Major Factions

War Universalis/2/3 is divided into several eras, spanning from 58 CE to 1756 CE.

Pax Romana (58 CE)
Dominated by the Roman Empire faction, this era has the least amount of playable nations due to how unbelievably big the major countries are.

This era is often criticized for the presence of the Roman Empire and how large it is and how expensive the relevant countries are.

Major Countries

 * Roman Empire
 * Parthian Empire
 * Kushan Empire
 * Han Dynasty

Three Kingdoms (224 CE)
This era is still dominated by the '''Roman Empire. Parthia is replaced by the Sassanid Empire''', which becomes the new major Persian faction in this era. Han China has broken into three kingdoms; Wei, Wu and Shu.

Major Coutries

 * Roman Empire
 * Sassanid Empire
 * Gupta Empire
 * Kushan Empire

Barbarian Invasion (395 CE)

The Roman Empire has been at war with the Barbarian tribes, most notably the Huns, for many years now. But the great empire has been divided in two, the West Roman Empire and the East Roman Empire. Sections of the Roman Empire has fallen to the barbarians.

Major Factions


 * West Roman Empire
 * East Roman Empire
 * Sassanid Empire
 * Gupta Empire
 * Huns

Fall of Rome (476 CE)

Rome has fallen, the gates to the city have been opened, Rome has been conquered by the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire has been reformed into the Byzantine Empire.

India has broken apart with the Gupta faction and Vakataka rising from its ashes.

Major Factions
 * Byzantine Empire
 * Ostrogoths
 * Franks
 * Sassanid Empire
 * Gupta
 * Visigoths

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Rise of Islam (628 CE)

The old superpowers, the Byzantines and Sassanids, are joined by a third: the Rashidun '''Caliphate. '''In this era, the Caliphate takes large swathes of Byzantine and Sassanid land, but still does not reach its height.

In the west, the Franks are a rising power, while the Lombards have invaded Northern Italy.

The Avar Khaganate has taken control of most of the Pannonian Basin.

Meanwhile, in East Asia, the Tang Dynasty has reunited China.

Major Factions .
 * Byzantine Empire
 * Sassanid Empire
 * Caliphate
 * Franks
 * Tang Dynasty
 * Visigoths

Iberian Capitulation (713 CE)

In this era, the Caliphate reaches its height, being by far the most powerful country at this time. Byzantium retains a large chunk of its territory, but the Sassanids have been completely destroyed.

Frankia continues to gain power in the west, gradually swallowing up its neighbors, though it still does not reach its height.

Visigothic Spain has fallen to the Caliphate, and in its place a new nationalism arises (Cordoba).

Major Factions .
 * Caliphate
 * Byzantine Empire
 * Frankia
 * Tang Dynasty 

Charlemagne (769 CE)

By this point, the Caliphate has begun its slow decline. Byzantium clings onto Anatolia and Greece, but loses more and more control in Italy. Frankia reaches its height during this era, having around 150 provinces. Not much else happens.

Major Factions .
 * Frankia
 * Caliphate
 * Byzantine Empire
 * Tang Dynasty 
 * Cordoba

Viking Invasion (841 CE)

In this era, Frankia collapses into three separate states: West, Middle and East Frankia. This changes the balance of power in western Europe forever. For the first time since the beginning of its existence, Byzantium has no land in Italy. The Caliphate loses Persia in this era, a major blow to its dominance in the Middle East.

Major Factions .
 * Byzantine Empire
 * Caliphate
 * Tang Dynasty
 * Cordoba

The Holy Roman Empire (962 CE)

In this era, an actual faction forms: the Holy Roman Empire. From here on out, Central Europe will be divided into increasingly smaller and smaller nations. England is unified by the kings of Wessex in this era. West Frankia continues to exist, though in a slightly smaller state than the previous era.

Byzantium has a minor comeback, retaking a good chunk of southern Italy from the Arabs. The Caliphate still has no serious rival in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, in China, the long-lived Tang dynasty has come to an end. China once more fragments into multiple small kingdoms.

Major Factions .
 * Byzantine Empire
 * Caliphate
 * Cordoba
 * Song Dynasty

Crusader Kings (1066 CE)

This era is regarded as one of the most balanced eras, as there are no huge empires that have complete dominance in a particular era.

West Frankia reforms into the kingdom of '''France. Cordoba 's '''rule in Iberia comes to an end, with the exception of a tiny sliver of land in the south. Iberia is now divided into several Christian, and several Muslim states.

Byzantium continues to rule Greece and Anatolia.

The Caliphate 's dominance in the Middle East is finally broken by the arrival of the Seljuks, who threaten both the Caliphate and Byzantium.

The Russian steppe is finally unified by the Cumans, who can field an extremely mighty army due to their +5000/army policy.

China is unified once again by the Song dynasty.

Major Factions .
 * Byzantine Empire
 * Caliphate
 * Seljuk Empire
 * Cumans
 * Song Dynasty
 * England
 * France

The Hundred Years War (1337 CE)

This era used to be the last era in War Universalis 2, before the addition of the Fall of Byzantium on November 11, 2017.

A lot of changes occur in this era; the Caliphate is replaced by the Mamluks. Byzantium, though still a regional power, has lost most of its territory. The Seljuks have completely collapsed. The dominant power in Iberia is now Castile, and the Muslims have nearly been pushed off the peninsula.

In the east, the Song dynasty is replaced by the Mongol Yuan dynasty. Likewise, the Cumans are replaced by the Golden Horde. The empire of Delhi in India reaches its height during this time.

Major Factions
 * Yuan Dynasty
 * Golden Horde
 * Mamluks
 * Castile
 * England
 * France
 * Delhi