I started on Rome 1 and played it for about three years. That was one hell of a game. I always loved the Egyptian faction, although, with the exception of the hordes who I just never cared for, I loved near all of them. Then along came Medieval 2, with its hot seat campaign and amazing expansion, I preferred the Americas campaign, although Teutonic was a close second. Empire changed the entire series, from its scale to how cities and armies were managed. Prussia was easily my favorite campaign. Napoleon was good, but felt the same as empire, just smaller and more focused. Shogun was awesome, but I have the least amount of play time on it. Rome 2, now that it's patched, is absolutely epic. I've got an ongoing campaign on it right now, and the expansion campaigns we great, even if a little overpriced.