One thing that I find interesting/annoying in Total War Attila is that history is depicted as Germanic tribes gathering together and quickly overwhelming the Roman Empire. It is almost as if the developers took a look at this map with its crazy number of invasions and insinuated that Rome quickly fell due to a sudden and overwhelming invasion of Germans.

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One thing the map here shows is that these invasions occurred slowly over the period of a century and there would be times where the Roman Empire would stabilize and function no worse than it would have during the 3rd century. A Roman living during the 420s may have had a very optimistic outlook regarding the future of the empire and whenever the Romans managed to gather their forces they were more than capable of putting a hurting on the invaders. The reason is that as long as the Romans had control of Africa then they continued to enjoy huge tax revenues from grain, and it allowed the state to function rather normally. The loss of Carthage in 439 was a huge blow to the Empire. However, even then Italy was still capable of feeding itself though that is when its declining ability to put an army on the field became noticeable

ATW gives me the impression that the developers took 19th century German histography that portrayed the Germanic tribes as the glorious conquerors of the Roman Empire and turned it into a game. While the Germans did play a huge role in the collapse of the WRE, it is really strange that from Spain in the West to the Don in the East, nearly all of the mercenaries available for hire are Germanic troops and the game completely ignores the role the Celts and Sarmatians played as well. The Saxons were originally invited to Britannia due to Celtic raids from Ireland and Scotland. The Alans invaded the Roman Empire as an entity that remained independent until the Romans defeated them in Spain during the 420s yet CA decided to simply portray them as another Germanic faction.

I understand that ATW is a game and I am really enjoying myself except for some balancing/AI issues, but I hope that the developers will ultimately find a way to help the game stay closer to history. The game needs a bit more cultural diversity, the Romans need more a fighting chance, and the Germanic tribes shouldn't all be buddies whose only goal is the destruction of the WRE.