Sega PC GAMES ROME: TOTAL WAR GOLD (1 OF 2) User Manual
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Ave! Welcome to
Rome: Total War
™................................... 4
Installation ....................................................... 4
How to Install
Rome: Total War
.................................. 4
CDKeys..................................................... 5
So You Don’t Want to Read the Manual? .................................. 5
Experienced Total War™ Players Start Here! ................................ 5
Starting Play ..................................................... 7
The Main Menu ............................................... 7
The Single Player Menu .......................................... 7
Multiplayer Menu .............................................. 8
Load Game Menu .............................................. 8
Options Menu ................................................. 9
The Prologue .....................................................10
Advisors ........................................................10
Asking for Advice ..............................................11
Campaigns .......................................................11
How to Get Started with the Imperial Campaign .........................11
How to Get Started .............................................12
How to Play a Turn in the Campaign Game ............................15
How to Deal with Messages and Events ...............................17
The Marius Event ..............................................17
How to Use Armies .................................................18
Moving .....................................................18
Selecting the Next Piece ..........................................19
Terrain ......................................................19
Ambushes ....................................................20
Attacking ....................................................20
Attacking with Supporting Armies ...................................21
Multiple Attacks ...............................................21
Merging Armies ...............................................21
Splitting Armies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..........................22
Merging Units .................................................22
Unit Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..........................23
Generals and Governors ..........................................23
Captains .....................................................24
Recruiting Mercenaries ...........................................24
Building Forts and Watchtowers ....................................24
How to Run Settlements .............................................25
Settlements and the Control Panel ...................................26
The Settlement Scroll ............................................27
Who Gets to be Governor? ........................................29
Building Construction ...........................................29
Repairing Buildings .............................................30
The Building Information Scroll .....................................30
The Settlement Details Scroll .......................................30
The Trade Scroll and Province Resources ...............................31
The Building Browser and the Technology Tree ..........................32
Wonders of the World ...........................................32
Trouble in Settlements ...........................................32
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WELCOME TO ROME: TOTAL WAR –
BARBARIAN INVASION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
WHAT'S NEW? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
How to Win . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
87
GAME FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Romans and the Senate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
87
Hordes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
87
Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Battlefield Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
96
Generals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
98
Rebellions & Civil Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
100
Factions Emerging During Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
100
Night Battles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
102
Custom Battle & Multiplayer Preset Armies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
103
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
104
CREDITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
6
LICENCE TO USE THE GAME SOFTWARE . . . . . . . . .107
WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
7
PRODUCT SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
7
CONTENTS
Changing Your Mind ............................................32
How to Train Units .................................................33
The Recruitment Tab ............................................33
How to Besiege a Settlement or Fort .................................36
Conquering Settlements . .........................................37
How to Break a Siege ...........................................37
How to Use Fleets ..............................................38
How to Use Spies ..............................................40
How to Use Diplomats ...........................................40
How to Use Assassins ...........................................42
How to Auto-Manage Settlements . . . ................................42
How Not to Go Broke ...........................................43
How to Manage Your Faction ......................................43
Retinues: Ancillary Characters ......................................46
How to Deal with the Senate ......................................47
How to Get Help ...............................................48
How to Change Game Options During Play ............................48
Battles ..........................................................49
The Battle Deployment Scroll ......................................49
Attackers and Defenders .........................................49
How to Deploy Your Troops .......................................50
How to Use the Battlefield Control Panel ..............................51
How to Control the Battlefield Camera ...............................55
How to Move and Attack .........................................56
Changing Unit Formation .........................................58
Changing Unit Facing ...........................................58
Waypoints ...................................................58
Unit Activity ..................................................59
Orders for Artillery Units .........................................60
How to Use More Than One Unit . . . ................................60
Grouping Units ................................................61
How to Get the Most from Unit Abilities ..............................62
How to Assault a Settlement or Fort .................................65
HowtoDealwithAmbushes.......................................69
How to Use Reinforcements and Allies ................................69
Custom Battles . . ..................................................71
Choosing Conditions ............................................71
Customise Battle ...............................................73
Customise Army ...............................................74
Multiplayer Games .................................................76
Setting Up a Multiplayer Battle . ....................................77
Hosting a Game ...............................................77
Joining a Game ................................................78
After a Battle .................................................78
Customer Support ..................................................79
Software License Agreement ...........................................80
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5
4
CD Keys
Your copy of the game came with a CD ke y, which is located on the back of the
manual. When you install the game, you’ll need to type in this key. Your CD key is
unique and without it, you won’t be able to play the game. Please enter the key
exactly as it appears on the back of the manual.
Keep your CD key safe and private in case you need to reinstall the game. Do not
give your CD key to anyone else because it may impair your ability to play
multiplayer games. If you lose your CD ke y, you will not be issued another one.
SO YOU DON’T WANT TO
READ THE MANUAL?
We think reading the manual is probably a good idea. If you’ve never played a
Total War
™
game before, then the manual is full of information you’ll find helpful.
But perhaps none of that is for you, Mighty Caesar!
So instead of reading the manual—but before you begin conquering the world—
we’d like you to do one thing: play through the
Prologue
. We also recommend
that you read the Prologue section of the manual and the section on
Advisors
as well.
When the game starts, left-click on
SINGLE PLAYER
and then left-click on
PROLOGUE
. Just read the introductory screen, click on the
arrow
in the lower-
right corner and follow the instructions and advice you’re given. In no time at all,
your enemies will quiver in fear!
The Prologue introduces the basics of gameplay. You can go back to it later for more
information. Good luck—and may the goddesses Fortuna and Victoria
favour you!
EXPERIENCED TOTA L WAR
PLAYERS START HERE!
If you’ve already played
Medieval: Total War
™
or
Shogun: Total War
™
,
you’ll be tempted to jump straight into playing
Rome: Total War
. After all, you
know how all this works! It’s a
Total War
game! It’s going to be
easy-peasy!
If you jump straight into
Rome: Total War
, you’ll find things have changed since
Medieval: Total War
. Shortly afterward, you may find that a barbarian is
drinking from your skull, and laughing.
AVE! WELCOME TO
ROME: TOTA L WAR
™
Rome: Total War
is a game of epic real-time warfare, empire building, politics and
treachery covering hundreds of years from the Punic Wars to the rise of the Roman
Emperors—from 270 BC to around 14 AD. It was during this period that Rome
conquered the Mediterranean world and much of Europe, and established an empire that
was to last for centuries, one that has echoes even today. This is the world of Hannibal,
Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and a thousand others. This is a world of soldiers, gladiators,
emperors, tyrants, monsters and fools. It’s a rich, exciting world, awaiting a
conqueror—you!
INSTALLATION
Please make sure your computer system uses Windows®98SE or a later Windows
version.
Rome: Total War
is not compatible with Windows 98 or earlier or other
operating systems.
Rome: Total War
also requires the latest DirectX®9.0b-
compatible drivers for your CD-ROM drive, sound card and video card, as well as any
other peripherals. If you have problems running the program, old drivers are the most
likely cause.
How to Install Rome: Total War
1. Before installing, close all other applications.
2 . Insert the
Rome: Total War
CD 1 into your CD-ROM drive. If you have
Autoplay enabled, the title screen will be displayed. If Autoplay is
not enabled, simply double-click on
My Computer
and then double-click on
your
CD-ROM drive
to launch the game installer. On the title
screen, click the
Install
button to begin and then follow the
on-screen instructions.
3 . After
Rome: Total War
is installed, your computer will install Microsoft
DirectX 9.0b if needed. When DirectX installation is complete, you may
need to restart your computer. For more information on DirectX 9.0b, see
the relevant Help file.
4. Now you can run
Rome: Total War
from the Start menu or by clicking
Play
on the CD title screen. Please note that you must have a
Rome: Total War
CD in your CD-ROM drive at all times to play the game.
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The most important changes in
Rome: Total War
are:
•
Left-click
on a unit to select it and then
right-click
on where you want it to
go. This is true on the campaign map and in battle.
• On the campaign map, ever y agent, army and fleet has a movement allowance.
When selected, these pieces are surrounded by a highlighted area that shows how
far they can move.
• Family members can hire mercenaries when they ’r e out in th e field. They can also
build watchtowers and forts. Both of these cost money.
• Armies, agents and fleets are no longer simply “in” a province or sea area.
Instead, each army, agent and fleet occupies a specific place on the map. Just
standing in the same province isn’t enough to start a battle. You’ll need to move
into an enemy army or settlement to attack. Likewise, you’ll need to move an
agent onto another piece to use its special abilities.
• Fleets now carry armies and agents. Move onto a fleet to board it; order the fleet
onto a coastal square to disembark passengers.
• An advisor pops up from time to time with hints and tips about the game and
what’s going on. We recommend paying attention!
• What can be produced at a settlement is closely tied to the size of the settlement
and the level of government. Units can only be trained when there are men in a
settlement to fill the ranks.
• When you’re playing as a Roman faction, you have allies (the Senate and two
other families) at the start of the game. Sooner or later, other Romans will turn
on you in a struggle for ultimate power in Rome. Of course, you can get your
“retaliation” in first!
• The Senate will give you missions from time to time if you’re playing
as a Roman faction. It’s usually worth finishing these missions for potential
rewards and to keep the goodwill of the Senate.
• Clicking on the
Help
(question mark) button on information scrolls brings up in-
game help. The
Help
button and the advisors are of great use when learning the
game.
OK, you’ve resisted the urge for conquest and plunder long enough! Now go play the
game! Good luck with your conquests! Put not your trust in Greeks, Gauls or
Carthaginians! And when facing elephants in battle…try not to panic!
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STARTING PLAY
The Main Menu
•
Single Player
– Ta kes you to the
single player menu discussed in detail in
the next section of this manual.
•
Continue Campaign
–
Automatically loads the newest saved
campaign game and lets you continue
with your conquests!
•
Multiplayer
– See the
Multiplayer
Games
section of the manual for multiplayer details.
•
Load Game
– Gives you a choice of saved games to continue.
•
Options
– Adjust the
video,sound
and
gameplay
settings of
Rome: Total War
. See the
Gameplay Options
for more informat i o n .
•
Quit
– Leave
Rome: Total War
and return to Windows®.
Here—as with all the menu screens—any options that are unavailable are “greyed out”
so you ca n’t click on them to bring up a new menu.
The Single Player Menu
This is where you choose the style of single
player game you want to play.
•
Prologue
– Start playing
Rome:
T otal Wa r
right here! This tutorial
introduces you to gameplay quickly and
painlessly—well, not so painlessly for
your foes!
•
Imperial Campaign
– This is the
full
Rome: Total War
experience, and your chance to conquer the
ancient world! Build an empire and fight your battles on the way to
world domination.
•
Historical Battle
– This option brings up a choice of famous battles from the
historical period of
Rome: Total War
. In some of the battles, you can choose
the army you want to command.
•
Custom Battle
– Create a battle between two armies on the field
of your choice, then fight it out. This is a great way to try out new tactics and
practice your battlefield command skills!
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•
Quick Battle
– The fastest way of fighting a battle in
Rome: Total War
.
You’re given command of an army and must drive your enemy from the field—a
true test of command ability!
Clicking on the
U-shaped
arrow in the lower left corner returns you to the previous
menu. This return arrow appears on many screens in the game and always takes you
back to the previous screen. The
Backspace
key also takes you back to the previous
menu wherever you see the U-shaped “go back” arrow on-screen.
Options that are unavailable appear in grey.
Multiplayer Menu
•
Online Battles
– Fight against
opponents anywhere in the world
using GameSpy. You’ll need a
broadband Internet connection
to use this service.
•
LAN Battles
– Fight battles across
your LAN (Local Area Network). Each
player will need
Rome: Total
War
installed.
•
Change CD Key
– Click here to change the CD key used for multiplayer
battles. You may want to do this so two (or more) people can use the same PC,
each with their own unique CD key.
Options that are unavailable appear in grey. You’ll find much more information
on all these topics in the
How To Play Multiplayer Games
section of
the manual.
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 ever y
custom battle, you can save the action for later replay. You’ll have control of an
independent camera view of the battlefield.
8
9
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 left-
clicking on it. Left-click on a check box to toggle the relevant graphics feature on
and off.
•
Audio Settings
– Click on the
sliders
to adjust each element of game sound
to suit your personal tastes. The Master Volume slider affects the overall volume.
The other sliders adjust the mix of sounds in the game. Again, you can left-click
on any of the
check boxes
in the lower part of the screen to toggle individual
options.
Note
: EAX®ADVANCED HD™provides realistic sonic effects to accurately
simulate the sound properties of different acoustic environments in
Rome: Total
War
. The EAX A DVANCED HD acoustic models are dynamically updated as you
move around in the game experience. For example, the sounds created in a forest
have a different sound and reverberation trail than the sounds created in a flat
plains region, which would have less reverberation and be more direct. Only the
Creative
®
Sound Blaster®Audigy®range of sound cards will be able to deliver
great audio experience with EAX ADVANCED HD.
•
Control Settings
– You can modify t he keyboard shortcuts to suit your
playing style. Double-click on any item in the key list and then press the key(s)
you want to use for that function. You can press the
SHIFT,CTRL
and
ALT
keys in combination with another key to create a shortcut. You can revert to the
original assignments at any time.
Left-click
on the icon in the lower-right corn er to load and save key
assignments. If you find a particular combination you like, we recommend
saving it. Click on the dialog box in the lower part of the screen and then
type in a name for your settings file.
•
View the Credits
– A list of the gods, emperors, governors and wretched
slaves responsible for bringing you this fine product!
Clicking on the
U-shaped
arrow at the bottom left of each screen retur n s you to t h e
previous menu, as always.
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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 scree n 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 do to start playing is follow her
instructions and advice.
If you decide you don’t want to play the Prologue through to its conclusion, you can
press the
ESC
key to bring up the Campaign Exit Menu scroll, but we recommend
playing the Prologue through at least once.
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 ’r e
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, dealing with the Senate, trade and so on.
Centurion Marcus
is the battlefield advisor. Apart from offering his
opinion about enemy tactics, he’ll keep an eye out for potential
problems such as putting units into dangerous situations: he doesn’ t
l ike it when cavalry are ordered straight onto
spear points!
When an advisor has something important to tell you, their portrait will
glow. Click on the
advisor
to see their comments.
The
Speech
button toggles the on-screen text of the current piece of
advice. In some cases, you can ask the advisor not to repeat a particular
piece of advice by clicking on the check box below the text.
Click on the
Show Me How
button to have the advisor demonstrate how
to carr y out an action in the game.
10
The
magnifying glass
button shows you the location that is relevant
to the advice being offered.
The
X
button dismisses an advisor. Pressing the
ESC
key also
dismisses them.
Buttons that are not appropriate for the advice being offered are always greyed
out and cannot be selected. Sometimes, for example, there isn’t anything that you
need to be shown how to do.
Asking ForAdvice
There are several panels in the campaign game that include an advisor
button. You can click on this button to get relevant advice on what you
can do next in the game. For example, you’ll be told what Victoria
considers to be the best unit to train if you click on the
advisor
button on the Recruitment Panel.
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
hightonone
. Your advisors
remember what they’ v e already told you, so if you want to hear advice again,
click on the
Reset Advisor
check box on the same menu. Once you’ve done
that, the advisors will assume you’re a new player and offer information and
hints accordingly.
CAMPAIGNS
Gameplay in
Rome: Total War
divides neatly into
Campaigns
and
Battles
.
These two parts of the game are closely linked, so actions you take in the
campaign game such as constructing buildings, training units or appointing
generals have major effects on the battlefield. This part of the manual concern s
itself with
Campaigns
. Later, we’ll discuss
Battles
and how to get the most out
of them.
How to Get Started with the Imperial Campaign
The
Imperial Campaign
menu allows you to select and set all the options you
might want in a campaign game: who you’re controlling, how hard the game is to
play and how you want to win. This screen allows you to do the following:
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Everything on-screen is there to help you ru n
your soon-to-be magnificent empire. The
screen is divided into two main areas: a view
of the campaign map and the Control Panel at
the bottom of the screen.
M o ving Y ou r Viewpoint
You can change your view of the campaign
map in many different ways:
• Move the mouse cursor to the edge of
the screen (without clicking), and your
view down onto the campaign map will slide in that direction.
• Use the 1, 2, 3 and 5 number keys on your keyboard to move your viewpoint
around. The arrow keys also do the job.
• Use your mouse wheel (if you have one) to zoom in and out on the map.
•
Left-click
on the mini-map to move to that part of the campaign map.
• As you move the cursor around the campaign map, tool tips appear that identify
and explain terrain features and pieces on the map.
What You See
When the game starts, the view down onto the campaign map is always centreed on
your capital. Your forces and agents are positioned somewhere within your borders,
which are marked with your faction colour.
•
Dark areas
on the map are those you can’t “see” because you don’t have
armies or agents nearby.
• Each
settlement
you know about has its name displayed, along with a banner
showing ownership. Some banners include an indication about the garrison’ s
strength. Your own settlements have a summar y beneath the name, showing at-a-
glance information. One of these will be your capital—your best settlement and
worth defending!
•
Armies
are shown as soldiers with banners to show the strength of the army.
Some armies have stars indicating the command ability of
the general.
•
Agents
are spies, diplomats and assassins.
•
Ships
represent fleets. These are used to keep trade routes free of pirates, carry
armies overseas and attack enemy fleets.
Whenever you select something, the
Control Panel
at the bottom of the screen
changes.
13
12
• Select your
Advice Level
for the coming campaign from the dropdown
list that’s displayed when you click on the down arrow in the text box.
We recommend you leave this on
High
until you’re comfortable playing
the game.
• Select
Campaign Difficulty
and
Battle Difficulty
from the appropriate
dropdown lists. You can pick the level of challenge in each
part of the game, and the two don’t have to be set the same.
• Click on the
Arcade Style Battles
check box if you want battles to be
simplified and action-oriented. Many realism settings are turn e d off
automatically if you choose this option.
• Click on the
Short Campaign
check box if you only want to focus on
destroying or outliving certain factions rather than conquering the entire map.
• Click on one of the
Faction Shield
icons on the right to choose the people
you’ll lead to greatness, glory and a mighty empire! The map changes to
show where they start, and the text gives you a quick over view of their
strengths and foibles. When you first start to play, you can only select one of
the Roman factions, but others will become available in later games.
• Click on the
arrow
in the lower-right corner to start play.
How to Win
If you’re playing as one of the Roman factions, the Brutii, Julli or Scipii, the basic
victory condition for the game is to conquer Rome and much of the world. This isn’t
as easy as it sounds. You’ll find yourself fighting against the forces of the Senate
and the other Roman factions.
If you’re playing as any other non-Roman faction, the basic victory condition is very
simple: conquer the world!
If y ou d o n’t want to play the game for quite so long, click on the
Short
Campaign
check box.
Once you’ve made up your mind, start playing! When you win, peasants cheer,
trumpets sound and (probably) an angel gets his wings. And you have the
inestimable pleasure of having crushed your enemies, seen them driven before you
and heard the lamentations of their women. Cool, huh?
HowtoGetStarted
When you start a
Rome: Total War
campaign, there’s a lot to take in. The
Advisors
built into the game are there to help, but there’s still a wealth of
information to think about. So, where to start?
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15
14
• For tabs that show military
units,shipsoragents
, you can select an
individual
unit card
in the review panel by
left-clicking
on it. You can
then drag and drop a selected item onto a spot in the game world, and
the forces or agents involved will move there.
• You c an make multiple selections by holding down the
CTRL
key and
repeatedly
left-clicking
on individual unit cards until you have as many
as you want. You can also press
Ctrl + A
to select all units.
• You can also make multiple selections by selecting one unit card, then
holding down the
SHIFT
key and selecting a second unit card. All the
unit cards between the first and second clicks will be selected.
How to Play a T urn in the Campaign Game
Rome: Total War
is a game that repays a bit of thought on the road to
victory. It’s a good idea to have some general strategy in mind of what you’d
li ke to do: ask yourself, for example, when do you want to attack the Gauls?
Where? Wil l you invade Sicily? Or head into the Balkan provinces? Answers to
questions like these help to set targets to work toward.
With some kind of underlying plan, even if it’s as straightforward as “defend
what’s mine,” you can approach each turn with a goal in mind and do things to
make your growing empire stronger and more successful.
Senate Missions
As a Roman faction, from time to time you’ll receive missions from the Senate.
It’s up to you whether or not you carry out their wishes.
When deciding whether or not to listen to the Senate, it’s worth asking if you
have the resources and time to do the mission.
• If you’ve been asked to conquer some place, can you do it without
weakening your forces elsewhere? Or is the place worth conquering as a
step to something greater?
• If you’ve been asked to make a diplomatic deal with a faction, do you
want the other faction to feel safe for awhile? A trade deal, for example,
can also bring in extra cash!
Of course, nobody’s forcing you to obey, so if you want to ignore the Senate,
you can. If you do, the Senate will use its powers against your faction. See
How to Deal with the Senate
for more informat i o n .
Settlements
For each turn—at least to start with—it’s a good idea to check all your
settlements and look after them carefully. When your empire isn’t very big,
you need to squeeze maximum value out of each settlement that you have!
If you want to find out the name of a province or region, first left-click on an
empty space on the game world map (to deselect ever ything). Then right-click and
hold on an empty space in the province you’re interested in. The underlying terrain,
the owning faction icon and the province name will be displayed.
Getting to Grips with the Control Panel
In the campaign game, the control panel is an important element in controlling
your empire. As you select and use different game elements, the panel changes to
present you with the right options and information.
Everything—the round buttons and the tabs—on the control panel has an
associated tool tip to explain its job.
The
mini-map
shows the whole game world. When the cursor is on a mini-map
province, the name and faction ownership of the province is displayed as a tool tip.
(You need some kind of presence or you need to have diplomatically exchanged
map information.)
The Review Panel Tabs
There are four tabs above the central Review Panel. These allow you to shift
between elements of a settlement, army or fleet, or you can
right-click
on the
tabs to bring up summaries for your entire empire:
•
Right-click
on the
army/navy
tab (the left-most one) to bring up the
Military Forces Scroll
. This is a list of all your forces. Right-click on any
army or navy in the list to see more details.
•
Right-click
on the
town/city
tab (second left) to bring up the
Settlements List
. Right-click on any town or city in this list to see the
relevant details.
• Right-click on the
agents
tab (third from the left) to bring up the
Agents
Scroll
.
Right-click
on any of these characters to see their details.
• The fourth tab has no right-click function.
The Review Panel
The central Review Panel (along with the large building and training buttons)
changes depending upon whether an army, fleet or settlement is selected.
• The
tabs
along the top of the panel allow you to look at different aspects
of the selected game world item, and you can right-click on a tab to bring
up faction-wide summaries.
•
Right-click
on any unit card in a review panel to bring up
further inform a t i o n .
• If a tab is greyed out, there’s nothing relevant to see with the selected unit,
fleet, settlement or agent.
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Agents
Diplomats, spies and assassins have their uses and should be quickly reviewed each
turn. Agents may be needed to carr y out a mission from the Senate. Are they in the
right place to be easily deployed?
•
Spies
can be sent to scope out rivals’ territory. They can spot armies that could
threaten your own forces or spy on settlements to learn the state of the defenses.
•
Diplomats
need to be within reach of a rival’s settlement or army should there
be a need to talk quickly.
•
Assassins
, if you have any, can be positioned near threatening rival generals.
Perhaps a single knife in the dark can neutralize a threat more effectively than
many swords.
How to Deal with Messages and Events
Every turn it’s likely there will be a number of message notifications that
drop down the left-hand side of the screen. Each kind of message has its
own picture, and a tool tip appears if you move the cursor over a message
notification.
•
Left-click
on any message that you want to read. A
right-click
dismisses the
message and removes it from the queue. Clicking on the check button or pressing
ESC
also dismisses a message.
• You can close a message and leave it for later reference by clicking on the square
close box
in the top right-hand corner. Any message that you’ve already
opened will be shown with a black-and-white graphic rather than a colour one.
The Marius Event
The single most significant event in the game is the reform of the Roman Army carried
out by Gaius Marius, a man referred to as the “third founder of Rome.”
He completely changed the way Romans organised their armies, fought wars and
conquered their neighbours. Historically, this reformation started around 107 BC and
after Marius, the Legions of Rome were ver y different from what had gone before.
In
Rome: Total War,
the reforms of Gaius Marius are not tied to an exact date.
We’re not going to tell you here when it will happen, but we will tell you what happens:
the Roman factions can start building a new generation of military units. Essentially,
Marius unlocks a second Roman technology tree.
There are a few simple questions you can ask yourself about your settlements, and
the answers will help you decide what needs to be done to get the most out of
your empire:
•
Is everyone happy in the settlement?
Is public order above or close
to 100, so riots are unlikely? Settlements where there are riots and disorder
may even rebel!
Hint
: try altering the tax rate; your people don’t li ke
paying taxes.
•
Is anything being constructed?
A new building always makes a
settlement “do something” better, be it train military units, defend the
location, trade, farm or keep everyone in order. If you’re not sure what to
construct, ask Victoria.
•
Is a unit being trained?
Military units are the building blocks of armies.
Generally speaking, in the long run units are cheaper to train (and maintain)
than to buy as mercenaries. Again, if you’re not sure what kind of unit to
train, you can consult Victoria, your advisor.
•
Is the settlement making or losing money?
One settlement losing
money for a time is probably sustainable, but losses in all settlements for
long periods will destroy your treasury. A faction with no money is in
trouble! Therefore it makes sense to “tweak” the tax rates in settlements to
balance public order and your tax income.
Armies
Each turn you should ask yourself whether your armies are doing something to
contribute to your success. Sometimes just standing in the right place can be
enough, but it’s always worth going around and quickly reviewing your army
positions. Are there enough armies in position to counter an immediate threat from
enemies? Are river crossings and mountain passes guarded? Are armies placed
ready for an ambush?
When you’ve decided on an attack:
• Get armies into place to mount the attack. This might mean one large force,
or a couple of smaller ones. Pincer movements to attack a foe from two
different directions at the same time can be very effective.
• Position reinforcements for battle—adjacent armies can be drawn into the
fight. Extra men can be a great benefit.
• Pick the best general to make the attack. This is usually the general with the
highest
Command
rating. As generals wage battle, you’ll find that the
traits and ancillaries they gain give them a personality, and some generals
will become experts at certain types of warfare.
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