SEGA Rome: Total War User Manual

CLIENT PROJECT TITLE

DATE % OF SIZE SHOWN

FILE NAME JOB CODE

SIZE CONCEPT NUMBER

Activision

08.09.04 100%

RTW_PC ACT-ROME-MN1

4.5” x 6.875” R7 section 1 FINAL

Rome Total War PC Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Ave! Welcome to Rome: Total War™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

How to Install Rome: Total War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CD Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

So You Don’t Want to Read the Manual? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Experienced Total War™ Players Start Here! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Starting Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Single Player Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Multiplayer Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Load Game Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Options Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Advisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Asking for Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

How to Get Started with the Imperial Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

How to Get Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

How to Play a Turn in the Campaign Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

How to Deal with Messages and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

The Marius Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

How to Use Armies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Moving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Selecting the Next Piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Terrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Ambushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Attacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Attacking with Supporting Armies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Multiple Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Merging Armies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Splitting Armies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Merging Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Unit Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Generals and Governors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Captains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Recruiting Mercenaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Building Forts and Watchtowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

How to Run Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Settlements and the Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The Settlement Scroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Who Gets to be Governor? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Building Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Repairing Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

The Building Information Scroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

The Settlement Details Scroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

The Trade Scroll and Province Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

The Building Browser and the Technology Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Wonders of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Trouble in Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

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Changing Your Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

How to Train Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

The Recruitment Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

How to Besiege a Settlement or Fort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Conquering Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

How to Break a Siege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

How to Use Fleets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

How to Use Spies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

How to Use Diplomats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

How to Use Assassins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

How to Auto-Manage Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

How Not to Go Broke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

How to Manage Your Faction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Retinues: Ancillary Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

How to Deal with the Senate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

How to Get Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

How to Change Game Options During Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Battles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

The Battle Deployment Scroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Attackers and Defenders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

How to Deploy Your Troops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

How to Use the Battlefield Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

How to Control the Battlefield Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

How to Move and Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Changing Unit Formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Changing Unit Facing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Waypoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Unit Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Orders for Artillery Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

How to Use More Than One Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Grouping Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

How to Get the Most from Unit Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

How to Assault a Settlement or Fort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

How to Deal with Ambushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

How to Use Reinforcements and Allies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Custom Battles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Choosing Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Customize Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Customize Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Multiplayer Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

Setting Up a Multiplayer Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Hosting a Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Joining a Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

After a Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78

AVE! WELCOME TO

ROME: TOTAL 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, every 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’re out in the 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!

CD Keys

Your copy of the game came with a CD key, which is located inside the CD case. 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 CD case.

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 key, 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 favor you!

EXPERIENCED TOTAL 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.

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STARTING PLAY

The Main Menu

• Single Player – Takes 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 information.

•

Quit – Leave Rome: Total War and return to Windows

Here—as with all the menu screens—any options that are unavailable are “grayed out” so you can’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: Total War

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!

• 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 gray.

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 gray. 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 favorite 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 independent camera view of the battlefield.

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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 ADVANCED 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®series sound card would be able to deliver great audio experience with EAX ADVANCED HD.

•

Control Settings – You can modify the 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 corner 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 returns you to

the previous menu, as always.

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 neighbors. 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 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’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, 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 like 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 carry out an action in the game.

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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 grayed out and cannot be selected. Sometimes, for example, there isn’t anything that you need to be shown how to do.

Asking For Advice

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

high to none. Your advisors

remember what they’ve 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 concerns 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:

• 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 turned 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 overview 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 you don’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?

How to Get Started

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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Everything on-screen is there to help you run 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.

■ Moving Your 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 centered on your capital. Your forces and agents are positioned somewhere within your borders, which are marked with your faction color.

•

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 summary 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.

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 everything). 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 information.

• If a tab is grayed out, there’s nothing relevant to see with the selected unit, fleet, settlement or agent.

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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 like

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.

• For tabs that show military

units, ships or agents, 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 can 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 Turn 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 like to do: ask yourself, for example, when do you want to attack the Gauls? Where? Will 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 information.

■ 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!

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HOW TO USE ARMIES

Armies are the basic “pieces” in the campaign game. Each army contains up to 20 military

units; any

collection of military units is an army that moves and fights together. Armies are ordered around the campaign map; units are ordered around the battlefield.

The figure on the game map gives you basic information about the army:

•

Generals or captains command armies. We’ll discuss the major differences

between generals and captains later.

•

Captains are lesser leaders, given temporary command of an army. These

armies are always shown as foot soldiers (without cloaks) appropriate to their faction.

• The banner color and symbol shows the owning faction.

• The dark color that “fills” the banner shows the army strength: the stronger the army, the bigger the filled area.

• Any gold stars show the command rating of the general (0-10). The larger the number of stars, the better the general.

Moving

Select an army by left-clicking on it.

• The highlighted area shows every place the army can move to during the current turn. All actions (moves and attacks) cost movement points and as these are used up, the distance an army can move for the remainder of the turn reduces.

•

Right-click on the spot where you want an army to go. A large arrow

shows the proposed route for the army.

•

Right-click and drag to show the route changing for an army as its

destination changes.

Right-click on an enemy, neutral piece or location to attack it. The

cursor will change into a sword to show an attack is possible. Attacking a neutral faction is, by definition, a declaration of war on that faction.

Right-click on a friendly army (not an ally!) to merge the moving

army into the stationary one. We’ll talk more about merging armies in a moment.

■ Agents

Diplomats, spies and assassins have their uses and should be quickly reviewed each turn. Agents may be needed to carry 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 color 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 organized their armies, fought wars and conquered their neighbors. Historically, this reformation started around 107 BC and after Marius, the Legions of Rome were very different from what had gone before.

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.

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• River crossings are marked on the campaign map by fords or bridges (after roads have been constructed). These are the only places where armies can cross, and are, thus, strategically important.

• Armies can hide in wooded areas and ambush passing enemies.

Wise commanders choose their ground carefully to make the most of troops, so it’s worth checking out the terrain near mountain passes, river crossings and other “choke points” where the enemy must pass.

Ambushes

Armies can ambush passing enemy armies on the campaign map.

• Armies that can carry out ambushes are always shown kneeling down in the woods, even at the start of a game turn.

• Armies belonging to other factions that are lying in ambush aren’t shown on the map until the ambush is sprung!

• If your army is ambushed, its movement is halted and it must fight a battle. This can be auto-resolved or fought on the battlefield. The ambushed army is usually at a severe disadvantage!

Attacking

When you have an army selected, right-click on the enemy army or settlement you wish to attack:

• The

Battle Deployment Scroll will appear. This

gives a breakdown of your forces and the enemy arrayed against you.

• The most important piece of information is the

strength comparison in the center of the scroll.

Move the cursor over the crossed swords to see the odds for the coming battle.

• Reinforcements are also listed, drawn from adjacent armies. See

Attacking with Supporting Armies on the next page.

You can fight the battle for yourself, taking control of your units on the battlefield. This gives you the most control and is—we think—the most fun!

You can have the PC work out the result for you. Casualties may be heavier than if you fight the battle, and you can’t protect your general from harm.

Right-click on a friendly settlement (not an allied settlement) to

merge the army with the settlement garrison (if any). The army will move into the settlement, and if the army has a general and the settlement doesn’t have a governor, the general will be automatically appointed as the new governor. See the

How to Run Settlements

section for more information.

• Red highlighted areas are in enemy zones of control, which means they ’re adjacent to a non-allied army. Moving into a red zone ends further movement for an army. You don’t have to attack when in a zone of control.

• It’s possible to right-click beyond the green highlighted area, in which case it’ll take two (or more) turns for an army to reach its destination. Assuming the army is given no new orders and isn’t ambushed, it’ll continue marching. The route is shown as a multicolored line, with each color representing one turn’s movement.

• Armies that cannot move have a red circle around them.

• Armies are shown as kneeling figures when they’re hidden and ready to

ambush any passing enemies.

Selecting the Next Piece

You can select armies, fleets, agents and/or settlements in any order you wish by clicking on them on the campaign map.

• To select the next force, agent or city, click on the arrows on either side of the name in the right-hand section of the Control Panel, just above the end of turn button.

• The vertical “thermometer” bar on the right shows the movement points remaining for that piece.

Terrain

If you want to find out the terrain in a particular area, first left-click on an empty space on the game world map (to deselect everything). Then

right-click

and hold

on an empty space in the province you’re interested in. This tells you

the terrain type of the location, the owning faction and the province name.

• The terrain determines whether your armies can move into a location and determines the kind of battlefield you’ll fight on in that area.

• Some terrain—such as mountains—are simply impassable to armies. You’ll need to find passes or routes around blocking terrain.

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If there are more than 20 units (total, in both armies) involved in the merging, then the Merge Armies scroll appears.

• Select the units you want to move to the other army. You can make multiple selections by holding down the

CTRL key as you left-click.

• Some units may be grayed out. These have moved as far as they can this turn, and therefore can’t move (merge) to another army.

• Click on the transfer arrow button in the middle of the scroll once you’re happy with the army compositions. You can also drag-and-drop units between the two armies on this scroll.

• Once you’re happy with the merged armies, click on the check box in the lower right-hand corner of the scroll.

Splitting Armies

From time to time, you may want to split a force or move part of a garrison out of a settlement or fort.

• Select the units you want to move using their unit cards in the Review Panel in the center of the Control Panel at the bottom of the screen.

• You can use the

SHIFT and CTRL keys while selecting to make

multiple selections.

•

Either move the cursor to the spot you want the selected units to go.

A “ghost” army will be shown in the cursor position.

•

Or drag-and-drop the selected units from the Review Panel to an appropriate

location in the game world.

• In both cases, the “son” army marches to the new location.

Merging Units

After a battle there’s a good chance your forces have taken some casualties. Some units may have been reduced to only a few men. No matter how few men a unit contains, it still uses one of the 20 slots in an army roster. This results in armies that are full of units yet contain few men.

• Units can be increased in numerical strength by merging them or by retraining at a settlement. See the Retraining Units section on page 35.

• Merging units must be of the same type. Drag one unit onto another in the Review Panel, and the two will merge. The men in the unit being dropped are added to the target unit.

You can

withdraw from your attack.

If you’re attacking a settlement or fort, see the

How to Besiege a Settlement

or Fort

section of the manual.

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 attack and then move up another army to act as reinforcements before giving battle.

• Any adjacent army that’s commanded by a general will always be under AI control on the battlefield. You won’t be able to issue commands to units under the general’s command.

• Any adjacent army that’s commanded by a captain will reinforce your army on the battlefield on a unit-by-unit basis. Remembering that there’s a limit of 20 units per army, reinforcements will appear when a slot in your army is available, either through casualties or because a unit has run away.

• Reinforcements on the battlefield always appear from the direction that matches their position on the campaign map. If a supporting army is behind an enemy army (but still adjacent to the enemy), it’ll appear on the battlefield in the enemy rear.

Multiple Attacks

As long as an army keeps winning, it can keep moving forward and attacking. Depending on casualties (and other factors), it may be able to attack two or three times during a turn.

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.

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Captains

Captains are limited, temporary leaders of armies. They’re selected from the ranks when an army needs a leader and a named character isn’t available to be a general. When a general joins the army, the captain returns to the ranks.

Captains cannot:

• Recruit mercenaries

• Build forts and watchtowers

• Govern settlements

When a settlement without a governor is besieged, a captain leads the garrison.

Recruiting Mercenaries

While a general is outside a city, he can recruit mercenaries from the local province. Click on the

Recruit Mercenaries button in the Control

Panel. When there are no mercenaries available, the button is grayed out.

• This brings up the

Army Details Scroll, showing the general and the list

of available mercenaries.

•

Left-click on any mercenary unit to select it and add it to the queue of

mercenaries to be hired. You can deselect a mercenary unit for hiring by leftclicking on it once again.

•

Right-click on a mercenary to bring up details.

When you’re satisfied with your hiring choices, click on the

Hire

Queued Units

button on the left of the scroll. Unlike a faction’s own troops who have to be trained for at least a turn before they appear, mercenaries instantly appear as part of the army in the review panel.

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 grayed out.

Clicking on 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 button is pressed, it will fall into disrepair and be removed from the map. The constructing army can leave a unit to keep the fort going, or another force (or even an agent) can move in; all will preserve the fort for future use.

• The dragged unit may vanish if all its men are used in this way. Any “spare” men remain in their original unit.

• You can auto-merge depleted units by pressing the

M key.

Unit Experience

Be careful when combining units since troops with low (or no) experience can dilute a high experience unit and reduce its performance in combat. The number and color of the

chevrons on the unit card in the Review Panel show unit

experience. A unit with experience can be relied on in combat, and will usually

beat an otherwise identical unit. Chevrons can also be gained by units under generals with high command values, or as a result of good training facilities (buildings).

•

No chevrons indicate the unit has little or no experience.

• One, two and three

bronze chevrons show the unit has been “blooded”

in combat.

• One, two and three

silver chevrons show the unit is composed of

soldiers who have seen much hard fighting.

• One, two and three

gold chevrons show the unit is composed of tough,

grizzled veterans who know the business of war inside and out. A unit with

three gold chevrons is likely to be one that’s worth its weight in gold

to a commander!

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 governor become the governor. When there’s a choice, the general with the highest management ability is always the governor.

• The best general in a settlement is the commander of the garrison. His military abilities are used in siege battles.

• A governor who leaves a settlement becomes a general.

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■ Green—Happy; the people are pleased with your government,

happy to pay taxes and generally secure in their lives. Dissent and rebellion are far from their thoughts.

■ Yellow—Contented; most of the people are indifferent to your rule,

feeling neither committed to, nor hatred for, your cause. They pay their taxes, but do not feel happy.

■ Blue—Disillusioned; the people are generally unhappy and likely to

become rebellious unless remedial action is taken. They resent paying money to your treasury.

■ Red—Rebellious; the people are on the edge of revolt against

your rule.

This icon shows whether or not the

population of the settlement is

increasing or not.

■ Green indicates the population is growing.

■ Amber/Orange indicates the population is stable. It’s worth

having a look at a settlement to see what’s not going well as far as population growth is concerned.

■ Red indicates the population is falling. This is a matter for concern

because if everything’s working, the number of people in a settlement will increase.

This icon appears if a unit is being

trained in the settlement.

This icon appears if a building is being

constructed or repaired in

the settlement.

A “gears” icon appears when the settlement is being auto-managed.

Settlements and the Control Panel

A left-click on one of your settlements selects it, and the

Control Panel at the

bottom of the screen changes to show the contents of the selected settlement.

The construction and training buttons are in the Control Panel:

Left-click on the Construction Button to open the construction

tab within the

Settlement Scroll. This allows you to issue

orders for new buildings in the settlement. When construction is underway, the button shows what’s being built. Otherwise, the button is “empty.”

• Forts have no “nationality.” If one faction constructs a fort and leaves it empty, another faction’s forces can move into the fort and take it over.

• A general can build as many watchtowers and/or forts as you want in a single turn, limited only by his ability to move to a new site.

Forts can be extremely useful in defending strategic “choke points” such as mountain passes: an enemy will have to lay siege to the fort to advance. It’s even possible to build a “wall” of forts to isolate an area.

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 cursor over a resource to see a relevant tool tip.

The size of a settlement—whether it’s a village, town, large town or a minor, large or huge city—is determined by the size of the population. The larger the population, the bigger the settlement. Settlement size and defenses are shown on the campaign map.

A settlement can only take advantage of its large population if it has the right government building at its (metaphorical) center. Without the right administration, advanced structures cannot be built. There’s a chain from

population to

government to building construction to training military units for each

settlement. Without settlements to generate units, you won’t have armies to command!

Use

Ctrl + T to toggle city names and details on and off. The details are a summary

of the activity in the settlement:

• The city

name and its status are shown on the top line: for example, a

city that is

revolting or has plague will have an appropriate icon next

to its name.

This is the

income generated by the settlement. It’s possible for a settlement

to lose money every turn if the income is less than its upkeep costs.

The face icon represents the overall happiness of the settlement population.

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• Left-click on the Training Button to open the Recruitment tab on

the settlement scroll. This allows you to issue orders to train new units, ships and agents in the settlement. When a unit is being trained, it appears here. Otherwise, the button shows that the settlement is ready to receive training orders. You can click on the Retrain tab to show retrainable units.

The

review panels in the center show various details of the settlement,

depending on which tab has been selected.

• The left tab shows the

garrison units in the settlement, along with any

governor and his bodyguard.

Right-click on a unit card to bring up

information. The governor of a settlement is always shown with a “management scroll” on his portrait. “Visiting” generals are shown with stars on their portraits in the review panel.

• The second tab shows the existing buildings in the settlement.

Right-

click

on any of the building pictures to bring up the Building

Information Scroll

• The third tab shows any

visitors—agents of your faction—in the

settlement.

Right-click on any of the agents to bring up the appropriate

character scroll.

• The fourth tab (passengers on a fleet), is not used for settlements.

In the right-hand section of the Control Panel are two large buttons with the town name alongside:

• Click on the arrows on either side of the name to move between settlements.

The Settlement Scroll

The Settlement Scroll is the key to getting information about, and issuing orders to, a settlement.

The large arrows on either side of the settlement name allow you to scroll between settlements quickly.

The main part of the

Settlement Scroll is divided into

four areas:

• The top part of the scroll shows the Governor’s Details (if there’s a governor in residence). Depending on difficulty settings, without a governor, a settlement is always auto-managed for you. The governor’s attributes have an effect on how well the settlement is run.

• The next section shows the Settlement Details. This displays a summary

of all the important statistics for the settlement, along with icons that show whether or not the settlement is revolting, under siege and/or infected with plague. You’ll also see a population requirement for the settlement to grow in size; this will not be shown if the settlement has reached its maximum size.

• The next section allows you to

Set Policies for the settlement. When auto-

management is off, you’ll be given the choice to alter the tax rate in the settlement. The tax rate you set affects how much money you earn from the settlement (income), how happy your people are feeling (public order), the population and the population growth rate.

The tax rates vary from low to very high; try adjusting the tax rates and seeing what happens to income, public order and growth. These four values determine how well your settlement functions.

Some factions can have amphitheaters and circuses in settlements, so you’ll also have the choice of how often games or races are thrown to amuse the people.

• The Orders section has four tabs for Construction, Recruitment, Repair and Retraining. For the moment, we’ll concentrate on Construction and Repair. This is where you order building works for your settlement. The Recruitment and Retraining Tabs are dealt with in the How to Train Units section. Tabs that can’t be selected are grayed out.

Down the left-hand side of this scroll is a set of buttons that control the settlement and give you more information:

This button brings up a more detailed analysis of your settlement.

This brings up a scroll showing you the buildings in the settlement arranged according to their position on the game’s technology tree. This is useful for reviewing progress and planning future civic developments.

Click here to ask Victoria what to construct. She’ll suggest a building and give reasons for her choice.

Click here to center the campaign map view on the settlement. Frontier settlements have different priorities than those closer to the core of your empire.

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