The Tutorial

“To understand a man, you have to know what was happening in the world when he was twenty.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

“Sacre bleu, a game comes with a tutorial!” we hear you say with a degree of sarcasm that is, frankly, unbecoming... Well, Total War: NAPOLEON’s tutorial is more than just a tutorial, good sir or madam — it’s a window into the formative, early days of the future French Emperor. Retold by Louis Alexandre Berthier, Napoleon’s chief of staff, it will not only teach you the basics of campaign gameplay, but also how a young lad from Corsica found himself courting destiny at the Siege of Toulon.

The Italian Campaign

“It is my design to lead you into the most fertile plains of the world. Rich provinces and great cities will be in your power; there you will find honour, glory, and wealth. Soldiers of Italy! Will you be wanting in courage or perseverance?”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

A short, narrative campaign taking place on a zoomed-in map of Alpine Italy. In command of an entire theatre of war for the first time, Napoleon must lead the battered and demoralised remnants of the French Republic’s Armée d'Italie to victory against an entrenched and formidable coalition of Austrians, Sardinians and other, minor states.

In this campaign, by orchestrating a famous reversal of fortune, Napoleon displayed the military acumen that would elevate him from obscurity to international fame and heroic status in France, shattering the First Coalition and establishing a series of ‘Sister Republics’ under French dominion in northern Italy.

The Egyptian Campaign

“If it had not been for the English, I should have been emperor of the East, but wherever there is water to float a ship, we are sure to find them in our way.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

Wresting control of the fertile Nile Delta from Mamluk forces is the order of the day in the Egyptian campaign. Here, the sun beats down on parched deserts and lush floodplains alike, with attrition being as dangerous a foe to Napoleon as the nations arrayed against him. Naturally, the Ottomans will not take kindly to this French incursion, and, from their naval base in Crete, the British under Nelson menace the Mediterranean, cutting off all avenues for retreat.

From your foothold in Alexandria, you must expand slowly and deliberately. Public order and religious unrest must be managed, and settlements well-garrisoned against attacks from both land and sea. In history, Napoleon’s ambitions in the east were thwarted at the Battle of the Nile; your challenge is to go further still, and secure your route to the riches of India.

The European Campaign

“They will all rise at my call to confound and dissolve this new league, which has been created by the malice and gold of England.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

The European campaign sets Emperor Napoleon, at the height of his power, against the might of Great Britain, Austria and Russia. This is the War of the Third Coalition, the staging ground for Napoleon’s greatest victories. Now, with your actions guiding the hands of fate, you can realise Napoleon’s dream of a Europe subservient to French rule.

This is a grand-scale campaign with a scope comparable to that of EMPIRE or MEDIEVAL II. You have three main enemies to defeat, but how that’s accomplished is up to you. Control trade nodes dotted around the map to finance your ambitions, follow Napoleon’s historic strategies, or go your own way. There are many routes to victory, but this battle for supremacy on land and sea will be fierce and relentless.

The Coalition Campaign

“Hard pounding this, gentlemen; let's see who will pound longest.”

— Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, at the Battle of Waterloo

The Coalition Campaign puts the marching boot on the other foot, placing you in command of one of the powers set on halting the Napoleonic armies’ rapid advance across Europe. The map remains the same as for the European campaign, but your task is to throw a few well-aimed spanners into the works of the French war machine.

Playing as Austria, you’ll make them pay for every inch in a bloody defensive war fought across Italy and Germany. As Great Britain, you must create a naval blockade to strangle the French economy. Or, as Russia, you must use ‘General Winter’ to your advantage, inviting unwitting attackers deep into your territory before letting the biting cold sap their strength and will to fight.

Napoleon’s Battles

"Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them."

— Napoleon Bonaparte

If you’re more guts and glory than governance and geopolitics, get stuck right into the Napoleonic highlight reel in this series of twelve historical confrontations on both land and sea.

From the Battle of Lodi in 1796 all the way to the fateful Battle of Waterloo in 1815, from the shadows of the pyramids to the frozen lakes of Austerlitz, each one drops you right into a pivotal moment. Test your skills of command in recreating the Little Corporal’s greatest victories, or rewrite the story and even reverse his ultimate defeat.

The Peninsular Campaign and Unit Packs

“Spaniards: After a long agony, your nation was on the point of perishing. I saw your miseries and hastened to apply a remedy.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

But wait, there’s more! Yes, all of the desktop version’s DLC will be available as standard on iOS & Android. That includes both the Heroes of the Napoleonic Wars and Imperial Eagle Unit Packs, bringing 27 further units like the Grand Battery of the Convention and Royal Scots Greys, as well as the 1807 Battle of Friedland, Prussia.

Also included is the unique Peninsular Campaign, which shines the spotlight on Napoleon’s 1811 occupation of Spain and the fierce guerrilla resistance to it. Command French forces as they scramble to maintain their hold on a country which refuses to bow down, or lead the outnumbered and outgunned Spanish guerrillas in their hit-and-run campaign of destabilisation. Naturally, wherever Napoleon goes, the British are never far behind; you can also choose to lead the British expeditionary forces as they support their Spanish allies from a tentative foothold in Gibraltar.

A New Challenger Approaches

“Turks can be killed, but they can never be conquered.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

Total War: NAPOLEON for iOS & Android also introduces a number of newly playable nations to the roster.

In the Coalition Campaign, you can now lead the Ottoman Empire, Spain, Portugal and Denmark to glory, offering unique new perspectives on the battle royal that played out at the turn of the 19th Century. In the Peninsular Campaign, Portugal is playable for the first time, offering a third flavour of resistance in this tale of Iberian warfare.

The Tools of Statecraft

“The mind of a general ought to resemble and be as clear as the field-glass of a telescope.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

All of the improvements, quality of life tweaks and mobile features from Total War: EMPIRE will also be making the jump to NAPOLEON.

You can expect thoughtfully designed touchscreen controls as well as full mouse & keyboard support, achievements, and a thorough in-game help system to get you up to speed with crushing your enemies on the battlefield and building your empire.

The Advisor Report introduced in EMPIRE has also been streamlined. It now offers an at-a-glance list of important issues across your realm, updated every turn with tappable links to take you straight to the relevant location. You’ll never miss a building upgrade, trade opportunity or brewing rebellion again!

And now, we wait…

“Impatience is a great obstacle to success; he who treats everything with brusqueness gathers nothing, or only immature fruit which will never ripen.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

And there you have it, a rundown of all the continent-spanning content you can expect when Total War: NAPOLEON arrives on iOS & Android tomorrow.

NAPOLEON is a uniquely personal, unusually modern entry in the series. While the man of destiny is writ large across it, this is a short timeframe which casts a long shadow across Europe, and there’s just so much Total War to get into here — whether from the perspective of Napoleon, or those who dared to stand against him.

We hope you’re as excited about this release as we are, and we’ll see you on the battlefield soon!

In the meantime, head over to our social feeds to let us know what you’re most looking forward to: