>>36299
>You sound like a fan of Warhammer
That's correct, but I am also Total War fan and I played them all starting with first Shogun up to the 2nd Shogun.

>I actually find the rooster lacking and not that diverse for what it is
>there really isn't much difference between units even of different races
I don't think I can agree with that opinion, but then you sound like you're talking about your experience with the 1st Warhammer game, and I only played the 2nd one. I have recently bumped into an opinion on the internet that Orcs in wh2 are shit because "they're a wh1 faction in a wh2 game". I'm not sure what did the guy mean by that but maybe there's something to what you say. I started campaings with 5 different races and I can feel the difference.

>the AI is awful and will just run straight at you from the start
Yeah I said I'm not content about the AI but I'm fresh from Shogun 2 and I don't really feel the difference.

>siege battles
Tbh I wasn't content about siege battles since Medieval 2. Hide your units in the forest or send them on the walls, or put them right in front of the wall where towers can't shoot them. The only problem remaining is that your artillery is also getting shot.

>animations
I agree on that, but it's not a big deal for me. Shogun 2 has some really cool dueling animations but truth be told 99% of the time you're not looking at them. And when two models get locked in the animation others can't attack them, which sometimes lead to absurd (or epic) situations when one dude with good rolls can hold entire unit on his own.