So, what does RTW Barbarian Invasion add to an already great game? A number of things, chief among these being religion, hordes and the new races. The time the expansion is set in is 300-400 AD, and the Roman empire is beginning to wane in strength. It has been converted to Christianity by Constantine, abandoning its old Gnostic beliefs and now seeks to convert its brethren outside its borders. However all is not well, for with the death of the last heirless emperor the Empire has split in two, ruled by separate masters in the East and the West. Only time will tell if these empires can ever reconcile, and if so whether it will be by the hand of peace or the fist of war.

Melodrama aside, basically the game has been rehashed so that the world covers not only a greater area but also contains wildly different terrain boundaries than the original. With this comes the myriad new races of the Huns, Goths and others so that players are no longer limited to play the forces of Rome, if they choose not to. If however they do choose to then they can play either the eastern or western empire, and can fight their kin on the opposite side if they so choose. A notable absence is the senate, who directed your affairs in the original. Rome has grown used to authoritarian dictators over the past 300 years and as such, just like the Barbarians, there is no higher or neutral power peering over your shoulders trying to direct your actions.

The concept of hordes is intimately tied into the new Barbarian races. The Barbarians have spent centuries moving from place to place, never really establishing a settled empire. Indeed in the context of the history at the time many of the new races in RTW Barbarian Invasion are actually already on the run from more malicious forces further East.

A nation that is in the form of a horde contains no cities, and is actually a huge army roving the land, with every member of the population pressed into military service. As such several unique units are available to a horde and they tend to consist of much larger armies. They are also capable of sacking cities they pass through, for a massive return in wealth.

However there are substantial disadvantages to being a horde. Number one is that you have no source of income and so over time your wealth will dwindle to nothing. This is slightly offset by the fact that normal units cost no maintenance, but as a horde cant build new units the only way to replenish or expand your forces is to hire mercenaries which most definitely do require upkeep in addition to the initial buying price. Also when you eventually do settle (by conquering a city and settling down) a large percentage of your horde will be reconverted back into civilians, meaning that the more causalities you sustain while on the road the more reduced you will be when you eventually return to normality.

Nevertheless hordes represent an interesting new game dynamic, and several of the Barbarian races start off in this form (such as the Huns). The initial huge forces this represents gives then a massive advantage in the early game, as long as they conserve their forces during any battles fought. However apart from starting as a horde, almost all of the Barbarian races have the ability to transform into a horde upon losing their last city. This represents the so-called Barbarian races' incredible abilities to survive no matter their losses, and a race that converts in this way is of course only defeatable when every last unit they have is killed. The Romans cannot become hordes.

After hordes you have religion. Is not a terribly new game dynamic, as after all religion existed in the original, Medieval TW and Shogun TW. However in the original RTW religion was more of a side note, relegated to separate building improvements and a few specific leader traits. Now in the expansion it works more akin to how it did in Shogun TW with each faction declaring for one of the three religions (Pagan, Christian and Zoroastrian) and each city having a religion as well. Religions now influence relations and particularly happiness, for example a Pagan city ruled by a Christian is likely to be influenced towards unhappiness. Diplomacy with other races is also influenced by religion but beyond this religion is more of a new gimmick than any great new game dynamic.

The campaign game type is very similar to the campaign game type in RTW and so there is nothing really new to say about it, save for the possibility of nation emergence which is a cool new feature that can add spice to the game. The manual describes several nations that can spontaneously arrive on the world (to be controlled by the CPU) following certain conditions are met. These new races include the Britons, for example, who will arrive on their isles upon the sundering of the empires that their gene stock derives from. The manual is quick to note however that these new races will not appear every game, only in those for which the necessary conditions are met. Also new are night battles, which at the very least are fun to behold (with thousands of torches marching and clashing). These add a new strategical element as they are for the most part random except when a given general has the night fighting aspect (which can normally only be obtained through surviving a night battle), and as such can choose to initiate a night battle. Night battles have the advantage of putting units at a severe disadvantage because of the lack of visibility.

RTW Barbarian Invasion is a worthy expansion and keeps in line with the fine tradition of TW expansions. There are a number of finer changes than the ones listed above, such as that some units can now swim across water and several new formations have been added, but these are small and are more like gimmicks or bug fixes than truly game defining improvements. All in all Barbarian Invasion is more of a rehash of the original, a chance to play it in a different perspective and over unfamiliar terrain, and shouldn't be viewed as a major improvement. If you didn't like RTW then you won't like the expansion (unless you have a fetish for Huns) and if RTW was more of an idle pastime then the price of the expansion might not be worth it.

If you're a big fan then this is definitely a must. On to sack Rome!