But then along came Sega, gulping down strategy studios like a big mad whale, and Relic ended up in its belly - right next to Total War devs Creative Assembly.

I'm not alone in this: David Littman, executive producer at Relic Entertainment, always wondered the same thing. It's a tasty formula, and I've often wondered why more games over the years haven't adopted it. The Total War series are the Kinder Eggs of strategy gaming: a layer of delicious, map-based strategy, with a dramatic RTS toy hidden inside.