I had hoped Imperium Surrectum would follow a historically grounded approach. Unfortunately, that proved to be a misjudgement. I was visibly disappointed by the portrayal of the Numidians — a group that many players remember from Rome: Total War as a “desert faction” — which in this case is completely wrong. The Numidians lived in Mediterranean regions, unlike other Berber groups such as the Garamantes or the Tuaregs. They inhabited the green, mountainous and highland areas of North Africa. It is simply incorrect to present Numidia as a desert faction: they did not rely on camels and they have historically been located in the far north of the region.

BUT the MAIN PROBLEM is the portrayal of the Numidians. I thought “Blackwashing” campaigns would not appear in a project like this. I do not understand why you depicted the Numidians (Algeria) as a sub-Saharan African population. North Africans, including the Libyans, were a Mediterranean people and typically had an olive-Mediterranean complexion. Best example are famous pure Berber-Algerians like Zidane, Benzema or others! This “Blackwashing” makes the game fall apart atmospherically for me and renders it almost unplayable. I hope this will be corrected.

Another issue is the small size of the selectable numidian units and apparent irrelevance of the Numidian forces in the game, despite their significant historical influence on Rome and Carthage. Other peoples — for example the Nabateans or various nations that historically had little impact and were not known as warrior cultures — have been given greater military prominence and strength. Historically, Numidians proved themselves repeatedly as effective fighters; they were not inferior warriors compared to those other groups.