Three Moves Ahead Episode 489: Mandate of Heaven

[Rob Zacny]

Three Moves Ahead 489:

Mandate of Heaven
Rob, Brian "Chef Lu Bu" Smawley, Rowan, and T.J. discuss the Mandate of Heaven expansion for Total War: Three Kingdoms. Brian has been radicalized the populist vision of the Yellow Turbans and feels like only Zhang Jue has put in the work to lead China to a glorious new age. Rob and T.J., meanwhile, feel that incremental reform is the way to go. Rowan is out for themselves, but is also starting to wonder if that old Total War campaign inertia might not be settling in.

Total War: Three Kingdoms, Mandate of Heaven

 

• Listen on the Episode Page
• Listen on Soundcloud
• Listen in iTunes

[Cincinnatus]

You uploaded a empty file. No sound. Just silence.

[Astreus]

Which is a devastating comment on the game....

[andrewdoull]

I’ve DMed Troy Goodfellow about this and he said he’s going to let Rob know.

[Troy Goodfellow]

Thanks for the reports everyone. We're on it and hope to fix it later today!

[Kwad_rat]

I was wondering if I'm going def, or if my sound driver had gone missing. Thanks, at least I know I'm not imagining things.

[Kwad_rat]

Works like a dream. Thank you for fixing.

[Valorian Endymion]

• About Lu Bu, there is an event, where he shows up at your (or someone else) court and ask for a province and the rest you can imagine how it unfolds.  Also there is event for Lu Bu joins you if you plays as Dong Zhou in his earlier start.
• Yeah, the Eight Prince start is on the timeline. It was ok, nothing special, it adds a couple of units and unique starts, but nothing exceptional, also it doesn't really model its downfall in noticeable ways. But that dlc had the best trailer and song.
• It is possible to change/add models (I am not 100% sure, but I saw people posting mods about changing this or that character)/portraits, in fact there are several mods, which do either or both of them. In fact, one of the first mods which I saw around was ones which add portraits from DW to Three Kingdoms.
• CA said that this year we are going to see the Nanman, but from what I could remember, there is something about before that we are going to visit Cao Cao and Lu Bu in the central plains.

 

 

 

 

[Kalle]

Any suggestions on the best way to get into the Three Kingdoms? 

 

I ask because I feel like my complete lack of familiarity with the characters is really hurting my enjoyment of a game I otherwise think is the best Total War game mechanically. I just don't care at all about Liu Bu while I find myself deeply invested in the fated of Karl Franz and Tyrion. 

[Valorian Endymion]

7 hours ago, Kalle said:

Any suggestions on the best way to get into the Three Kingdoms? 

 

I ask because I feel like my complete lack of familiarity with the characters is really hurting my enjoyment of a game I otherwise think is the best Total War game mechanically. I just don't care at all about Liu Bu while I find myself deeply invested in the fated of Karl Franz and Tyrion. 

 

 

There is the amazing podcast series - 

 

[Gatazhk]

On 2/16/2020 at 8:05 AM, Kalle said:

Any suggestions on the best way to get into the Three Kingdoms? 

 

I ask because I feel like my complete lack of familiarity with the characters is really hurting my enjoyment of a game I otherwise think is the best Total War game mechanically. I just don't care at all about Liu Bu while I find myself deeply invested in the fated of Karl Franz and Tyrion. 

I didn't know anything about 3K but have really enjoyed playing TW:3K as a historical epic.  On the other hand, even though I love the Total War series, TW:Warhammer left me bored and I've bounced off every campaign despite repeated tries.  It may be for some of us, once you develop a mindset about what Total War is, it's hard to cross over to a completely different context (i.e. historical v. fantasy).

[Kalle]

On 2020-02-18 at 5:20 PM, Gatazhk said:

I didn't know anything about 3K but have really enjoyed playing TW:3K as a historical epic.  On the other hand, even though I love the Total War series, TW:Warhammer left me bored and I've bounced off every campaign despite repeated tries.  It may be for some of us, once you develop a mindset about what Total War is, it's hard to cross over to a completely different context (i.e. historical v. fantasy).

 

I've played TW since Shogun 1. I just happen to have an enduring fandom for Warhammer fantasy since my teens so I really do care about the fates of the various nations in the Old World. I just have zero context for what is happening in Han China. 

 

 

[ilitarist]

I'm late to the party but let me add my two cents. I think movies put you in the right mood for the setting. Red Cliff happens 20 years into the campaign so a lot of characters are in much more established positions but you still see Cao Cao and Lu Bei gang. It's also seems to be one of the biggest inspirations for the game as almost all characters from the movie got unique assets and the final battle from the movie is a historical battle in the game.

 

There's also a long Chinese tv show Three Kingdoms. It's available on youtube for some reason. It's ten years old but production levels are insane. You can watch just a few episodes and you'll know the main cast well enough.

 

You can also watch a letsplay of one of the Dynasty Warriors games to learn why the setting is associated with anime battles and hard rock guitar solos.