Total War: ATTILA FAQ#
This page gathers the questions Total War: ATTILA players ask most often — and the ones they most often get wrong. It skips the generic questions that would fit any game, such as platforms and languages, and answers only what is specific to ATTILA: the calls that shape your opening direction and every decision after it. Every faction and mechanic discussed here plays out against the Dark Age backdrop of Rome splitting in two in AD 395.
1. Which Faction Should You Start With#
This is the most frequently asked question of all. The answer is not “which faction is strongest” but “which one costs the least to learn”. Faction differences in this title are far larger than in previous games, and picking the wrong one doubles the early learning curve.
| Recommendation | Faction | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First pick | Eastern Roman Empire | Deep economy, easy to defend settlements, high tolerance for mistakes — ideal for learning the long-haul management rhythm |
| Second pick | Sassanid Empire | Steady income through tribute from its satrapy system, with comparatively light expansion pressure |
| Advanced | Western Roman Empire | Overstretched borders and constant civil unrest; a famously hard faction for experienced players |
| Challenge | The Huns | No fixed territory and an entirely different nomadic playstyle — not recommended as a first campaign |
The reasoning: If your goal is to learn the core loop of turn-based management plus real-time battles, start with the Eastern Roman Empire. If you want to experience this game’s signature mechanic — nomadic migration — right away, go for the Huns. The Western Roman Empire is not unplayable, but what it tests is not your grasp of mechanics; it tests your maturity in cutting losses and making trade-offs, and new players tend to be ground down along its endless frontiers.
2. Food and Survival Q&A#
Q: Why does my economy collapse the harder I expand?#
Food in this game is not “the more the better” but “any shortage means collapse”. Food surplus splits into two layers — provincial reserves and a global reserve — and once the global reserve drops below zero, armies start losing men, population drains away, and public order deteriorates sharply. Many players treat food as a nice extra; in this game it is a lifeline.
| Criterion | Golden rule | If you cross the line |
|---|---|---|
| Global food surplus | Try to keep it above 10% | Below 0, continuous attrition and declining public order |
| Provincial food reserve | Keep it positive | Provinces in the negative get zero army replenishment |
| Number of provinces held | Stay under what your food supply can bear | Expansion speed must match food output growth |
Actionable step: Before occupying any new city, check the construction panel first to confirm it produces a positive food yield, or at least does not drag on the global surplus. It is better to hand a rich but food-starved province to a client state than to let the global food supply fall below the red line.
Q: Is climate change unavoidable?#
Yes. Climate worsens turn by turn, arable land keeps shrinking, and the northern grain belts feel it most. The “grow more crops” route therefore narrows through the mid and late campaign.
| Income channel | Hit by climate | How to respond |
|---|---|---|
| Farm output | High (continuous decline) | Lean on it early, but do not rely on it alone later |
| Trade agreements | Low | Spread them as early as possible — stable income that costs no food |
| Raiding (nomads/barbarians) | Low | A steady supplement that does not depend on the land |
Actionable step: From the mid game on, shift the weight of your income from farms to trade and client-state tribute instead of grabbing more land to farm.
3. Plague Q&A#
Q: How do you guard against plague? Do you just pounce the moment you see it?#
Plague is a system unique to ATTILA. It spreads along army march routes and trade routes, and an infected province’s population and public order collapse fast. The question is not “am I infected” but “where does the chain of transmission get cut”.
| Transmission route | Where to cut it |
|---|---|
| Provinces crossed by infected armies | The moment plague flares nearby, cancel any march route through that province |
| Trade with infected cities | Proactively sever trade routes to infected areas — sacrifice short-term income for isolation |
| Carried by refugee flows | Anticipate spread in provinces along migration routes and prepare public-order measures in advance |
How to judge whether isolation is worth it: Compare the output lost in affected provinces with the trade income lost from cutting the routes. If an outbreak will sooner or later chew into a core grain province, cut the trade routes rather than gamble on it not spreading. Once an army is infected, let the wounded rest instead of pushing on — troops that fight while diseased keep losing combat strength and morale.
4. Religion and Public Order Q&A#
Q: The pagan provinces I conquer keep rebelling. What do I do?#
Multiple religions coexist in this game, and after you conquer a pagan province, religious differences keep pressing public order down. The priority is not raising taxes but steadying order first.
| Measure | How fast it works | Side effects |
|---|---|---|
| Garrison | Immediate | Ties down troops and weakens the forces available elsewhere |
| Religious buildings | Slow | Upfront investment, long-term stability |
| Lower taxes | Immediate | Direct loss of fiscal income |
Actionable step: Ride out short-term order crises with garrisons; handle long-term governance with religious buildings and your tax structure. Do not lean on a single tool, or either your armies rot inside city walls or your finances collapse.
5. Combat Q&A#
Q: Should I fight manually or auto-resolve?#
When your army engages an enemy force, the pre-battle screen lets you choose a manual battle or auto-resolve. Auto-resolve shows projected odds and casualties, but it calculates unit counters, terrain and general abilities conservatively, and often costs you more than fighting it out yourself.
| What you face | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Even odds and your units are countered | Fight manually — use pause to beat each unit in detail |
| Overwhelming superiority while defending a city | Auto-resolve is acceptable |
| Auto-resolve projects ugly casualties | Spend the extra time fighting manually for lighter losses |
Q: Why won’t my cavalry punch through?#
Cavalry and some infantry get a charge bonus when they charge, but a charge only pays off if they pull out in time — once a unit is stuck in a long melee, the charge bonus vanishes and fatigue sets in. Judging whether a cavalry unit should charge, and how many seconds to wait before pulling it out for a fresh charge, is the core feel of combat in this game.
| Fatigue level | Effect on movement and attack |
|---|---|
| Fresh | No penalty |
| Warmed Up | Slightly reduced speed |
| Tired | Attack and speed drop |
| Very Tired | Attack, speed and morale all suffer |
| Exhausted | Combat strength falls sharply |
Actionable step: Keep infantry on standby before the battle so they recover stamina; do not force-march them straight into the line at the start. A cavalry charge’s power lives entirely in the charge bonus — if the riders are already Very Tired before they charge, the payoff shrinks dramatically.
Q: How do I assault a city without bleeding troops?#
When you besiege a city, siege equipment such as siege towers and battering rams has to be pushed by units before it can reach the walls. Select the units pushing the equipment and advance them first, then use missile troops to suppress the defenders on the walls before your infantry climb the towers or raise the ladders. Work in two stages — suppress first, then go over the top — so your infantry are not shot to pieces in front of the ladders.
Q: Why did one enemy flank suddenly rout across the whole line?#
That is the morale system. Beyond the raw numbers, morale and fatigue are the hidden deciders that run through every battle in this game.
| Trigger | Effect on morale |
|---|---|
| General slain | Morale of nearby units plummets |
| Attacked in the flank or rear | Morale drops sharply |
| Unit loses more than half its men | Morale sinks heavily |
| Watching an allied unit rout | Morale wavers in a chain reaction |
| Struck in the back by attacks | Morale collapses |
Actionable step: Always deal first with the targets that can trigger a morale collapse — prioritize wiping out the general’s elite retinue and cavalry. Once one enemy flank breaks, the rout spreads like an avalanche; that is the mechanic behind “pierce one point and the whole line collapses”.
Q: When should I give up a city?#
When the force needed to hold a city far exceeds its economic value and reinforcements cannot arrive in time, abandoning it and moving the troops somewhere useful beats defending to the last man and being annihilated. This is the loss-cutting judgment every Western Roman Empire player most needs to practice.
6. Game Modes and Playtime Q&A#
| Mode | What it is |
|---|---|
| Grand Campaign | The classic formula combining turn-based strategic management with real-time tactical battles |
| Historical Battles | Single set-piece battles built around events such as the Battle of Chalons and the Sack of Rome |
| Multiplayer Battles | Online multiplayer combat against players from around the world |
| Quick Battle | Jump straight into a real-time battle with custom armies |
On playtime: A full campaign usually runs 50-100 hours depending on faction, difficulty and pace of expansion. Historical battles are single engagements — a fast way to relive the game’s most famous moments, such as the Battle of Chalons in 451 and the Visigoth sack of Rome in 410.
7. Difficulty and Settings Q&A#
Q: Is there only one difficulty?#
No. The game splits difficulty into two independent settings: campaign difficulty and battle difficulty. Campaign difficulty affects the economy, diplomacy and the AI’s appetite for expansion; battle difficulty affects how the AI commands troops on the field. New players should lower campaign difficulty first to protect their development and keep battle difficulty on Normal while learning the ropes.
Q: What does Unit Size do? Should I max it out?#
Unit Size controls how many soldiers each unit contains, and with it the total manpower of every army. It is both a performance and a balance setting: the bigger the armies, the more spectacular the battlefield, and the harder the strain on the simulation. It does not change unit counters, only overall scale. Soldier count on the field is the main source of performance strain, so if the game stutters, lower the options tied to unit model counts first rather than dropping resolution across the board.
Q: Are the system requirements steep?#
The game is friendly to mid- and low-end machines, and its core requirements are not harsh. The real performance pressure comes from the number of soldiers on the battlefield, not texture or lighting detail, so tuning the troop-related options first is the most effective optimization.
8. Clearing Up Common Beginner Misconceptions#
- Myth: the game requires a constant online connection. Fact: the single-player campaign is fully playable offline; only the multiplayer battles need a network connection.
- Myth: farming can expand without limit. Fact: a worsening climate keeps cutting farm output, and from the mid game on you must pivot to trade and tribute.
- Myth: expand as hard as you can and you win. Fact: food and public order will drag reckless expansion down — pushing the pace too fast ends in collapse.
- Myth: auto-resolve is always the easy way. Fact: auto-resolve calculates unit counters, terrain and general abilities conservatively, and casualties are often heavier.
- Myth: you have to play the earlier games first. Fact: this title ships with a complete tutorial and a standalone setting — no prior games required.
9. Which Sections to Read, by Player Type#
| Player type | Recommended reading |
|---|---|
| Complete beginner | Chapter 1 (basic controls), Chapter 2 (factions), Chapter 3 (combat) |
| Experienced players | Chapter 4 (strategy and tactics), Chapter 5 (units), Chapter 6 (economy) |
| Perfectionists | Chapter 7 (campaign flow), Chapter 8 (diplomacy), Chapter 9 (achievements), Chapter 10 (advanced techniques) |
Every answer above revolves around the survival-and-conquest mechanics unique to ATTILA. Master the “survive first” fundamentals of food, plague, climate and religion, pair them with the morale-and-fatigue combat criteria, and you will have a far better shot at living through the chaos and marching on to conquest than any generic guide can give you.