What Is Alexander?

By SubRosa

General Information

Alexander is the 2nd expansion for RTW, released in June 2006. Where it was originally only available as a download, it is now also included in the Total War Eras collection.

Naturally the game features many new units to reflect the era and nations involved. The greatest focus being given to Macedon and Persia. Among many of the new units are Hypaspists and Thessalian Cavalry for Macedon, Immortals for Persia, and Indian Elephants for India.

Alexander also features several new enhancements. Generals can now be made immortal, so they do not die of old age (but can still die in battle). They can now be given unique strategic and battle map models and portraits, and the victory conditions of the game can now state that a specific general survive until the campaign ends. Also, mercenaries can now be made so that only specific factions may recruit them. Finally, it is now possible to prevent specific factions from going to war with one another.

Alexander is not directly built on Barbarian Invasion, so the unique features in BI (Religion, Hordes, Emergent Factions, Night Battles, etc…) are not in Alexander. However, the executable does support Loyalty, Religion, Night Battles, and Emergent Factions if they are enabled through modding the game. Hording is still not possible though.

The game features the following factions:

  • Macedon
  • Persia
  • Illyria
  • Thrace
  • Scythia
  • Dahae
  • India

However, the Barbarian factions (Illyria, Thrace, Scythia, and Dahae) all have the same faction colors and units. Making them easily mistaken for a single faction.

Singleplayer

Only Macedon is normally playable in the singleplayer campaign. More information on the Macedon is available here. In spite of this, all the other factions except India can be enabled through a simple modification of the game files. India cannot be played without further modification, as it starts out with no territories assigned to it on the campaign map.

The singleplayer game begins with Alexander’s ascension to the throne of Macedonia in 336 B.C.E. and lasts until 286 B.C.E. However, the time is not denoted by years in the singleplayer campaign, but rather by turns (starting at 100), displaying how many remain until the campaign ends.

The game features a radically different map than RTW and BI, stretching from Greece to India. This new map is smaller and has far fewer cities, only 32 in fact. This allows for quicker movement from one end of the map to the other, a necessity as the singleplayer game must be won in the lifespan of a single general – Alexander.

There are 6 Factions represented in the Singleplayer Campaign

  • Macedon
  • Persia
  • Illyria
  • Thrace
  • Scythia
  • Dahae

Historical Battles

There are 6 new Historical Battles. At first only Charonea is playable, and winning it unlocks the next battle. Listed in the order of their unlocking, the battles are:

  • Chaeronea
  • Granicus
  • Halicarnassus
  • Issus
  • Gaugamela
  • Hydaspes

Multiplayer and Custom Battles

There are 4 Factions in Custom Battles & Multiplayer:

  • Macedon
  • Persia
  • Dahae
  • India

There is a new Tournament feature for Custom Battles and Multiplayer. This allows the player(s) to play a succession of the Historical Battles. Note that to play the Tournament in Custom Battles the player must first unlock the Historical Battles as above.