CD Keys

The most important changes in Rome: Total War are:

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
T o t a l 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 manualbut 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 lowerright 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 luckand 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.

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!

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: T o t a l W a r 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:
V i d e o 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.
A u d i o Settings - Click on the sliders to adjust each element oi 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.
N o t e : 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.
C o n t r o l 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 S H I F T , 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.
V i e w t h e 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: T o t a l
War. It's your task to lead the Julii family to a position oi power by conquering
Rome's neighbors. This is the way to greatness in Rome: T o t a l Warattack
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: T o t a l W a r
(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.
C e n t u r i o n 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 S h o w Me H o w button to have the advisor demonstrate
how to carry out an action in the game.

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?

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.

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.

Moving Your Viewpoint

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.

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 I, 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.
D a r k areas on the map are those you can't "see" because you don't have
armies or agents nearby.
Each s e t t l e m e n t 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 C o n t r o l Panel at the bottom of the
screen changes.

Getting to Grips with the Control Panel

Everythingthe round buttons and the tabson the control panel has an
associated tool tip to explain its job.
The m i n i - m a p 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 a r m y / n a v y tab (the left-most one) to bring up the
M i l i t a r y 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 t o w n / c i t y tab (second left) to bring up the
S e t t l e m e n t s 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.

 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 turnat least to start withit'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!

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 battleadjacent 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.

 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.

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:

D i p l o m a t s 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 b o x 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.
In Rome; T o t a l 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.

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 a n d 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.

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 H o w 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.

Faction leader
Flavius Julius
5000 denarii
270 BC

The vertical "thermometer" bar on the

right shows the movement points
remaining for that piece.

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.

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 terrainsuch as mountainsare simply impassable to armies. You'll
need to find passes or routes around blocking terrain.

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 iswe thinkthe 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.

You can w i t h d r a w from your attack.

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

If you're attacking a settlement or fort, see the How to Besiege a Settlement

or Fort section of the manual.

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.

Attacking with Supporting Armies

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.

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.

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

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 Al
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.

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 S H I F T and CTRL keys while selecting to make
multiple selections.
E i t h e r 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.

 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 R e v i e w 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 b r o n z e chevrons show the unit has been "blooded"
in combat.

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 M e r c e n a r i e s button in the Control
Panel. When there are no mercenaries available, the button is grayed out.

One, two and three silver chevrons show the unit is composed of
soldiers who have seen much hard fighting.

This brings up the A r m y Details Scroll, showing the general and the list
of available mercenaries.

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
t h r e e gold chevrons is likely to be one that's worth its weight in gold
to a commander!

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.

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.

Right-click on a mercenary to bring up details.

When you're satisfied with your hiring choices, click on the H i r e Q u e u e d
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 C o n s t r u c t i o n button while not in a settlement brings up
* the F i e l d Construction scroll. From here, you can select either a
w a t c h t o w e r or a fort. Each has a denarii cost associated with it.
Watchtowers are permanent structures that extend your field of view.

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.

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.

 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 resourcestrade 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 settlementwhether it's a village, town, large town or a minor, large or
huge cityis 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 p o p u l a t i o n to

GreenHappy; 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.
YellowContented; 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.
BlueDisillusioned; the people are generally unhappy and likely to
become rebellious unless remedial action is taken. They resent paying
money to your treasury.
RedRebellious; the people are on the edge of revolt against
your rule.
This icon shows whether or not the p o p u l a t i o n of the settlement is
increasing or not.
G r e e n indicates the population is growing.
A m b e r / O r a n g e 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 t r a i n e d 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.

government to building construction to training military units for each

settlement. Without settlements to generate units, you won't have armies
to command!
Use C t r l + T to toggle city names and details on and off. The details are a summary
of the activity in the settlement:
The city n a m e and its status are shown on the top line: for example, a
city that is r e v o l t i n g or has plague will have an appropriate icon next
to its name.
This is the i n c o m e 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 oi the settlement population.

Settlements and the Control Panel

A left-click on one of your settlements
selects it, and the C o n t r o l 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 S e t t l e m e n t 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."

 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 r e v i e w 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. R i g h t - d i c k 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. Rightclick on any of the building pictures to bring up the Building
I n f o r m a t i o n Scroll.
The third tab shows any visitorsagents of your factionin the
settlement. R i g h t - d i c k 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 next section shows the S e t t l e m e n t 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 automanagement 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 oi this scroll is a set oi buttons that control the settlement
and give you more information:
This button brings up a more detailed analysis of your settlement.

The Settlement Scroll

The S e t t l e m e n t 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 S e t t l e m e n t 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.

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.

Who Gets to be Governor?

The first named character to enter a settlement will be the governor as a right. His
abilities are used to modify how well the settlement is being run.
His unit card is marked with a scroll to show his status.

Shrines a n d Temples are special cases. You may be offered a choice of

temple for construction. Once you've added a temple to the Queue, the other
temples will be removed as construction choices. Each settlement can only
have one temple, and they are mutually exclusive. It's possible to destroy a
temple and start over with a shrine to a different god.

Other generals (if any) in the settlement are shown with silver stars on
their unit cards.

Repairing Buildings

During a siege, the general with the best command rating will be treated as
the commanding general (and this need not be the governor). If the faction
leader is present, he always outranks any other general regardless of his
actual command rating.

Buildings can be damaged through natural disasters and during siege assaults. It's
quite possible to damage a town without taking it, and the longer an assault takes,
the more "collateral damage" is done. Left-click on the Repair t a b to see which
buildings need work.

However, when a named character (a general, not a captain) moves into a

settlement, he will be appointed as the new governor if his m a n a g e m e n t
ability is higher than that of the current incumbent.

Repairing buildings works in a very similar fashion to new construction. The

cost of repairs is usually substantially less than the cost of a new building,
both in terms of cash and of time.

It's possible for the governorship to change hands many times if several
characters move into a settlement in a single turn.

Instead of being presented with construction options, there is a collection of

buildings needing repair.

Building Construction
All building construction work uses two resources: time and money.
The number of different buildings shown as construction options depends on
the size of the settlement and what you've already built.
If you don't have the money, you won't be able to construct some buildings.
Buildings that are beyond your means are grayed out.
Left-click on a building under the C o n s t r u c t i o n tab to add it to the
Construction Q u e u e . The money to pay for the building is immediately
deducted from your treasury.
Left-click on a building in the C o n s t r u c t i o n Q u e u e to cancel the
construction order. The building will reappear under the C o n s t r u c t i o n t a b
in case you want to construct it later.

When the Construction Queue is full, buildings under the

Construction tab will be grayed out.
Buildings in the Construction Q u e u e are completed in left-to-right order.
You can alter the order by dragging-and-dropping the building pictures until
you're happy.
Right-click on a building in options or the queue to bring up the relevant
Building Information Scroll.

Left-click on any damaged building to add it to the construction queue.

It can be dragged and dropped into the queue and left-clicked to cancel the
work as described above for new construction work.

The Building Information Scroll

This shows information about a given building. You can find out what each group of
buildings does through the Building Browser Scroll.
The Building Information Scroll allows you to destroy buildings. This is on
this scroll to stop you from doing it accidentally!
Click on this button to destroy the building. You'll receive a proportion
around a thirdof the cost of the building as a refund into your treasury.

The Settlement Details Scroll

This scroll allows you to review the settlement in detail, and
see what factors are contributing to the overall population
growth, public order and settlement income.
For each of these three areas, the positive factors are
shown above the negative factors. Move the cursor
over each icon and a tool tip appears telling you what
it represents.
The other important, perhaps vital, piece of
information presented here is the length of time that the settlement can
withstand a siege. This represents the surplus food that the settlement
has stored.

Left-click this button to bring you down into a battlefield view of your
settlement. It can be a great help in letting you get a feel for the streets
and defenses.

Left-click this button to bring up the Trade Summary Scroll and

see how your settlement is generating taxable income.
Left-click on this button to make this settlement your capital.
This is where all new Generals and reward units from the Senate
will appear.

The Trade Scroll and Province Resources

There are two ways to raise the income from a settlement: One is to change the
tax rate (through the S e t t l e m e n t Scroll); The other is to improve the economic
structures in a settlement.
There are three potential generators of taxable income: t r a d e , f a r m i n g and
m i n i n g . All of these can be improved by constructing buildings, although all rely
on resources in the province.
Any resources in the surrounding province will be traded automatically,
if only within the local settlement. Slaves and grain are moved between
settlements automatically as required.
M i n e s are needed to extract mineral wealth from a province. These need to
be constructed like any other building.
F a r m i n g i m p r o v e m e n t s increase the income from farming and the
growth rate of a settlement as more food is generated. However, not all
provinces are equally fertile, so don't expect farms to have the same affect
in all parts of the world. That said, a settlement always benefits from
farming improvements.
Trader-type buildings in a settlement improve the efficiency of trade and
the amount of money it generates.
A p o r t (and its subsequent upgrades) allows trade goods to be moved more
efficiently and in greater numbers. Ports always appear on the coastline of
the province, although they're part of the settlement. They also help train
naval units. Landlocked provinces cannot have ports.
Roads allow trade goods to be carried to neighboring settlements
automatically. They also allow the faster movement of armies.

The Building Browser and the Technology Tree

The Rome: Total War package includes a printed technology tree for the Roman
factions in the game. All factions, however, follow a technology tree, some of
which are very different from that of the Romans. The Building Browser
Scroll allows you to review a settlement's progress through the technology tree.
Buildings in full color have been completed. Grayed-out buildings are either
not yet built or unavailable for the settlement.
The Building Browser shows the government building you need before
you can construct other buildings at the same level.
Right-dick on any building (including those not yet built) to bring up the
relevant Building Information Scroll.
All buildings keep, or improve on, the abilities of earlier structures.

Wonders of the World

Some provinces contain wonders of the ancient world. Capturing the settlement in
the province gives you control of the wonder, and these grant empire-wide benefits.
If you lose control of the settlement (and the province), you lose the benefit for
owning the wonder.

Trouble in Settlements
Settlements are not always good places to live, and sometimes the people
will make their feelings clear by revolting. Victoria, your advisor, will warn
you that problems are developing and suggest solutions, but prevention is
somet imes better than cure. You can reduce the tax rate, send troops to quell
dissen t, send a better (or indeed any) governor and, if time permits, construct
buildi ngs that have a positive effect on public order.
Sieges have to be endured or broken. See the section on H o w to Break a
Siege on page 36 for more information.
Plague is, perhaps, the worst thing that can happen to a settlement, and
a sign of the gods' disfavor! A settlement that's a squalid place to live is
more likely to suffer plague than somewhere that's wholesome. Again, some
buidingssuch as sewershave a positive effect on public health and lessen the
likelihood of a plague.

Changing Your Mind

Construction orders are only executed when the end of turn button is pressed.
Before then, you can undo any changes you have made.

HOW TO TRAIN UNITS

Armies in Rome; T o t a l W a r are made up of one or more military units under
the command of a g e n e r a l (a member of the ruling family) or a lesser captain
(a commander drawn from the ranks).
One class of units can never be trained: general's bodyguard units. These are given
free with every new member of the ruling family of a faction. They can, however,
be retrained and equipped with better quality weapons. A general's bodyguard is
disbanded when the general dies.
Training all other units uses three resources: time, money and men. Every unit
takes at least one turn to train, has a cash cost and uses population from the
settlement where it's trained. Units also cost money for salary, supplies and
equipment after they have been trained. This u p k e e p cost is automatically paid,
and can become a significant expenditure each turn!
The military buildings in a settlement determine what units can be trained there.
The Building Browser Scroll shows what buildings produce units.
Barbarian factions have a different set of buildings in their technology tree, but the
principle remains the same.
A left-click on one of your settlements selects the settlement, and the
C o n t r o l Panel at the bottom of the screen changes to reflect the
contents of the selected settlement.
Click on the left-most tab above the central Review Panel to show the
settlement garrison. This allows you to review the troops already present in
the settlement. (A right-click on this tab produces the M i l i t a r y Forces
Scroll: a list of all your existing armies).
On the right-hand side of the C o n t r o l Panel are two large buttons.
Click on the lower recruitment button to open the Settlement Scroll with

the Recruitment tab selected.

The Recruitment Tab

As you'll see, this is very similar to the Construction tab.
The Recruitment tab is where you order new units to be trained in your
settlement. Immediately below is the R e c r u i t m e n t Q u e u e , which shows
training in progress.
Down the left-hand side of this scroll is a set of buttons that are described

in the How To Run Settlements section.

Click here to ask Victoria about what unit to train. She'll suggest a unit
and give reasons for her choice.

The Recruitment Queue

Military units require three resources when they're trained: money, time and men
to fill the ranks (money is also needed for ongoing upkeep costs):
The number of different unit types shown under the R e c r u i t m e n t tab
depends on the military buildings in the settlement.
If you don't have the money, you won't be able to add units to the Queue.
Units beyond your means are grayed out.
Diplomats, spies and assassins are treated as one-man units.
All boats and ships are treated as military units, but they appear at the port
in the settlement's province.
Units may also be grayed out if there are insufficient "spare" men in the
settlement population to fill the ranks.

Left-click on a unit under the Recruitment tab to add it to the

Recruitment Queue.
The left-most unit in the queue is shaded red to show that training has
begun, and the number of turns until training is complete are shown. The
shading is removed as progress is made.
Left-click on a unit in the R e c r u i t m e n t Q u e u e to cancel the training
order. The unit will disappear from the recruitment queue.
Up to nine units can be in the R e c r u i t m e n t Q u e u e . When the queue is
full, units under the R e c r u i t m e n t tab will be grayed out.
You can order the training of as many identical units as you like. Unlike
settlement buildings, units are not unique.
Units in the Recruitment Queue are trained in left-to-right order. You can
alter the order of training by dragging-and-dropping the unit cards.
A word of warning! If you remove the left-most unit in the queue, any
progress to date will be cancelled, even if you move it back to its position
at the head of the queue!
Right-click on a unit card to bring up the relevant Unit

Information Scroll.
The Unit Information Scroll
This Scroll shows historical background and the unit's game effects, including the
all-important training and upkeep costs.
The U n i t I n f o r m a t i o n Scroll also allows you to disband your units. This
saves the upkeep costs of the unit.
Click on this button to disband the unit. If the unit is disbanded in a
settlement, the men are added to the settlement population.

 Settlement Rally Points

Units trained in a settlement are usually added to the garrison. When the garrison is
full, the newly trained unit appears outside the settlement. Naval units (ships) always
appear in the harbor on the province's coast. When the harbor is full, they appear
outside the harbor.
However, it's possible to set up a rally p o i n t : a location somewhere on the campaign
game map where all units are sent after they've been trained in a settlement. This can
be very useful if the front line in a war is a long way from your main citiestroops will
be automatically sent to the war:
Select the settlement by left-clicking on it.
Move the cursor to the point on the campaign map where you want newly
trained troops from that settlement to gather.
Hold down the ALT key and right-click to confirm the rally point. A blue
marching route for the units will be shown on the map.
Several settlements can share the same destination as a rally point. Simply set up
the rally point for each settlement in turn. This is an excellent way of building an
army quickly.
N a v a l rally p o i n t s can be set up in a similar way:
Left-click on the harbor of the port to select it, and then hold down the ALT key
and right-click to set the naval rally point to another location. All newly
produced ships will sail to this location.
You can reset rally points at any time by repeating the process.

Unit Training and Experience

The men used to create units are raw recruits without experience. Unless there are
special circumstances (such as the governor having a personality trait related to
training), new units have no experience.

Armor and Weapon Quality

Blacksmiths improve the quality of weapons and armor available in a settlement. Units
with better quality weapons and/or armor have this shown on their
unit cards.
Bronze (+ I), Silver ( + 2 ) and Gold ( + 3 ) s w o r d icons show improved
quality weapons.
Bronze ( + 1 ) , Silver ( + 2 ) and Gold ( + 3 ) shield icons show improved
quality armor.

Retraining Units
Click on the R e t r a i n i n g tab to see units in a garrison that are eligible to be
retrained. Retraining can be carried out if a unit meets one or both of the
following conditions:
The unit is numerically u n d e r s t r e n g t h : it has taken losses and has fewer men
in its ranks than when it was originally trained. Under-strength units that are

retrained may have any battle experience diluted by the raw recruits who enter
their ranks.
The unit has i n f e r i o r q u a l i t y weapons and/or armor compared to those
currently available in the settlement. For example, a unit trained where there's no
blacksmith moves to a settlement where there's a foundry. The unit is eligible for
retraining because better weapons are available.
Retraining costs money and time. The unit is removed from the garrison during
retraining, and has no public order effects.
Mercenaries can never have their numbers replenished, but their weapons and armor
can be upgraded.

Changing Your Mind About Unit Training

You can alter training orders as often as you like during a turn. The orders are only
executed when the e n d of t u r n button is pressed.

How to Besiege a Settlement or Fort

Sieges start automatically whenever an army attacks (right-click) a settlement. A
besieged settlement is shown with a line oi sharpened stakes around it. Only friendly
forces or allies can joint besiege a settlement or fort; two or more neutral forces cannot
besiege the same location.
The Siege Details Scroll shows you all the information you need to control a
siege: the cities' defenses, your siege equipment and the time the settlement can
hold out.
In most cases, you'll need to construct siege equipment to break down the
settlement walls: rams, ladders, towers or saps. You won't be able to start an
assault if you haven't constructed some siege gear.
Click on the items you want to build to add them to the build queue. Adding
items to your build queue uses up build points. Your army's remaining movement
points and your generals' attributes, traits and ancillaries influence the number of
build points you get on this screen. Build points are generated each new turn.
You won't need to construct any siege equipment for settlements that don't have
walls. You can assault these immediately, or choose to wait for the defenders'
food supplies to run out.
When you're ready to attack, click on the Assault button. You'll see the Battle
D e p l o y m e n t Scroll, and from here fighting a siege is very similar to
fighting any other battle. You have the choice of resolving the siege automatically, fighting it out on the battlefield or withdrawing. If you decide to
fight it out, remember that a siege requires you to break into an enemy
settlement and take the central plaza or square. Killing the enemy isn't always
enough to secure victory! Auto-resolution will simply tell you whether or not
your assault was successful.

There will be times when you want to stop besieging a settlement. Simply
select the besieging army and move it away from the settlement. The siege
will be lifted automatically. You can also click on the Lift Siege button on
the Siege Details Scroll. Any siege equipment that your troops have
constructed will be abandoned and lost to you.

Conquering Settlements
There are three ways a settlement can fall to you as a conqueror:
By being starved into submission through a siege.
By an assault, played out on the battlefield.
By an assault that is auto-resolved in your favor.
Once a settlement has fallen, you have a choice about what to do with it and the
people who live there:
Occupy t h e settlementYou'll make some profit from looting, but
the settlement will be relatively undamaged. The number of people in the
settlement will be unchanged, although they may be resentful towards
their conqueror.
Enslave t h e populationSome looting occurs, but the main effect is
to ship people from the newly conquered settlement to other settlements in
your empire as slaves. Only settlements with a governor can gain population
this way. This can be an excellent way of boosting the population in your
important settlements, as well as making sure the newly conquered
settlement is less likely to revolt.
E x t e r m i n a t e t h e populationThe people are put to the sword,
reducing the population of the settlement immediately. Immediate looting
takes place on a large scale, too. This brutal policy can be useful when
conquering people belonging to a faction with a very different culture from
your own. Income from the settlement will be massively reduced until the
population grows once more.
You also have the option of auto-managing the settlement and leaving it to the
game to run it for you.

How to Break a Siege

There are two ways of breaking a siege: sallying f o r t h with the garrison and
sending a r e l i e f force.
While under siege, the garrison can't leave and new forces can't enter the
settlement. The settlement is cut off by the besiegers.

To sally out, select any units in the garrison and right-click on the
besieging army. The Battle D e p l o y m e n t Scroll will be displayed so that
you can see the odds and decide whether or not to auto-resolve the fight.
Any adjacent friendly armies will appear as reinforcements in the battle
(allied armies will always be controlled by the Al). You will have control of
the garrison for the sally battle.
A r e l i e f force is another army that attacks the besieging force. In this
case, the garrison appears as reinforcements (again, allied armies are always
controlled by the Al).
During a sally battle, the besieging army may attempt to break into the
settlement and capture it. After all, gates that open to let defenders out also
let attackers i n . . .
In both cases, the garrison (sallying force) or the relief force must be
victorious to drive away the enemy and break the siege. In either case, it can
sometimes be worthwhile to target any siege equipment that the besieging
army has constructed. Its loss may delay their final assault.

How to Use Fleets

Naval pieces in the campaign game are called fleets.
Every fleet has an admiral. Like a general, he has a leadership value and can gain
personality traits that have an effect on his fleet's ability. Unlike a general, he's
permanently attached to his fleet.
When a fleet is selected, a green movement area surrounds it. The fleet can
move to any point within this zone during its turn. Coastal squares are
included in this zone when there are passengers on the fleet, as they could
disembark into one of these land squares.
Red spaces in the movement zone are adjacent to non-allied fleets.
You can order a fleet to move beyond the green zone, in which case it will
remember its orders, and a colored line shows where the fleet's headed. Each
color segment shows a turn's worth oi movement.
The R e v i e w Panel in the center at the bottom oi the screen changes to
show the ships in the fleet along with passengers onboard.

Naval Combat
The naval combat system in R o m e : T o t a l W a r is abstract and auto-resolved.
To start a naval battle, left-click on your fleet to select it, and right-click on
the fleet you wish to attack.
Fleets that lose ships in combat lose any military units or characters that the
lost ship(s) happened to be carrying.

 The command rating of the fleet's admiral influences its fortunes in battle.

Storms

After combat, the losing fleet will either sink or pull away from the
victorious enemy.

Storms can cause fleets to lose ships. It's possible that a fleet can be entirely
dashed to pieces by a particularly bad storm. Ships in coastal waters are in less
danger during storms than ships far out to sea. Any ship that's sunk is lost with
any military units it was carrying.

Passengers on Fleets
If you want an army or agent to board a fleet, select the land-based piece (army or
character) and move the cursor over your fleet. The cursor will change to a boarding
symbol to show that this move is possible.
R i g h t - d i c k to confirm the boarding order. From now on, orders to the fleet
will include its passengers. By the way, movement points used by passengers
before they join a fleet limits the movement of the fleet.
To disembark passengers, select the fleet and then right-click on a coast.
Everybody aboard a fleet will disembark at this spot. Any and all agents
assassins, diplomats and spieswill be attached to a disembarked army.
If you want to partially unload a fleet, select the units or agent(s) in the
review panel and then right-click on the campaign map on the coastal area
where you want them to disembark.

Blockades
It's possible to blockade an enemy port and cut its trade links with the outside
world. The blockaded faction will not receive some trading income each turn the
blockade is in force:
Select an army or a fleet, then right-click on the port you wish to blockade.
A barrier will be placed around the port to show a blockade is in force.
You can lift a blockade by moving your fleet away.
You can break enemy blockades by successfully attacking the blockading fleet.
Victory will break the blockade.

Splitting & Merging Fleets

If you want to split a fleet, select the ships you want to form a new fleet in the
R e v i e w Panel and then drag and drop them to the destination for your new fleet.
They will automatically leave and a new admiral will be appointed for the new fleet.
Any passengers stay with the "parent" fleet.
To merge two fleets, simply move one fleet to the location of another. If the two
fleets have more than 20 ships total, you'll be given the chance to decide exactly
which ship ends up in each fleet.

Fleets as "Bridges"
It is possible for land forces or characters to board a fleet and then disembark on
the same turn.

How to Use Spies

Spies are trained in settlements that have a market (or larger trade
building). They are your eyes and ears in rivals' territory, and act as
counterspies and secret police officers in your own lands.
When a spy can spy against a rival, the cursor changes. A spy can only carry out
one spying attempt per turn.
Move a spy into a rival's settlement to obtain information. An infiltrated
spy can cause unrest and open the gates during a siege. There's a chance
the spy will be caught and killed.
Move a spy to the same location as a rival's a r m y to obtain information
about the army and its commander. The accuracy and completeness of the
information depends on the ability of the spy.
Move a spy to the same location as a rival's agent to obtain information
about that spy, diplomat or assassin.
Spies can be used to counter enemy agents and their activities:
Spies always see enemy spies who would otherwise remain invisible.
Spies can be attached to your own armies by moving them onto an army.
Simply move them to the same location as an army. A spy can be removed
from the army by clicking on the Characters tab, selecting the spy and
then right-clicking a spot on the game map.
Spies can be moved into one of your settlements to act as counterspies and
to keep the local troublemakers under observation. This improves public
order in the settlement.
Over the course of time, a spy's abilities may improve and he may gain various
traits as a result of his missionsassuming he lives, of course!

How to Use Diplomats

Diplomats are trained in settlements that have a governor's villa,
warlord's h o l d (barbarians only) or larger government structure.
It's their job to broker all kinds of deals and treaties. They can also
offer bribes to rival forces.
Move a diplomat onto a rival's settlement, army or diplomat to begin
negotiations.The cursor changes to show a spot in the campaign world
where negotiations are possible if a diplomat moves there.

Diplomats can be attached to your armies like other characters. Simply move
them to the same location as an army. This makes it slightly safer for them
to travel. They can be removed from the army by clicking on the
Characters tab, selecting the diplomat and then right-clicking a spot on
the game map.

The Diplomacy Scroll

You'll see the D i p l o m a c y Scroll every time you
send a diplomat to negotiate with another faction.
You'll also see it when a rival's diplomat comes to you
with an offer of friendship (or even to threaten you).
The D i p l o m a c y Scroll summarizes your current
relationship with another faction, including earlier treaties, and allows you to make
new deals. The center panel is the treaty that's being proposed. Build up a treaty
by selecting items from the two lists:
Left-click on offer and demand items in the lists to add them to the treaty.
These include land, cash and information.
Left-click on an item already in the treaty to remove it.
The offers and demands do not have to be balanced, but treaties that are
unbalanced will be rejected more often than ones with some give-and-take.
When you're happy with terms, click on the O f f e r button below the
treaty text. The other party will respond. He'll do one of three things:

refuse outright, accept immediately or make a counter-offer.

If you're offering money, territory or map information and not asking for
anything in return, these can be a gift. Offers to attack other factions can
also be a gift.

How to Use Assassins

Assassins are trained in settlements that have a forum, agora or bazaar
or larger trading structure. Assassins can assassinate characters or
sabotage buildings.
Move an assassin onto an enemy army, settlement or agent to attempt a
mission. An assassin can only attempt one mission per turn. It doesn't matter
when during the turn the mission occurs.
An assassination can be carried out on any character at the location. You'll
be presented with a target list including a chance of success for each "hit."
Sabotage missions can only be carried out in settlements. You'll be given
the choice of an assassination (if there's a character in the settlement) or
sabotage. Again, you'll be presented with a target list on the Select
M i s s i o n Target Scroll, including a chance of success for the mission.
Unrecognized buildings in a settlement appear as "?" which can be sabotaged.
Use the tabs to move between the assassination and sabotage targets.
Left-click on the target and then click on the assassination or sabotage
buttons. You can always cancel the mission by clicking on the " X " button.
There are no guarantees that an assassin will succeed. Assassins who fail might
get killed in the process.

How to Auto-Manage Settlements

Settlements in R o m e : T o t a l W a r can be left to run themselves if you prefer to
concentrate on the military side of the game.
If a settlement doesn't have a governor it'll be auto-managed. Moving the last
character out of a settlement turns auto-management on.

It's quite possible that your proposed treaty was interesting, but not quite
what the opposition wanted. In this case, they'll make a counter-offer
to you.

When you conquer a settlement, you're given the option of auto-managing it. The
conquering general can be the governor, but the settlement can still be left to look
after itself.

Once a counter-offer treaty is on the table, you can accept it or make your
own proposals in response as a counter-offer. Again, you can change
the treaty by clicking on either offers or demands and on the treaty itself
(delete items).

The Settlement Scroll

It's quite possible for negotiations to go through several rounds of offer and
counter-offer before a deal is reached. Be mindful, though, that not
everyone's patience is endless and one man's haggling is another man's
waste of time!

In the set policies section of the scroll, click on the A u t o - m a n a g e check box to
toggle auto-management on and off.
When it's on, you'll have the chance to pick a b u i l d policy for the settlement. This
gives the administrators some basic guidance on where they should concentrate their
spending. The policies are all straightforward:
BalancedResults in a well-rounded settlement.
FinancialTrade and income-producing buildings are favored.

 MilitaryBuildings that train or upgrade troops are constructed.

The Faction Overviews Scroll

DefensiveWalls are given priority.

This scroll is the key to understanding all the political, diplomatic and financial
details of your faction. Click on any of the tabs across the top of the scroll to bring
up the Senate details, Diplomacy details, Financial details and/or Faction overiew.

CulturalTemples, amphitheaters, arenas, academies and other buildings

that make people feel happy are favored.
The amount of money invested in new buildings is determined by the overall AI
spending policy, which is set on the Faction tab of the Overviews scroll. The
Overviews scroll can be accessed by left-clicking on your Faction icon in the lowerright corner of the control panel.
When auto-management is off, you'll be given the choice to alter the tax rate in
the settlement.

How Not to Go Broke

Simply put: have more income than expenditure. Running out of money is a sure
way of losing the game. Without money, no new buildings can be constructed, no
new troops recruited and existing forces cannot be paid.

Low-Level Tax Management

Each settlement with a governor can have its own tax rate, varying from very
high to low. This is changed in the set policies section of the
Settlement Scroll.

The Faction overview allows you to set global auto-management options for your
entire faction. These are the underlying defaults for any settlement that's being
auto-managed:
Click the Automate All Production tick box if you want
auto-management to do everything for you. If not you can:
Click Enable Auto Train Units if you want the game to produce the best
available military forces.
Click Enable Auto Construct Buildings if you want the game to
manage the building policy in settlements.
The AI Spend Policy Slider lets you set the relative balance between
building up your cash reserves and immediate spending.
Three buttons in the lower left-hand corner bring up more information about
your faction:
Faction RankingsA summary graph that shows you how well each
faction is doing compared to the others.

Left-click on the arrows on either side of the tax rate to change it.
As you change the tax rate, you'll see the settlement's income, public order
and population growth change. In general, the lower the taxes, the happier
the people are likely to be!
Click on the Show Settlement Details button if you want
to see the contribution that taxes make to the overall state of
the settlement.
Click on the Financial tab on the Faction Overview (click on the faction symbol
in the Control Panel) to see a financial projection for the current turn.
The End of Turn Report Scroll gives you the details of the last turn's
actual spending.

Family TreeA convenient summary of your faction's available senior

personnel: your generals, their wives and their children.
Click here to bring up the Senate Officials Scroll. This is discussed in
greater detail shortly.

Faction Ranking Scroll

This scroll gives you a way of seeing your progress in the
game and comparing your strength with that of your rivals
in several different ways. The graph shows your faction's
power over time as an absolute value; it doesn't show
the proportion of the world's "power" that you control.

These two reports allow you to review the current state of your treasury. You can
also make sure your Al assistants aren't spending money too quickly by altering the
Al Spend Policy on the Faction tab of the Overviews scroll.

The ranking choice allows you to choose an aspect

of your faction's power: production, territorial,
financial, population and overall.

How to Manage Your Faction

The faction choice lets you choose which collection of factions you wish to
compare: your own, all factions, the top five, neighboring factions or a
custom selection.

Clicking on the faction symbol in the lower right-hand corner of the Control Panel
brings up the Faction Overview.

 You can click on the faction symbols to toggle the graph lines on and off for
any particular faction(s). This can be very useful when reviewing your
progress in a war.

Family Tree Scroll

The family tree scroll shows all the important characters in
your factionthe men who can be generals and governors,
It also allows you to decide who'll be the faction
leader's heir.
Portraits in color are living characters. Characters
shown in gray are dead,
The most important characters are the faction
leader and the faction heir; their status is
marked on their portraits.
All the larger portraits are generals and governors in your faction. Move the
cursor over a portrait to see the character's name and abilities. The smaller
portraits are sisters, wives and children.
Left-click on any large portrait, and two buttons in the lower left of the screen
become available.

The Set Faction Heir button allows you to designate the heir to your
faction leader.
The Show Me button displays the character's location on the current
campaign map.

New Members of the Family

In the normal course of events, sons and daughters will be born to various
members of the family. As sons come of age, they'll become available for use as
generals and governors. All new characters (including adopted sons and those who
marry into the ruling family) always appear in the faction capital. Daughters
become available for marriage when they come of age.

Adoptions and Marriages

Unmarried sons in your family will find wives and, hopefully, start producing a new
generation of leaders without you having to worry about it.

C o m m a n d is the ability the character has to lead and inspire men in battle.
High command has a positive effect on the morale and fighting quality of
soldiers. A low command rating has some effect, and is definitely better than no
command rating at all.
M a n a g e m e n t is the ability of the character to run a settlement and conduct
the business of government.
I n f l u e n c e is the ability of the character to sway others by argument and the
force of personality. This has an effect on public order when a character with
influence is a governor.
Other characters in the game also have attributes:
Admirals have command ratings, but only for sea battles.
D i p l o m a t s have influence, and this affects their chances of successfully
negotiating with another faction.
Spies a n d assassins have subterfuge ratings. Subterfuge is a measure of
sneakiness, double-dealing and underhandedness.

Retinues: Ancillary Characters

Retinues are made up from ancillary characters. These are the
assistants, aides, secretaries, mistresses, fixers, lackeys, drinking buddies
and assorted hangers-on that always seem to be found with great men.
Ancillaries are added to a retinue as a result of game events. We've also
included a few famous historical characters as ancillariesif you can find them, maybe
they'll help your cause!
Ancillaries usually give bonuses and penalties to a character in the same way as
character traits. Unlike traits, ancillaries can usually be moved between characters, but
some combinations are not allowed.
The two characters must be part of the same army or in the same settlement.
Right-click on the unit card in the review panel that represents the general
with the ancillary.
Drag and drop the ancillary you want to move from the scroll onto the unit card
of the receiving character in the Review Panel.

From time to timewhen there's an eligible woman in the familya suitable

Character Traits: Vices and Virtues

husband will appear. If you accept him for marriage into your family, he's adopted,

Over time, characters pick up a variety of personality quirks and traits. Some of these
are good and some are bad, but if a man is worthy, he'll develop a good character.
A man who runs from battle or is left to rot in a provincial backwater may develop a
nasty personality! It's probably a good idea to have a look at your characters every
once in a while to make sure they don't have a taste for the good life (at your
expense), or turn into blood-soaked loonies!

too, and treated like any other male family member.

Attributes
All family characters have three attributes that affect their performance in the

game. These are command, management and influence, and they're

measured on a scale of 0 (poor) to 10 (almost divinely inspired):

How to Deal with the Senate

In Rome: T o t a l War, the Roman empire is represented by four factions (you
cannot play the Senate). They are all on the same "side" when it comes to dealing
with non-Romans, but one faction will eventually take control of the whole empire.
At the start, the Senate and other Roman factions are not hostile. You don't need
to worry about being stabbed in the back by another Roman faction. At some
point, it'll become inevitable that you'll have to march on Rome and stake your
claim to be imperator (emperor) of the Roman world. The other Roman factions will
be working toward the same goal. It's therefore likely a civil war will break out. An
attack on Rome will only succeed if you have a strong military force and your
faction is popular with the Senate and People of Rome.

Senate Missions
At the start of each turn, event messages appear on the left-hand side of the
screen. Among these can be messages from the Senate requesting you perform a
mission of some kind.
These missions are intended to further the interests of Rome, not just your faction.
While what's good for Rome is often the same as what's good for you, it may not
always be the case. The Senate also sets a time limit for these missions.
As you carry out Senate missions and your faction becomes stronger, the tasks the
Senate asks you to perform will become more challengingand the rewards for
carrying out the wishes of the Senate grow!

The Senate Overview

This summarizes all Roman politics in one place. Click on the tabs to review policy,
missions or the floor (your popularity).
The Senate policy section of this scroll gives you information on the senate's
attitude toward all non-Roman factions in the game. Left-click on a faction symbol
to see what the Senate thinks of a faction.
The Senate missions section of the scroll gives you a list of outstanding
missions that you may want to complete. It's entirely your decision whether these
missions are carried out or not. Factions that carry out missions will be well
regarded by the Senate.
Click on a mission to select it, and then click on this button to center the
campaign map on the target for an outstanding mission.
The Senate floor shows your popularity with the senate and with the
plebs or plebeiansthe ordinary Romans in the street.

Your popularity with the Senate rises if you carry out Senate missions and if
you conquer foreign territory to add to the glory of Rome! The Senate also
takes into account your military might and the threat you represent to them.
Your popularity with the plebs rises as you conquer new lands for Rome (for
your own faction, in fact). The plebeians love a winner!

The Senate Officials Scroll

This is a list of all the characters in the game that have been honored with
positions of responsibility by the Senate. Only Romans can hold senate offices.
Each of the offices grants benefits to the holder while he has the office. Each office
also gives benefits to former holdersthe honor of being trusted by the senate
stays with a man forever.
Senate offices are divided among the Senate itself and the three Roman factions
according to the popularity of each faction on the senate floor.
A single character can hold only one office at a time. He may be given more than
one office during his life, and gain the benefits of being an ex-office holder for each
one, as well as the benefit of his current office.
Left-click on a character in the list to center the campaign game map on
his position in the world.
R i g h t - d i c k on a character to bring up his details so you can examine his
traits and retinue.

How to Get Help

In many places you'll see a "?" button. Click on it to get help. If the advisor is
already on-screen and highlighted, you'll have to read the current advice or dismiss
the advisor to see the help information. Victoria is pretty clever, but she can only
tell you one thing at a time!

How to Change Game Options During Play

Pressing ESC when no scroll is visible brings up the G a m e O p t i o n s menu.
For game, audio and v i d e o options, use the sliders and check boxes to
alter the settings to suit your personal preferences.
Load G a m e and Save G a m e allow you to save your position and reload
it later (or even undo some terrible calamity by stepping back to an earlier
game date, not that you'd ever cheat like this, oh no).

BATTLES
This part of the manual concerns itself exclusively with the battle side of play and
how to get the most out of commanding your troops. The two halves of the game
are linked on many levels. The campaign game determines where a battle takes
place and the units present; results in the battle game affect the campaign.
Generals can earn traits as a result of their behavior in battle. Cities can be won
and lost, and a brilliant victory in the field can mean the conquest of new lands!

The Battle Deployment Scroll

When you have an army selected on the campaign map, right-click on a non-allied
army or settlement to attack. This brings up the Battle Deployment Scroll:
The strength comparison bar in the center of the
scroll gives you the overall battle odds. Move
the cursor over the crossed swords to see the
exact odds.
Reinforcements are also listed (and taken into
account in the odds calculation). These are drawn
from armies that are adjacent to the site of the
battle or siege.
Click here to take control of your units on the battlefield. What happens
after you click this button is what's covered in this part of the manual!
You can have the game work out the battle result. Autoresolving a
battle is speedy, but casualties may be heavy and you can't protect
valuable generals.
Click here to cancel the battle. When you do this, your army will withdraw
some distance to a safe location.

Attackers and Defenders

In every campaign battle, there's an attacking army and a defending army. During
sieges, the besieging army is usually the attacker. The only exception to this is
when the defenders sally out or a relief force attacks the besiegers. In this case,
the besieging army is the defender. Attacking and defending armies use different
victory conditions and deployment rules.

Victory
Generally, in a field battle you need to drive the enemy from the battlefield to win.
You can press the ESC key and select Exit Battle at any time to end a battle.
Victory may require killing many enemy troops, although a crisis of morale
(the death of a general) will make the enemy flee the battle.

As an attacker, there may be a time limit. If you haven't defeated the enemy
before the timer expires, you lose the battle.
As a d e f e n d e r , the timer works in your favor. Remain on the field until time
runs out and the attacker is automatically defeated.
During a siege assault, victory is determined by control of the central square
or plaza in the settlement. The attackers must take this plaza before the
timer expires.
During a battle, you can press Fl to see information about the battle,
including the victory conditions.

How to Deploy Your Troops

At the start of the battle, you may be given a chance to deploy your troops.
As an attacker, your army always deploys on a section of the battlefield
that matches the line of its approach on the campaign map. March onto a
battlefield from the north, and that's where your forces will deploy.
As a d e f e n d e r , you'll deploy in a complementary area of the battlefield.
Reinforcements always appear on the edge of the battlefield that matches
their position on the campaign map. It can be very worthwhile to position
armies on the campaign map on the flanks or in the rear of an enemy before
you attack.

Reading the Ground

When a battle begins, you'll see a camera flyby of the battlefield to give you an idea
of how the land lies. The deployment areas for your troops and the enemy will be
shown outlined in the faction colors.

The General's Speech Before Battle

Your general will give a rousing speech to his men. It's worth listening to the speech
because the general may include one or two useful hints about the state of the
battlefield, the enemy and any tactical ruses that might work.

Waiting Before a Battle

If you're the attacker, you can wait before starting the battle. If the weather isn't
right, just click the W a i t button. There's a chance the weather won't change, but
you can't postpone a fight forever waiting for the perfect day:
Battles fought in bad weatherrain, snow, sandstorms and so forthwill be
more tiring for your troops and for the enemy.
Wet weather is likely to have a negative impact on bow-armed units (bows
and bowstrings do not like damp conditions).
Mist, fog and sandstorms can make it difficult to find the enemy.

As the d e f e n d e r , you have to fight with the weather your attacker has decided is
good enoughfor his purposes!
An ambush gives you no chance of choosing the weather for the battle.

Changing Your Deployment

The game places your units on the field in a sensible formation, but it may not be
exactly what you want. Click on Start Deployment to rearrange your battle lines:
You are never forced to change deployment.
You cannot re-deploy your army if you're ambushedand your army will be
in a marching column, not drawn up for battle!
Units must be positioned within the boundaries of your deployment zone.
This is the area on the map bordered by your faction color.
Left-click on a unit or its card in the C o n t r o l Panel, and then rightclick on the ground you want it to occupy.
You can select multiple units for deployment.
CTRL and left-click on the units (on the battlefield) or unit cards
(in the Control Panel) you want to select.
CTRL and double-click on a unit card (in the Control Panel) to
select all units of the same type in your army.
Left-click and drag on the battlefield to create a box around the
units you want. All units within the box will be selected.
Deploy multiple units by right-clicking on the ground you want them to
occupy. You can right-click and drag the units out into a line.
When you're happy with your deployments, click on Start Battle.

Battle Advice
As soon as the battle begins, your military advisor appears with an opinion about
enemy tactics for the upcoming fight. You'll find this information useful in
formulating your own plans.

The View Onto the Battlefield

All your units on the battlefield carry a banner in your faction color and symbol for
easy identification.
Click on the large banner to select the unitthis can be quite useful in the
middle of tense hand-to-hand fighting.
Some units also carry smaller flags showing your faction color and symbol.
These show a combination of a unit's experience and upgrades to weaponry
and armor. The more small flags a unit carries, the more fearsome it will be
in combat!
General's bodyguard units carry square banners that are quite different
from other units. It's always possible to see at a glance where a general can
be found.
Any captain leading an army is similarly shown by the square banner
carried by his unit. However, because he's a captain and not a general, he
won't be personally leading a bodyguard unit and could be part of any kind
of unit, even humble peasants!
Terrain has exactly the effects you would expect in real life: units can hide in
wooded terrain, marching through river fords slows your troops, marching in
snow makes men tired and so on.
Out-of-bounds on the map is marked by a red line that's visible when the
camera is close to the battlefield's edge. Units cannot be ordered beyond
this line, but they will go there when routing or withdrawing.

The Mini-Map
The mini-map gives you a view directly down onto the battlefield. Terrain on the
battlefield is taken from the campaign map location. You'll see distant mountains,
the sea and even volcanoes beyond the battlefield.
The mini-map is always oriented with north at the top.
The arrowheads in faction colors show the position and facing of units on
the battlefield.

How to Use the Battlefield Control Panel

Selected units are always highlighted on the mini-map.

The battlefield control panel is divided into three main sections:

The two blue lines show the current view onto the battlefield.

On the left are the mini-map, game speed controls and army strength
ratio bar.
In the center are the unit cards, each of which represents one of your units
on the battlefield.
On the right are the controls for individual units, groups of units and the
army as a whole.

The shadowed area at the edge of the mini-map is out of bounds during a
battle. Units may only enter this part of the map if they're withdrawing from
battle or running away like frightened bunnies (or "routing," to use the
technical term).
You can zoom in and out of the mini-map using these buttons
to change the map scale.

The other data and controls in this section of the panel are:
The hourglass shows how much time remains before the battle ends. If
you speed up play, the timer speeds up, too.
Just above the game speed controls, the k i l l bar shows the relative success
or failure of your army in disposing of the enemy.
Click on one of these four buttons to pause or play the game at
normal, twice and three times speed. You can also press the P key to
pause and un-pause the game. Orders can be issued to units while the
game is paused.

The Review Panel

Each of the cards in this section represents one unit on the battlefield. When a card
is highlighted, all men in the unit on the battlefield are highlighted with a green
chevron at their feet.
The number is the current number of men in the unit. This number turns
red as the unit takes casualties. The artwork shows the unit typein this
case, a unit of Hastati.
Large portrait unit cards are generals and their bodyguards. A gold star on
the unit card identifies the commanding general. Other generals have a
silver star.
Units that have gained experience and/or improved weapons or armor have
chevrons, swords and/or shield markers. Here, the chevrons show the
experience, while the sword shows these Triarii carry improved weaponry.
All units armed with missiles have a bar that shows their current
ammunition status. This bar always starts full, and as the unit fires
missiles, the bar empties.
Artillery units have an ammunition bar, just like other missile units. The
number on the card is the n u m b e r of m e n and each artillery piece
requires a minimum number of men as crew.

Units can be grouped together during battle. By clicking on the

tab, all units in a group can be selected and controlled as one.
Unit cards can have action icons superimposed to show what the unit
is currently doing.

Army and Unit Controls

In the left section of the control panel are the controls for individual units and
groups of units. As with any part of the game, tool tips are displayed when you
move the cursor over relevant items:
Clicking on the portrait of your commanding general immediately moves
the camera to a position behind the generals' unit. A banner is displayed
here when the army is under the command of a captain.
Click here to stop the orders being carried out by the selected unit(s). You
can also press the backspace key.
Click here to group the selected units. This button is grayed out unless
multiple units have been selected.
This button replaces the l i n k i n g button when a group is selected. Click
here to toggle computer control for the group, and the game will
independently issue orders to the units once you've given the group some
orders.
Click here to make the selected unit(s) w i t h d r a w from battle in good
order. The units will retreat into the out-of-bounds area. A unit given
withdrawal orders can be recalled until the point it leaves play.
Click here to toggle the unit formation from tight to loose. This alters the
spacing between men within the selected unit(s).
Click here to toggle skirmish mode on and off. A unit set to skirmish will
seek to keep a safe distance between itself and the enemy (usually the
range of its missile weapons). If a unit cannot skirmish, this button is
grayed out.
Click here to toggle the f i r e at w i l l button. When fire at will is on,
selected missile-armed units will fire at nearby targets without further
orders. When a unit without missiles is selected, this button is grayed out
and unavailable.
These buttons are reserved for a variety of
special abilities, depending on the type of unit
currently selected.

Click here to set the selected unit(s) to guard mode. When guard mode is
toggled on, the unit(s) holds position and formation at all costs, and lets
the enemy come to them. A unit on guard will not pursue fleeing enemies.
This can be useful for holding an important location (such as a gateway).
Click here when a unit is selected to toggle the unit's speed
between walking and running. A unit that runs tires more
quickly than one that marches.
When a group of units is selected, click here to bring up the group

The cursor arrow keys on the keyboard t r a c k the camera view left, right,
forward and back without changing the viewing angle. Left-click on the
ground and hold down the left or right arrow keys to pan the camera rapidly.
The numeric keypad also changes the camera view. Check the key settings
by pressing Fl during battle for the camera controls.
D o u b l e left-click on a unit card to make the camera move to a position
directly behind that unit. Pressing the E n d key with a unit selected also
has the same affect.

formations buttons. See How to Use Groups and Group

F o r m a t i o n s for more information on these and how they work.

How to Control the Battlefield Camera

The default for the battlefield camera in Rome: T o t a l W a r is an RTS-style
camera, which can be controlled by the mouse or keyboard controls. (There's also
a second mode that will be discussed in a moment):
Moving the cursor to the edge of the screen alters the camera view. The
cursor changes shape to show that the view can be altered.
Moving the cursor to the t o p or b o t t o m (i.e., the bottom of
the control panel) of the screen makes the camera track
forward and backward. The angle of view does not change.
Moving the cursor to the right and left edge of the screen
makes the camera p a n (spin on its vertical axis) without
changing its position or height.
Moving the cursor to the right and left edges of the c o n t r o l
p a n e l makes the camera track (strafe) left and right
without changing the viewing angle.
The mouse w h e e l (if your mouse has one) alters the camera height.
The camera automatically pans (tilts) downward as its height is raised
above the battlefield.
The / and * keys (slash/divide and asterisk/multiply) on the numeric keypad
also alter the camera height in the same fashion.
The - and + keys (minus and plus) on the numeric keypad alter the camera
tilt without altering its height.
Clicking the center (third) button on the mouse zooms the camera viewpoint
to look at the unit nearest the cursor while the button is held down. (On
some mice, the mouse wheel acts as the center button).

Click on the general's portrait in the control panel to move the camera to a
position directly behind the general's bodyguard unit. Click on the faction
banner to move to a point directly behind the captain's unit if no general is
present.
The blue lines on the mini-map showing the visible area of the battlefield
change as the camera position alters.
The camera view can be changed when the game is paused.
Press Esc and go to game options to change camera mode. This will be familiar to
players of earlier T o t a l W a r titles. Virtually all camera controls are the same,
with one important exception:
The up and d o w n cursor arrow keys on the keyboard track the camera
view forward and back without changing the viewing angle.
The l e f t and right cursor arrow keys on the keyboard p a n the camera
(spin on its vertical axis) without changing its position.
The mouse wheel adjusts height but does not change camera angle.

How to Move and Attack

Moving and attacking with units in Rome: T o t a l W a r use the same basic
controls: left-click to select, right-click on the battlefield for a destination or
target. To issue a move order:
Left-click on a u n i t on the battlefield or a u n i t card in the control
panel to select the unit.
R i g h t - d i c k on the battlefield location where you want the unit to move.
The unit will march to this spot.
D o u b l e right-click on a battlefield location if you want the unit to
run to its destination.
Animated g r e e n movement arrows confirm the move order.

If a unit cannot move to a given location for any reason, the cursor changes.
The terrain may be impassable or the location out of bounds, for example.
You can review all movement orders by holding down the spacebar.
Chevrons show all unit destinations as long as the spacebar is held.

To issue an attack order:

Left-click on a unit on the battlefield or a unit card in the Control Panel
to select the unit.
Right-click on the enemy unit you want to attack and the unit marches
into combat. The cursor will look like this when the unit's primary attack is
in hand-to-hand combat.
D o u b l e right-click on an enemy unit if you want your unit to charge
into the attack. Again be carefulcharging from too far away will tire your
men before the fight has begun.
This cursor is displayed when a unit's primary attack is with javelins or
throwing spears and if the unit has ammunition remaining.
This cursor is displayed when a unit's primary attack is with bows
or other missiles (such as sling bullets) and if the unit has
ammunition left.
For all missile units:
Right-click on an enemy unit you want to attack.
If the arrow on the cursor is r e d , your unit will march forward until in
range and then throw its spears.
If the arrow on the cursor is g r e e n , your unit is already in range and
will begin its missile attack immediately.
D o u b l e right-clicking when a missile-armed unit is selected causes the
unit to run forward until within attack range.

Hold down the A l t key and right-click on an enemy unit to order a

secondary attack by a unit.
If the cursor shows a sword, d o u b l e right-click to order the unit to run
and then charge home into melee.
Secondary attacks can be useful with many of the Roman Legionary units, as this
forces them to fight hand-to-hand. Most Legionary units follow Roman tactics of
throwing a volley of pila (special heavy javelins) and then attacking hand-to-hand with
swords. This is why their primary attack is usually shown as a spear. They
automatically charge home as the enemy attempts to recover from the missile attack.

Changing Unit Formation

It's possible to change the frontage and depth of a unit. The frontage is the number
of men who can fight at the same time. The depth shows the ranks who can be fed
into the meat grinder as casualties are taken:
Select a unit by left-clicking.
R i g h t - d i c k and drag to change the unit frontage. During this process, the
cursor changes and the layout of the unit is shown with chevrons on the
ground. The large arrow shows the facing of the unit.

Changing Unit Facing

All units have a facing. AH attacks are carried out to the front of a unit, and units
can be vulnerable when attacked in the flanks (sides) or from behind. It's possible to
alter a unit's facingto meet an oncoming threat, perhapswithout having it move.
Select the unit by left-clicking on it on the battlefield or its unit card in the
Control Panel.
Use the < and > keys (the same keys as comma and period on many
keyboards) to rotate the unit's facing without changing its position.
The new layout of the unit is shown with chevrons on the ground. The large
arrow shows the unit facing.

Animated r e d movement arrows confirm the attack order.

Click on the stop button on the control panel or press the backspace key
to cancel a movement or attack order at any time.
Some units can attack in more than one way. For example, many javelin-armed
troops also carry swords (or knives for use in self-defense). You can order a unit to
attack with a secondary weapon:

When multiple units are selected (see H o w to Use M o r e T h a n O n e Unit),

changing unit facing creates a battle line and then rotates it.

Waypoints
When a unit is issued a movement order, it normally marches straight toward its
destination. However, units are sensible and watch for barriers such as walls and
rivers and follow a route that takes them over a river crossing (a ford or bridge), or
through a gap in the walls.
It's possible to issue detailed marching orders to a selected unit and set up waypoints
for it to follow to its final destination:

To set a waypoint for a unit, hold down the shift key and right-click on
the spot you want as a waypoint. Repeat this process to add another
waypoint to the unit's marching route.
No more than a dozen waypoints for a route are advisable.
You can remind yourself of waypoints later. With the unit selected, hold
down the shift key to show the waypoints that have been set.
Holding down the spacebar (without the shift key) still shows the final
destination and facing of the unit.

Unit Activity
Move the cursor over any unit on the battlefield or unit card and a t o o l t i p
appears, giving you details of the unit's status.
The unit cards in the Control Panel also give you a way of monitoring what your
units are doing. Each unit card can have a symbol as a notification of what's
happening to the unit. It's quite possible for more than one of these symbols to apply
at any one time. If this is the case, the symbols that apply are displayed in turn:
A single arrowhead at the top of the card shows the unit is moving at a
steady m a r c h toward its ordered destination.
A double arrowhead at the top of the card shows that the unit is moving
toward its ordered destination at a r u n or is charging an enemy unit and
has yet to make contact.
Crossed swords show the unit is in h a n d - t o - h a n d combat.
A bow and arrow symbol shows that the unit is f i r i n g missiles.
(This symbol is used even if the unit is actually throwing spears or firing
sling bullets).
Arrows show the unit is u n d e r fire. It may be worth moving the unit out
of range or ordering it to attack its tormentors!
This symbol shows that the unit is currently h i d i n g and may not be
spotted by enemy forces. Most units can hide in woods (allowing them
to spring tactical ambushes), but there are some types of soldiers who
can hide almost anywhere!
The w h i t e flag symbol shows the unit has suffered a morale crisis and is
now r o u t i n g , that is, running from the enemy. The unit banner also
changes to white on the battlefield. It may be possible for a general to rally
troops who are routing.
If a unit is surrounded and unable to rout, the fight to the death icon will
be displayed on the unit card.

These symbols only appear on unit cards during sieges.

See How to Assault a Settlement or Fort.

Orders for Artillery Units

Artillery units work in exactly the same fashion as other units. However,
artillery pieces are heavy, and even with large crews it can take time to
execute an order. Don't expect artillerymen to dash or charge anywhere!
Remember that the number on the unit card is not the number of artillery
pieces, but the number of crewmen. As crewmen are killed, the number of
pieces that can fire (and rate of fire) drops.
Just like other missile units, the bar shows the ammunition supply for the
unit. When this is gone, the unit can no longer fire.
When attacked by missiles or in hand-to-hand combat, crews may abandon
their pieces. This cursor appears when the selected unit has abandoned its
weapons. If the crew can move back to their pieces and resume firing, the
hand symbol appears when the cursor is moved over an artillery piece.
Right-clicking orders the crew to resume working their weapons.

How To Use More Than One Unit

It's possible to issue orders to multiple units at the same time. The units will move
to the same location or attack the same target. There are various ways of selecting
more than one unit to receive orders:
Hold down the C t r l key and left-click on more than one unit on
the battlefield.
Left-click a n d drag on the battlefield away from a unit, creating a
highlighted box. All the units within the box will be selected.
Hold down the C t r l key and left-click on more than one unit card in the
Control Panel.
Hold down the C t r l key and double left-click on a unit card in the
Control Panel. All units of the same type will be selected.
A combination of the above methods also works. For instance, selecting
some units on the battlefield and some through the Control Panel.
Holding down the C t r l key and left-clicking on a selected unit or its
unit card will toggle the selection, allowing you to remove a unit from a
collection before issuing orders.
Once multiple units are selected, orders are issued in the usual fashion:

Right-click on a destination for a march order.

Double right-click on a destination for a run order.

Right-click a n d drag on a destination to make the selected units form

a line. As you drag the cursor sideways, a set of yellow chevrons appears
showing the frontage and depth of the selected units. Release the mouse
button when you're happy with the line's position.
R i g h t - d i c k on a target u n i t for an attack order.

Double right-click on a target unit for a charge order.

Use the < and > (comma and period) keys to form a line of units and
change its facing. Yellow chevrons appear to show the units' final
destinations. The line forms at a point that's the shortest march for the
selected units.
Use the stop button on the control panel or press the backspace key
to cancel the units' collective orders.
Once multiple units have been selected, they can be g r o u p e d together, as well as

put under AI assistance.

Grouping Units
Groups can be a very useful way of managing a large force.
With a collection of units selected, click on this button to group them
together. You can also press the G key. The relevant unit cards in the
control panel will be collected together into one numbered group.
Grouped units don't have to be of the same type. When grouped like this,
the new group has the lowest group number that's currently available.
Alternatively, with a collection of units selected, hold down the Ctrl
key and press one of the number keys on the main keyboardnot
the numeric keypadto create a numbered group.
A grouped unit is displayed like this in the Control Panel.
Left-click on the numbered group tab to select all the units
instantly or press the number key that corresponds to the group
number (shown in Roman numerals in the tab).
Groups can be split or modified at any time:
Select two or more groups of units and then group them again using one
of the above methods to create a new, larger group that includes all the
units of the old selected groups.
Select a single group and click on the group button in the Control Panel (or
use a keyboard shortcut) to b r e a k up the group. The units become single
units once again, though they remain selected.

Select one or more units within a group and click on the group button on
the control panel. The selected units will be removed from the current group
and create their own group. At least two units must remain in the group,
otherwise it will be completely broken up.

Groups can be put into group formations:

Click on this button to show the group formations buttons.

Eight group formations can be selected. Each one

has its own strengths and weaknesses. If you move
the cursor over the buttons, tool tips appear
describing the formations.
Click on the relevant button to select the formation you want the selected
group to use.
Alternatively, hold down the Shift k e y and press numbers I through 8 on
the main keyboardnot the numeric keypadto select a group formation.
You can select more than one group before deciding on a formation. Your
selected groups will collectively adopt the group formation you choose.
Groups can be placed under AI assistance:
With a group selected, click on this button to toggle AI assistance of
the group on and off. A group under AI assistance has a red outline
on the control panel.
Units within an AI assisted group will ignore your combat orders in favor
of those of their commanding officer.
However, you can order the group to move to a location, and the computer
will handle the detailed movement orders for units.
Units in an AI assisted group will stay in formation.
You can cancel AI assistance at any time by clicking on the Control Panel
button to toggle it off.

How to Get the Most from Unit Abilities

Unit Morale

Many units have a special ability that makes them more useful in battle. Select the
unit, then click on the special ability button (or press the F key). Most special abilities
can be toggled, but a few are "one use":

Morale is the willingness of a unit to fight on while taking casualties. As long as a

unit's morale remains good, it will fight. But sooner or later, even the bravest of
men will realize that their lives are in more danger if they stay than run. Morale,
therefore, is more noticeable when it's lacking: a unit with no morale will run away.

The C a n t a b r i a n Circle formation is used by light, missile-armed cavalry

to keep up a barrage on an enemy unit. Rather than firing a mass volley
against an opponent and then retreating to reload, a unit executing a
Cantabrian Circle gallops around with each soldier firing before dropping
back to prepare a new missile. The effect is a steadyand demoralizing
rain of missiles on a target unit, rather than a single volley.

Not all units are equally blessed with good morale. For example, peasants aren't
keen on going to war Professional Legionaries, on the other hand, are likely to stay
and fight against great odds.
Some units in the game have morale effects in addition to their combat value:
Generals (usually) and captains boost the morale of nearby troops.

Many archer and artillery units can fire f l a m i n g projectiles instead of their
normal missiles. These can set men and buildings on fire.
Many spearmen, hoplites and pikemen, particularly those schooled in Greek
ways of warfare, can form a phalanx. This is a solid mass of infantry who
rely on mass and discipline to punch into an enemy line.
A general can rally nearby routing units, recalling them to the fight by
sheer force of personality. If this works, the unit re-forms, ready to fight on
(for a while, at least).
The later types of Roman Legionaries can form a t e s t u d o or tortoise
formation by closing up and interlocking their shields. Snug inside an
armored shell, the Legionaries can then advance through missile fire
and survive.
A w a r c r y gives a temporary boost to the combat power of the unit as it
enters combat.
Some cavalry units can form a w e d g e , a formation that aids them when
charging into other units by increasing their shock value on attack. The
mass of cavalry is concentrated against a small portion of the enemy's line,
and then the enemy unit is split apart (if the wedge charge works).
Some barbarian units can chant or let forth fearsome keens and
screeches. This increases the morale of nearby friendly units and
decreases the morale of nearby enemy units.
Should an elephant unit panic and run amok, the drivers can be ordered to
kill their beasts. This is very useful if the elephants are running amok
through your own troops!

There are some traits, such as personal cowardice, that reduce the morale of
warriors under a general's command.
The death of a general or captain is usually a severe blow to the morale of his
whole army.
Some units f r i g h t e n nearby enemy units, either because of their terrible
appearance and fearsome reputation or because they're armed with cruel
and unusual weaponry. Enemies are more likely to run when faced with
frightening units.
Routing units can cause other friendly units to rout: if lots of other people
are running from the enemy, soldiers tend to think it might be a good idea to
run, too!

Routing Units and Pursuit

As has been noted, generals can rally routing units. This won't work if enemy
forces are too close to the routing unit. They will ignore the general and
concentrate on escaping death!
Therefore, it can be a good idea to keep some speedy forces available to pursue
fleeing foes to prevent them from rallying. There's also a good chance of killing
some enemies as they run, saving you the trouble of having to fight against them
on another battlefield. Traditionally, light cavalry were used for this task. Units in
guard mode will not pursue enemies.

Romans and Legionary Eagles

Some types of Roman units carry Legionary Eagles. These appear in the
campaign game after the reforms of Gaius Marius have occurred, but they're always
available in custom battles.
A First Cohort unit carries a Legionary Eagle. This battle standard is regarded as the
soul of a Roman Legion, and is an inspiration for any Roman units nearby. Its
presence raises the morale of friendly Roman units. Losing a Roman Legionary Eagle
is the height of disgrace, and a terrible blow to the battlefield morale of an army
that loses one.

 Unit Characteristics
There are a couple of other unit abilities that are worth remembering:
Some units are rated as h a r d y or v e r y hardy. They don't tire quickly
when running or chargingthey're not supermen, just fitter and tougher
than average soldiers,
I m p e t u o u s or b e r s e r k e r units may charge into combat without orders.

Hiding
Many units can hide in forests. Hiding is automatic when a unit moves into terrain
where its men can hide. A few highly specialized units can hide in less promising
terrain, or even in relatively open terrain. On the battlefield, hidden units are
shown with their soldiers crouching down.
Enemy forces cannot see hidden units until they're very close. This makes it
possible to stage tactical ambushes with hidden units.
The same holds true for enemy forces, of course. It's possible for an enemy
unit to hide and not be visible to you on the battlefield!
Generals cannot hide, nor can captains.

Using a General in Combat

A general is the most important unit in an army:
In a campaign battle, the general's abilities and personality traits can have
effects on army morale, unit performance and the combat power of his
bodyguard unit. An army lead by a 7-star general, for example, will perform
with greater effectiveness than one under the command of a I -star general.
Man for man, a general and his bodyguard are among the most powerful
forces at your disposal. As a reserve to be thrown into battle at the critical
point, they can make the difference between victory and defeat!
A general is the only unit that can rally routing troops.
The death of a general can have catastrophic effects on the morale of every
unit in his army.
In the campaign game, the death of a general is also the death of a family
member. When the ruling family is dead, the faction is destroyed!

How to Assault a Settlement or Fort

Sieges can occur when an army assaults a settlement or attempts to break into a
fort. They have much in common with field battles, but with the important
qualification that one side is "safely" behind a set of defenses. All the normal rules
of the battlefield apply to sieges; orders for attacks and movement are issued in the
normal fashion.

There are, however, extra conditions that apply during sieges, and new weapons
and tactics for both the attacker and defender.

Sieges and Victory

Victory in a siege is very simple: the side that controls the center of the
settlement wins! You can also win by killing or routing the entire enemy army off
the field.

Siege Equipment
Siege equipment is constructed in the campaign game when an army is besieging a
settlement. In Custom Battles, siege equipment can be obtained during setup.
In either case, suitable siege equipment is automatically assigned to units
when battle deployment begins.
Without siege equipment or suitable artillery, it's almost impossible for
attackers to break into a settlement.
Rams, ladders and siege towers are assigned to individual
units. The unit cards of relevant units are marked with one of
these symbols to show they have siege gear. Units with
ladders, towers and rams cannot charge.
Saps (or sapping points) are placed on the battlefield in front of suitable
sections of wall. They cannot be moved during deployment.
Once the battle starts, units with siege equipment can be ordered to advance
against city walls:
A unit equipped with a r a m can be sent against a g a t e w a y or wooden
wall. The cursor changes to show a suitable target gate or wall section for
the ram. The unit will push the ram toward the gate or wooden defense and
then attempt to smash a way through. If it's successful, it will haul the ram
out of the broken gateway so a clear path is available into the settlement.
Elephants can be ordered to attack gateways or wooden walls without siege
equipment. They just batter a hole!
A unit equipped with ladders can be sent to scale a suitable stretch of
w a l l (not a tower). The cursor changes to show a suitable wall to assault.
The unit will march toward the walls, raise their ladders and climb up. They'll
have to fight any defenders on the walls!
A unit equipped with a siege t o w e r can be sent to assault a suitable wall
(not a tower in the defenses). The cursor changes to show a suitable wall to
attack. The unit will push the siege tower toward the wall, then clamber up
before launching an assault directly over the battlements. Units in siege
towers can fire arrows, and they'll have to fight any defenders on the wall.

Most types of units can be ordered into a sap in front of a stone w a l l .

Progress in digging a tunnel toward the defenses is shown by a line of
disturbed earth between the sap and the wall. When the diggers reach the
wall, there will be a pause while they undermine the walls and set fire to
the sap; this brings the walls crashing to the ground, opening a hole in the
defenses. The sapping unit(s) will then emerge from the tunnel.
While any or all of these attacks are happening, the defenders will not be
idle. As an attacker, you should expect missile fire from defenders within a
settlement and on top of the larger walls. Towers will also fire missiles at
your troops.
When a breach in the defenses is caused (either a gateway is broken or
walls are knocked down), the camera view switches to show the breach.
Units can be ordered to drop siege equipment by clicking on this button
in the Control Panel.
A unit that's not currently equipped with siege gear can be ordered to
pick some up. The siege equipment has to have been abandoned by its
previous users.

Sieges and Artillery

Capturing Walls
Wooden walls serve only as a barrier to keep out attackers. Stone walls, on the
other hand, can be actively fought over by the attackers and defenders:
Any infantry (i.e. non-mounted) unit can be ordered to move to the top of a
wall, or ordered to attack defenders on a wall.
If an attacking unit is in sole possession of a wall, gatehouse or tower, it will
capture the structure.
The defenders can recapture walls.

Within the Walls

Once inside a settlement or fort, the attackers need to capture the central plaza
area to take the settlement. Naturally, the defenders need to keep control of this
area. This may involve fighting through every street if the defenders are feeling
particularly bloody-minded and obstinate.
The longer street fighting takes, the more damage done to the settlement.
This damage needs to be repaired, as explained in the Campaigns section of
this manual.
If the fighting takes a long time, it's possible that fires will break out in the
settlement. The fires will spread unchecked until the battle is resolved.

Artillery units can fire at walls and buildings in settlements, as well as other units

Sally Battles

on the battlefield:

Sally battles occur when a settlement garrison emerges from behind their walls to
drive off their besiegers. The garrison is always treated as the battle attackers
and the besiegers as the battle d e f e n d e r s even though, in strategic terms, the
situation is the other way around.

This cursor appears whenever it's possible to target walls or defenses with a
selected artillery unit. The artillery unit will continue to fire until its target is
destroyed or it runs out of ammunition. Note that it can take a very long
time for artillery to batter a hole in a stone wall.
This cursor appears whenever it's possible to target a building with an
artillery unit. The artillery will fire as long as the target is standing or until
there's no more ammunition.
Click on this button in the Control Panel to toggle flaming missiles on
and off. Flaming missiles can set buildings on fire, and the fires can
spread through a settlement.
Artillery fire can be a little inaccurate. Large stones, for example, are rarely
very aerodynamic and it's possible for shots to scatter instead of landing
exactly on target. Flaming missiles are also inaccurate. Experienced artillery
crews are better at consistent targeting, but don't be surprised if there's an
occasional missile that goes astray!

The besiegers appear on the battlefield outside the settlement with any siege
equipment they have constructed. Attacking the unit to which it is attached can
destroy siege equipment. This can be a good way of thwarting the progress of a
besieging army that might be about to assault the town.
It's also possible to time sallies out of a besieged settlement so reinforcements
from a relief force are also present on the battlefield. See H o w to Use
R e i n f o r c e m e n t s a n d A l l i e s on page 6$ for more information.
One point to remember: it's possible for sally battles to go horribly wrong if the
besiegers get into the settlement during the battle. The settlement defenders can
all be committed to taking the fight to the enemy, leaving their town or city
vulnerable to a sneaky incursion!
For the attackers (sallying out) to win, they must kill or drive off all the defenders
(the besieging army).

How to Deal with Ambushes

Ambusheswhen you're the ambusherare much like any other battle, but hopefully
rather one-sided in your favor! When you're ambushed, however, things can very
rapidly get out of hand:
The ambusher gets the chance to deploy units before the battle as normal.
Unlike a normal battle, the deployment zone nearly surrounds the enemy, rather
than being a section of the battlefield.
The a m b u s h e d a r m y is always deployed in a column formation because it's
on the march, not prepared for battle. The general (or captain) is always at the
head of the column. There's no chance to alter the deployment of the army.
The first rule when ambushed is the simplest: D o n ' t Panic! It takes the enemy some
time to get into combat formation, and those moments can be used to form your
army into battle lines for the coming assault.
Ambushes may feel like harsh and uncompromising battles, but they're intended to
be! A skilled leader will make use of all the weapons at his command, and this
includes not fighting fairly!

Failed Ambushes
It's possible that an ambushing army will not "get the drop" on an enemy. In such
cases, a battle will still take place. Thus, each side must make the best of the day that
it can!

How to Use Reinforcements and Allies

Battles that are part of campaign games can sometimes involve more than one army
for both the attackers and defenders:
When you're attacking, the army that makes the attack on the campaign map
is always the one you control directly.
When you're defending on the campaign map, the army that's attacked is
always the one you control.
Other adjacent armies on the campaign map can appear on the battlefield as
r e i n f o r c e m e n t s and/or allies. F r i e n d l y reinforcements are armies or
units belonging to the same faction; allies are friendly troops that belong to
another faction.
Reinforcements always arrive on the battlefield from the direction that
corresponds to their position on the campaign game map. A supporting army
on the campaign map to the north of the current battlefield will always appear
on the northern edge of the battlefield.

While your camera view onto the battlefield can be in any direction, the minimap is always oriented with north at the top. This can be useful in working
out where reinforcements are likely to appear.
Reinforcement units won't necessarily arrive on the battlefield at the start of
a battle. They can be delayed by intervening terrain, weather and sheer bad
luck. You may also notice that cavalry and light forces arrive at a battle
before heavier units.
Direct control of reinforcing units depends on the following:
Allies are always controlled by their own leaders, and are never placed
under foreign commandin this case, your command. You won't be able to
issue orders to allied units. An allied army will arrive on the battlefield as a
single force.
A f r i e n d l y a r m y that's led by a g e n e r a l will be independent and under
computer Al control during the battle. You won't be able to issue orders to
units in that army. An independent army like this arrives on the battlefield as
a group, all at the same time.
A f r i e n d l y a r m y under the command of a captain appears as
reinforcements under your command. There are restrictions on when
reinforcement units become available to you:
Armies can have a maximum of 20 units. A unit with only one man
still counts as a unit, and occupies one of the 20 slots that exist
within an army.
Unless a spare slot exists, a reinforcement unit cannot enter battle.
The unit will wait in the out-of-bounds area until a spare slot opens
to receive it. This may be because one of your original units has been
eliminated in combat, you ordered it to withdraw or it has routed off
the battlefield.
A reinforcement's unit card is transparent when it's out of bounds
and about to come into battle. When it enters battle, the unit card
becomes opaque; it can then be selected and given orders like any
other unit.
Once a reinforcing unit is on the battlefield and under your control,
it's treated as being part of your army.
A reinforcing captain's unit has its unit card marked with a silver
star, in the same fashion as a subsidiary general.
Once a battle is over, any surviving reinforcements and allies return to their original
position on the campaign map.

Going to the Aid of Allies

When one of your armies is adjacent (on the campaign map) to a battle involving
one of your allies, you'll be given the option of going to your ally's aid. You'll be in
control of your army during the battle.

The check box for Arcade Style Battles turns o f f many of the realistic
features of the battle system. The emphasis in arcade battles is on action
and excitement, not on clever tactics and command skill.

Settlement Assaults and Allies

The S h o w Advanced C o n d i t i o n s tick box brings up more options so

you can precisely tailor the battlefield and the conditions you'll face. As
you'll see, these can let you practice sieges, face different weather conditions
and even practice fighting at night!

If you and an ally are assaulting an enemy settlement and conquer it, the new
owner of the settlement is the faction that initiated the assault. If you attacked the
settlement on the campaign map during a siege, you become the new owner. If
your forces go to the aid of your ally, then you have the satisfaction of having
helped your friends gain some new lands!

CUSTOM BATTLES
A custom battle gives you the opportunity to command any army you want in
battle. This is a "sandbox mode" that allows you to try any kind of combination
of terrain, armies, units, allies and enemies you want. Custom battles are an
excellent way of learning the battle game and an ideal way to hone your skills
before trying your command abilities online!
Select C u s t o m Battle from the Single Player menu to begin the process
of setting up and fighting your own battle. You'll be given the option of
saving away your custom battle setup during the creation process.

Choosing Conditions
Initially, this screen appears in the express
setup version that only allows you to select
a limited number of variables for your
custom battle:

Season allows you to choose the time of year for your battle. This
has an influence on how much (if at all) the weather changes during
the course of battle. Fighting in the depths of winter can affect how
tired your troops become.
W e a t h e r allows you to set the initial weather for the battle (but
you probably guessed that!). Rain and snow have negative effects on
bow-armed troops.
T i m e of D a y sets the starting light conditions for the battle.
T i m e L i m i t sets the timer for the battle. It's entirely possible to
run out of time before achieving victory when attacking, or
deliberately run out the clock to achieve a defensive victory.
Advice L e v e l determines how active Centurion Marcus (your
battlefield advisor) will be in giving you information and tactical hints
during the battle.
S e t t l e m e n t L e v e l runs from none to Huge City. If you want to
fight a siege or sally battle, you'll need to include a settlement on
the map.

G a m e t y p e determines the victory

conditions for the battle. For example,
Last Man Standing is a fight to
the death.

S e t t l e m e n t Culture only applies if there's a settlement present.

This allows you to choose the look and layout of the settlement from
the six cultures in the game. Barbarian settlements can be no larger
than a minor city.

D i f f i c u l t y sets the behavior of your

opponents. At easier difficulty levels, you'll find that enemies tend to have
lower morale, for instance, while high difficulty levels present you with a
greater threat.

S e t t l e m e n t Defenses only applies if a settlement is present. This

allows you to choose the type and size of the walls around a
settlement. A settlement without walls is pretty unlikely in the ancient
world, and not much of a challenge to any besieging army.

T e r r a i n allows you to choose the landscape for your battle. As you might
expect, troops tire more quickly in hot, dry conditions such as a desert.
Some armies are not at their best in some terrainusually an army fights
best on its home ground.

When you're happy with your choices, click on the c o n t i n u e a r r o w .

Return to the Single Player menu at any time by clicking on the
U-shaped arrow.

Customize Battle
This screen allows you to select the faction
armies you want in the battle, and
assign them to different sides for the
coming struggle:
Team Denarii allows you to set a
purchasing budget for each team (side)
in the battle. This money is used to
purchase individual units. It's also used
to purchase equipment and experience upgrades for units. If there's more
than one army on a team, the money is split equally between the whole
team; each army does not get the full budget! Indirectly, the amount of
money sets the maximum size for each army in the battle (there's still the
option to have lots of cheap units or a few expensive ones).
The first army in the central list is always controlled by a h u m a n
playeryou! All other armies are shown as "CPU player" and are
controlled by the game or are e m p t y and not in use.
The list in the center of the screen shows the armies that have been selected.
There are a couple of methods for choosing an army for each slot on this
list:
Left-click on the name box, and then left-click on any of the
faction shields on the right of the screen. Duplicated factions are
not allowed in custom battles, so any faction that's already been
chosen has its shield grayed out.
Left-click on either arrow to cycle through the full collection
of available factions. A faction that's already been used is not
available. Each large faction shield is highlighted in turn.

If you want to clear one of the armies from the list, left-click
on the deselect shield icon on the right hand side of the screen.
Alternately, you can click on the arrows on either side of the
small shield icons until the small version of the
deselect faction shield appears.
There can be up to eight teams (I through VIII in Roman numerals)
in any battle. Click on the arrows to change the team number for
an army. Armies with the same team number are automatically
allied. Any force with a different team number is fair game!

If there's a settlement involved in the battle, there can only be two

teams, and one of these must be defined as the settlement defenders.
Left-click on this icon to select the settlement defenders.
When you're happy with your choices, click the continue arrow to move on to
selecting units for each army. You can return to the new game menu at any time by
clicking on the U-shaped arrow.

Customize Army
This screen allows you to select the individual
units in each army. The only limit is the
budgetyou can select any mix of units
you like.
D e n a r i i Left shows the remaining
budget for unit selection and upgrades.
Every unit costs denarii, and no more
than this budget may be spent.
Overspending is not allowed!
Click on a faction s h i e l d to change armies and select another force. The
army currently being selected has a glowing faction shield.
If this icon is displayed, the unit counts as an attacking force. This is
always the case in field battles where no settlement is involved. When
attacking a settlement with defenses, extra siege equipment options are
shown on this screen for the attacking army. It's almost impossible to
get into a settlement without siege equipment, so make sure the
attackers have some!
If an army is defending a settlement, a shield icon is displayed.

The screen has two boxed areas that are used for unit selection. The upper
area shows all units that belong to the selected faction. The lower area
shows selected units that are part of the army.
Move the cursor over any unit card. A tool tip appears giving a brief
description of the unit.
Left-click on a unit in the upper area to a d d it to the army.
The unit cost is immediately deducted from the available money.
The first unit selected is always the army leader. Unless this
is a general or a (barbarian) w a r l o r d , the army will be led by

a captain.

 R i g h t - d i c k on a unit in the lower area to r e m o v e it from the

army. The unit cost is credited to the available budget.
You can d r a g - a n d - d r o p units to select them for the army. To
deselect units, drag from the army and drop them in the top unit box.
You can d r a g - a n d - d r o p units within the lower army box. You can
d r a g - a n d - d r o p a unit into the first place in your army (the upper
left-hand box) to make it the commander's unit.
You can upgrade some units in an army. This costs money for every
improvement you make. Not all units can be upgraded:
Left-click on a unit in the army to select itnot a
right-click since this removes the unit from the army!
Click on the arrows next to the chevrons to change the unit's
e x p e r i e n c e rating. The more chevrons, the greater the unit's
experience. Gray chevrons indicate no experience.

Click on the arrows next to the sword to change the unit's

w e a p o n quality. Gray indicates standard weaponry. Bronze
(+ I), silver (+2) and gold ( + 3 ) indicate increased quality.

Click on the arrows next to the shield to change the unit's a r m o r

quality. Gray indicates standard armor. Bronze (+ I), silver ( + 2 )
and gold ( + 3 ) indicate increased quality.

In siege battles you can provide siege e q u i p m e n t for the attacking army:
Click on the arrows next to each of the siege equipment items
to add them to the army.
Note that all of these have a cost, so make allowance in your
budgeting for some siege gear! These options are only
available during siege battles, and only the siege equipment
that's needed for the battle is shown.
Click on this button to clear t h e selected units in an army and start
again.

Click on this button to make the c o m p u t e r select an a r m y for you. It

will do its best to spend your budget efficiently and create as flexible a force
as possible. This can be a good way of giving yourself a starting point when
creating an army: you can change the computer's initial choices to match
what you want.
Click here to save the custom battle setup or load a custom battle you
created earlier.
The game automatically saves the last custom battle setup you created,
but this file is overwritten every time you start a custom battle.
When you're happy with all your choices, click on the c o n t i n u e a r r o w . You can
return to the Customize Battle screen at any time by clicking on the U-shaped arrow.

MULTIPLAYER GAMES
Multiplayer games allow you to battle against other people, either over the Internet or
across a Local Area Network (LAN). You can create multiplayer customized battles or
fight one of the special historical multiplayer battles that have been included with

Rome: Total War.

There are three options on the multiplayer menu:
O n l i n e BattlesClick here to host or sign in to an online battle hosted
through GameSpy You'll need an active Internet connection before starting
and any firewall software on your PC needs to be correctly configured. See the
separate technical notes supplied on the Rome: T o t a l W a r CD-ROMs for
further information. You won't need a GameSpy profile to play Rome: T o t a l
W a r online.
L A N BattlesClick here to host or sign on for a battle across your
LAN. This battle will be fought on local machines and doesn't require an
Internet connection but the process for setting up a LAN battle is the same
as the Internet.
Change CD KeyClick here to change the CD key used for multiplayer
battles. You may want to do this so that two (or more) people can use the
same PC, each with their own unique CD key.

Setting Up a
Multiplayer Battle
Once you've confirmed your name for the
game, you are taken to the Lobby Screen
for both online and LAN battles.
Here, you can choose to host a
game by setting up the initial
conditions for the battle.
Or join a game that's ready to play.

Chat
At the bottom of all multiplayer screens is the chat area. Type a message and it
appears on-screen for everyone in the lobby. Between the message window on the
left and the player list on the right are a set of toggle buttons that allow you to
filter and/or ignore messages.
Select the player you want to ignore (or filter) and then click on the
appropriate toggle. You can change your mind later.

Hosting a Game
Hosting a game is similar to setting up a C u s t o m Battle. See C u s t o m i z e
Battle on page 11 for more information.
The host gets to decide on the overall battle conditions, but each player gets
to select his or her own army.
Unlike a Custom Battle, the host has access to a special k i c k feature. This
kicks a player out of the game at the host's discretion, a useful tool for
excluding abusive individuals!

Multiplayer Historical Battles

In addition to creating custom multiplayer battles, the host also has the
choice of selecting one of the special versions of Rome: T o t a l War's
historical battles. This limits the number of players to a total appropriate to the
battle. Simply select the battle from the on-screen list.

Joining a Game
Once you've decided to join an existing game, you're committed to the setup
selected by the hosting player.
Once you've made your choice on each screen, click on the continue button in the
lower right-hand corner. Until all players have completed their choices, you'll see a
"Waiting for..." message on-screen. When all players are ready, the multiplayer
game moves on to the next part of setup or into battle itself!

After a Battle
When a battle is concluded, you'll see a report on how well or badly you fared, and
then be returned to the Lobby.