There are named characters who are part of your royal family, and they become generals if placed in an army. Units are not single individuals, but are groups of soldiers, which can range from 80 (knights, elites) to 200 (peasants, low quality infantry) Growths are static, with every level up increasing attack and defence by 1. After that you can begin the battle and start making your moves. Your general (or captain if you didn't put one there) will give a speech that could be heroic or shitty (if he's insane or cowardly) and you can position your men. The game will do a pretty epic zoom-in onto the map (or just go straight to the battle on the much older 2D games). Real-time occurs when your armies clash with others on the world map. This is probably the part that turns most casual gamers away, it gets very taxing keeping track of everything. In the turn-based segments you move your armies around, manage your cities, train troops, make diplomacy, assassinate enemy generals, spy on enemy cities and whatnot. The game is mainly divided into two segments: Turn-based and real-time. I'll give some basics, but you'll be learning as I go through the campaign and such. Total War series is probably one of the most involved strategy games ever. For newcomers to the Total War series and those who just want to look at my Let's Play, I welcome you.

Napoleon total war best mod