Total War: Rome 2’s free Getae update released

Getae grip on yourself.

Total War: Rome 2’s latest freebie DLC update has been released today, adding the Getae faction to the game. The 250mb-ish patch should automatically download through Steam (try a restart of the client if it doesn’t) and add the Getae as a starting option in the grand campaign.

In this period, the Getae are not a single tribe but “a loose confederation settled around the Lower Danube.” Their starting position is quite perilous, as they’re surrounded by other powerful factions. However, they can call upon a few new units to help them. The Getae were apparently quite famous for their archery, so it’s good to see that they can recruit elite heavy archers to their cause. A pair of other units have been added to the game for the Getae too: heavy skirmishers (more archery) and noble swords.

This Rome 2 update also adds the historic Battle of Pydna, in which Rome was triumphant over Macedon. It doesn’t have to go that way though, and the outcome of your own battle may well be different. Especially if you get distracted in the middle of it.

Never ones to miss an opportunity to patch a couple more things, Creative Assembly have included a couple of changes to the game in this update as well. They are as follows:

Usability improvements

• Added missing subtitles for Hannibal at the Gates intro in German, Spanish and Russian.

General battle improvements

• Increased the length of the falx weapon handle, so units hold it correctly in two hands.

General Campaign improvements

• Political promotions in Campaign modes are now dependant on all of their prerequisites (e.g. age or experience level of the general), rather than just whether or not they can be afforded.

Campaign AI improvements

• Fix for Campaign AI sometimes overestimating strength of transport ships.