A Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia

If you're looking through the game reviews of a 5+ year old and poorly received game, then this review is for you.
- By now most if not all graphical issues have been resolved
^ It ran on my 8yr old 780ti/Gen4 i7 last week without issue
- The game and its unique mechanics have been fixed
^ Specifically the character loyalty and estates system
- The game is "Balanced" in a way that makes it feel historically accurate
^ Vassals and disloyal family members WILL cause problems
^ Settlements are done in such a way that forces a "War band" style of play
^ Minor settlements have no garrison and Major settlements are hit or miss with many only being good as forts to
maintain control of a region
So those have been the main three complaints made about the game and they have all been resolved. At this point the game experience is an enjoyable window into the chaotic war bands of the viking era. This is not Warhammer there will not be massive armies smashing each other. Expect simple shield walls, archers, and cav battles, as most of the game is just navigating your royal household through Bloody feudal politics.
I Love the game and think its very enjoyable if you just understand the unique dynamics of this Total War.
** BUY ON SALE** -- Its not worth more than $25-30

Launch and year 1 issues aside.
Thrones of Britannia in its current state, is fully functioning and has had numerous quality-of-life overhauls which resulted in another strong entry in the Total War Historical Saga games, albeit one of smaller scale.
The new campaign politics aiming to have players manage their feudal society is a bit intimidating at first, almost like Crusader Kings. You are King, with heirs and vassals to manage; this comes with a whole host of new ways to approach diplomacy and managing your kingdom as you are responsible for who governs your territories and even choosing who you grant, or strip estates/land/roles from. This is AWESOME!
The ui is not initially intuitive and can be confusing to navigate at first which is the reason I believe, many were turned off by the game early on. It can be quite satisfying later on, as the art-style and design choices that reflect the period with slightly modern touches actually helps create an immersive experience.
Battles mechanics feel great, especially sieges. This is the most personal depiction of siege combat I have felt in any Total War and found ordering my troops through what is clearly a MESSY battle (as sieges would be) and fighting at the gates, walls, streets - it truly felt cinematic and intense.
If you wanted to play the grand strategy, total war version of Assassins Creed: Valhalla - this is basically it.
As a Total War Veteran, you could probably finish a campaign in a weekend.
Your biggest barrier to entry would be if the time-period even interests you, and if you can get past the smaller-scale territorial conquests, limited unit roster (levies and retinues are the bulk of your troops), and smaller but more detailed political management.
As a Total War Newbie, this is a great place to start if the time-period fascinates you but may not be as accessible for its dense political gameplay and kingdom management. If you're coming from Crusader Kings though, you needn't worry.

This game has to be my favorite total war for a few reasons:
- Amazing setting. Destiny is all.
- Recruitment system that puts cooldowns on recruiting units, which get worse the better the unit is. This means that you can't just spam praetorian guards or whatever, you actually have to use the entirety of your unit roster. Also, it takes a couple turns for units to be fully reinforced after training, which reduces enemy doomstacks that they immediately raise after you wipe an army. For context, their army would start at like 1/4 strength. This means that you'll have to plan to raise your armies beforehand.
- Supply system: units consume supply when moving through enemy territory. This gives more incentive to raiding, as it increases supply and no supply = attrition.
- Some of the best looking battles in my opinion. Blood & Gore mod highly recommended. It is a beautiful game with beautiful units. Love watching the battles with max unit size.
- Stylized UI and Unit cards are great. Some may not like the portraits here but I love them.
- Small scale doesn't feel small when playing the game
Some cons or things you should know:
- Campaign map AI is pretty dumb. I had wessex, who was stronger than me, declare war on me with their northlode and westernas vassals. Wessex proceeded to do absolutely nothing as I (scotland) crushed both vassals and became much stronger. They even paid me for peace and still let their vassals get railed. A lot of times a weak enemy army will do something dumb like move and capture a village right next to two of your armies so you can just crush them next turn.
- No-garrison minor settlements: This is a change I both love and hate. I love not having to lose men or autoresolve minor settlement battles. It also means if you attack an army in a minor settlement, there isn't a siege to play, you just get a normal field battle. Neat. Saves time. Although it can be infuriating when the AI has an army-less general running around your territory stealing villages while you chase him around like a rat. This isn't so fun, especially when they have like 20 troops. in their bodyguard.
- Governors/Generals are hard to please. It can be annoying keeping their loyalty up and they'll rebel when you really don't need them to. Negative events also seem to fire like 4 times as much as positive events. So enjoy pissing off every one of your governors.
- I know that babies died a lot back then and it was hard to have kids, but god, it is actually impossible to get more than 1 kid, and then to have them be a boy, and then to have them live to adulthood. Enjoy adopting.

Overall, this game is great and I highly recommend it. It has great moments and if you like making your own story- conquering Britannia is so very fun.

Playing in 2024 and its my favorite Total War since Shogun 2. Great art direction, awesome and massive siege battles and captivating historical period.

I passed up on this game because of the negative reviews. That was my loss.
If you like your Total War game to have:
Over-powered agents
One man army single entity commanders
Over-powered unit special abilities
Absurd composition of AI armies
Repetitive battles because the AI is able to spawn new armies turn after turn
Battles, the outcome of which is primarily dependent on the rate you can point and click a mouse button

Then this is NOT the game for you.

If, on the other hand, you are looking for a historic Total War title, that has none of the features above, has probably the best siege battles in the series, has a recruitment mechanic that results in diverse and balanced AI armies. Then this may be the game you are looking for. Pick it up in the sale for the price of two coffees.

Fantastic game. If you like the period, Vkings, Last Kingdom etc you should buy, don't listen to the haters.

Thrones of Britannia is a neat title in the massive list of Total War games available. Let me get this out of the way first: I’d only get the game if you’re a fan of the time period, and furthermore I’d only get it on sale. For casual fans of the series, or someone not interested in the time period, get a different Total War game. With that out of the way, let me continue.
I’ll get the battles out of the way first. Most of my time in the game has been spent using the “medium unit size” setting, to accurately depict battles in this period. Even though the battles are smaller because of it, I loved how tactical they felt! Units all feel very nice, and I have to say, cavalry collision is wonderful in this game! The sieges of ToB are probably the best in the series, especially with all the cool mechanics, such as burning down settlements! Very immersive. Sea battles are also fun, very Viking-esque, though probably not everyone’s cup of tea.
Now onto the campaign. I have been loving the campaign. For one, the family tree is a lot of fun to manage, I love all the indepth RPG systems. Same thing goes for the government and political systems. Diplomacy and politics are very important in ToB, endless wars and expansion is a good way to lose. You have to be mindful of loyalty, as well as food. Not to mention recruitment, mustering up an army can take many turns, and you really won’t field too many armies. Once you defeat a large army, you’ve pretty much won the war. It all plays very nicely!
So yeah, if you like the period, and all that I’ve said, and wait for a sale, definitely pick this game up! Lotsa cool mods as well. I recommend the Shield Wall mod :)