Bellum Universalum - Classic Middle Ages Mod is a free mod created by Knut_Bellum_Universa. This custom add-on expands Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms, going beyond the 13th-century premise of the base game to include 1470 to 1667. Also, there are about 30 playable factions in this game—marking a massive improvement over what’s available with the vanilla version.

With an easy installation process and a massive range of content with an effort toward historical accuracy, Bellum Universalum - Classic Middle Ages Mod is a promising add-on to the strategy game. Also, try The Last Kingdom (M2TW) Mod or Total Vanilla Beyond Mod.

Get ready for the full era

Players of Total War: Kingdoms are aware of the mostly 13th-century coverage of the game, and Bellum Universalum - Classic Middle Ages Mod goes beyond that. Beyond the wider time period covered, it reimagines most of the existing game elements such as portraits of units and buildings, and the 3D textures of the same assets. Players are also treated to a new intro video, new loading screens, and new maps.

For the gameplay, this mod becomes inaccessible to new players because of the increased difficulty. Existing players will be able to tell the changes in the AI behavior—from the statistical models, the registries, and even the combat mechanics. It makes them more unpredictable, and when combined with submods that can be toggled such as the heir selection option, gives it an extremely steep learning curve.

As an add-on file, though, this Bellum Universalum mod offers a breather compared to other hard-to-install mods. For something with a lot of content, it comes in an easy executable file with reasonable file size. More importantly, it fixes minor bugs from the vanilla version, such as inconsistencies in the seasons or texture and asset problems—the infamous floating facade being one of them.

Massive and detailed Total War add-on

As far as Total War: Kingdoms mods go, Bellum Universalum - Classic Middle Ages Mod has to be one of the most polished creations out there. Coming in an easy-to-install package, it lets you access a wider range of human history—complete with reworked in-game content and more factions to play as. More importantly, it takes effort to fix some of the persisting issues from the vanilla version.