How to Use Reinforcements and Allies
Battles that are part of campaign games can sometimes involve more than one army for both the attackers and defenders When you're attacking, the army that makes the attack on the campaign map is always the one you control directly. When you're defending on the campaign map. the army that's attacked is always the one you control. Other adjacent armies 011 the campaign map can appear 011 the battlefield as reinforcements and or allies. Friendly reinforcements are armies or units belonging to the...
The Senate Officials Scroll
This is a list of all the characters in the game that have been honored with positions of responsibility by the Senate. Only Romans can hold senate offices. Each of the offices grants benefits to the holder while he has the office. Each office also gives benefits to former holders the honor of being trusted by the senate stays with a man forever. Senate offices are divided among the Senate itself and the three Roman factions according to the popularity of each faction on the senate floor. A...
How to Break a Siege
There are two ways of breaking a siege sallying forth with the garrison and sending a relief force. While under siege, the garrison can't leave and new forces can't enter the settlement. The settlement is cut off by the besiegers. To sally out. select any units in the garrison and right-click on the besieging army. The Battle Deployment Scroll will be displayed so that you can see the odds and decide whether or not to auto-resolve the fight. Any adjacent friendly armies will appear as...
Multiplayer Games
Multiplayer games allow you to battle against other people, either over the Internet or across a Local Area Network LAN . You can create multiplayer customised battles or fight one of the special historical multiplayer battles that have been included with Rome Total War. There are three options on the multiplayer menu Online Battles Click here to host or sign in to an online battle hosted through GameSpy You'll need an active Internet connection before starting and any firewall software on your...
Routing Units and Pursuit
As has been noted, generals can rally routing units. This won't work if enemy forces are too close to the routing unit. They will ignore the general and concentrate on escaping death Therefore, it can be a good idea to keep some speedy forces available to pursue fleeing foes to prevent them from rallying. There's also a good chance of killing some enemies as they run. saving you the trouble of having to fight against them on another battlefield. Traditionally, light cavalry were used for this...
How to Besiege a Settlement or Fort
Sieges start automatically whenever an army attacks right-click a settlement. A besieged settlement is shown with a line of sharpened stakes around it. Only friendly forces or allies can joint besiege a settlement or fort two or more neutral forces cannot besiege the same location. The Siege Details Scroll shows you all the information you need to control a siege the cities' defenses, your siege equipment and the time the settlement can hold out. In most cases, you'll need to construct siege...
Faction Ranking Scroll
This scroll gives you a way of seeing your progress in the game and comparing your strength with that of your rivals in several different ways. The graph shows your faction's power over time as an absolute value it doesn't show the proportion of the world's power that you control. The ranking choice allows you to choose an aspect of your faction's power production, territorial, financial, population and overall. The faction choice lets you choose which collection of factions you wish to compare...
Load Game Menu
The options on this screen allow you to load a previously saved game. Load Campaign Game - Reload a campaign. The auto-saved game is the one that was played most recently on your PC. Load Custom Battle - Replay your favourite custom battles as often as you like. The custom battle system allows you to save your battles for repeated playing. Load Battle Replay - Relive your greatest triumphs At the end of every custom battle, you can save the action for later replay. You'll have control of an...
Building Forts and Watchtowers
Only an army under the command of a general can build watchtowers and or forts. When this is not possible, this button is greyed out. Clicking 011 the Construction button while not in a settlement brings up the Field Construction scroll. From here, you can select either a watchtower or a fort. Each has a denarii cost associated with it. Watchtowers are permanent structures that extend your field of view. Forts require a garrison to remain in play. If the fort is empty when the end of turn...
Army and Unit Controls
In the left section of the control panel are the controls for individual units and groups of units. As with any part of the game, tool tips are displayed when you move the cursor over relevant items Clicking on the portrait of your commanding general immediately moves the camera to a position behind the generals' unit. A banner is displayed here when the army is under the command of a captain. Click here to stop the orders being carried out by the selected unit s . You can also press the...
Repairing Buildings
Buildings can be damaged through natural disasters and during siege assaults. It's quite possible to damage a town without taking it. and the longer an assault takes, the more collateral damage is done. Left-click on the Repair tab to see which buildings need work. Repairing buildings works in a very similar fashion to new construction. The cost of repairs is usually substantially less than the cost of a new building, both in terms of cash and of time. Instead of being presented with...
The Prologue
The Sons of Mars campaign is an introduction to the world of Rome Total War. It's your task to lead the Julii family to a position of power by conquering Rome's neighbours. This is the way to greatness in Rome Total War attack external enemies and gain credit for doing so. When you're ready, click on the arrow in the lower-right corner of the screen to begin. You'll start the game with one of your advisors. Victoria, telling you a little about herself and her tasks in the game. All you need to...
Changing Unit Facing
All units have a facing. All attacks are carried out to the front of a unit, and units can be vulnerable when attacked in the flanks sides or from behind. It's possible to alter a unit's facing to meet an oncoming threat, perhaps without having it move. Select the unit by left-clicking on it on the battlefield or its unit card in the Control Panel. Use the lt and gt keys the same keys as comma and period on many keyboards to rotate the unit's facing without changing its position. The new layout...
Attacking with Supporting Armies
Reinforcements can join an attack. When a battle is auto-resolved, their strength is simply taken into account. When a battle is fought out in detail, their effects are more significant When one army attacks, any other friendly army yours, or one belonging to an ally that is adjacent to the army or settlement under attack can become reinforcements. The army that attacks is the one you directly control. Make sure that your forces are all in the red zone of control of an enemy army, or cancel the...
How To Run Settlements
Settlements are centrally important in your efforts to conquer the world. They generate income through taxes. Military units are trained there. And without taking enemy settlements, you're unlikely to win the game. Each settlement is the regional capital of the province it occupies the faction that owns a settlement also owns the associated province. All the resources trade goods, for example shown on the campaign map in a province are available for use by the settlement. You can move the...
Generals and Governors
Generals are named characters, members of the ruling family of a faction who command. They can have traits and gain a retinue of attached ancillary characters to help them in their work. Each general has a bodyguard unit. Casualties taken by the bodyguard are slowly replaced over time. The size of the bodyguard depends on the rank and experience of the general. The type of bodyguard depends on the faction, the date in the game and so forth. Generals who end a turn in a settlement without a...
How To Use More Than One Unit
It's possible to issue orders to multiple units at the same time. The units will move to the same location or attack the same target. There are various ways of selecting more than one unit to receive orders Hold down the Ctrl key and left-click on more than one unit on the battlefield. Left-click and drag on the battlefield away from a unit, creating a highlighted box. All the units within the box will be selected. Hold down the Ctrl key and left-click on more than one unit card in the Control...
How to Control the Battlefield Camera
The default for the battlefield camera in Rome Total War is an RTS-style camera, which can be controlled by the mouse or keyboard controls. There's also a second mode that will be discussed in a moment Moving the cursor to the edge of the screen alters the camera view. The cursor changes shape to show that the view can be altered. n j Moving the cursor to the top or bottom i.e the bottom of _ the control panel of the screen makes the camera track forward and backward. The angle of view does not...
Waypoints
When a unit is issued a movement order, it normally marches straight toward its destination. However, units are sensible and watch for barriers such as walls and rivers and follow a route that takes them over a river crossing a ford or bridge , or through a gap in the walls. It's possible to issue detailed marching orders to a selected unit and set up waypoints for it to follow to its final destination To set a waypoint for a unit, hold down the shift key and right-click on the spot you want as...
The Settlement Details Scroll
This scroll allows you to review the settlement in detail, and see what factors are contributing to the overall population growth, public order and settlement income. For each of these three areas, the positive factors are shown above the negative factors. Move the cursor over each icon and a tool tip appears telling you what it represents. The other important, perhaps vital, piece of information presented here is the length of time that the settlement can withstand a siege. This represents the...
Merging Armies
Move an army onto another friendly same faction army or settlement to merge the two forces. It may be useful to merge units before merging armies. You can't merge units while you're merging armies. The general with the highest Command rating is usually in charge of a merged army. When an army led by a captain is merged with a general's army, the captain is reduced to the ranks and disappears. II there are more than 20 units total, in both armies involved in the merging, then the Merge Armies...
Unit Morale
Morale is the willingness of a unit to fight on while taking casualties. As long as a unit's morale remains good, it will fight. But sooner or later, even the bravest of men will realize that their lives are in more danger if they stay than run. Morale, therefore, is more noticeable when it's lacking a unit with no morale will run away. Not all units are equally blessed with good morale. For example, peasants aren't keen on going to war. Professional Legionaries, on the other hand, are likely...
Advice Preferences
After you've been playing for a while, you may feel you don't need any more advice. Go to the Options menu at the start of play or press ESC when on the campaign map and select Options from the Game End menu. You'll have the ability to alter the level of advice. Change the level of advice you get by going to the Game Settings menu and choosing an appropriate level of advice from high to none. Your advisors remember what they've already told you. so if you want to hear advice again, click on the...
Advisors
The advisors are your most useful aid when learning to play Rome Total War as you already know if you've played the Prologue . The advisors in the game are your first place to go for help when playing, and they're watching what's going on so they can pop up at appropriate times and give you helpful hints, tips and general information. Victoria named after the Roman goddess of victory is the campaign advisor. She can advise you about production, recruitment, managing your empire, diplomacy,...
Orders for Artillery Units
Artillery units work in exactly the same fashion as other units. However, artillery pieces are heavy, and even with large crews it can take time to execute an order. Don't expect artillerymen to dash or charge anywhere Remember that the number on the unit card is not the number of artillery pieces, but the number of crewmen. As crewmen are killed, the number of pieces that can fire and rate of fire drops. Just like other missile units, the bar shows the ammunition supply for the unit. When this...
Options Menu
This menu allows you to adjust the game for best performance on your PC and to choose your own personal preferences for the game's look. Based on your PC's set up. Rome Total War adjusts itself for optimum performance when installed, but this may not match your preferences precisely. Clicking on any item takes you to the appropriate submenu Video Settings - Click on the downward pointing arrows to bring up a list of options in any of the dialog boxes. Select the option you want from a list by...
Unit Activity
Move the cursor over any unit on the battlefield or unit card and a tool tip appears, giving you details of the unit's status. The unit cards in the Control Panel also give you a way of monitoring what your units are doing. Each unit card can have a symbol as a notification of what's happening to the unit. It's quite possible for more than one of these symbols to apply at any one time. If this is the case, the symbols that apply are displayed in turn A single arrowhead at the top of the card...