Rome: Total War

[Velassra]

Anyone else play this?

[Cuda]

Is it fun? I thought about buying it but wasn't sure.

[Velassra]

I've been playing it for almost a year now, it can be challenging figuring how to beat other factions.......like for example, fighting phalanxes are tough, or later taking on Roman legionaries.

AI is dumb sometimes, very reliably dumb with diplomacy but overall I love the game. I haven't yet beat any if the historical battle......you often get the losing side, and have to figure out how to fix the mistakes of the real battle.

[iru]

i <3 that game

haven't played it in a long time though

[Garuk]

Keep in mind, you should have a decent computer if you want to play this game and enjoy the graphical additions they have. If you've got a shitty comp, you can still play it but only by choosing to not render clouds, trees, swaying grass, water effects, high detail animations...etc. and that kind of takes away from the cinematic experience.

As a strategy game it plays VERY fun if you're into those kinds of games. First battle I fought, the moment I clicked my frontline to move in and archer to start firing, this really adrenaline-pumping, oldstyle, epic music came on and I giggled like a schoolgirl. It really tests your ability to play and use different units for different purposes.

One thing to keep in mind....this isn't Starcraft. Its slower, but the scale of the battles is HUUUGGEEE. I love it, definately worth getting!

[Thran]

iv had this game for a long time but i guess i got rid of it last time i reloaded windows but i remeber beat ing the long single player campaign and ya its a really fun game if ur into those kinds of games

i also have the first game of i think of these game called shogun: total war but romes alot better

[Velassra]

I never played Shogun, but I'm also looking forward to Medieval 2 Total War, supposedly going to fix the dunce of an AI:)

[Minotas]

I love the Total War series.. Shogun was kinda bland, Medeivel was a big upgrade imo. Barbarian invasion expansion pack was awesome though.. the vikings were beastly.

Rome is a different campaign game, with the same type of intricate, awesome battles. I've played that gem through a bunch of times, but I think the most fun for me was playing as Carthage. Nothing quite like armies composed entirely of heavy war elephants, with like one unit of infantry to build siege engines to take down castle walls.

The elephants eventually had won so many battles, that they were hardened veteran elephants, able to overcome most any odds. Armies fled in the face of the pachyderm menace. Eventually, the entire free world had been decimated by... guys riding elephants. How's that for realism!!?

Anyway I have a ton of fun with the games, play them for long enough and you can do some amazing stuff. I would send a general and his bodyguards (cavalry) against say, 400 rebel infantry and decimate them. The secret? Sprint to high ground and wait. Rest while they start climbing the hill after you. Once they're about three quarters of the way up and are tired, charge your fresh cavalry down the hill into the face of the infantry of your choice. They will break and run 99% of the time, demoralizing all other enemy troops on the board, who you can proceed to cut down at your leisure. It was just so much fun to take like 30 cavalry and destroy a force of 400 light infantry this way, because in a straight fight I would definitely have lost. It all depends though; never charge cavalry onto spears.

Another fun thing to do would be, if your army is attacked (not in an ambush), position them on the highest ground you possibly can, and again wait for the enemy.

Basically, high ground > all.

[Velassra]

My favorite is playing as the Julii fighting against the germans and the guals. They would attack my line of roman infantry...behind the infantry I would plce 2-3 units of archers that would mow them down as they attacked 1 unit at a time. Meanwhile, I'd send my cavalry far out to the sides and send them into the rear of the already depleted barbarians. lol, it's a beautiful sight seeing 1500 or so gauls running like "goats" "Goats are good eating" (Quote from the gauls when they win a battle.)

[Minotas]

With enough Roman infantry, lots of units won't ever even hit your lines. The pilium that each guy carries usually kills an enemy, and scares the crap out of whoever is charging your lines on foot.

Gladiator units are crazy good, too.

[Tarbosh]

I've played that game many times. I'm working on the world campaign and it's super long but very enjoyable. As far as battle goes, having well rounded units for defense is a very good idea if not necessary. Then when your on the offense I almost always send in tons of calvary with 1-2 units of infantry type units. The calvary pretty much pwns everything in the game except for elephants(which I have yet to get for some reasons, I have the resources to get them) and spearman. But for the spearman I have a strategy to take them down. I just split all my calvary into 4 groups and then ambush them all at once. I lose some men, but not too many for a whole group of spearman. If I were to see elephants with this type of army I would just run :p.

[Minotas]

Only Carthaginians and Seleucids get elephants. One campaign I was Carthage, once I got heavy war elephants it was the only thing I would produce in any city that could, besides structures to upgrade them. That was some of the most fun I've ever had playing a videogame, ever.

Interesting side note, elepthants can bust down most gates. Though I'd always bring a unit or two of infantry when besieging a big city to sap the walls. Makes life a lot easier when your elephants can just trample everyone.

[iru]

i played the hell out of this game for like 2 weeks and got bored with it. It's really short and replay only goes so far. It is a bit basic for me i guess.