War

Counter the foe through the strengths and weaknesses of each troop type; break the deadlock with your generals’ battle arts; shatter ramparts with siege engines; seize advantage from forests, hills, and high ground. Spears check cavalry, cavalry breaks shields, shields hold against spears—each arm of the host restrains another. Bows command the distance, engines breach the walls, and every force has its appointed role. When rage reaches its height, battle arts are unleashed, allied skills converge, and peril may turn to deliverance. Forests sharpen the blow, walls soften the wound, and high ground looks down upon the field—victory lies not in numbers alone, but in how you read the enemy, master the terrain, and wield both orthodox and unorthodox strategy.

Generals

As mountains refuse no height and seas refuse no depth, so did the Duke of Zhou pause his meal to receive the worthy, winning the hearts under Heaven. In an age of chaos, those who win talent win power. Send envoys deep into distant mountains in search of hidden sages, or raise a Hall of Worthies and await the arrival of great minds. With the sincerity of three visits to the thatched cottage, even heroes from a thousand li away may enter your service. Command, Formation, Valor, Strategy, Governance, and Charisma each reveal a different gift; assign them well, and fierce generals will hold the line, master strategists will shape the plan, and virtuous officials will bring peace to the people.

Development

Store grain widely, raise walls high, and delay the claim of kingship. Promote farming and sericulture to fill the granaries, build storehouses against famine, strengthen city defenses against invasion, and establish laws to settle the people. Within each commandery city, coin, grain, population, and public sentiment sustain and restrain one another. Along the path of research, military affairs, livelihood, and governance advance side by side, letting you forge the singular character of your faction. Only those with deep foundations can march far without fear when rival lords contend—and move when the hour has come.

Romance

Complete different Romance branches and choose divergent event routes, so that three centuries of the late Han need not end as history decreed. The Oath of the Peach Garden, holding the Emperor to command the lords, the three-generation foundation of Jiangdong—each faction possesses exclusive events and unique rewards. Your grand strategy must shift with the changing tides, answering the storms of a fractured age. The Northern Expeditions may yet succeed; the capital may yet be restored. The regrets of old history may be rewritten by your hand.