Shogun: Total War: Mongol Invasion

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Shogun: Total War: Mongol Invasion
MongolInvasion.jpg
Developer(s):

Creative Assembly

Publisher(s):

Electronic Arts
Sold Out

Director(s):

Michael Simpson

Composer(s):

Jeff van Dyck

Platform(s):

Microsoft Windows

Release date(s):

EU: 8 August 2001
Warlord Edition
Worldwide: 24 August 2001
Steam remaster
Worldwide: 25 June 2015

Genre(s):

Grand scale turn-based strategy/real-time tactics

Setting:

Feudal Japan, Mongol invasion attempts (13th century)

Mode(s):

Campaign, historical battles, custom battles, map editor, multiplayer

Rating(s):

ESRB: Teen (T) for blood and violence

Media:

CD-ROM
Steam (2015 remaster)

Minimum requirements:

Memory: 32 MB
Graphics card: ATI FireGL T2-128
CPU: Intel Pentium MMX
File size: 5.7 MB
OS: Windows 95 and onwards

 

Shogun: Total War: Mongol Invasion (abbreviated MI and shortened to Mongol Invasion) was an expansion pack for Shogun: Total War developed by Creative Assembly and published by Electronic Arts. Released 8 August 2001 (in Europe only) and worldwide on 24 August 2001 with the Warlord Edition, over a year after the original game's launch, the expansion added a new campaign that took place 300 years before the Sengoku Jidai during a theoretical scenario in which the Mongol army of Kublai Khan was successful in landing in Japan and commencing its planned conquest of the country. In this new campaign the Mongols themselves were a playable faction, bringing with them a new roster of units, including three new units for Japanese factions. The expansion also added four historical campaigns, all of them containing 19 new historical battles as well as 3 more individual historical battles, numbering 22 in total; new buildings and upgrades, a map and campaign editor, new multiplayer game modes, and made modifications to AI, balancing and the overall game interface. Initially released to Europe exclusively, the expansion would be paired with the Warlord Edition on 24 August, at which point it became available worldwide. On 25 June 2015, the expansion and its parent game were remastered and polished, both being combined in the Gold Edition, which was then added to Steam.

Gameplay[edit | edit source]

Gameplay in Mongol Invasion is largely unaltered from Shogun: Total War, which changes lying entirely in the setting of its campaign and extra additions to the already completed experience. Instead of the seven (eight in multiplayer) playable factions of the base game, only two (three in multiplayer) are available in Mongol Invasion, one of which is the new Mongol Horde faction, complete with its own units and play style, while the second is the Japanese, represented by clan Hojo from the base game. New features added and features from the base game removed or negated where applicable, changing to suit the faster paced, aggressive play style of Mongol Invasion. Gameplay in the campaign is simplified as a result: the Mongol Horde, as the invaders, are tasked with aggressive invasion while the Japanese, as the defenders, must halt the invaders anyway they can and push them back. In multiplayer, the new Mongol Horde is available to play.

Campaign[edit | edit source]

The new campaign of Mongol Invasion takes place 300 years before the Sengoku Jidai in the 13th century during a time when Japan was ruled by the Kamakura shogunate. Kublai Khan, khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire, had set his sights on conquering Japan, and set upon building a massive fleet and assembling a mixed army of Korean, Han and Mongol troops to cross the Sea of Japan from his Mongolian dominions in China and subsequently invade Japan. The first invasion took place in 1274 and was a colossal failure despite early successes, with a Japanese victory at Hataka Bay repelling the invaders, and the rest of the fleet disappearing shortly afterwards, claimed to have been destroyed and largely sunk by a great typhoon that struck the Mongol fleet while it was at anchor and forced Kublai to abandon the invasion. A second invasion was arranged and launched in 1281, this time split into two forces, one launched from China and the other from Korea. While the Korean fleet was able to land at Hakata Bay however, the fleet from China never arrived, and the Mongol army was subsequently defeated after two battles, one at Akasaka and another at Torikai-Gata, despite superior tactics and numbers. It was later discovered that the Chinese fleet had been destroyed by rough weather due to unseaworthy vessels being used and Kublai rushing construction of his ships so they'd be ready in a year, rather than the five needed to build them, forcing the Chinese to use river boats. The second invasion was as big a disaster as the first, but Kublai was determined to mount a third, and only his death and his advisors' unanimous agreement to forfeit any attempt at conquering Japan avoided a third attempt. The events of Mongol Invasion take place during an alternative history surrounding the first invasion attempt of 1274 where Kublai's fleet wasn't destroyed at anchor, and his forces were able to deploy at Hakata Bay in strength and establish a beachhead.

Unlike the base game, Mongol Invasion is a lot more simplistic. Diplomacy takes a back seat, as the Mongols cannot be negotiated with, and the Mongols cannot engage the Japanese in diplomacy: as such, war is the only option. Agents such as the emissary are therefore greatly diminished in usefulness, really only used when dealing with rebel factions; the priest, due to the time period, are absent from the game entirely, as are the player's access to gunpowder units: shinobi, ninjas and geisha however retain prominent roles, although geisha are harder to access and are rarer. Mongol Invasion is unique in that it is the first time in a Total War campaign that the player is allowed to take control of a non-Japanese faction, allowing them access to brand new units and a new play style. In this expansion, both of the playable factions, the Mongols and the Japanese, have two different play styles, with the Japanese behaving much like any Japanese faction from the base game, while the Mongols operate very differently. For starters, the Mongols cannot build as they have no buildings, they have no agents, and they cannot manually recruit their own units, relying on a reinforcements mechanic where a fresh Mongol army will periodically appear at one of several randomized spots in Japan as the campaign progresses. Without the ability to build anything, the only way the Mongols can make money is through conquest, earning cash through capturing provinces. This play style forces the Mongols to play more aggressively, but it also means that any units lost or units destroyed can be a significant loss. Despite this, the Mongols boast a superior unit roster, with access to fearsome Korean thunder bomber units chucking explosives at their enemies and the fast, quick horse archers that the Mongol armies are famous for, although these units come at a premium and cannot be sacrificed casually.

The Mongol Hordes faction start off invading the Chikuzen province from turn 1 with two full armies and proceed from there, while the Japanese faction, represented by Clan Hojo from the base game, control nearly all of Japan (with the exception of three provinces controlled by rebels in the east), and command a vast array of forces and a strong starting economy. Despite this however the Japanese armies are spread thin across the country, so any player must make do with the forces they have before their reinforcements can be brought up. Outside of this, and the lack of diplomacy, the Japanese faction behaves identical to any other Japanese faction in the base game, although victory conditions obviously change from conquering Japan to ousting the would-be conquerors. Mongol Invasion can range from a short campaign to a long one: a Japanese player can win their campaign within just a few turns if playing well, while the Mongol faction must conquer all of Japan to win, thus taking far longer. The Japanese lose if wiped out, while the Mongols win if they wipe out the Japanese. Beyond these changes, the campaign will be familiar to players of the base game, despite being significantly shorter and having less replayability due to its drastically smaller roster of playable factions.

Made available with Mongol Invasion was a campaign editor that allowed players to create and play their own campaign scenarios, with features such as factions, diplomacy and map able to be modified.

Warfare[edit | edit source]

Real-time battles in Mongol Invasion are, at their core, totally unchanged from Shogun: Total War and behave in much the same way, with the key difference being the new units and play style the Mongol Horde faction bring to the battlefield. Whereas in the base game every faction had access to the same units and therefore battles were largely down to rock-paper-scissors, the Mongol Horde brings entirely new units that change up the formula, forcing the player to adapt their tactics to fight this new enemy or, in the opposite case, learning to master this new army they now command. Regardless of these differences however, battles still function the same at their core: weather, terrain, unit types, morale, honor ranking and tactics all remain the same, and with every province from the base game returning, these battlefields will be recognizable to veteran players. Battles are still split into three types: field battles, bridge battles and sieges, all of which function exactly the same, although Mongols are incapable of engaging in defensive sieges due to their inability to build structures (and any buildings they do capture are instantly razed). Outside of the overwhelming force the Mongols bring to the battlefield, real-time battles in Mongol Invasion will be instantly recognizable to returning players, and are sufficiently familiar that returning the mechanics are not entirely necessary. Unlike the base game however, there is no tutorial, so if Mongol Invasion is a player's first experience with the real-time battles of Shogun: Total War, they will need to consult the base game's tutorials if they wish to learn the mechanics. AI behavior in regards to battles is also unchanged in Mongol Invasion, choosing to withdraw, invade and defend at their own volition.

In addition to the brand new units the Mongols now boast, four new Japanese units were added in Mongol Invasion, three of which were also made available in the base game as well, both for campaign and multiplayer. The Kensai and Battlefield ninja both acted as the franchise's first iteration of "heroes", single entity units that are incredibly strong and come with special abilities, with a Kensai able to take on entire units on its own while a battlefield ninja is perpetually hidden until it is attacking, allowing unparalleled potential for ambushes: however, while introduced in Mongol Invasion, the battlefield ninja is exclusive to the base game's grand campaign and the expansion's multiplayer, and cannot be recruited in the Mongol Invasion campaign. Naginata Cavalry were a new type of defensive cavalry added to both the base game and Mongol Invasion, but the Ashigaru Crossbows were a unit exclusive to Mongol Invasion, largely serving as a replacement for gunpowder units in terms of functionality as a direct fire missile unit.

Custom and historical battles[edit | edit source]

Much like the base game, Mongol Invasion allows for custom battles to be created using the three available factions and also historical battles, of which it boasts 22 brand new battles. Also added in Mongol Invasion is a map editor players can use to modify existing maps or to create their own, with a detailed terrain editor allowing for somewhat complex maps to be created and played on: through more complex editing, the player was even able to create their own historical battles, although it was unrecommended by developers that the tool be used to modify existing historical battles, due to the risk of breaking them. Beyond this, all of the multiplayer maps from the base game are available in Mongol Invasion, with no new maps added save for the ones used in the new historical battles. New music was also added specifically for the Mongol Horde faction including unique campaign, battle and victory/defeat themes. Beyond these changes, custom battles play exactly the same as in the base game, just with the new Mongol faction being available.

Mongol Invasion added a plethora of new historical battles ontop of the base game's roster, with three new individual battles and 19 others ordered into a series of four historical campaigns, a mode introduced in this expansion. In this new mode, 19 of the new battles are arranged into a series of four "campaigns", each one a compilation of historical battles fought by a famous Japanese general or, in the case of the Kublai Khan campaign, a series of fictional battles in the theoretical scenario of a successful Mongol invasion of Japan. These campaigns are the battles of Kublai Khan, Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi respectively, each one detailing a series of battles that defined that general's career. Three additional battles were added to the standard historical battles roster, two of which representing battles taking place during Mongol history and one during a failed Japanese invasion of Korea.

Multiplayer[edit | edit source]

Mongol Invasion came with its own multiplayer component, with only the Mongol Horde, Japanese and Rebels and Ronin factions being available to play, using the same maps from the base game. Beyond this the multiplayer behaved largely the same, although the expansion would add four new game modes: King of the Hill, where the player must gain more points than the enemy by holding and securing points for as long as possible; Assassinate the General, where the player must kill the enemy general to win; Survive the Siege where the player must either repel the enemy assault on their castle or successfully secure it from the defenders; and Capture the Honjin, where the player's army must control a point until the point runs out, with the number of men needed in the point to hold it dependent on the settings chosen.

Like with the base game, EA would run the servers for Mongol Invasion in Europe until its inclusion with the Warlord Edition in a worldwide release, which had its own servers separate from the original release due to Warlord Edition possessing its own integrated multiplayer support. Unforunately, just prior to Rome: Total War's launch in late 2004, EA shut down the multiplayer servers for Mongol Invasion, along with the base game. This caused many Shogun veteran players to turn to the newer titles, and newer players to avoid Shogun altogether. Players who were committed stayed and were able to host their own servers where players could join without registration being necessary.

Appearances[edit | edit source]

Factions

Playable

HojoSTW.gif
Hojo

MongolHordeSTWMI.png
Mongol Horde

Non-playable

RebelsandRoninSTW.gif
Rebels and Ronin

Multiplayer

Playable

HojoSTW.gif
Hojo

MongolHordeSTWMI.png
Mongol Horde

Non-playable

RebelsandRoninSTW.gif
Rebels and Ronin

Soundtrack



Reception[edit | edit source]

IGN gave The Mongol Invasion a score of 8.9 out of 10 and called it "a good expansion pack".

Gallery[edit | edit source]

Trivia[edit | edit source]

  • Mongol Invasion is the only Total War expansion to not be spiritually remade by Creative Assembly. Viking Invasion for Medieval: Total War would be spiritually remade with the game Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, and Barbarian Invasion for Rome: Total War would be spiritually remade with Total War: Attila.
  • Oddly enough, Mongol Invasion would be the first of an unintentional "trilogy" of Total War expansions featuring the name "invasion". The second would be Viking Invasion for Medieval: Total War and the third was Barbarian Invasion for Rome: Total War. CA's fourth expansion, Kingdoms for Medieval II: Total War, would be the first to break this convention.
  • The cheat ".conan." that allowed the player to control the Rebels and Ronin faction (normally unplayable) in the campaign still works in Mongol Invasion as it does in the base game. The faction's presentation is the same as the base game and most likely directly ported, although Mongol Invasion's version of the faction is significantly harder than the base game version due to having less provinces and a poor starting roster.