Rome Total War: Battle Strategy Guide

A. Formations

It's pretty much common sense to come up with a good formation for your army but the basic idea in most situations is to have your infantry in front, ranged units behind, cavalry protecting the flanks and your general right behind the infantry. Having the general next to your infantry boosts their morale. If you have larger numbers than the enemy, it's usually a good idea to spread your formation so you can surround the enemy.

B. Flanks and Rear

The flanks and rear of any army are its most vulnerable points. By placing cavalry on the side you can help protect your flanks. When facing an enemy, always try to attack its flanks or rear with your army, especially your cavalry. A cavalry charge to the rear can devastate any unit and lower its morale. When facing an army unit such as Greek hoplite phalanx, you must use the slow speed of the enemy to your advantage to flank the opponent. The Phalanx is particularly vulnerable anywhere except the front. One tactic that seems to work is to slowly flank the enemy is to form your troops in a slight half circle so you can slowly surround your enemy. Never let your infantry become isolated, try to keep them in formation in a line so they dont feel like they are being surrounded.

C. Morale

The morale of your troops is the most important aspect of a battle. If your troops are surrounded they will lose morale and try to escape in a rout. Try to prevent this and use this to your advantage by surrounding troops whenever possible. Showering arrows on the enemy army lowers its morale Also, launching a surprise attack on an unprotected side has the same effect. Having enemy generals near your troops lowers their morale slightly, this is also true of your general and enemy troops. Keep in mind that more experienced troops have higher morale. New troops will most likely rout if your general flees.

All units on the battlefield know who is winning the battle by observing their surroundings. If they see any unit or a general fleeing, they are more likely to flee. Use this to your advantage; if you have a unit surrounded and they are routing, let them flee rather than let them fight their hardest to get out of their situation. Once other enemy units have seen them, mow them down with your cavalry to show the other army who is the boss.

D. Unit strengths

Each of the different unit types is vulnerable to another type. Cavalry is vulnerable to frontal spear attacks. Light Infantry is vulnerable to cavalry and Heavy infantry is also vulnerable to side attacks from cavalry but is effective in hand to hand combat. Artillery is good offensively against almost any unit but is extremely weak defensively and dies quickly after a head on attack.

Elephants are a great unit against infantry and lower the morale of enemy troops. They can be supressed by a large number of ranged units and scare tactics such as incendiary pigs. Your Elephants may also turn and attack your own troops in which case you have the option of using the special ability where your rider executes them.

Archers are very effective against light troops and mounted archers are a good way to harass enemy troops. Always keep archers them away from the infantry and cavalry. Put them behind your infantry when the enemy is close and protect them with your cavalrywhen necessary. If you have the opportunity to flank the enemy using archers,make sure you take off skirmish mode and attack, you will catch the enemy off guard. When the enemy is far away put the archers in the front to shoot arrows as the enemy approaches then bring them behind.

E. Fatigue

Your units will slowly or quickly get fatigued based on their actions. Use this to your advantage by forcing attacking armies to march to you and by running only when necessary.

F. Terrain

Use the terrain to your advantage. When fighting near or in a forest, lure the enemy and launch surprise attacks. Place one or two units out in the open while you hide the rest of your army in the forests. However, remember that archers perform poorly near trees. Also, remember that generals are not hidden in forests. When you are fighting on a map with a slope, try to control the higher ground and avoid an uphill battle. Units move very slowly when marching uphill and attack much less effectively; the opposite is true downhill. If you have the option to wait out the battle and the weather doesn't suit your army, wait until the weather changes. Some units are better suited to certain weather condtions than others. Read unit descriptions to find out more details about each units ideal figting conditions. Some terrain such as mountains is impassible to your armies. Try to find an alternate route. Certain choke points such as bridges are important strategic locations. Defending a bridge is much easier than defending on an open plain. You can also hide your whole army on the campaign map in a wooded area to launch surprise attacks on an enemy army.

G. After they flee

When the enemy starts to flee, continue the battle rather than end it so you can use your cavalry and attack dogs to run over the fleeing enemies. You can gain more experience for your units this way. Using your general's cavalry to run over routing units is a quick way to gain experience and skills for the general.

H. Attacking with multiple armies

Whenever possible, try to attack with multiple armies by surrounding the terrain around the enemy with your forces. When one of your armies is adjacent, the AI is in control of the army and helps in the fight. Any type of reinforcement usually helps win the battle but be wary of the AI poorly managing your valuable Generals and armies.

Tony James is a supporter of freeware games and runs (Freewaregames.net-free fullversion games) a well known freeware games resource

---

Google News Updated : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:50:53 GMT Got $700 Billion? Sweat the Details - New York Times Telegraph.co.uk Got $700 Billion? Sweat the Details New York Times - 3 hours ago The bailout plan gives Henry M. Paulson Jr., the Treasury secretary, three broad choices in buying assets. By ALAN S. BLINDER THE House of Representatives was against the bailout bill before it was for it. US firms up plan to buy into banks to stem crisis Reuters Paulson Indicates Need to Purchase Bank Equity `Soon as We Can' Bloomberg Los Angeles Times - Washington Post - The Miami Herald - International Herald Tribune all 2,358 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:39:07 GMT YouTube to play full TV episodes with ads - Afterdawn.com Vancouver Sun YouTube to play full TV episodes with ads Afterdawn.com - 2 hours ago Google has announced that it will begin offering full-length TV episodes through its YouTube platform beginning this week, thanks to a content deal with CBS. YouTube to Offer TV Shows With Ads Strewn Through New York Times YouTube beams up Star Trek for long-form video, prominent new ads CNET News Wall Street Journal - eFluxMedia - Silicon Alley Insider - Bizjournals.com all 109 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:13:12 GMT Gay Marriage Is Ruled Legal in Connecticut - New York Times Boston Globe Gay Marriage Is Ruled Legal in Connecticut New York Times - 5 hours ago In Hartford, Crystal Pretzman of Willimantic, Conn., celebrated the State Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage. Video: Connecticut Court Allows Gay Marriage AssociatedPress Marriage ruling not the end of debate in Conn. The Associated Press Newsday - Washington Post - Reuters - NECN all 1,711 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:13:08 GMT US space tourist set for blast-off - Reuters Canada.com US space tourist set for blast-off Reuters - 40 minutes ago By Maria Golovnina BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - US video game magnate Richard Garriott will blast off into space aboard a Russian spaceship on Sunday watched by his father, a NASA astronaut who went into space at the height of the Cold War. US space tourist set for launch BBC News Russian space chief reassures US partners The Associated Press Times Online - USA Today - Spaceflight Now - RedOrbit all 287 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:10:50 GMT GOP Officials Hope for Stability From McCain - New York Times Voice of America GOP Officials Hope for Stability From McCain New York Times - 1 hour ago By ADAM NAGOURNEY and ELISABETH BUMILLER Republican leaders across the country said Saturday that they were worried that Senator John McCain was heading for defeat unless he brought stability to his presidential candidacy and settled on a clear message ... Antiwar Protestor Disrupts McCain Iowa Rally Washington Post Obama needs 75 percent turnout in Philadelphia, says Rendell CNN Political Ticker The Weekly Standard - Summit Daily News - USA Today - WNCT all 1,087 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:23:47 GMT Nobel Peace Prize winner wants jobs for the young - International Herald Tribune Times Online Nobel Peace Prize winner wants jobs for the young International Herald Tribune - 10 hours ago AP HELSINKI, Finland: Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari said Saturday that finding jobs for more than 1 billion young people in the Middle East and Asia will be a major challenge to peacebuilding in the next decade. Video: Ex-Finland President Wins Nobel Peace Prize AssociatedPress Nobel Finn Wall Street Journal Voice of America - Times Online - Burlington Hawk Eye all 1,453 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:12:07 GMT World is united to tackle financial crisis, IMF says - MarketWatch BBC News World is united to tackle financial crisis, IMF says MarketWatch - 2 hours ago By Rex Nutting WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Financial policymakers from 180 nations around the world are united in their resolve to tackle the financial crisis, Youssef Boutros-Ghali, head of the International Monetary Fund's policy committee, ... G7 nations face going cap in hand to China guardian.co.uk Finance officials comments at IMF meetings Reuters AFP - BBC News - Bloomberg - New York Times all 579 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:23:46 GMT RSS feeds Increase Search Engine Traffic

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Sapphire Tipped UAVs for Midair Collisions to Defeat Enemy UAV Swarm Threats

Defeating enemy UAV Swarms will be a challenge for our... Read More

Best of British: Gizmondo Doomed To Fail?

The Gizmondo combined media player, phone and gaming gadget went... Read More

Theories Behind Magic Trinkets in Video Game and Virtual Reality

In Gaming we deal between Simulation, Augmented Reality, Fantasy and... Read More

Malicious Advertising

Advertising is a necessary irritant in the world today. You... Read More

Mind Boggling Information About The Popular Bingo Game!

Have you ever considered mind boggling statistics of a BINGO... Read More

Best Space Themed Games - Part I

Space? How much we can place where? Incredible words, unknown... Read More

UAV GeoBat Balloon Radar Decoy Strategies

A GeoBat small UAV might be the perfect platform for... Read More

Go Digital and Groovy... and Save Trees!

Have you inherited your Dad's trading card collection - ie.... Read More

Why We Play Games, Part 1

There exists some ephemeral quality that separates gamers from the... Read More

Another Title by Atari Released on StarForce Protected DVDs

"Atari has selected StarForce to protect their brand-new game called... Read More

RPG: Table and Computer

It's not a secret that table RPG games are not... Read More

Games To Encourage Thinking Skills

There is no doubt about it, using computer games is... Read More

Drawing Hand Held Surface to Air Missile Fire at Night Using UAVs

One of the easiest ways to draw shoulder launched missiles... Read More

How to Write a Business Plan While Playing

BizTech 2.0 is an entrepreneur education program offering business assistance... Read More

Codename Revolution - Nintendos Next Generation Gaming System

Over the past year or so plenty of hype, mystery... Read More

Improving Spelling with Games

You got it! You can do just about any type... Read More

Free Pocket PC Casino Game

Casino Gambling Wherever You LikeAre you absolutely crazy about pocket... Read More

Flying an MAV Through Fan Blades to Attain Target

Flying an MAV Through Rotating Fan Blades ? It maybe... Read More

Rome Total War: Battle Strategy Guide

A. FormationsIt's pretty much common sense to come up with... Read More

10 Innovative Game Features

Watch yourself struggle, sweat, collapse as you turn your video... Read More

Computer Game on Mars; Design for Communication Device

Powering up hand held wireless devices in the field for... Read More

Guns Dont Kill People - Videogames Do!

"Ban these evil games", "Videogame violence corrupting our nation's youth",... Read More

Zuma Deluxe Style Games Evolution

As I think most of gamers who play in shareware... Read More

Ten Things You Should Know in Video Games

BloodRayne | It's Zero Hour | Midasplayer | The latest... Read More

XBOX 360 vs. PS3: an in Depth Look

All gamers are awaiting the release of the Xbox 360... Read More