cooling period across its hundred year span. When paired with Sanitation, squalor and plague, every building adds squalor and sanitation buildings subtract it.
The family tree, gravitas and civil war scaling: 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.
Equipment Efficiency
| Equipment | Best Use Case | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Legio Comitatenses | Roman line infantry in any pitched battle where you need the centre to hold | The Late Roman field army infantry and the backbone of both Roman rosters. |
| Limitanei | Garrison duty and public order in provinces that do not warrant a field army | The frontier troops who historically controlled the border and acted as an early warning system against incursions. |
| Plumbatarii | Breaking up an enemy charge before it reaches your line | Legionaries carrying the plumbata, an iron dart that out-ranges the older pilum at the cost of penetrating power. |
| Scholae Palatinae | Flanking charges and killing enemy generals once the lines are engaged | The super heavy cavalry of the Western roster and the elite of the army. |
| Carriage Ballistae | Field battles against dense infantry formations, and defending walls in a siege | Mobile bolt throwing artillery available to the Roman rosters. |
Location Efficiency
Roma (Turns 1 to 40 as the Western Roman Empire, a mid campaign target for anyone else): 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 (Turns 1 onward as the Eastern Roman Empire, a late campaign objective for the Huns): 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 (Turns 1 to 60 as the Western Roman Empire): 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 (Turns 10 to 70, contested by the Vandals in most campaigns): 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 (Turns 1 onward as the Sassanid Empire, a very late objective for Rome): 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.
Mistakes Even Veterans Make
- 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.
Pro Quick Tips
- 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.
- Start with Eastern Roman Empire, switch to Western Roman Empire when ready
- Invest in Legio Comitatenses above everything else
- Clear areas in order: Roma → Constantinopolis → Ravenna → Carthago → Ctesiphon. See our maps guide
- Razing, sacking and occupying settlements + The migration and horde mechanic together are stronger than either alone
More Total War: ATTILA Guides
- Total War: ATTILA Total War: ATTILA Overview
- Total War: ATTILA Best Builds
- Total War: ATTILA Tier List
- Total War: ATTILA Walkthrough
- Total War: ATTILA Beginner's Guide
- 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:
- Sid Meier's Civilization V Tips & Tricks: strategy game with similar mechanics
- Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Tips & Tricks: strategy game with similar mechanics
- RimWorld Tips & Tricks: strategy game with similar mechanics
