Total War Saga: Troy - The Odyssey Begins

Total War Saga: Troy returns, as we finally get our hands on the full game, and dive into Odysseus' campaign, and get to grips with spies, subterfuge, and some marvellous skirmishers...
Total War Saga: Troy - www.epicgames....
Follow us on Twitter / manyatruenerd
Support us on Patreon / manyatruenerd
Join our Discord - / discord
Find us on Reddit / manyatruenerd
Find us on Facebook / manyatruenerd
Fanfare for Space, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons...

[@nikolaspatronis3528]

Jon:we've taken zero casualties. That's the Odysseus way. Literally all of Odysseus crew members:are we a joke to you?

[@brettd2308]

30:00 One of the neat things I saw a dev talk about in an interview was how they consulted with experts about the maximum height that ancient peoples could have obtained while still being physically fit - instead of having frail skeletal structures - then used that as the basis for some units like the giants, cyclops, minotaur, etc. So they're a bit taller and imposing, but not freakishly/fantastically so.

[@victorbruant389]

“Each man delights in the Total War game that suits him best.” ― Homer, The Odyssey

[@glaxko2]

"20 dollars? I wanted a peanut. (20$ can buy a lot of peanuts). Explain. (Money can be exchanged for goods and services). Woohoo!" -Homer, the Simpson.

[@Nimno74]

Chooses army based almost entirely on skirmishing. Also, is notorious for turning off skirmish mode, then getting distracted. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

[@maddoxm6807]

Settlements in other people’s settlements, lots of sneaky skirmishing, elite sneaky agents.... so Odysseus is a Skaven!?

[@theirishviking9278]

@@maddoxm6807 ...yes...

[@maddoxm6807]

I think you mean “yes-yes... mmmm....”

[@CastorQuinn]

"We're going to win without taking any casualties because that's the Odysseus way." That is canonically not the Odysseus way. Odysseus' men insist quite strongly that not taking casualties is not the Odysseus way.

[@Next0gen0]

The posidion situation actually kind of makes sense if you think about it. If you ignore him, your game is tougher as odyssey's. But if you support him, you don't make his mistake, and it goes smoother.

[@trashpandapaladin8989]

Jon, have you ever met someone who was a foot and a half taller than you? It doesn't seem like much on the tactical map, but giant becomes a really good word when you're standing next to them yourself.

[@Tzilandi]

So the giants in this game are literally Shaquille O'Neal?

[@trashpandapaladin8989]

@@Tzilandi Total War Saa: Troy confirmed as Shaq Fu remake, you all heard it here.

[@Bethgael]

When I was 5, my dad was the producer of a local amateur theatre's production of Lil Abner. I met the guy they had in the lead role. My father told me (much later) that he was 7ft tall. As a 5 year-old? He was so tall. So tall. SO tall!!!

[@ahowi3698]

Us: Jon play a non ranged focused faction!! Jon: SO ANYWAYS IN THE ILLIAD...

[@The_Laughing_Cavalier]

"YOU RANG... oh wait, wrong time period..."

[@JulieanGalak]

The Laughing Cavalier you win the internet today

[@sotnosen95]

"...I can talk at length about stories and myths..." Jon, you just said the magic words.

[@Mewzard]

Odysseus isn't bad at sailing places, he just pissed off Poseidon, and that makes sailing anywhere difficult to say the least.

[@NicolaeHolley]

"But no. Today, we're gonna look at *Odysseus."* Yessssss, my man.

[@ternauven]

Nicolae Holley oh hell yeah!

[@DirkDwipple]

I'm pulling a cart with a couple of dead dog's under the bags of beets. The well is up ahead. No one's here. Good.

[@aduboo29]

Another game making Odysseus an archer despite the fact the only thing we know about his bow is that he left it at home during the war. And that stringing it was hard.

[@FonVegen]

And that the man himself could do it even after years away at sea, and that he was still an ace shot with it, too.

[@FreeOfFantasy]

You usually don't have only one bow, especially if you are king. Also it being hard to string means it has a really high draw weight and using a high draw weight means he is a trained archer.

[@nicknevco215]

I heard from others that it was looking like a bad game

[@THEMONKEYWITHNOSOUL]

I mean yeah, Oddysseus is pretty good, but he doesn't have leeks. Do you know who do? The Welsh.

[@mrmarmellow555]

Zo GOOD! Long Live! LEEKZ and Uranium Loo'z !!

[@skyler6175]

Playing as Odysseus while pleasing Poseidon and having giants as allies? No Jon, it's all wrong!

[@Jonathanaturmom]

Tell it to Age of Mythology lolol

[@Lucas-gt8en]

No clue how much interest there would be and the amount of work involved but I would love a video explaining the gist of the story and general historic context for this game.

[@isaacshultz8128]

Yes that would be beautiful

[@PobortzaPl]

Jon: Odysseus is pretty good Me: Ofcourse he is, he's frickin Richard Sharpe, I mean he was played by Sean Bean!

[@jamiemahoney2446]

And didn't die.

[@MRFlackAttack1]

That’s soldiering.

[@fourlamb1]

Sean Bean is my White Homie.

[@tejshah6083]

‘Do not beware Creative Assembly bearing a new Total War Game’, said the Iliad, probably.

[@Kaarl_Mills]

someone doesnt remember Rome 2

[@cesargeney5268]

For your Odysseus campaign I would recomend some mytic units: furies and syrens. Furies have tip top jabalin power. And syrens can allure other troops, so you can ambush or led them far away and trow power

[@ChulioRCHulio]

At 14:04 is an easter egg to AC/DC :" For those about to mine rocks, we salute you!"

[@5Andysalive]

JON! PLEASE don't make Poseidon not angry. Losing this excuse will mercilessly reveal that Odysseus was just a horrible navigator! Also you'll make the Odyssey never been written and the universe will probably end.

[@mariosoto2588]

As a total war fan I have to say matn has the best total war gameplay in youtube

[@samhithyelchuri9683]

totally agree

[@alexmcd378]

Only person who comes close is Janet On Occasion, but he does a lot more warhammer. Not that I'm complaining. Between the two, I'm happy

[@theodorepinnock1517]

I don't think it's fair to say Odysseus was bad at sailing places - he just got screwed over by gods and other such things. A lot.

[@epicurius1]

Did you just kill Ajax the Lesser? I mean, that's one way to make sure you win a footrace.

[@KeeganSpeelman]

I'd like to imagine that the staring rebel army is the suitors lead by Eurymachus.

[@CommissarMitch]

I could be wrong but is not Odysseus pretty much the only named person in the Iliad who gets a good ending? Like, he finally returns to Iticha where he spends the rest of his life with his wife and son he had not seen for almost 25 years.

[@ManyATrueNerd]

Diomedes gets a better one - he gets to retire in Italy without much trouble on the way.

[@CommissarMitch]

@@ManyATrueNerd Oh I also just remembered that Meneleus, Helen's first husband, do get a happy ending with Helen in The Odyssey. But other than that... Basically all the Troyans are killed (Apart from Mr. Plot Armour Aeneis. He who was so weak the gods had to tell him to chill). Hector gets probably the most humiliating death in the whole story. Not sure about Paris and Prium because it was a while since I looked into the story. Basically all the Greek heroes die in the Iliad. Achillies, his boyfriend, and the 2 Ajax dies. Agamemnon gets what he deserves (Yes I am in that camp) and... that's basically it.

[@spiritupgrades]

@@ManyATrueNerd 0:19 what do u mean?

[@sinclair726]

Hector most humiliating death? Paaaardon? He dies in a duel against Achillis, although the aftermath is a bit..horrifying, he dies a warrior's death. Dreadfully sad one because in the end he dies fighting for a brother that doesn't give one fuck about anything but his cock but If I remember well, Paris eventually gets the shameful death the lousy c*nt deserves.

[@CommissarMitch]

@@sinclair726 I did mean the dragning of Hector as being just bad taste.

[@ChulioRCHulio]

Sad that Jon did not paly as the greatest of the greek heroes . Aenaes -. no one could come close to that virtous and pious man in the whole bronze age :P

[@kindadumb916]

He was worried he would not meet the expectations if he played as him. He was pretty glorious and pious after all.

[@DrDoom-ph4gi]

"We'll just settle in for a siege and the Spartans will be along any minute" Callimachus 7/12/490 BCE

[@keizervanenerc5180]

Nobody: Me: *looks at flags in battle* Why is the Confederation of the Rhine fighting the Netherlands in Troy???

[@Raven-Blackwing]

Was not expecting this, but I will be damned if I will be complaining.

[@SolidGoldCEO]

*preview screen captions* "Hello I'm John Cena"

[@austincantswim3383]

Makes sense, we don’t see Jon often.

[@oneofmanyjames-es1643]

Yay! More Aeneas character assassination!

[@amcghie7]

Would we not all pretty much be giants compared to bronze age Greeks?...

[@josephdedrick9337]

taller then average perhaps, but they had giants of there own

[@wodensol5000]

No

[@alexanderchristopher6237]

Wodensol Why not? While there are some giants due to some genetics at play, our better nutritional intake and health standards are way better than the Bronze Age, meaning people can live longer and grew taller. At the very least, today’s Europeans are on average taller than Bronze Age Greeks.

[@amcghie7]

Alexander Christopher looked it up and apparently the average height of Bronze Age males from the Eastern Med was 166cm, and I’m 179... so I’m not a giant compared to them but I would be a bit lanky maybe. I do know people that are more than a foot taller than their average though...

[@T-minus-infinite]

The difference in height between people back then is often much overstated, we would be taller but not giants

[@Smi7h1sH3r3]

CA has simultaneously created the best and worst game for Jon. Perfect setting, yet given to the one guy who will point out all the plot holes in the stories the rest of us plebs didn't even know were a problem. ^_^ jesus I love the art style......damn CA does keep rollin out the hits! hey man, some of those austrian nordic dudes get HELLA big. I'd say that counts as giant....though in a world of actual gods where there were like, giant giants.....yeah, ok. but still!!!

Okay, this special mythical troops from different regions are awesome...

[@xSaintAngelusx]

Heh, good Dexys reference. I actually laughed out loud.

[@utubrGaming]

So, now that Odysseus is rampaging about and off fighting, anyone wanna bet that Penelope is currently the unlucky hostess of the biggest frat party in Ithaca?

[@ThelastDJ1976]

Really liked this video, would love to see more content of it - be it livestreams or a series. Hope all is well in the Jon, Claire & Tabby camp!

[@zackrodriguez6653]

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am John, this is Many A True Nerd, and welcome.

[@etherraichu]

Jon, I just randomly had what may be the most horrible, painful challenge idea imaginable: A Worst Courier run of New Vegas Dust.

[@josephdedrick9337]

howd he be the worst courier this time, hes already done all minimum stats, killing everyone and a bunch more.

[@BarbarianGod]

30:00 the enemy also had a unit of giants!

[@josephdedrick9337]

Well there is greater and lesser ajax, so at least if you accidently take out one there is a spare ajax from the illiad.

[@Dan-lf5mi]

Remember August 13 this game will be free on epic games for a day

[@seananthony9664]

The dexys midnight runners got me good, bravo

[@Xenotric]

Romance of the Troy Kingdoms

[@JB-xl2jc]

Huh! Odysseus looks like the Vampire Coast and Lizardmen has a vampiric dinosaur love child- skirmishing and hidden vanguards with stalking, with “coves” and naval play in campaign. That sounds amazing

[@isaacshultz8128]

I am so excited for this series!!!

[@bugseym6023]

Hey Jon, check the end of the last fight. A couple of your slingers had full ammo. I'm guessing they won't shoot into the back / over your troops. You need to use them to flank. Keep up the good work and looking forward to the series!

[@calgskeet]

Aren't the agents basically the same as they were back in Rome 2?

[@MarcusTSMarcus]

Achilles feels a lot like Malus Darkblade.

[@electriclegend6390]

Remember julianus vatinius

[@kennethtish2090]

I always that dexys midnight runners were a band from the 80s

[@Apankou]

You can be as good at sailing as you like, it's not going to be of much use if Poseidon just hates you.

[@jeremydunn340]

Because Diomedes has been a confirmed DLC, will you do a review of him and his playstyle please Jon given he's basically the reason for Aeneas getting character assassinated? If there isn't a quest to chase Aphrodite around the map it might be a little disappointing

[@alexanderhammil6754]

Lord of Parnassus, this game is GORGEOUS

[@Urge2EatWaFFLeS]

Jon, At 1:13 you pronounce the name as ack-ih-lay-us. 2:55 you pronounce it as uh-kill-hees. Which is it, because I'm super interested and this is the kind of stuff I love hearing you nerd out about. (I think you had previously gone off about Hercules, and that was another enjoyable rant to listen to, so I need another one based on another name.)

[@the_tactician9858]

It depends. Both versions of the name are used in the Iliad, but Achilleus is more of a vocative, in other words a name used to adress someone. Achilleus is used often by people to show their more than average knowledge of the Iliad, as people that know more than the movie Troy has told them. But both are correct.

[@statuesquepineapple4387]

Both are valid. I suspect that John prefers Achilleus but tries to say Achilles to be accessible - based on the way he slips back into saying Achilleus occasionally (often when he's busy in the middle of a battle). That or he just has both names available in his head and draws at random. Who knows.

[@rileyosteen6470]

I'm not sure how I feel about how this game straddles this weird line between realism and fantasy, with the gods system playing a big role, but all the fantasy units are just "he's a big guy" or "it's a woman who stabs things", or how seriously the different selected heroes affect how the game plays. I kinda wish they went one way or the other.

[@BauthorFowler]

29:50 I think the minotaur guy from the last video was taller than your "giants." Just saying.

[@SA80TAGE]

Jon, did you ever play the *Kessen* series?... it's a precursor to Total War and still one of my favourite strategy games.

[@kingcynic5669]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Poseidon have a grudge because Odysseus sacked his temple during the fall of Troy? It makes sense he wouldn't have an issue before that.

[@qualisarphate681]

Hey, it's sunday, time for another brilliant fallout video from matn!! Eagerly checks youtube, stares at screen in amazement, "well, s**t"!!

[@andycoombes3075]

Qualisarphate same :(

[@auslander2270]

Agamemnon is my cat's name

[@isaacshultz8128]

That's amazing

[@BarbarianGod]

46:00 "alcmaon attacked and won against alcmaon" what

[@Silverhawk100]

Jon, you fool! If you honor Poseidon, you're gonna snub Odysseus' sugar-momma Athena.

[@Josh-gz2gi]

I miss this I LOVE TOTAL WAR

[@redacted5052]

Battles look a little small and a little fast. When did TW give up on “grand” battles, with units that felt like actual units of individuals?

[@BlueGamingRage]

Warhammer altered the course of the franchise

[@Olmelliah]

I'm so excited to see you play Troy Story :)

[@BlackfyreHD]

cant believe CA is giving this away for free on Epic Game Launcher on launch day

[@dhruvsanjaykumar2582]

I love the way u talk in this game

[@c-money9623]

Please continue this series

[@mrmarmellow555]

All Praise Odysseuz!!

[@tylerpeterson3281]

Maybe the giants ran because you let your skirmishers shoot them in the back jon...

[@tmbreen37]

Classics with Jon series please!

[@calekeith551]

i super excited to play

[@dannydeathstrike]

Wait this isn't going to be a series??!

[@dannydeathstrike]

Oh yeah absolutely live stream live and give me a full ck3 series 🙏

[@dustinjackson5732]

Hey, Jon, will we ever see the Alexander campaign for RTW?

[@DouglasHollingsworth1]

Jon - if you do a livestream, can you please consider doing time stamps to break up the video using KZbin Chapters? It's ... very hard for me (maybe others?) to sit through a whole livestream, so it's a more inaccessible format compared to these 30-60 minute bits that I'm used to watching from your channel ... and yes, I could just "resume" watching a video but knowing in advance that "oh, okay I have 30 minutes of free time, I can watch the first two chapters now and plan to watch 2 more chapter tomorrow" is ... mentally more accessible/approachable. Does any of that make sense? Or am I just rambling? :P

[@taekinuru2]

This seems like a lot of fuss over one pretty lady.

[@orarinnsnorrason4614]

Someone better make a mod so that we get the actors from the movie to replace each hero.

[@philipbrowne5211]

My body is ready

[@LucaHMafra]

Many a true friendly fire

[@LifeInGeneral-z6f]

Oh yes!!!

[@shadlz1628]

Odysseus is just the Skaven from Warhammer 2 change my mind

[@tjep2670]

I have every total war title since Rome 2, still not going to download epic to get this one for free...

[@CommissarMitch]

The spy looks like Herodotos from AC Odyssey.

[@selder_7]

I’d like a series on this

[@thfab4831]

So from Assassins Creed Odyssey we're going towards Total War: Troy as main streaming game :P Im sensing a pattern here

[@alecsis882]

OH YEAAAAH

[@hauntedcrane3421]

Hey Jon! What about a proper series playing mythos campaign??

[@SomeOne-ex7hk]

Many A True Yeah, And

[@jameskowanko7574]

Rip Paris.

[@capitalwasteland196]

Is fallout ever other Sunday

[@ArcticChameleon]

I was wondering the same thing.

[@delboy1677]

Thought Sunday was Fallout day :(

[@jamesnodding7641]

At the minute it's every other Sunday because the essay videos take longer

[@delboy1677]

@@jamesnodding7641 I know but any old fallout video, or a quick quirky fallout challenge would make my sunday.

[@andycoombes3075]

I don't see why we can't have a fallout series on Sunday's and the essays whenever they are ready instead of a random weekday game. that way the quality of the essays can stay high as there would be no time pressure and we still get our fallout fix.

[@joostteboekhorst9914]

Yay, more Aenaes character assasination!

[@youraverageteadrinker2744]

Oh john must be loving this game and knowing that makes me enjoy this too

[@lucifer0247]

The game looks suprisingly good for a saga game, well better then thrones

[@Crypto_Lan]

So where's *YOU RANG* ??

[@combatmikearms]

honestly the game looks beautiful but I really miss the old rome total war style of game. if they would basically remaster rome total war (the original) and just improve on it (better AI, better graphics and models, more balancing, etc) I would buy that shit right away, but I don't really like any of the recent toal wars

[@Daepilin]

Same for me. I binged all of Rome and medieval, most of Warhammer, but just really can't enjoy three kingdoms or the saga games for some reason...

[@findalin4857]

warhammer 2??? best one for a long time

[@combatmikearms]

@@findalin4857 I personally don't enjoy the whole warhammer thing, hence why I don't play it

[@findalin4857]

@@combatmikearms weird champ

[@combatmikearms]

@@findalin4857 I personally don't see the appeal of it, but you're free to enjoy it

[@delboy1677]

Anybody else clawing their eyes out waiting for fallout 4 yolo?

[@andycoombes3075]

Del Boy We will all be doing our own YOLO run in the real post apocalypse before Jon gets round to Fallout 4 YOLO

[@delboy1677]

@@andycoombes3075 I'm not a man of god, but like the supposed second coming of the lord, i have faith that one day we will all witness Fallout 4 yolo together

[@edand69others65]

Where are my Rome total war generals?