We started playing a co-op campaign with SFO — one as Karl Franz, the other as Elspeth.
We’re around turn 50 now, and overall the campaign is really dragging and becoming quite frustrating for me personally.

I play Karl Franz, and my buddy plays Elspeth. The biggest issue I have is that Elspeth can easily confederate half the Empire before I even reach 2,500 Prestige or 10 Fealty. In most cases, 80% of the Elector Counts get wiped out before I can even engage with my campaign mechanics in the first place.

Overall, the Karl Franz mechanic feels rather redundant. You end up aiming for annexation anyway, and the existence of the Elector Counts feels like a gimmick meant to be consumed. I’m not sure if this is an SFO design choice — to push players toward annexing Elector Counts instead of maintaining them — but in my opinion, the Empire and Elector Count system should focus on balance of power and mutual benefit, not total absorption.

Franz’s gameplay should reward keeping Elector Counts alive — sharing income, unique units, and buffs — rather than just conquering everything like every other faction. But as mentioned, since the Electors die within five turns anyway, this ends up being a secondary problem.


Co-op Issues

Even if we manage to conquer the entire Empire despite the flawed design of Franz’s mechanics, the Elspeth player effectively cripples Karl Franz’s mechanics by locking me out of Elector Count bonuses.

I don’t know if we just picked a bad setup, or if this needs improvement, but I expected the game to recognize that if we play as a team, provinces held by my co-op partner should still count as “ours.” That way, I could still engage with my mechanics even if Elspeth controls the province.

It’s worth mentioning that this does work elsewhere — for example, when we played a Cathay campaign for around 150 turns, my quest progress still counted when my buddy captured the required settlements. So the groundwork for this feature already exists.


Campaign Pacing & Economy

The pacing and progression of the Empire campaign feel extremely erratic. I get that it’s called Total War, but the early game as the Empire is pure chaos. Bretonnia got wiped out instantly, most Elector Counts died immediately, Kislev is down to its last city, Dwarfs are fighting Wood Elves, and they’re both dying to Orcs.

Maybe it’s bad RNG, but I feel like I have zero room to maneuver or make decisions. We’re 20 hours in, and all I do is react to incoming armies, trying to deal them a bloody nose before another one arrives.

On top of that, the Empire’s economy feels awful. The only decent income building I have is the Dyemaker, because farms no longer provide income. This leaves me with around 2–3k gold per turn — barely enough to cover construction. My armies are stuck with Tier 1 and 2 units because I don’t have the time or money to retreat and rebuild. Disbanding to upgrade is suicide, as multiple factions immediately pounce the moment my power rating drops.

After 50 turns with the same weak units, it’s getting boring and mentally draining. I like a challenge, but I wish I had more control over when and how I fight — not just endless reaction to external pressure.


I suspect that the combination of a broken economy, lack of access to Elector Count bonuses, and some harsh faction balance decisions has turned the Empire campaign into a stressful game of whack-a-mole with no breathing room.


Constructive Feedback for SFO

Economy: Rework the Empire’s economy to allow more reliable income, even if all trade partners die. Bring back income for farms and add more mid-tier economic buildings that don’t hurt control.

Faction Placement: Move or remove some “evil” factions from the Empire’s heartlands to let the Elector Counts survive longer (e.g., Orcs in the north, Treefolk in the east, or Festus).

Co-op Mechanics: When playing as a team, make Elector Count slots unlocked if the player team controls the province — so Franz + Elspeth (or Franz + Gelt) can cooperate effectively.

Elector Count Design: Rework the system so that Franz benefits from keeping Elector Counts alive — gaining access to their unique units, bonuses, and income — and loses them if they rebel or declare war on each other and, of corse, die.