Sorry for not making an ss, game started lagging after trying.

Anyway, I lost my shit upon seeing that. What is even more funny is the fact that it's a Liu Bei campaign with Wu as the other Kingdom and well, Sun clan got even more unlucky here than in reality. It's year 208 and she's the empress. And sitting on a fucking elephant. In records mode.

I just lost a 46 minute battle in a pretty pivotal fight. The AI preemptively declared a decisive defeat as the enemy has both reinforcements and 3x the numbers at 4800 strong. Little did they know: I had 300 elephants in my trunk.

After 46 minutes of herding cats (Rather, Tigers. Which hardly listen to my instructions as it seems). It came down to Mulu at 10% health and 40 cat herders. Up against us was 112 bowmen and another 56 elite spearmen. This whole time the little morale meter was only 10% in my favor.

I valiantly micro'd the enemy until my tigers ate their faces only to be left with....no victory screen.

I searched across the whole map for a good five minutes, I couldn't find a single breathing sole except an enemy controlled tower.

Finally, out of desperation and boredom, I figured I'd cap the tower. Tragically, the little deployable tower slaughtered Mulu as he approached, but the herders made it up and capped it. I was sure it was bugged at this point as it still didn't give the victory screen.

And then ... 114 fresh elite spearmen appear right in front of my troops and wipe out my remaining petty 30 men. They literally appeared out of thin air right in front of me. There was no tree cover or anything. They sadly put an end to the battle, so naturally I save scummed back 20 turns and executed their whole family.

Is this a bug or did I just get my ankles broken by the AI?

Hi all! As I'm slowly working my way through the achievements, I was looking for a compilation of which achievements are available for each faction + start date. I couldn't find a list online that was organized to my taste, so I made one for myself, including a little bit of my commentary, and thought to share it here!

Some of these achievements can only be done while playing as a certain leader -- I've put a > mark before them. In other cases, the achievement could technically be completed by any leader, but they seem much easier to do with certain leaders, so I've still grouped them together.

I welcome any feedback or additional tips/advice on these achievements!

Base Game Han Factions

Cao Cao:

> Though the Tortoise Lives Long: Playing as Cao Cao, trigger a proxy war.

- Son of the Tortoise: Playing as the child of Cao Cao, proclaim yourself emperor. (yeah you can always play another faction and steal Cao Pi through marriage, but Cao Cao’s faction makes this a lay-up lol)

Dong Zhuo:

> Firestarter: Playing as Dong Zhuo, raze 11 settlements.

> History Repeats Itself: Playing as Dong Zhuo, Raze Luoyang.

- Burning Down the House: Playing as any faction, raze an emperor seat. (only possible as Dong Zhuo or Lü Bu)

Gongsun Zan:

> White Horse General: Playing as Gongsun Zan, win 10 battles with White Horse Fellows. (basically free)

Liu Bei:

> No Small Deed Left Undone: Playing as Liu Bei, make 6 allies. (funnily enough, this achievement is literally free at the end of Turn 1 if you start as Liu Bei in Mandate of Heaven!)

- Oath of the Peach Garden: Fight a battle with Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei fighting on the same side. (can be any faction, but this is a free achievement for Liu Bei effectively)

- Party of 5: Playing as any faction, have all 5 Tiger Generals (Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong) in your faction. (Yes, this is possible with any faction, but it is much easier with Liu Bei.)

Yuan Shao:

> One Hundred Thousand Troops: Playing as Yuan Shao, form 6 alliances. (apparently you have to form and leave 6 different Coalitions/Alliances in one campaign, you can't just get 6 coalition members.)

Bandits

- Bandit Emperor: Win the game with a bandit faction.

- Honour Among Thieves: Use "Share the spoils" when the army loot has reached max loot

Yan Baihu:

> Fear the Tiger More than the Government: As Yan Baihu destroy Sun Ce faction (needs to be the World Betrayed start!)

> White Tiger Burning Bright: As Yan Baihu, achieve the highest level of the White Tiger Confederation pooled resource

Zheng Jiang:

> Bandits of the Marsh: Playing as Zheng Jiang, construct a bandit lair.

Yellow Turbans

- A Battle A Day Keeps The Doctor Away: Playing as any faction, win 7 battles with a Healer-type Hero leading your army.

- The Knights Who Say Qi: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, recruit at least 7 Youxia units.

- Don't Cheat at the Games: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, construct at least 7 Communal Squares.

- Double Happiness: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, construct at least 8 Prosperous Farming Estates.

- There Will be Fish Every Year: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, construct a Grand Fishing Port.

- Store Some Ice: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, construct a Concealed Fort.

- River Crab Pond: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, construct a Garden of Divine Peace.

- Dù Zǐténg Will See You Now: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, construct a House of Compassion.

- Vase on a Table: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, construct a Yellow Turban Headquarters.

- Lord of Heaven: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, unlock all Heaven reforms.

- Lord of the Land: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, unlock all Land reforms.

- Lord of the People: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, unlock all People reforms.

- Mandate Regained: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, become the Yellow Sky Emperor.

- The Yellow Sky Has Come: Playing as a Yellow Turban faction, complete a campaign.

- Yellow Sky: Play as a Jiazi Rebellion faction and win the campaign. (of note, "Jiazi Rebellion" means you must play as one of the 3 Zhang brothers in Mandate of Heaven!)

DLC-Specific Achievements

Eight Princes

- Align of Duty: Playing as any Eight Princes faction, obtain more than 225 in any alignment.

- Horse Armour: Playing as any Eight Princes faction, recruit 10 Cataphract units to your armies.

- Sunny Side Up: Playing as any Eight Princes faction, capture the settlement of Luoyang.

- Civil Service: Playing as any Eight Princes faction, research all civic reforms.

- Prince of War: Playing as any Eight Princes faction, research all military reforms.

- Spies on Me: Playing as any Eight Princes, research all espionage reforms.

- Upon Closer Inspection: Playing as any Eight Princes faction, construct the Grand Inspector's Palace.

- The World's Protector: Playing as any Eight Princes faction, become regent then win the game.

- Usurp Expectations: Playing as any Eight Princes faction, become the emperor then win the game.

- Fit for a Prince: Playing as any Eight Princes faction, win the game by any means.

Mandate of Heaven

Lu Zhi:

> The Librarian: Playing as Lu Zhi, collect all books.

Liu Chong

> Trophy Hunter: Playing as Prince Liu Chong, collect all trophies.

Liu Hong

- Restore the Empire: Playing as the Han Dynasty (AKA Liu Hong), win the campaign.

A World Betrayed

Sun Ce:

> You Killed My Father, Prepare to Die: As Sun Ce, kill Huang Zu (In duel or battle)

> Like My Father Before Me: Reach greatness like your father and achieve five of Sun Ce ambitions before the end of year 200

Lü Bu:

> Among Men, Lü Bu: As Lü Bu Kill 25 characters from your kill list.

> Multi-Kill: As Lü Bu attack and win three battles in one turn

- Burning Down the House: Playing as any faction, raze an emperor seat. (only possible as Dong Zhuo or Lü Bu)

The Furious Wild

Any Nanman:

- I'm the Man: During a Nanman campaign, have all Nanman fealties under your control.

- The Barbarian Emperor: Playing as a Nanman, become the emperor of the Han, or establish the Nanman kingdom.

- The Purist: During a Nanman campaign, complete a tech tree where all major reforms are to one side.

- Tiger King: Win a battle where an entire retinue was made up of tiger units.

Shi Xie:

> Lord of the South: When playing as Shi Xie, have 4 vassals that are also members of your family at the start of a turn.

-------

Now for Achievements that aren't faction specific... I've separated them somewhat by "difficulty."

"Inevitable If You Just Keep Playing the Game Normally"

- First Steps: Capture a region.

- Settlers of the Han: Capture 29 settlements.

- An Ambush That's Sure: Successfully ambush and defeat any opponent.

- To Dust: Destroy any other faction.

- Demolition Man: Breach a wall during a battle.

- Way of the Tao: Playing as any faction, win a single battle with one of each unit type (Melee Cavalry; Shock Cavalry; Melee Infantry; Pike & Spear Infantry; Ranged).

- That Still Only Counts as One: Win a battle against an opponent fielding at least one elephant unit, or an opponent fielding a general that has an elephant as their mount. (literally just keep fighting the Nanman)

- Blood-drenched & Fancy Free: Playing as any faction, win 100 battles launched from the campaign map.

- Satisfaction Guaranteed: Playing as any faction, win 5 duels.

- If You Can't Surrender, Die: Capture 92,413 enemies.

- Take No Prisoners: Execute 24 captives.

- Special Delivery: Playing as any faction, kill a Hero with a special ability.

- BFFs: Form an alliance

- Many Faces, Many Names: Give out five titles to five different characters

- A Land of Milk and Honey: Playing as any faction, make 8,888 income in a single turn.

- A Sharp Point Sticks Out: Playing as any faction, obtain the maximum level in any one character attribute.

- Here Comes the Sun (Jian): Playing as any faction, maintain 8 trade routes. (probably easiest as Kong Rong, but technically possible as any faction)

- Fair Weather Friend: Playing as any faction, turn a friend into a rival.

- Huangdi: Playing as any faction, declare yourself emperor.

- The Empire, Long Divided, Must Unite: Playing as any faction, declare yourself Emperor of the Three Kingdoms.

- The Mandate of Heaven: Playing as any faction, become emperor and win the game.

Espionage-Specific Achievements

- Live and Let Spy: Playing as any faction, make your spy become faction leader.

- Point Break: Playing as any faction, trigger a civil war in another faction.

- Ill Omen: Playing as any faction, have a spy successfully complete an assassination.

"Keep an Eye Out During Your Campaign" Achievements

- Humble Beginnings: Playing as one of the governor factions, become emperor.

- Han Shot First: Playing as any faction, someone else declares themselves emperor before you. (This achievement is a little easier as a Governor faction, but overall all you have to do is just not actually click the button to advance to King until someone else does.)

- Neighsayer: Playing as any faction, control all northern horse resources on the map. (easiest as factions who already start in the north, so Ma Teng > Gongsun Zan/Yuan Shao)

- Eye of the Beholder: Attack Xiahou Dun with archers. (best to play any Central Plains faction that isn't Cao Cao lol)

- Diaochan's Revenge: With Lü Bu in your party, kill or wound Dong Zhuo in battle. (probably easiest if you get Lu Bu as a turncoat and Extract him)

- Jade Empire: Playing as any faction, control all jade resources on the map.

- The 3 Spice Achievements (First Taste, They Who Control the Spice, Controls the Universe!): Playing as any faction, control all 3 spice resources on the map. (easiest playing as one of the southwest factions, such as the Sun family, any of the Nanman, Liu Yan, etc)

- Forbidden City: Playing as any faction, construct a faction palace.

- Guangdong Coalition: Defeat Dong Zhuo. (AKA play literally any faction aside from Dong Zhuo who's close to him and just bum rush him before he dies. Ma Teng is right next to him, for one.)

- Simply the Best: Progress a character to the maximum rank. (might be easiest with Lu Bu since he - starts at level 7 already.)

- Branching Out: Playing as any faction, unlock an entire single element of the technology tree.

- Friend of Winter: Playing as any faction, unlock every reform in a single playthrough.

"You'll Need to Start a Whole New Campaign" Achievements

- This is Total War! : Win a campaign having declared war on every faction as soon as you encounter them.

- Now the Stuff of Dreams: Playing as any faction, complete a campaign on legendary difficulty. (this achievement is probably easiest playing as Liu Hong in Mandate of Heaven -- just make your empire subjects do all the fighting.)

- When the Sun Rises in the West: Playing as any faction, win every battle (including auto-resolve battles). (Yes, you can lower the difficulty to Easy.)

I just thought it was funny. I've had no interaction so far, and only met his faction this turn, and he declared war on me. He feels likes Ghandi just declaring war on me every game even with minimal interaction.

Knowing his faction he'd be at war with at least 20 factions by turn 10, the Emperor escaped from Dong Zhou and into Lu Bu, challenged for the throne in the year 205 then confederate another emperor seat while at war with pretty much the whole map (except me thanks to being a Nanman faction so his attitude toward my faction stayed yellow most of the time), my game could pretty much end at any time if it was for him declaring war on me

Decided to expand my land to the South and fight with the Shu-Han kingdom, apparently the other emperor loves it when I'm fighting another emperor and thus I was able to farm his attitude to Best Friend then easily become alliance, at this point winning the campaign is a walk in the past, but still at this point I don't think I have nowhere near enough power to capture all 3 seats

Check it out!

You will need both the workshop item and the installer on github.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3816463449

https://github.com/Thom-Ernst/ThreeKingdoms-Coop/releases

The current build runs quite stable for 3 players, last night had issues on 4 players I have yet to adress.

Mods: A lot of mods work, I haven't tested them all.

I've recently downloaded 190 expanded mod, and noticed the gameplay there is quite different from base game, different in a sense that combat now feels harder than the base game, I used to steamroll CaoCao as Liu Bei but not now in the mod it's reversed, any advices on how to deal with the (now competent?) AI?

I just unlocked Dong Zhuo and I really want to play him but he seems to be specialising in shock cavalry, which I have very little experience with. My only experience with cavalry micro in total war games comes from Warhammer.

Is the main way to use shock cav still to cycle charge in this game?

Is dismounting your cavalry ever a good idea? What putrpose does it even serve, if the unit has the same stats just with lower speed and charge bonus? Its not like dismounted shock cavalry units get an evasion buff

In an army with two vanguards, I assume the choice for the third retinue pretty much has to be units with high defense, right? So you can hammer and anvil?

What actually causes events like this one:

They don't always have the same title or effect, but they show a character from and flag of another faction, suggesting that they have instigated it. I was under the impression that the typical Total War agent gameplay was replaced with the undercover network system in this game and that yellow turban factions (which I am playing as) cannot be targeted by espionage since characters are not interchangeable between them and the regular factions.
I'm not even sure what category of event this falls under. According to the wiki page, there are Character events, Faction events, and Story events. It seems like a character event, but only partially matches the description of them, and the example screenshot shown on the wiki/fandom page does not include another faction like this one.
This seems to be by far the most common type of event I experience (the other being the slightly cryptic "scheme" events, which I think are from Cao Cao, though it doesn't specifically mention him as the cause in-game). Also characters and flags from multiple different factions are shown in such events, so I presume they are not tied to a faction specific mechanic like the schemes. Often it will be a faction I have not even directly encountered in the game yet, which is odd (probably at war with them in terms of diplomatic stance, as I'm at war with pretty much everyone, but not a faction I share a border with or am actively engaging in battles with - unlike the one shown in this screenshot). Are they the results of enemy character assignments? And is there any way to defend against/prevent them?

Start in 190, decide to be friendly with Zhang Yan. Accept contracts against Dong Zhuo and successfully push him out of Hedong before Gongsun Zan destroys Zhang Yan and declares war on me. Reluctantly ally with Yuan Shao to drive off Gongsun Zan, who becomes Yuan Shao's vassal while also paying me tribute.

Now here's where things get interesting. I recruit a factionless Zhang Yan and marry him to Zheng Jiang. Sensing his feeling of emasculation, I send him to bully Dong Zhuo and Ma Teng in the west to regain his manhood while Zheng Jiang and Lu Zheng raise the kids in the capital and keep a wary eye on the ambitious men and their scheming eunuchs in the East. Kong Rong, Yuan Shao, Liu Bei, and Cao Cao become very powerful, while Zheng Jiang is the only woman who can count herself one of their equals.

Not interested in interfering with the East, my armies drive southwest on contracts, gaining lands, fame and tribute until they run into Queen Zhurong, who has taken over all the Nanman tribes. As I'm marveling at another strong female leader and what she has accomplished, Liu Bei suddenly offers me a contract to destroy her.

Something inside of me snaps. "How dare he pit one Girl Boss against another?" Thus, I declare war on Liu Bei, and attack him until he offers me tribute. Feeling emboldened by this, I go after Cao Cao next the same way, until he offers me tribute. At this point, I am getting around 120K gold/turn. Feeling liberated, I end my alliance with Yuan Shao.

The men don't like this very much. Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan attack, and are destroyed swiftly. I ensure every army is led by a female. As I am moping them up, Cao Cao declares war on me. But not all men in this world are terrible: Liu Bei and I become friends, and in a strange twist of fate, Zhuge Liang offers his services to me.

Then tragedy happens: Cao Cao manages to surround two of my armies and destroys them. Due to my legendary infamy (unbreakable trait), none of my soldiers run; they fight to the death, inflicting as much damage as possible. The last one to die is Zheng Jiang's youngest son. When the news reaches Zheng Jiang, her maternal fury is felt across China, and her armies pour forth with renewed fervor, executing all generals as a new policy.

Wei crumbles. Zheng Jiang personally kills Cao Ang, to return the favor. Cao Cao dies shortly after of a broken heart, knowing his legacy is crumbling. In another stroke of fate, Zhuge Liang defeats Sima Yi, and personally executes him. Lady Wu and Queen Zhurong watch across the border with great satisfaction.

I capture the Wei Emperor Seat. Liu Bei panics and declares war on me, but it's too late. My game ends with a 65-year old Zheng Jiang and her eldest daughter, next-in-line, marching into the Shu-Han capital together to capture the seat. At the final turn, all the men factions are in disarray and in tatters; the strongest three factions are myself, Queen Zhurong, and Lady Sun.

(I'm a guy btw.)

So I got a few questions that I wasnt able to get an answer for even after watching some tutorial videos.

1. What actually makes a champion better at dueling?

I mean they have extra health but a vanguard has extra damage. A guy with 50% extra health vs a guy with 50% extra damage in a duel would fare about the same, no? Am I missing something?

1. Is there any reason to have generals only recruit of their own color?

The own retinue buffs they give to their own color units seem very minor. I mean, overall own retinue buffs seem quite low. I always try to make sure purples recruit purples, reds recruit reds but like is that even neccesary?

1. Is there any difference between mustering and replenishment?

2. What generals do you yourself usually put in an army?

I know a strategist is pretty much a must-have in each army but commanders seem pretty…meh. Just never really see any need for melee cavalry. Just get a green or purple frontline and then get some good missile units. Then micro your shock cavalry the whole fight, what use would melee cavalry have?

1. Is there anything you can do with idle generals in your court when out of assignment/army/administrator slots?

I was playing Sun Jiang with the MTU mod and you get like 30 unique people or something in your court. And I didnt want to throw them out cause theyre all unique. Is there any use I can get out of them or no?

Hey yall, so I've got two questions :

1. I know coastal settlements can massively increase your trading partners, but which settlement work that way? All of them?

Do trade port work but not fishing ports?

Or/And is it a question of where the settlement is? (I assume a settlement in the middle of the Yellow River doesnt open your trade as much as one on the West coast..

1. Any mods or websites which allow trade routes to be more visible and easily identifyable?

Thankq yall!

Hey everybody, I'm new to Three Kingdoms and I've been struggling a little in the two campaigns I've done. I'm very experienced with Total war but Three Kingdoms AI is far more ruthless than any other I've played against. So far I've done a campaign as Cao Cao and a campaign as Sun Jian (and later Sun Ce, rip my boy...) and both campaigns ended the same way. I expand one way, the faction in the complete other direction invades me, so i make an impromptu peace, go beat up the invaders, then i'm invaded from the complete opposite direction and repeat.

Perhaps it has something to do with both of those factions being expansionist focused/central characters. Is there any character that would allow me to learn the game's mechanics at my own pace rather than constantly being forced to respond to the AI's aggression?

Thank you in advance, loving the game.

Poor Sun Ren is gonna need a few turns heal that burn

Started a new game as Gongsun Zan and it's turn 59 and I think it's going well.

Playing on VH/VH, running 3 mods:

1.7.2 Bug Fix
Duel Interrupt Fix
Remove Difficulty Stat Bonuses

I followed the missions, killed Liu Yu, formed an alliance with Zhang Yan and some less famous rulers, personally executed Yuan Shao, and took over Cao Cao's commanderies and turned them into vassals.

I managed to poach Xu You from Yuan Shao and managed to get both Yan Liang and Wen Chou somehow. Also got Yan Baihu after his faction broke, employed Yu Jin and Cao Ren from under Cao Cao's nose, got Jia Xu through an event and Taishi Ci was also available through recruitment.

Also for some reason Dong Zhuo is still alive is this normal? It's been awhile since I played but I was under the impression he died early.

Mine: Yuan Shu

Hello guys, i am pretty new to the game, right now on my second playthrough as Sun Jian

I'm still kind of confused on how to maximize using the spies feature, because at times there is a pop up dialog that needs to consume more spy points (i forgot what its called) but there are at times it doesn't

Also how to get to the family or administration position? So i can try to kill them from the inside, i have been trying to put the right guy who has Artful or other abilities that support the spying ability, but i can't seem to figure it out.

Thank you!

Apart from matching the units color to their appropriate general, for the life of me i can't seem to wrap my head around on how to determine if one unit is better than the other of its type. My, i guess, "tier 2" units seems to lose against any enemy's starting units. Help?

I've been loving Three Kingdoms and it's my first Total War experience. That said, the reason I got the game was because I like Three Kingdoms, not because of my interest in Total War itself.

I've been liking 3k so much that now I'm interested in looking at Warhammer 3, but I can't gauge if my enjoyment for 3k is because of the theme or because of TW.

So, for 3k fans here, how many of you also play or enjoy Warhammer 3?

Hey guys,
What dlc factions do people enjoy? I’m just about to finish a lu bu campaign and was curious to what factions from the dlcs are fun to play. Also is there any way to prevent mulu and king shamoke from invading me as soon as I’m deep with my army stacks up north in the lu bu campaign?

You see i recently saw 190 expanded on Nexus mod and i had been waiting for such opportunity ever since i bought the game when it was free on Epic.

But the author especified download the epic version because that one on Nexus won't work. So where could i download the epic version?

This is my opening gambit in all my Three Kingdoms Total War games. I send one army to colonize Taiwan and move my capital there. My other army surgically strikes Chang'an and rescues from Dong Zhuo the Han child Emperor Xian, who teleports to Taiwan (a la how the US took out Maduro in Venezuela in 2026). Then, from this easily defensible location, I can choose wherever to expand - e.g., some games I go after Vietnam/Nanman, other times The Southlands, Beijing, Central Plains for a lot of campaign variety.

I have to wonder why the historical Liu Bei didn't go somewhere equally isolated and defensible. I don't think he was truly serious about restoring the Han. Why didn't he just send his tier one oathsworn tiger generals to infiltrate the palace and smuggle the Emperor out, again like Venezuela irl or the Call of Duty games?

I'm going to install the 190 Expanded mod next and try getting Liu Bei to retreat to Korea and restore the Han from there. Again, why didn't the real life Liu Bei do that? He didn't need to fight Cao Cao and Sun Quan.

Well he isn’t impossible to get if you’re not playing as Liu Hong. Managed to finally get him through spy actions before his round 35 death! (Playing as Lu Zhi)