Rome Total War guide - part 2

Winning Battles

We've covered the basic concepts. Now let's apply them! Smackus Maximus dictates that you will win by applying overwhelming force to the enemy's weakest point.

Have cavalry sweep around to enemy flanks. Don't be afraid to move them quickly (double-right-click to charge), since they don't tire as fast as footsoldiers. Don't give the enemy a chance to arrange themselves in preparation: engage them from the front with your infantry, then charge with the cavalry to disrupt and break them. The cavalry charge is the embodiment of Smackus Maximus: It's an overwhelming force. Use it again and again. Withdraw your cavalry after they've done their damage, turn, and attack another similarly unprepared spot in the enemy line.

Cavalry are slowed down by trees, but that isn't stopping these Romans from bum-rushing the flank of some Gaulish infantry. That'll teach them to rush too far ahead of their lines!

Harass the enemy with missile troops. Aim for clumps of enemy soldiers as they approach. Try to attack in a slight crescent formation so that you trap enemy infantry in a "pocket." That large conglomeration of troops will not only be fighting on their flanks, but they'll be easy targets for your missiles.

Stay in a tight formation while trying to break apart the enemy formations. Keep your infantry tight and organized so you have a clean battle line -- you don't want anyone to feel surrounded. Try to scatter the enemy by offering up fast-moving light infantry as bait, or by sweeping around to the side so that they feel compelled to break off from the main force. Then assault their flanks when they separate. You want every enemy unit to feel surrounded!

Roman infantry carried long spears, called "pilum," which they chucked at an enemy before engaging in a fight. This helps tilt a battle in your favor before it even begins. However, knowing this changes your tactics. You'll want to order them to attack as early as possible, so that they have time to hurl their full compliment of spears before charging. Also, there will be times were you desperately need them to attack hand-to-hand -- say an enemy is engaging your general and has exposed their flank -- where you wouldn't want them to waste time hurling their missiles. If this is the case, hold down the alt key when double-clicking on the enemy to order them to charge without throwing their weapons. That's maximum smack.

Use of Your General

I already talked about the importance of your general in the section on the strategic map as well as in the basics of combat above. But it's worth it to emphasize how key he is: he will make or break your battle. Don't throw him away!

Keep him close to the center of the action, preferably right behind your main line of infantry to encourage the people who are fighting the hardest. Do not allow him to get surrounded by enemy infantry. Reposition him if he's getting hammered by enemy missile fire. Beware of enemy spearmen (most of the time your General is mounted.)

A general seems to get more experience if he's actually involved in the fight, so once things are going your way it's not a bad idea to have him rush forward and attack an enemy that's about to crumble. A charge led by a general is devastating to morale! Your general can also help chase down troops that are fleeing the field. Be careful that they don't rally and surround him while you do this! Also, make sure that in your zeal you're not pulling the general too far away from a battle that still hangs in the balance. He might be needed elsewhere.

Go out of your way to kill the enemy general. Entrap him, surround him, slaughter him. Killing him or making him run is often the first step in a major victory.

This Brutii General is well-protected, safe in a pocket behind lots of heavy infantry.

Don't Be the Victim of Smackus Maximus

Use all the tactics above to gain yourself an advantage on the battlefield. But watch out that the enemy isn't doing the same thing to you! Now that you know the secrets of victory, be sure to defend against them.

Your missile units are vulnerable. Velites can maybe hold their own in a fight against weak units, but most archers are as good as dog meat. Keep them behind infantry so that -- like the quarterback in a football game -- they're always protected.

Similarly, you want to protect your flanks from cavalry charges. This is hard to do if you're outnumbered (which is why you always try to bring more to the field than your enemy in the strategic map.) The best way to defend is to have some of your own cavalry watching the edges, ready to meet any charge. Alternatively, have some spearmen or spare heavy infantry pulled back slightly from the main battle line. When the enemy cavalry starts to swing around, face them and prepare for the charge. It won't be pretty, but at least you'll make them pay.

If you ARE caught in a cavalry charge, don't give the enemy cavalry a chance to pull out. Take a unit of troops and smash their rear or flank. Try to pen them in and make them bleed!

With a good mix of units and an eye for the situation, you should always be able to maneuver so that your strongest foot is kicking the enemy where it hurts the most. Once the enemy army starts to break, it'll have a snowball effect and soon the whole of their army will be in retreat.

Positioning Your Troops

Now you know how to apply Smackus Maximus in combat. Knowing what you want to do suggests some strategies for positioning your troops before a battle begins.

Historically the real Roman army would place their lightly-armored Velites right up front, to lead the assault and weaken the enemy. Those that lived would fall back behind the heavier Hastati, who had better equipment and more experience. If the battle wasn't already won, the heavy infantry would move in: hardened battle veterans whose success allowed them to equip themselves with the best equipment and armor. (In later periods the last rank of soldiers were the spear-wielding Triarii. The common Roman saying "It has come to the Triarii" meant that things had progressed to the bitter end.)

This strategy will work -- sort of -- but in Rome: Total War it's a good way to get all your light infantry killed. You'll probably prefer to keep them around. Try this instead:

One possible battle lineup. The general is in the thick of things but safe. Infantry can close around the enemy so that missile units can pepper them. Cavalry is ready on either flank. Careful! There's a gap in the line. If my opponent has a lot of cavalry, I'd move my own cavalry closer to keep my missile units safe.

Start with a core of solid infantry units. Early on you'll be depending on Hastati or Principes, but later you'll base your assault around sturdy Legionary Cohorts. (All my examples use Roman units, but it's often the same basic strategy with other cultures. Adjust accordingly). Line them up along the center of your line of attack. If you greatly outnumber the enemy, you might want to create a bit of a semicircle, so that you can surround the enemy and simultaneously attach their flanks.

Now you'll want to position your missile troops. If you're certain that the enemy is either slow-moving or far away, it's okay to have these guys right out in front. This way they can start putting the hurt on your opponent right away. Just make sure your missile units are set to skirmish mode (it's the default) so they know to fall back. Also, keep your eyes on them! While their attention is on the unit they're attacking, they might forget to run from an enemy storming in from another location. So be ready to pull them back on your own if you have to.

During the fight itself, you'll want your missile troops a little ways behind the main infantry, hurling their hell into the masses of enemy troops. Assuming that the enemy isn't preparing a surprise cavalry charge, I like to have my Velites fan out to either side. They eventually run out of spears, and then -- if the enemy is really hurting and I know they won't put up much of a fight -- I can order my Velites to charge into the flanks. They may take some casualties, but they'll get a lot of experience and that late in the battle they can cause enough havoc against exhausted troops to cinch the win.
Next comes your cavalry. Here you'll want to anticipate your enemy.

If you suspect that he'll try to charge cavalry into your flanks, keep them closer to the center of your formation, behind the infantry and near your missile troops. That way you can quickly move to counteract anything he'll try.

More likely, if you play like me and always field plenty of cavalry, you'll have the luxury of being able to place them far to either side of your main army. Oh, can you smell the sweetness? As soon as the battle begins you'll be in position to sweep around and crush the enemy flanks, or rush all the way behind them to totally destroy their lines. Watch for enemy cavalry, which might rush at your horsemen when you try this -- and don't get penned in by enemy troops after you charge. Still, use those units to cause havoc all around the enemy. Mow their missile troops down before they even get to fire! Wade into peasants and send them scurrying away, demoralizing all the nearby troops! That's Smackus Maximus at its purest and most satisfying.

Placing cavalry for out on the flanks is a little risky, but it gives you the opportunity to close in and hit the enemy hard at his weakest points. Play it more cautious if the enemy also has a lot of cavalry on the field.

Finally, your general should be placed right in the middle of it all. Place him right behind the center of your infantry for maximum effect, or shift him over to one side so that he's free to rush around and slaughter the enemy army as it starts to break. Be cautious that your General never gets surrounded or attacked by fresh troops who might finish him off. His life means more than half your army!

When you're on the offensive, give the enemy no quarter. Place your troops right up against the border they can be deployed at, ready to storm the enemy. If your battlefield is intersected by a hill, and it's in a good location, put them up there -- you might get lucky and you'll have the option of charging down a hill at your opponent.
Artillery? Most of the time it can't move, and when it can, it can't move very fast. So, place it as far forward as you can, assuming that you'll be marching your troops forward as the battle starts. If you're planning on staying still and letting the enemy come to you, drop them behind your big infantry so that they're protected.

Lock Up Your Women

Julius Caesar was a voracious ladies man. So much so that as he campaigned through Gaul, his soldiers made up a song that they sang as they marched. It went something like, "Hide your Women / Caesar is coming!"

This has ... absolutely nothing to do with the game. I just thought it was hysterical. Let's move on.

Army Positions in Defense vs. Offense

The positions described above are appropriate for offense, and most of the time, you'll want to adopt the same formations for defense. However, because you're waiting for the enemy to come to you, you have more options.

Look for hills and get your guys up on top. Cliffs are perfect: you can have your archers at the edge of the cliff, pretty much immune, while your infantry covers either flank. If you're waiting for the enemy at the top of the hill, don't wait too long -- time it so that you've thrown your spears and started the charge while you still have some downhill space to charge in.

Attackers can rarely set up and spring traps, but when you're on the defense, it's part of the fun. Certain units can hide in tall grass -- position them so that they can spring up on the flanks. If you've got troops hiding in the forest, position your main army away from and slightly behind them. That way their initial surprise charge will be right into enemy flanks.

A good ambush will lure the enemy close, then pop out to hit his flanks.

Finishing the Job

You'll win the battle if the enemy routs from the battlefield, but that might not be your objective. You don't want them to regroup on the strategic map, only to fortify a city you want to attack or to rush to the welcoming arms of a powerful general. Most of the time, you'll want to chase after them and finish them off.

Cavalry are perfect for this. That's another reason I love 'em. You can even use missile cavalry -- hold down the 'control' key to have them attack instead of shooting arrows. Be careful that you're not attacking heavy infantry or spearmen with these guys -- if they turn to try to defend themselves a mounted archer is an easy takedown.
Often, half of an enemy army will break, but reinforcements will be arriving to bolster up the line and other parts of the battle are still undecided. Be careful! Don't let your eager soldiers keep chasing the enemy when they're needed elsewhere. Your army will soon be scattered all over the map. Rope them in and bring them back to a central position near your general until the battle is won for sure! Keep them together so that they can fight effectively against the remaining enemy.

If you've got a lot of nimble troops and cavalry, it's easy to surround the enemy. This may not always be desirable. Once they break, you usually want them to try to run away. If they're completely surrounded, they'll fight to the death, and you'll probably suffer more casualties than you need to. I'll often use a cavalry charge to completely surround an enemy, terrorize them, then withdraw so they can start to retreat. Then, of course, I chase them with the cavalry to finish them off one by one as they flee.

City Sieges

In real life it was immensely costly to openly attack a fortified city. Usually armies would just starve them out. In Rome: Total War, the game designers knew that starving people for three years is... well, pretty boring. So they make city assaults well worth it. You don't want to wait six or seven turns for a city to cave in on its own. You'll lose thousands of denarii in potential revenue, during which time you'll have to pay your waiting troops, while the enemy continues to collect revenue from the city. No sir! You'll want to assault that town as soon as possible so that it's making money for you.

Which is good. Because city assaults are cool.

Planning Your Attack

Study the map. You want to attack from the side of the city that has the clearest path to the town center. That way you won't get bogged down in corners. No matter how much you micromanage it, city streets will cause your army to spread out, which you want to minimize as much as possible.

Avoid bottlenecks! The defenders can really hurt you if you open up only one entrance into the city. Particularly if they have stone walls and your troops are all trying to squeeze through the main gate -- the gatehouse will continue to pour boiling oil over your troops as they try to fight their way through. Ugly business.
Using siege towers will deprive the enemy of archers on his walls, and if you take the gatehouse you can squeak your army through without getting worked over by boiling oil.

To avoid this, make multiple openings in the walls and storm through simultaneously. This is easy with wooden palisades: you can have your rams bash the gate and the two nearby wall sections pretty easily. For stone walls, it gets trickier. Over time I've come to favor siege towers, which allow my men to clear the tops of the walls, then to take over the gatehouse. (Click on the ground inside the city just behind the gatehouse to have your men on top of the walls fight their way through the gatehouse to take it over. The strategy, then, is to have a couple of siege towers hit the walls on either side of the gate. If you storm the gatehouse you'll be able to open the gates at will -- you'll have guys coming out on either side of the gatehouse as well as through the gate itself. The enemy, forced to fight multiple units pouring into the street, won't have a chance to lock you in the bottleneck. Plus, the gates, once taken, won't pour boiling oil on you as you try to enter!

Once inside the city, if the walls are wood, take the time to regroup so that all your army is together. If the walls are made of stone, chances are several nearby towers will still be owned by the enemy and firing upon you, so you'll want to pick a place within the city to regroup. Keep your army together! The enemy may be scattered all over town, but don't get distracted. You just need to hit the town center with everything you've got. Usually once you take it, the battle is over -- rarely will your opponent have enough left by that time to stage an effective counterattack.

How Do You Defend a City?

Hopefully you can tell from which direction the enemy is coming. Get archers up on the walls if you have them. Set your arrows to flame, which will give you a better chance of burning down their siege equipment before it gets to your walls.

Corner the enemy in a bottleneck where he doesn't have any maneuverability. Nothing is better than pinning them in your gatehouse while boiling oil sears them again and again.

One of the worst things for an attacker is to get bottlenecked inside enemy gates. The enemy works you over from all sides while the gates pour the hurt on your tightly-packed troops. Try to assault from multiple places on the wall to minimize the risk.

If you've lost the gates, or they're pouring in through multiple openings, you'll want to concentrate on defending the city center. Block off the main road with your strongest units and get your archers just behind. (Or if they're still on the walls they'll be able to turn around and continue the slaughter.) Take advantage of the fact that attackers get scattered by harassing their flanks -- see if you can rush some infantry or cavalry down the side streets to hit their light units on the flanks.

Make your last stand at the town center a glorious one. You won't have much maneuverability. Concentrate on killin'. Make them bleed for every inch! Sure, there's not much deep strategy to talk about here, but once you're backed into the city center there's not much you can do except to slug it out.

So there you have it: The basics of combat, techniques for winning a field fight, advice for positioning your units, and some tips for successfully attacking or defending cities. You've got some serious combat mojo now, general. You're ready to apply some Smackus Maximus. The next sections detail more big-picture strategies for the campaign game...

The Early Game

Now we're gonna pull back a little bit and talk about winning the campaign game from start to finish. Previously in the guide you learned how to manage your cities, recruit your armies, train great generals, and then use them for victory on the battlefield. But what about the big picture?

Rome: Total War's Roman campaign pans out like a three-act play. The curtain lifts and you've got two cities and dreams of empire. As you conquer your neighbors you can still take individual care of each city. The second act, the middle of the game, is a period of aggressive expansion as you use your power base to race out and grab territories. By the end of the middle game, you've got much of the map and chances are you've got a lot of angry cities on the verge of revolt. The late game begins when you decide all of Rome should be yours and march on the senate, turning old allies into enemies and asserting your dominance over the known world.

In the early game, you'll be concentrating on immediate threats. Like some Sicilian housecleaning.

So let's start with the early game. What are you trying to do here, and how should you do it? First, we'll paint the scene: You're moving out, running errands for the senate and conquering cities. You have enough governors and the patience to take individual care of each city. You'll be spending money as soon as you've made it, working hard to build your economy and recruit troops to fight several key decisive battles against opponents who are roughly as strong as you.

Your goal in the early game is to create a "power base," a core group of cities that will supply you with money and soldiers for all future conquests. You want to do three things:

• Build Up Your Economy, ensuring that cities are profitable now and that you're investing in the future.
• Grow Your Population in key cities. Until they grow, you won't be able to build bigger governor buildings, which means you won't be able to build better economic or military buildings.
• Develop Your Military Capacity. First, that means doing both of the above, so that you've got a couple key cities that can churn out powerful units for you. It also means training up one or two generals who can lead you on massive conquests.

Every faction has their own boogeymen to conquer during this initial phase of the game. The Julii will march up through Gaul, and should also consider capturing parts of Spain in order to get in on the lucrative sea trade. The Brutii will be hellbent on conquering the Greeks and Macedonians, so brush up on your phalanx-fighting capabilities. The Scipii should be focused on taking over Sicily and then finishing off Carthage, which will open them up to all the profitable sea trade that made Carthage such a Mediterranean power.
Developing that economy is key! You'll probably be spending money as fast as it comes in, so always look for opportunities for a quick buck. Enslave enemy cities for cash and to bolster your population. Take every senate mission. Strike deals with other nations to earn yourself quick cash. Make sure to land trade agreements with everyone you meet.

There's no clear dividing line for when this early struggle for survival turns into the middle game. You'll know it when it happens, though. One day, all of a sudden, you'll start sweeping across the land capturing cities that can't put up a defense. You'll be outproducing all of your neighbors. You'll make a huge profit each turn despite aggressively building. Ah, that's the stuff: you're not a bit player anymore. You're ready for the middle game!

The Middle Game

The middle game begins when your immediate foes have been taken care of, when you've got a solid economy, and when you're trucking across the map like a freight train filled with hurt. Here your objectives change a little.

• Develop Your Powerbase. You want to build up your central cities while grabbing as much territory as possible. You're no longer worried about carefully managing each city. Do what it takes to keep them profitable and not rebelling, but don't sweat it. Your army will start to grow so huge that some cities won't be able to bring in a profit turn after turn -- that's okay. You're worried about the big picture now, making sure your overall profits are positive.
• Building Your Navy. Some players might not see this as a big deal, and it's possible to win the game without doing this. But having the most powerful navy on the map before making your move on Rome is very valuable, especially as you try to shuttle troops around. It's relatively easy to build up a powerful (and experienced) fleet, and you should be concentrating on developing your ports for economic reasons anyway.
• Conquer Land. Your Roman "allies" will be doing this as well. You need to outpace them. Conquering land will not only fuel your economic engine and give you tons of places to recruit troops from, it'll also increase your reputation with the people of Rome. You'll need their support to win the game, but they're easy to please: just continually dazzle them with conquest after conquest!
• Stockpile Cash. Once your economy is clipping this is easy to do. Remember, you're gearing up for a HUGE fight against your toughest foes back on the Italian peninsula. When it comes time for Armageddon, YOU want to have enough cash handy to do impressive things. With a huge stockpile of cash you'll be able to bribe away whole armies or build the most expensive buildings without flinching. You'll need to crank out and maintain the most expensive units in the game. Stockpile cash now, during your conquests, so that this final phase of the game will be a cakewalk.

The middle game is one continuous war campaign. Well, okay, the whole game is one big war. But here your object is just wanton conquest. Grab those juicy enemy capitals and bring them into your economy. Build lots of roads and develop the economies of outlying villages so that you're raking in the cash. Before long your advisors should start telling you that you're the richest faction in the world. Good. Now you've got options for when things get ugly.

And they will get ugly! Eventually the provinces far away from your capital will be almost impossible to maintain control of. That's okay. Running a huge empire isn't easy. By the time that starts happening, though, you should be a local hero in Rome. The senate will start to fear you. Time to put all that money and all those troops to some use ... time to march on Rome!!

The Late Game

The end game begins once you decide that you've got everything you need to take on both of your Roman allies simultaneously. You'll need the support of the people to make it happen. Don't delay your move for too long. The other Roman factions will eventually overcome their immediate foes and suddenly they'll start to explode with exponential growth -- they're hitting the middle game. Don't let them grow.

Strike them down!

When it's time to make your move, take a couple of turns to march your army from the outer provinces toward Rome before you strike. You don't want to give your enemies a chance to prepare. Choose some targets that'll hurt your rivals immediately -- you'll want them on the defensive from the moment the poop hits the fan. Get your armies ready for a decisive first strike. And infiltrate EVERYONE with spies!

Once you're in position, hit the senate first. Rome itself shouldn't be a problem. A tough fight, sure -- but it's right next to your biggest and most productive cities, and you'll no doubt be assaulting it with your most revered general. Nobody will be nearby to help out. Smash it and wipe the senate off the map in one stroke.

Rome is yours!!

Now you're emperor of all of the Roman Empire, but your Roman rivals won't see it that way. Your biggest fight is underway. Hit them with everything you've got!

Use your navies to blockade all the enemy ports, and start harassing rival fleets immediately. You can't risk a landing of fresh enemy troops: make it a priority to wipe their navies off the map. After your blockades are up, the enemy economies will be squeezed so tight that they'll have trouble mustering up armies to stop you.

Concentrate on unifying the Italian peninsula first. You'll face two battles against fortified cities that will likely be harder than taking Rome itself. But this is the heart of your enemy -- once you've overcome he peninsula, and your navy is in place, there's little that can stop you.

Winning the game requires 50 provinces to be in your possession. I recommend taking them from your Roman rivals, both as a defensive measure and also because they'll be close to your capital and easy to control. In fact, with your army concentrating on Rome, tricky areas like Egypt might rebel. Let them go. You've got bigger fish to fry in the center of the map.

Roman armies are among the toughest in the world: your final battles will be your hardest. On the other hand, by this time you'll be out-producing your rivals many times over. Things will eventually shift in your favor. Start skinning grapes and call over the orgy girls: you're the new Caesar, baby!

Smackus Maximus!

There you have it: Smackus Maximus, a tactic of applying the most force to the weakest part of the enemy. Getting the most force requires running the strongest possible economy with the best possible forces and the best available generals. Applying it to the weakest point is all about crafty tactics on both the battlefield and the strategic map.

Do this well and no force in the Mediterranean can stop you. Hide your women, Caesar is coming!

Rome Total War Cheats

Press the tilde (~) key to bring down the console, and input one of the following:

• bestbuy: Units are 10% cheaper.
• jericho: Walls will crumble.
• add_money X: Adds money. X = amount.
• add_population Y X: Adds population, where Y is the settlement name and X the amount.
• auto_win attacker/defender: Attacker or defender automatically wins the next auto resolved battle.
• create_unit settlement/charactername unit_ID amount exp/armour/weapon: Creates a unit in the selected settlement or characters army with the stats you input.
• toggle_fow: Toggles Fog of War.
• give_trait characternname traitname level: Gives the character the trait at the chosen level.
• process_cq settlement: Finished the building queue in the settlement.
• list_traits: Lists all traits.
• move_character Z X,Y: Moves character to location, where Z is character name and X Y are coordinates.
• give_trait_points charactername traitname points: Gives points for the character's trait.
• force_diplomacy accept/decline/off: Forces opponent to accept diplomatic proposal.
• invulnerable_general charactername: General is invulnerable in combat.
• date year: Changes date.
• kill_character charactername: Kills selected character.
• season summer/winter: Changes season.
• capture_settlement settlementname: Captures settlement.

Some of the above codes will only work once per campaign so if you do cheat, use them wisely.