Campaign (Total War: Pharaoh)

A full campaign map in Total War: Pharaoh and Dynasties

Campaign

The Campaign is one of the core gameplay mechanics of the Total War: Pharaoh.

The campaign map of Total War: Pharaoh encompasses the lands of Egypt's New Kingdom, the contested lands of Canaan, the expanse of Hittite-ruled Anatolia, western Anatolia, the lands and islands of the Aegean, and the lands of Mesopotamia.

From the great Nile's fourth cataract in the south, to the Black Sea's Anatolian coast in the north, to the archipelagos of Achaea in the west, and to the Zagros mountains and Bitter Sea in the east, player will grow their kingdoms, conduct diplomacy, recruit and deploy armies, construct building in their settlements, and much more, in order to survive at thrive at the pinnacle of the Bronze Age, and play a key part in its fate, for better or worse.

Two people can play the same game campaign as different faction, as allies or as enemies as they see fit, with each player taking their turn while the other waits.

Turns & Actions

The Total War: Pharaoh campaign is turn based. When players have performed all the actions they want to during a turn and there is nothing left for them to do, click the End Turn button in the lower-right of the campaign screen. Another possibility is to replay their turn from the beginning by clicking the Undo Turn button right underneath the End Turn button.

After player has ended their turn, the AI factions in play will then take their turns in sequence. Whey they have finished, their next turn will begin. Player will receive - or lose - Resources according to their income balance. Any armies moved during the previous turn will have had their Movement fully replenished may be moved again.

Victory Objectives

Victory objectives

Victory Objectives are divided into four categories: Conquests, Feats of Rule, Landmarks, and Ambitions.

• Conquests are awarded for taking control of certain locations or parts of the campaign map.
• Feats of Rule demand specific conditions to be met.
• Landmarks are awarded for controlling the great Landmark Monuments of past and present across the map.
• Finally, Ambitions are specific goals that are provided based on playstyles.

Most victory objectives need to be maintained in order to keep the points awarded from them. Others are awarded once their conditions are met and then remain until the end of the game, even if those conditions change.

These are three stages of Victory: Minor victory, Major victory, and Ultimate victory. Each stage will allow the player to complete an arc of increasing significance. Achieving Ultimate victory assures the player's place in history, a great faction lead by a legendary ruler.

Victory	Description	Point
Minor	You will be remembered as one of the greatest rulers of your time!	70
Major	Your name will be an inspiration to future rulers throughout the world!	110
Ultimate	Your name will echo through eternity as one of the few who personally steered the course of human history!	160

Multiple Resource Economy

Main article: Resources (Total War: Pharaoh)

These are five Resources available to the player in Total War: Pharaoh - Food, Wood, Stone, Bronze, and Gold. They are either produced in certain settlements, bartered for with other factions, or simply taken from them by pillage or conquest.

Resource Bar, at the top corner of the campaign screen, provides the player with an overview of their current stockpiles and income.

The Resources are added to the player's treasury; any expenditure is deducted from it. Always strive to maintain a balance, for being bankrupt is a most woesome state of affairs for any ruler.

Administration

Administration and logistics, due to their decidedly unheroic nature, rarely gamer attention from epic personage as they battle for the fate if the Ancient world. Nevertheless, the creeping costs for maintaining bigger, better armies deserve player's careful consideration.

Each of acts as general or a statesperson increase the administrative burden on their faction. Units and heroes to recruit, depending on their strength, will cost player proportionally more in administration, as will the main buildings of their towns and cities and each of their upgrades.

Bankruptcy

Should Resources stockpiles fall to zero, the player will go bankrupt. Bankruptcy generally occurs due to overspending on Recruitment in combination with Building Construction. Is Army Upkeep exceeds per-turn income, the gradual loss of funds will eventually result in Bankruptcy.

If player goes bankrupt, Happiness will suffer and their armies will begin to desert, suffering Attrition. When approaching Bankruptcy, steps must be taken to balance the books.

Disbanding Units to re-coup their Upkeep Cost, brokering fresh Barter Agreements, or constructing Building that bring in income are the most effective methods of bolstering the treasury, but remember player can also defeat enemy armies or just raid their territory for a short-term gain.

Infinite Resources

For out of the five Resources are obtained without a risk of them depleting: Food, Wood, Stone, Bronze, and Gold.

Finite Resources

Stone can be found in limited quantity in the Quarry Settlement that produce it. Once it depletes, its source will provide a mere portion of its usual income.

Treasure Panel

The Treasury panel displays player's turn-by-turn Resource income and expenditure. The Trade Reports tab displays everything coming in and going out for any Diplomatic Barter Agreements. The Overview tab shows player's Resource income from all sources, their expenditures, and their projected balance for the next turn.

A common way to run low on Resources is through Unit Upkeep - the Treasury panel will detail this so player can Disband Units accordingly. Finally, the Expired Barters panel sows the player past trade deals, providing them the opportunity to renew them.

War Spoils

Note: Only available to the Sea Peoples.

War Spoils allow Horde factions to benefit more form razing settlements.

Different settlements on the campaign map hold different War Spoils benefit that player can acquire by razing the settlement with a horde force. Those benefits can be resource related - Food, Wood, Stone, Bronze, or Gold. Other benefits provide player with Ancillaries, Horde Growth, General Experience, Vision over a Realm and Native Units or temporary supplies for the army.

War Spoils will provide lesser benefits the more settlements the player owns. If they own more than 10 settlements, War Spoils will no longer provide any benefits.

Cult Centres

Cult Centres are settlements of great religious and social importance. Each Cult Centre has a patron god, whose religion's seat of power is established there. Controlling a Cult Centre grants the player large favour with its god, if player is dedicated to it. Owning Cult Centres contribute to player's Victory Objectives, regardless of dedication to their patron gods.

The state of Cult Centres is critically important for the entire world, because they are the Pillars of Civilisation. It Cult Centres are maintained and prospering, civilisation as a whole prospers. If Cult Centres are looted and destroyed, civilisation suffer and may enter into crisis or even collapse.

Religion

Main article: Deities (Total War: Pharaoh)

Gods and religion are an integral part of life in the Bronze Age. Player begins the game with three gods whom they can Worship, but there are many more cults across the land. Occupy settlements in unexplored Realm to gain a foothold in their respective religious cults.

Worship & Favour

Player begins the game already worshiping one of three starting gods. Player can choose to change their chosen god, or keep worshiping it. Player can worship a maximum of three gods simultaneously, by issuing Royal Decrees to unlock additional Worship Slots.

Each gods has three Tiers of Worship, with each tier providing increasingly powerful bonuses to player's Shrine, Prayers, and Devoted Generals. To increase player's Tier, they need to build Shrines and Temples dedicated to that god to gain Favour with it. Capturing a god's Cult Centre also grant player a large amount of Favour.

Prayers

Prayers give player's army powerful but temporary effects. Player can Pray at a Shrine by selecting an army and ordering it to interact with it. Player's armies can Pray only at Shrines dedicated to the god(s) they already Worship.

Devoted General

Devoted Generals are generals that player dedicated to a god. The option to have a Devoted General is unlocked when player reaches Tier II Favour with a god. Devoted Generals gain very powerful effects which last until the General's death. Player can change a Devoted General only by dismissing them, or by ceasing Worship of their patron god altogether.

Hecatombs

A hecatomb is a great sacrifice of cattle in honour of an Aegean god. Although the name signifies the killing of a hundred beasts (the name comes from "hekaton", meaning "one hundred"), in practice the ritual slaughter of as few as twelve animals was sometimes considered a proper offering.

Hecatombs are available only to worshiped Aegean deities and can be performed from the Local Deities panel. In exchange for resources, a Hecatomb instantly activities the selected god's prayer effects for all armies. As player's Favour with a god goes up, the required resources for a Hecatomb also increase correspondingly.

Diplomacy

Main article: Diplomacy (Total War: Pharaoh)

Diplomacy is the process by which player manages relations with other factions. Faction can trade Resources, form Alliances, Confederate with other factions, issue Ultimatums, broker Peace Treaties, Declare War, and much more (including Political Marriage).

Pillars of Civilisation

Main article: Pillars of Civilisation

The historical collapse of the Bronze Age is portrayed in the game via the Pillars of Civilisation system. There are three distinct tiers which track the overall state of the world: Prosperity, Crisis, and Collapse. They are dependent on the wellbeing of Cult Centres as they get damaged or destroyed, the State of Civilisation worsens.

Royal Decrees

Main article: Royal Decrees (Total War: Pharaoh)

Ambitions

Main article: Ambition

Ambitions appear at regular intervals during the game. Player can have only one active Ambition at a time, after choosing from a list of offered Ambitions. The offered Ambitions are dependent on context and on a style of play. Also, different faction leaders are naturally included to different sets of Ambitions.

Seasons

Main article: Seasons (Total War: Pharaoh)

The game features Seasons, which provide different effects to all factions.

Campaign Customisation

Main article: Campaign Customisation (Pharaoh)

Campaign customisation

When starting a game, player has the option to customise it to their liking. This will bring player to the Campaign Customisation screen, where they can choose from a wealth of options.

These are four categories of customisation: Campaign, Battle, AI, and General. Categories contain many modular difficulty settings, which can significantly after the tone or the focus of the game.

Commands

Each faction has a unique action that can be used on the campaign map called a Command. It represents the faction's unique way of ruling - their essential strength, which gives them an edge over the others.

A Command can be used once per set number of turns for a immediate primary effect. Else, a passive secondary effect activates after a set wind-up time.

Media

Total War- PHARAOH - First Look

Total War- PHARAOH - Campaign Map Flyover

Total War- PHARAOH - Campaign Customisation