Total War: ATTILA Campaign Walkthrough#

Campaign Flow Overview#

Total War: ATTILA has no fixed “story missions” to march through. Its “walkthrough” is really one long campaign that runs from your very first turn to the moment a victory condition is met. So this guide is not organized by chapters but by phases and factions: pick a faction first, then push toward its unique victory conditions step by step. Planning what each phase should accomplish matters far more than blind expansion.

The Four Campaign Phases#

Phase	Turn Range	Core Objectives	Main Risks
Opening setup	1–20	Stabilize the capital, set a strategic direction, establish trade	Food shortages, harassment from neighbors
Expansion and consolidation	21–50	Raise second and third armies, absorb weaker neighbors	Falling public order, multi-front wars
Confronting the Huns	51–100	Deal with the full-scale invasion triggered by Attila’s rise	Collapsing frontiers, trouble at home and abroad
Endgame victory	100+	Fulfill your faction’s unique victory conditions	Climate change, food exhaustion

Opening Setup Phase (Turns 1–20)#

A Universal Rhythm for the First 20 Turns#

Whichever faction you choose, the first 20 turns follow the same underlying logic: stabilize first, expand later. The table below gives a reusable rhythm; adjust it for each specific faction.

Turns	Suggested Actions	Purpose
1–3	Scout the surrounding terrain and check neighboring armies	Decide your expansion direction and first enemy
4–6	Fix food and income shortfalls	Guarantee sustained positive growth
7–10	Train your first full-strength army	Build deterrence and a basis for expansion
11–15	Evaluate your weakest neighbor as the first expansion target	Punch above your weight
16–20	Sign trade agreements and build diplomatic ties	Secure your rear and avoid fighting on several fronts

Three Questions to Ask at the Start#

Before you press End Turn, ask yourself three questions — they will save you from the vast majority of opening collapses:

Is my food income positive or negative next turn? Negative growth causes population loss and falling public order, which is more dangerous than losing a settlement. Always keep a surplus.
How many frontiers do I have to defend? More than two means your forces are stretched thin; concentrate on eliminating the threat on one side first.
Can my public order survive the occupation penalty? Every newly captured settlement brings public order pressure. Prepare armies or buildings to suppress unrest in advance.

Faction Opening Routes#

Eastern Roman Empire: Defend and Counter#

The Eastern Roman Empire starts with Constantinople, a formidable fortress, while Egypt and Syria are breadbaskets, giving it the strongest economic foundation of any faction. But the Sassanid Persians press constantly from the east, and barbarians and Huns threaten from the north — the challenge is covering both fronts at once.

Phase	Actions	Rationale
First 10 turns	Reinforce Constantinople’s defenses, put Egypt and Syria’s economies in order	Holding the capital keeps the strategic initiative in your hands
First 20 turns	Sign a defensive alliance with the Western Roman Empire, reinforce the Persian border	Stabilize the western flank and concentrate on the east
Mid-game	Build a navy to blockade the Aegean and the straits	Control the sea trade routes and stop enemy landings
Facing the Huns	Hold at Constantinople as your pivot	A strong city plus naval support repels most attacks

Two indicators tell you whether the Eastern Roman Empire has entered a safe period: whether Egypt and Syria keep a stable food surplus, and whether the Persian border holds over the long term. Only once both are secure should you think about pushing west.

Western Roman Empire: Cut Losses to Survive#

The Western Roman Empire has the largest territory and solid income, but its frontiers are hopelessly overstretched — the Rhine, the Danube, Britannia, North Africa and Hispania all leak. It is widely considered the hardest faction to play. The key is not “defending everything” but subtracting on purpose.

Territory You Can Give Up	Recommendation	What You Gain
Britannia	Withdraw and abandon it, redeploy the troops to Gaul	Concentrated forces to seal the Rhine line
North African rebels	Crush them quickly or tolerate them for now	Depends on food and public order pressure
Danube frontier	Stay on the defensive and wear the barbarians down	Avoid a decisive battle in the early game

The fatal mistake for the Western Roman Empire is posting a few troops everywhere, which only gets them defeated piecemeal. The right approach is to concentrate your strength on the one or two richest, most important fronts, and willingly shrink everywhere else rather than be dragged down.

The Huns: Nomadic Raiding#

The Huns hold no fixed territory. They begin east of the Danube, living off raiding to fund their economy and keep tribal loyalty high. The core difficulty is supply and stability — without cities there is no steady income, so you must keep the horde on the move.

Phase	Actions	Rationale
Opening	Defeat the Ostrogoths and other nearby tribes	Remove the nearest threat and build prestige
Early to mid-game	Raid Eastern Roman border settlements for cash	Raiding pays more than occupying and costs less
Mid-game	Decide whether to stay nomadic or seek a settlement	Depends on tribal loyalty and supply
Late game	Push west into the Roman heartland to raid	Wealthy cities provide a steady supply source

The two vital signs of a Hun campaign are tribal loyalty and supply. As long as the raids keep coming and supplies hold, the tribes stay stable; the moment you stop, loyalty and morale start to crack. Hun players should always be planning the next raiding target.

Sassanid Persia: Heavy Cavalry and Tribute#

The Sassanid Empire fields powerful heavy cavalry and a unique tribute system, drawing stable tribute income from client states — a rare wealthy empire despite being ringed by rivals. Its weakness is pronounced internal religious tension.

Phase	Actions	Rationale
Opening	Consolidate relations with your tribute states	Tribute income is a pillar of the economy
Mid-game	Train heavy cavalry and expand into Mesopotamia	Let your cavalry advantage win the hard fights
Facing the Huns	Keep peace with the Huns, or concentrate on the Eastern Roman Empire	Avoid fighting on two fronts at once
Late game	Apply pressure south and west step by step	Control the wealthy trade provinces

Confronting the Huns (Around Turns 51–100)#

The Attila Rising Event Chain#

In the middle and later stages of the campaign, Attila rises to lead the Huns, triggering a chain of historical events that ratchets the pressure up step by step. The point of planning here is not brute confrontation but banking armies and food in advance.

Event	Impact	How to Respond
Attila becomes leader of the Huns	Hun armies get a major combat boost	Pre-position defenses on the border so you are not caught off guard
Attila invades the Eastern Roman Empire	The Eastern Roman Empire comes under enormous military pressure	The alliance system matters enormously at this point
Attila invades Gaul	The Western Roman frontier goes into full crisis	Shorten your lines and mass forces at the critical points
Attila invades Italy	The Roman heartland is directly threatened	Layered defense behind strong cities and naval support
Attila dies	The Hun empire fragments and external pressure drops sharply	Use the window to counterattack or complete victory objectives

The key to tracking the Hun threat is checking Attila’s location and direction of march every single turn, and adjusting your deployments based on his distance from you — not scrambling once he is at your gates.

How to Judge the Hun Hordes#

Hun armies are cavalry-heavy and extremely mobile; a head-on clash easily gets you outflanked. Use these rules of thumb when facing them:

Situation	Response
You clearly outnumber them and hold favorable terrain	Offer battle proactively and use your battle line to limit their cavalry’s mobility
Even numbers or worse, open terrain	Avoid a decisive battle; fall back on cities or forts and wear them down
The enemy is besieging your city	Defend behind the walls and exploit your garrison advantage
The enemy is raiding your heartland	Decide whether to intercept based on its size, or let it exhaust itself first

Endgame: Meeting Victory Conditions#

Common Victory Types#

Victory conditions differ by faction, but they generally revolve around territory, economy, religion or a network of vassals. Before planning the endgame, confirm which victory path you are taking, then work backwards to decide which provinces to take and how large an army to maintain.

Faction	Typical Victory Path	Key Points
Eastern Roman Empire	Hold the core, stabilize the east	Build on Constantinople and Egypt
Western Roman Empire	Re-integrate the imperial territory	Prioritize recovering Gaul and North Africa
The Huns	Keep the nomadic empire alive	Sustain tribal loyalty and raiding efficiency
Sassanid Persia	Solidify the tribute system	Keep client states in line and tribute flowing

Pre-Endgame Checklist#

Before committing to the endgame, tick through the following so you do not discover halfway through that your supply or diplomacy has collapsed:

Food income is positive year-round, with a safety margin against climate change.
Your number of armies stays within what food and finances can support.
Every critical frontier has a garrison, and a reserve force exists.
Relations with vassals and allies are stable, with no surprise declarations of war on the horizon.
Your victory path is clear, and you know which city to take next.

Handling Climate Change and Civilizational Decline#

The Four Stages of Climate Change#

The climate across the campaign map worsens gradually, and food output falls with it. This is the game’s most distinctive system and the one that demands the most long-term planning — the earlier you prepare, the easier things stay.

Stage	Impact	Response
Normal	Agricultural output is normal	Expand as usual
Mild worsening	Some northern provinces lose yield	Start stockpiling food and researching agricultural tech
Moderate worsening	Most provinces lose yield	Prioritize seizing warmer southern farmland
Severe worsening	A full-blown food crisis	Shrink your armies and secure supply for core provinces

Countermeasures Against Climate Change, Ranked#

Measure	Notes	Priority
Build irrigation and agricultural buildings	Directly raises food output, offsetting the losses	High
Stockpile food	Bank it in advance against sudden bad harvests	High
Take warm regions	Southern provinces are less affected; shift grain production there	High
Research agricultural technology	Improves farming efficiency over the long term	Medium
Shrink your armies	Armies are the biggest food consumers; cut when necessary	Low

Plague Prevention and Control#

Plagues spread along army movements, trade routes and refugee flows, slashing population, public order and income. The key to containment is detect early, isolate early.

Step	Action	Rationale
Monitor	Watch for plague status indicators in the province panel	The earlier you spot it, the easier it is to control
Isolate	Halt troop movements and trade with infected areas	Cut off the transmission routes
Treat	Build medical and sanitation buildings in affected provinces	Shorten the duration and reduce losses
Recover	Rebuild population and public order once the plague fades	Use low taxes and garrisons to steady things

Whether to isolate a city depends on whether its plague has a confirmed record of spreading; once an area is confirmed infected, cutting trade temporarily is worth it to protect your core provinces.

Handbook-Style Campaign Review Tips#

The parts of a campaign most worth checking again and again are the three where everything tends to fall apart. Turn them into a review table and go through it every 20 turns.

Review Item	Standard to Meet
Finances	Income is stably positive every turn, with no surprise large expenses
Food	A safety margin exists against climate change
Public order	Core provinces stay safely above the public order line at all times
Diplomacy	No exploitable windows for enemies, no misjudged potential attackers
Military	Army size matches supply and finances, with no understrength armies
Technology	Military and civilian tech are balanced, with core technologies unlocked