Medieval 2’s Elder Scrolls mod gets ever deeper in 2.0 update

The modders behind Medieval 2: Total War + The Elder Scrolls mashup The Elder Scrolls: Total War are going ever deeper into the lore of Tamriel, adding mercenary armies to represent minor factions and races across the map. The upcoming 2.0 update will introduce three new armies after nearly four years of development on the mod. (PC Gamer first reported on the mod in March 2015.) This new patch will add Skyrim’s infamous Reachmen, the Tsaesci serpent-men, and the Clockwork City of Sotha Sil as factions that you can recruit to your cause by fulfilling certain quests on the strategic map. To recruit the Reachmen, for example, you have to unite their territories in southwest Skyrim and then release their leader, Madanach, from the Sidna mines where he’s being held prisoner. It’ll earn you the enmity of Ulfric Stormcloak, however.

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More than anything, this preview of the upcoming update shows how much blood, sweat, and tears these modders have put into their work. Even with a year or more between major updates, work has never ceased. Every one of the 20+ factions in this thing has custom models, including all these mercenary factions, and many of the cities are modeled after the ones in Elder Scrolls games. (Which aren’t the first ones: The Wild Hunt, Maormer, Mannimarco’s undead, a Vampire clan, and the Dawnguard have all been in the game for a while.) Previous updates, like the 1.4 update, have been called the last update for the mod, but it does look like this 2.0 update may well be the last. And that’s okay, because these modders have given you the Elder Scrolls strategy game that Bethesda may never make.

You can read the full update preview here or download the mod here on ModDB.

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Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.