Who Are the Eight Princes in the First Total War: Three Kingdoms DLC?
Creative Assembly recently announced their first major Total War: Three Kingdoms DLC – Eight Princes. This will be the first Chapter Pack DLC, featuring a new campaign set one hundred years after the core game. The DLC is based on the War of the Eight Princes, a period of frequent civil wars during the Jin dynasty. Together with the new setting, players will get to play as eight new faction leaders, all complete with new faction mechanics, unique units, and more.
The New Playable Characters in the Eight Princes DLC
Thus far, Creative Assembly has revealed that eight characters will be playable in the upcoming DLC; the Eight Princes themselves. It’s unknown if any other characters, such as Empress Jia Nanfeng, will also be playable. (Perhaps in a similar manner to Dong Zhuo in the core game.) Some details of the eight princes’ play-styles, unique units, and special mechanics have now been revealed to an extent. While this feature will delve more specifically into gameplay elements, keep an eye on our Total War topic page for upcoming articles delving into the history behind each of the eight princes!
Sima Liang, the Rightful Regent
The first of the eight princes is Sima Liang, who ruled briefly as a regent of Emperor Hui, though his tenure lasted less than a year. In Eight Princes, Sima Liang is a Champion character. His unique units are the Imperial Guards, a highly defensive frontline infantry units. The Rightful Regent’s play-style is shaped by his Domain, a unique form of government. Domain puts a limit on the number of commanderies he can control before he starts acquiring penalties.
Sima Liang’s unique resource is Jurisdiction, which expands the size of his Domain and also boosts estates income, faction-wide replenishment, and the chance to capture characters after a battle. Liang acquires Jurisdiction by signing “Cooperation” vassalage treaties with other factions, as well as from his unique building chain, Judiciary. These buildings also reduce local corruption.
Sima Wei, the Tempestuous General
Sima Wei was the fifth son of Emperor Wu, and a fierce general who helped Jia Nanfeng overthrow Yang Jun. After he carried out the executions of Sima Liang and Wei Guan, the empress betrayed him and had him executed. In the Eight Princes DLC, Sima Wei will be a Vanguard character with a very aggressive play-style. His unique units are the Chu Infantry and Chu Spearmen. The first are an assault unit with anti-infantry bonuses. The latter are a spear infantry unit with bonuses against armoured cavalry. His unique building chain are Conscription buildings which increases starting rank, replenishment, and seasonal retinue deployment. It also reduces redeploment costs.
Sima Wei uses a unique resource called Fury, which he gains from victories and some of the options available after conquering settlements. The more Fury he has, the bigger reduction he has to unit upkeep. Fury also increases replenishment and also affects diplomatic relationships. Fury does decrease over time, so Sima Wei players will need to keep winning battles and expanding their territory. The Tempestuous General has two unique assignments as well. Reward the Nobility increases support from the nobles, while Rally Conscripts boosts his local replenishment. Sima Wei can also use a special court action called Present Gift which will improve his relationship with the recipient character.
Sima Lun, the Usurper Prince
The third prince, Sima Lun, was responsible for the downfall of Empress Jia Nanfeng. After a brief period as regent of Emperor Hui, he deposed the emperor and seized the position for himself. His reign did not last long, however, as Sima Jiong launched a rebellion to restore Emperor Hui. In Eight Princes, Sima Lun will be a Commander with a unique play-style focused on spies and undercover actions. His unique units are the Xiongnu Cavalry and Xiongnu Cataphracts, heavy cavalry units with powerful charge bonuses. His building chain is the Judiciary, which generates his unique resource and improves family estates income.
Sima Lun’s unique resource is Subterfuge. He generates this resource through spy actions, and he can expend it to improve his undercover network and perform “dipomatic deceptions”. He can even incite proxy wars like Cao Cao. To allow him to start acquiring Subterfuge straight away, Sima Lun will start the game with an open spy slot.
Sima Jiong, the Imperious Regent
After overthrowing Sima Lun, Sima Jiong served as regent for Emperor Hui. This regency lasted five years before he fell victim to a conspiracy engineered by Sima Ai, Sima Yong, and Sima Ying. In the upcoming DLC, Sima Jiong will be a Commander character. His unique units are the Qi Guardsmen, a heavily-armoured unit of polearm infantry, and Qi Crossbowmen, who are armoured crossbowmen. He has a unique administration building chain which reduces local corruption while generating Control, his unique resource.
Control is a resource which Sima Jiong can use to increase noble support (the equivalent of public order in Eight Princes) while decreasing corruption. The faction leader generates Control himself and also acquires it by winning battles. He loses Control whenever he loses a battle or whenever he appoints a character to a minister position. Jiong has a special action in court to cast out characters from their positions. He also has a unique assignment called Micromanage Commandery. This boosts income from any source and reduces corruption. However, it costs Control to use.
Sima Ai, the Principled Administrator
Sima Ai is the fifth of the eight princes, and is best known for his attempts to reform government during his three-year regency. In Eight Princes, he will be a Champion who focuses on “internal development”. His unique units will be Infantry of Jing and Archers of Jing. The former will be a polearm infantry unit with anti-cavalry bonuses while the latter will be a long-range bow unit with plenty of ammunition. Sima Ai’s play-style makes use of a unique resource called Reformation. He gains Reformation through the development of his commandery capitals, thanks to his Reformed Infrastructure trait.
Sima Ai also has access to two unique assignments; Restructure Administration, which increases Reformation production, and Regulate Markets, which consumes Reformation to enhance commerce, silk, and spice income. The more Reformation he accrues, the better bonuses he has to both trade influence and faction research speed. Plus, Reformation will reduce corruption faction-wide.
Sima Ying, the Beloved Governor
After the execution of Sima Ai at the hands of Sima Yue, Sima Ying seized control of the government and became crown prince, although he would later fall victim to a betrayal by Sima Yong. Interestingly, he is the only member of the Eight Princes to have the Strategist class. His unique units are the Qiang Marauders, Qiang Hunters, and Qiang Raiders; shock cavalry, horse archers, and melee cavalry, respectively. His unique building chain, meanwhile, is the Government Support chain. His variant increases peasantry income and food production.
Sima Ying’s play-style focuses on characters. When he appoints a character to a ministerial position, that character grants additional bonuses faction-wide. Ordinarily, only the heir, prime minister, and faction leader would do so. As a result, Sima Ying can assemble a court of characters with bonuses that greatly increase the effectiveness of his faction.
Sima Yong, the Shrewd Defender
The seventh prince, Sima Yong demoted Sima Ying and became regent himself. However, his actions led to another rebellion led by Sima Yue. He will be a Vanguard character in the Eight Princes DLC, with access to two unique cavalry units; the Xianbei Horse Archers and Xianbei Riders. Sima Yong’s play-style focuses on infrastructure and defence. When he has an army garrisoned in a settlement, the army provides a bonus to the settlement’s faction support and reserves, while decreasing construction costs.
Sima Yong’s unique building chain is particularly useful. It increases noble support, provides extra garrison units, and even increases prestige. Plus, it boosts income from all sources! He can also use a unique Military Supervision assignment. This also boosts income from all sources, but it does reduce noble support in the commandery. As a small added bonus, the Man of the Hour event is more likely to trigger following a battle for Sima Yong. This means that he is more likely to acquire new characters this way.
Sima Yue, the Imperial Overseer
The eighth and final prince, Sima Yue seized control of the emperor after defeating Sima Yong. It’s believed that he was responsible for poisoning the emperor, leading to the subsequent reign of Emperor Huai. Sima Yue is the only Sentinel among the eight princes in the DLC, with access to the Xu Raiders and Warriors of Xu unique units. The former are shock infantry while the latter are frontline axe infantry with missile defence. His building chain is Labour, which increases local population growth while reducing construction costs.
Sima Yue makes use of a unique resource called Influence. He generates Influence through special commandery assignments and is lost when his forces lose battles. Influence also decreases over time. Influence decreases faction-wide construction costs and construction time, while also increasing his faction’s research speed. Sima Yue also has two extra court positions which he can appoint characters to. The Military Emissary reduces recruitment costs faction-wide and allows characters to perform the Military Interference assignment. Meanwhile, the Provincial Advisor reduces corruption and allows characters to perform an assignment called Provincial Inspection.