Following today’s Sun Jian campaign livestream, Creative Assembly has now released the first look at campaign gameplay for the Total War: Three Kingdoms Yellow Turban DLC. This DLC pack will be available at launch, and is free to anybody who pre-orders the upcoming game. Following today’s video release, the studio is planning to show a lot more tomorrow in another livestream; the first featuring the Yellow Turbans.
Total War: Three Kingdoms Yellow Turban DLC Gameplay
The Total War: Three Kingdoms Yellow Turban DLC pack adds three additional faction leaders to the game; He Yi, Gong Du, and Huang Shao, all leaders of the Yellow Turban rebellion. These three aren’t merely extra faction leaders, however, as the new video clearly demonstrates. The Yellow Turban factions differ significantly from the others, with their own unique court positions, faction ranks, and gameplay mechanics. For example, when He Yi’s faction captures a settlement, they can choose to ‘Occupy & Aid Wounded’; this grants an additional bonus to local faction support and a huge bonus to population growth, helping them to establish control over their new territory.
One of the most significant differences is that the Yellow Turbans have a totally different layout for their faction Reforms. Functioning as the in-game technology tree, the other factions all use the same Reforms, which appear in the menu on the branches of a literal tree. The Yellow Turbans, on the other hand, choose their Reforms from three scrolls representing the three books of the Yellow Turban school of thought; Heaven, People and Land. Their Reform system also works differently, as they must pick a Reform and then wait for research to complete. The other factions must wait between picking each new Reform, but gain the bonus immediately.
Yellow Turban Bonuses and Penalties
While the Yellow Turbans do have benefits, such as their generals having less desire for higher-ranking positions (thus decreasing discontent), they do have very difficult starting positions. The reason for this is that they are almost universally reviled by the rest of the in-game factions. This is reflected in harsh restrictions to their diplomatic abilities. For example, Yellow Turbans cannot even make peace with other factions until their third faction rank. Furthermore, they can’t make trade agreements with other factions until they reach the fourth rank, making them much more reliant on their own economy. Fortunately, they do get population growth bonuses, boosting the potential of their peasantry income (as well as unit recruitment).
Like some other factions, including Yuan Shao and Sun Jian, the Yellow Turbans have the ability to recruit captains. These individuals take the place of named characters in armies, with the ability to recruit units into their retinues. While they aren’t as powerful as true characters, this allows the Yellow Turbans to amass large forces very quickly.