Total War: Rome 2 getting more free (and not free) DLC

I won’t ourobore you with details of their sigil.

There’s more DLC on the way for Rome 2, and I’ve watched Rally Point to learn about it so you don’t have to. It’ll be of both the free and not free varieties, with the paid one arriving on 29 May.

Everybody will be getting the Battle of Pydna for free; a right old grudge match between the Romans and Macedon. In reality, the Roman army was triumphant, but this being Rome 2 you can change history and turn Perseus into a military genius. If you fancy seeing somebody from Creative Assembly tackle the fight, you can watch the video below.

In addition to Pydna, the free DLC will add the Getae faction to the game. This region is now Northern Bulgaria and Southern Romania, and in-game that means you’ll be surrounded by an awful lot of powerful enemies. Not a game start for the feint of heart. You will at least have some Getae heavy cavalry to call upon to keep your Rome 2 dreams of conquest alive.

That’s the free stuff, but there will also be a new Culture Pack released called Pirates & Raiders. This adds three other new factions (and accompanying mercenary options) to the game and will cost $8.00 USD.

Those three factions are understandably piratical in nature: the Ardiaei of Illyria, the Thracian tribes of Tylis and the Odrysian Kingdom. There’s nothing these guys love more than a good war, so you’ll find that provinces are actually happier when you’re in conflict with as many neighbouring states as possible. Each faction has its own trait, so the Illyrians love a bit of piracy, the Odrysian Kingdom has excellent archers and Tylis concentrate on infantry.

All three primarily use the ‘Barbarian’ unit roster, but will bring a few new ones of their own to Rome 2:

Ardiaei:
• Illyrian Marines: Highly trained, medium-armoured spear infantry.
• Illyrian Raiders: Fast-moving, axe-wielding stealth infantry.
• Illyrian Noble Hoplites: Well-drilled, very heavily armoured infantry.
• Raiding Hemiola: Fast boarding-craft manned by Illyrian Raiders.
• Assault Hexeres: Huge assault-barge manned by Illyrian Raiders.
• Assault Tetreres: Large assault-barge manned by Illyrian Raiders.

Odrysian Kingdom:
• Thracian Horsemen: Fast-moving, spear-armed medium cavalry.

Tylis:
• Gallo-Thracian Warriors: Fast-moving, hard-hitting sword infantry.
• Tribal Warriors: well-armoured medium swordsmen, great in defence.
• Raiding Horsemen: Noble multirole, armed with javelin and sword.

Much of this is covered in the 20th edition of Rally Point which you can watch below. If you really want.