Creative Assembly's Total War: Rome 2 is getting a new expansion in March, along with a free update that'll add two new leaders. The Kingdoms of Kush, Saba, Nabatea, and Masaesyli will be part of the updated roster.
Total War: Rome 2 is getting a Desert Kingdoms Culture Pack in March. At the same time, a freebie in the form of the Female Leaders update will launch for all players.
The upcoming Desert Kingdoms expansion follows on the DLC pack, Empire Divided, that came out in November 2017. The most important addition that'll launch with the new expansion are four new factions.
Creative Assembly
The new factions will represent the Kingdoms of Kush, Saba, Nabatea, and Masaesyli, all of which are native to the deserts of Africa and Arabia. "While culturally similar, each faction boasts unique new unit rosters which offer different military strengths", says Creative Assembly.
As it usually goes, each faction will bring something new to the table. The Kingdoms will have new building chains and technology trees and come with their own unique Faction Traits.
On top of all that, the four new factions will share the same Cultural Traits, which will in turn provide a bonus morale boost in desert battles as well as a bonus income from agriculture. A penalty to research rates makes up the other side of the same coin.
Creative Assembly
Total War: Rome 2's free Female Leaders update will add some historically significant female characters to all campaigns and across all factions. Queen Zenobia will be joined by Cleopatra and Teuta who will be fully playable faction leaders and generals, with their own custom visuals and voice-overs.
Queen Zenobia was added as part of the last year's Empire Divided expansion. Prior to that, there was no female leaders or generals in Total War: Rome 2. The upcoming free update will add more female leaders but remain true to the series' historical roots.
"In some cultures, like Rome and Greek", says Creative Assembly, "women can only serve a social/political role while in other women can be generals and fight alongside men." For those cultures where women can't hold public offices, there's a new "Cursus Honorum" path "that follows the increase in 'behind-the-stage' political influence of women."
Creative Assembly
Cretive Assembly will also add special events as part of the free update. The events, titled Dilemmas will "portray the trials and tribulations associated with women coming to power in ancient times" where traditions and prejudice stand in their way. "Such events," says Creative Assembly, "allow the player to recruit a female leader or gain some other bonuses from parties that would oppose such a decision".
The Desert Kingdoms Culture Pack will launch on 08 March 2018. More information can be found on Total War: Rome 2's page.
