Lead artist Pawel Wojs describes it as 'Fitting. It's a merry way to introduce the latest in the Total War series, but developer Creative Assembly seems rather keen on the idea of tearing everything down. This is the End of Days for us.' Attila was the scourge of God, the punishment for Christian sin and decadence.' Contemporary Christian authors were seeing disease, were seeing climate change, were seeing Attila coming down on them, and they thought 'This is it. These were things that people were writing about at the time. Historically, you've got this idea of the Seven Seals being opened, you've got the four horsemen personified by Attila and his hunt. 'Rome is beset on all sides, even from the inside. 'It's a very apocalyptic game,' says senior battle designer Simon Mann, describing how even the eternal city of Rome itself is at threat. In time, Attila will be coming and to the newly Christianised people of Rome, he may as well be the apocalypse incarnate.

They lack the armies they needs to defend their territories and the years ahead will bring disease, famine and ruinous invasions. Their empires are not only surrounded by would-be invaders just waiting for their chance, but now even more vulnerable to the power plays of their own people. Theodosius, the last man to rule both the eastern and western halves, has died, dividing control between his sons. The great power that stretched from the Middle East to the fringes of Scotland is now collapsing. It's the year 395 and Rome is in trouble.

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