An extraordinary task to try and improve on Rome: Total War, but Medieval II is most definitely an improvement. The graphics on the battlefield are beautiful, however slower systems with older graphics cards struggle to capitalize. The big improvements to gameplay are with the AI on the battlefield. In Rome, the AI was idiotic at defending fortified cities. The enemy commander would place few units to defend walls and often needlessly retreat back to the city center. In regular combat the AI could be severely outdone by using feint cavalry charges to break up large enemy armies into manageable bits, that could be locally outnumbered and broken by cavalry charges to the flanks and rear. In Medieval II, the computer opponent places infantry and archers on the city walls opposite your troops and moves them to counter your movements and it is much harder to win regular battles. While the experienced player can still make enough progress to keep the game interesting, one can not depend on the same battlefield advantage as with Rome: Total War. The level of challenge involved in the campaign game is inspiring. I hope that in the near future the Total War series will come out with a multi player campaign game.
This excellent video by Attila16 will introduce you to the thunder of battle
One of the best boardgames ever made, Axis and Allies combines the history and drama of the second world war with deep strategy lacking in many modern computer games.
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