Creative Assembly's Total War series started in 2000 and has since featured 14 main games and various spinoffs. With the main focus on historical real-time strategy games, the series has deviated numerous times to include Games Workshop's Warhammer fantasy setting.
The games are a blend of turn-based campaigns where players build up their empires and real-time strategy battles where they fight against enemy armies. The introduction of multiplayer allowed players to compete head-to-head as they build up opposing factions and a co-op mode allows players to begin the game as an alliance where they can work together to win.
10 Empire
Released in 2007, Empire: Total War, was the fifth main installment in the franchise and the first to introduce a multiplayer campaign to the games. While the 2018 remake offered a definitive edition, including all the DLC, the game’s multiplayer campaign did not progress beyond a beta form and was ultimately canceled before being patched into a final game.
Surprisingly, that doesn't mean the multiplayer isn't available; as long as both players have the game and a multiplayer beta key, it is still possible, though it's still filled with game-breaking bugs. Another downside is that every battle must be auto-resolved, instead of fought out.
9 Napoleon
The sixth installment of the Total War series is set around the French revolution and Napoleonic wars, featuring multiple campaigns based on Napoleon's campaigns across Europe as well as the Battle of Waterloo. These campaigns are considerably smaller than the larger maps of later installments and unfortunately, the grand campaign lacks sufficient factions.
This game fully introduces the multiplayer campaigns with each player taking their turns in sequence, which can get boring if you have to wait for others to act. The battles can be frustrating too, as they must either be auto resolved, or the player whose army isn't involved must play as the AI. Further, the game features no co-op mode, so players must fight head to head. Players looking for a co-op experience could check out these games.
8 Thrones Of Britannia
Age of Britannia is the first game of the franchise to brandish the Total War Saga moniker and features a more specific period in history where Anglo-Saxons clash with Gaelic clans while Viking’s relentlessly pillage. Unfortunately, this game seems to have split fans of the franchise right down the middle, as the game lands one of the series' lowest scores on Metacritic.
While there are many new features and some returning ones, the oversimplification of many mechanics and the somewhat similar factions can make this game feel boring and less rewarding to play multiple times. This game can also involve a lot of auto-resolves spamming end turn depending on your luck in battles.
7 Rome 2
The sequel to what was possibly the best Total War title was, unfortunately, more of a letdown than many fans anticipated. This title never quite lived up to its predecessor, but fans have created mods to improve the game considerably. Fans of the historical Rome setting should take a look at these games.
With somewhat similar mechanics to Total War: Shogun 2Â this game includes various UI and quality of life improvements. There are also new factions and units, reminiscent of the original Total War: Rome, which offers a substantial amount of replayability and variety between players.
6 Three Kingdoms
Total War: Three Kingdoms is the 13th entry in the series and was released in 2019. It's set around 200AD ancient China as the Han dynasty has collapsed. Notably, the game introduced features that make characters and generals more interesting and important.
Sadly Total War: Three Kingdoms is rather limited as there aren't a lot of factions in the game and some units are somewhat similar. In particular, it suffers by featuring fairly simple battles that become boring long run, however, There are ways to make the game less clear-cut, such as playing one of the more difficult factions.
5 Attila
Total War: Attila follows the titular Hun through his life during the dark ages of Europe, boasting a particularly complex campaign with many features that increase the game's difficulty. The title introduces new features such as hordes into armies and other new features.
Somewhat similar to that of Total War: Rome 2, the grand campaign allows players to travel across Europe and Rome. In addition, the game shows a wide variety between factions with each feeling unique in its own way. Sadly, this game can be very poorly optimized making it run slowly especially in multiplayer scenarios, though there is a large modding community behind this game adding lots of new content like these.
4 Troy
The second game under the Sagas title, Total War Saga: Troy is the most recent in the franchise and set in the Bronze Age during the Trojan War. Interestingly, this title turned out to be one of the best strategy games of 2020.
The campaigns in Troy have a good level of interesting mechanics and the factions are very different, each with their own unique units too. Further, the game also adds a mechanic where players can increase their approval ratings with the Greek gods. As the multiplayer is still in beta, it will be interesting to see how the mode improves once bugs are fixed and issues are resolved.
3 Warhammer
The first game in the series to delve into the world of fantasy and away from historical realism is Total War: Warhammer. While a great success, this game does feature factions that are slightly too similar to those from previous games.
On a lighter note, the grand campaign features a large map with a competent AI and the co-op element works well with each player taking control of a different leader from the same faction. However, while, the initial lack of factions is one of the main drawbacks to this game, the biggest problem is that the sequel does everything considerably better. As such, this game could almost be considered the 'Mortal Empires' DLC for Total War: Warhammer 2 as it adds all of this game's content to the sequel.
2 Shogun 2
Set in 16th century feudal Japan, Total War: Shogun 2, sees the player take control of a clan in an attempt to seize power of the country. Fans of this setting may enjoy these Japanese samurai-themed games.
The coop campaign of Shogun 2 is held in high regard amongst many Total War fans due to the vast improvements that had been implemented, including both players controlling units in the same army in a battle. n this way, players can fully co-operate rather than having to battle one another only and, while there is a downside in that sometimes desync issues occur, these are relatively minor and easy to fix.
1 Warhammer 2
Following the success of the first game, Warhammer 2 has been polished into an enjoyable game for both Warhammer and Total War fans alike. The new unique factions and aspects of the fantasy setting are refreshing, yet still keeps the familiar Total War style. Critically, the multiplayer campaign forces both players to play as different factions from the same race, which is an unfortunate restriction.
However, for players of both Warhammer 2 and its predecessor, there is a free DLC entitled 'Mortal Empires' which adds a new campaign spanning a huge map across both games. Additionally, players can play as any factions they wish as they work together to conquer the Mortal Realms.