Total War: Three Kingdoms – Eight Princes DLC Heroes – Sima Jiong
When the Eight Princes DLC for Total War: Three Kingdoms launches in the first week of August, it will give players access to eight brand-new playable faction leaders; the namesake eight princes themselves. Based on the historical War of the Eight Princes, and set one hundred years after the base game, the DLC includes figures like Sima Wei and Sima Ai. Among their number is Sima Jiong, “The Imperious Regent.”
Sima Jiong in the Total War: Three Kingdoms Eight Princes DLC
“Sima Jiong was a highly regarded young official who was once considered a proper heir, even to Emperor Wu,” explains Creative Assembly; “though he was eventually expelled from the capital. As an imperial prince, Sima Jiong had many imperial troops under his command, and as a well-regarded government official, he supported the initial coup against Empress Jia for the threat she formed to the existing power structure. He then allied against the initial usurper, Sima Lun, and through the success of this alliance, Sima Jiong became increasingly abusive of his position and increasingly power hungry.”
Alongside Sima Lun, Sima Jiong is the second of two Commander-class characters in Eight Princes. Although he isn’t a Vanguard or Champion, he is still a fearsome opponent. After all, his entire retinue causes Terror and all armies in his faction gain +10 morale when attacking! While Sima Lun focuses on spies, Jiong’s focus is on maintaining a firm grip on his territory. He has access to a unique resource known as Control which reduces corruption while increasing noble support. He generates Control himself, as does each new victory. However, he loses Control whenever he loses a battle and whenever he appoints a court minister. Interestingly, he has the unique ability to “Cast Out” ministers from their posts, increasing Control.
Additionally, Sima Jiong can generate Control and also reduce corruption with his unique settlement administration building chain. He can further reduce corruption with a special assignment called Micromanage Commandery. Only certain court members can undertake this assignment, which costs Control to use. However, it reduces corruption while boosting all forms of income. Finally, Jiong has access to the unique Qi Guardsmen and Qi Crossbowmen units. The first are heavily-armoured anti-cavalry polearm infantry. The latter, meanwhile, are armoured crossbowmen who are excellent at puncturing enemy armour.
Sima Jiong’s Start Position
Sima Jiong starts his campaign in Beihai, the same starting location as Kong Rong in the base game. However, unlike Kong Rong, he starts with control over the neighbouring commandery of Taishan. This gives him control of a trade port resource at the start of the game. Although he starts at war with another faction which contests his control of Beihai, he has no other major adversaries from the start. “The road to the capital is free,” notes Creative Assembly; “but he will have to be wary of the opposition of the other princes when heading towards the centre of the map. He will need to seek allies and choose his strategy wisely, or he will see himself isolated diplomatically.”
Sima Jiong in the War of the Eight Princes
Traditionally, Sima Jiong is the fourth of the eight princes, after Sima Liang, Sima Wei, and Sima Lun. He had supported Sima Lun’s coup against Empress Jia Nanfeng. However, the new regent did not give him any noteworthy rewards for his aid. Fearing that Sima Jiong, Sima Yong, or Sima Ying might turn on him, Lun, who had by then usurped the emperor’s throne, dispatched vassals to serve as advisors in each of their courts. Sima Jiong turned the advisor away and promptly declared a rebellion, intending to restore Emperor Hui.
Sima Jiong was quickly joined by Sima Ying, and while Sima Yong had initially intended to support Lun, he changed his mind after hearing that the pair had greater forces. The rebellion was won relatively quickly by the rebels; they captured Sima Lun and forced him to commit suicide before restoring Emperor Hui to the throne. After the fighting was done, both Jiong and Ying were offered the title of regent; potentially allowing them to share power equally. However, Ying refused the position and returned home to Yecheng, leaving Sima Jiong as regent.
It quickly became clear that he was a poor candidate for the position. He grew increasingly arrogant, made his sons princes themselves, and began to oversee governmental affairs from his own mansion; a building which he expanded to be as large as the emperor’s palace. In the year 302, Emperor Hui’s grandson passed away. As a result, the emperor no longer had a male heir. Although Sima Ying was the appropriate successor, Jiong gave the title to Sima Qin; a child whom he hoped to have control over. His actions had not gone unnoticed.
The Downfall of Sima Jiong
Of all the other princes, Sima Jiong was most suspicious of Sima Yong. He knew that the other prince had initially meant to support Sima Lun during their rebellion. However, Yong was well aware of the regent’s suspicion and came up with a plan to exploit it. Rather than rebelling himself, he called upon Sima Ai to do so. He believed that Sima Ai’s attempt would fail, but weaken Sima Jiong sufficiently that he and Sima Ying could overthrow him themselves. At that point, they planned to depose Emperor Hui and make Sima Ying emperor in his place. Sima Yong would become prime minister.
The rebellion began in 302. Upon hearing that Sima Ai had joined the rebels, Sima Jiong launched a preemptive attack against him. However, the prince’s preparations were better than anybody had expected. Not only did he defeat Sima Jiong’s forces, but he succeeded in capturing the imperial palace and Emperor Hui. Shortly thereafter, his soldiers seized control of the capital and he put Sima Jiong to death. Sima Ai became regent in his place, although he made efforts to share power with Sima Ying. Unfortunately, in being so successful in his rebellion, he had actually undermined the plans of Sima Ying and Sima Yong; plans which they had no intention of abandoning…