Total War: Rome 2's recent Desert Kingdoms expansion has brought in four new factions to play around with, as well as a variety of content and improvements to the game itself. So if you were looking to give Rome 2 another try, now would be a very good time to do so, even if you don't own the Desert Kingdoms DLC as all of the new content is still present on the campaign map.

For the veterans among you that are looking for an extra bit of challenge, however, Creative Assembly has now revealed their video list of the top 5 hardest starting positions. The nominees shouldn't come as much of a surprise given how terrible some of their early turns are, but it's still worth checking out if you feel like trying to overcome the odds. Have a look:

Personally, I'd vote for the Western Roman Empire in Atilla, especially on the Legendary difficulty setting. It's technically cheating since it's not Rome 2, but it's one of those campaigns that have stuck around in my memory because of how brutal the early turns are. Your economy is in tatters, your enemies are literally everywhere and are often better equipped, and to further rub salt into the wound, your weak economy quickly results in the much more powerful Eastern Roman Empire betraying you. It's one hell of a disadvantage to overcome, but that's exactly what makes winning that campaign so enjoyable - you know you beat the odds and persevered where many others have fallen!

While this is slightly unrelated to the topic at hand, it is also worth mentioning that Creative Assembly has recently announced a brand new campaign pack for Rome 2, as well as a new free DLC that will arrive alongside it. The details are still shrouded in mystery so I can't tell you much more, but at least you now know that this isn't the end of the road for Rome 2!