Rome Total War

Now available in enhanced form as Rome Total War Remastered, the series offers a unique blend of turn-based strategy and real-time tactical battles, which means there’s a little something for everyone. Let’s take a closer look at each of the games in the series, along with some tips, cheats and other Easter eggs.

Introducing Rome Total War

The chances are that you’ve already heard of Rome Total War because of how influential it’s been amongst the strategy gaming community. Adored by fans because of its varied gameplay and the richness of the ancient world, it’s as historically accurate as it is engaging. 

The series is particularly known and loved because of its two-level gameplay. At the macro-level, players are tasked with empire management, growing the size of the Roman Empire as a whole. At the micro-level, there are real-time battles to win and granular control over every move that your army makes. 

This one-two punch is one of the many reasons why the series has built a franchise legacy that’s unrivalled and almost impossible to unseat. It’s had a huge influence on the grand strategy genre over the last twenty years, and it’s rare for a new release not to be compared to the Total War series. 

How Gameplay Works

Campaign Map

If you want to know how to win Rome Total War, you need to start by getting to grips with the global campaign map. This lies at the heart of the game, allowing you to carry out everything from province management to diplomacy. 

As turns and seasons pass, you’ll be tasked with everything from tax collection to maintaining law and order and building critical infrastructure across your empire. Every province is different, and it needs to be treated as such; what works in one won’t necessarily work in another.

While all of this is happening, you also need to work on army recruitment and ensuring that the economy is booming enough to keep the books balanced. It’s no easy task, but that challenge is where the fun lies.

If you’re able to master these systems and turn the global campaign map to your advantage, you’ve won half the battle already. You’ll be winning at Rome: Total War in no time!

Real-Time Battles

If you’ve played Rome: Total War before then you’ll know just how comprehensive its battle system is. As the general of your armies, you’ll be able to pick and choose from strategic battle formations like the phalanx, tortoise (testudo) and wedge or overwhelm your enemies with sheer numbers.

Meanwhile, you’ll also need to understand each of your different unit types, from infantry and cavalry to archers and siege warfare units. Each of these units has its own strengths and weaknesses, and these can be magnified both for good and for ill by other factors like the terrain. Forests, hills and rivers can all have an effect on movement and visibility, and it stands to reason that trying to get your archers to attack through trees isn’t likely to work out too well.

Then there’s the morale system, with troops more likely to flee if their morale is low or to rally if they’re feeling courageous. You’ll want to get to grips with all of this, as well as the potential for flanking attacks and other manoeuvres, if you want to learn how to win Rome Total War.

Rome: Total War (2004): Where it All Began

Campaign Goals and Factions

Understanding Rome Total War begins with understanding the three Roman families at the heart of the game. During the faction selection process, you can choose to play as any of these three, as well as any of the eight other factions:

• Julii: Perfect for diplomacy and expansion
• Brutii: Offensive and aggressive house from the south
• Scipii: Steady, balanced family from the north

Whether you play as one of these or as one of the eight other factions (including Greek Cities, Carthage, Gaul and Egypt), the campaign objective remains the same: province capture and Senate approval. If you can take over 50 provinces and win over the Senate, you’ll win the game and be declared as the Emperor of Rome. 

As you can imagine, this isn’t easy, but that’s where the fun comes from. There’s also the fact that each different faction has its own inherent challenges and advantages, and the choice you make will have a huge impact on both playstyle and difficulty.

Cheats and Console Commands

If you’re looking for Rome Total War cheats, you’ve come to the right place. As it happens, the game comes with an inbuilt console that allows you to run console commands to modify the way it works. Cheat codes aren’t for everyone, but they can be a great way for players to experiment with the game and to use it as more of a sandbox, without affecting the core experience.

To access the console, simply press the tilde key (~) to open the console and then enter the appropriate code. Some of the most popular ones include: 

• Add_Money X: Simply enter the amount of money you want instead of X and the add_money cheat will do the heavy lifting.
• Auto_Win: There’s no need to actually fight when you can go full god mode and secure the win in any ongoing battle with a simple command.
• Control [X]:Unlock factions with a single code without having to grind through campaigns.

Barbarian Invasion and Alexander Expansions

No modern game would be complete without DLC, and Rome Total War is no different. The interesting thing here, though, is that their approach to DLC is all about introducing other historical periods. 

For example, the Barbarian Invasion DLC is all about the events leading up to the fall of Rome. Instead of living through the glory days of the empire, the player is tasked with dealing with barbarian factions like the Goths, Vandals and Huns, while new game mechanics like loyalty and migration are added to further spice things up. 

There’s also the Alexander expansion, another popular piece of DLC which takes the player to 336 BC and the time of Alexander the Great’s conquest of the civilised world. Like Barbarian Invasion, Alexander also adds new factions and unit types while simultaneously telling new stories and introducing the player to new historical eras with the series’ trademark accuracy.

Rome: Total War II (2013)

How it’s Different

Total War: Rome II is the second instalment in the Rome Total War series, and while it took nearly ten years to be released, fans agree that it was well worth the wait. It took what was great about the original game and supercharged it, with huge enhancements throughout, an expanded campaign map and a province overhaul that made it feel both familiar and different at the same time.

Rome II factions include Carthage, the Greek city-states and the Eastern kingdoms, and these new factions are backed with a revised political system that includes everything from family loyalty to the influence of the Senate and the internal politics within factions as key players go head to head with the goal of being named as a successor.

One fan favourite update is the redesign of naval battles, which allowed for more realistic fleet manoeuvres, included a bunch of new ships and even added amphibious warfare, ancient-style. Fans are also quick to praise the fact that even after its launch, Creative Assembly continued to support it with post-launch improvements, patches and updates. Just like the history it emulates, the story kept on being written.

How to Boost Your Political Influence

In Total War Rome 2 how to increase influence is one of the biggest challenges you’ll come across. The political influence system makes strategy more important than ever before, because you’ll no longer be able to win through sheer force alone. Strategy becomes just as important off the battlefield as it is on it.

Influence has a huge impact on everything from how much control your generals have to how people vote in elections, and so boosting your influence can help you to earn your way into the Senate offices. 

To grow your influence, you’ll need to win battles, hold offices, build political buildings and manage family traits. If you neglect it, you risk losing control of your faction and even fighting a civil war. There’s a lot to balance, but the good news is that it soon becomes second nature, and in fact, a lot of what you’ll naturally do (such as defeating your enemies) will inherently boost your influence.

Total War Rome II for Free

The good news for gamers who want to give the game a go is that we’re going to teach you how to get Total War Rome 2 for free. Better yet, doing so can be fully legal and allow you to support the developers.

True, it’s not permanently free, but you can pick it up when there’s a Steam free weekend or as part of an Epic Games giveaway. Prime Gaming and other distributors also often offer temporary giveaways or free access periods, and there’s always the option of checking out a couple of videos on YouTube.

If you’re willing to pay a few bucks, it’s often heavily discounted by Humble Bundle and other game deals sites, with the discount reducing the price by up to 80%. But the truth is that even if you don’t get a discount, it’s worth paying full price for. It’s just that good of a game.

Rome: Total War: The Remastered Version

In 2021, Rome Total War Remastered was released, with Feral Interactive breathing new life into the franchise thanks to 4K graphics and ultrawide support for players with modern monitors. That makes it look great, but it’s not the only thing that’s different. Returning players who pick up the Steam remaster will also notice that the unit and building models have been rebuilt from the ground up.

There’s also an improved UI, which makes the game easier to play than ever before, and the diplomacy screen has been rethought to make politics easier and more intuitive. The Barbarian Invasion and Alexander DLCs are bundled in, too.

All of this makes the remastered version the perfect place to begin, but returning players will love returning to the ancient world in a game that feels as fresh today as it did when it first came out. Whether you’re looking for a nostalgic return to a childhood favourite or you’re experiencing the series for the first time, you’re in for a treat.

The Thriving Modding Community

One of the great things about Rome Total War is that it’s so easy to modify. Because of that, a whole modding community has popped up around it, and while it might not be as big as the modding scenes for games like Minecraft and The Sims, it’s just as dedicated. Better still, modding breathes new life into the series and makes it almost infinitely replayable.

Major mods include Europa Barbarorum and the Rome: Total Realism mod, both of which offer rebalanced units, more realistic campaigns and even greater historical accuracy. Regardless of which mods you pick up, you can bet that you’re in for new factions, bigger and more wide-reaching campaigns and astounding levels of creativity which show that the fans can be just as creative as the developers.

And then there’s the mobile version of the original game, which allows people to play wherever they are and has even introduced new fans to the series. Put together, all of this community support has ensured that the series is still alive and kicking even after two decades.

Where to Start as a Beginner

If you’re new to the series and looking for the best place to start, there’s nowhere better to begin your search than with Rome Total War Remastered. That’s because it has everything you need to get started, from the more modern interface to the inclusion of the two main DLCs.

As for where to start, that really depends. If you want to learn how to win Rome Total War, you should start by picking one of the three Roman families as your faction choice. They give you the easiest learning curve and ease you smoothly into the game.

You’ll pick up everything else you need to know as you play, although you can also check out the Total War Wiki or look up some YouTube guides if you need more beginner tips or you have questions about anything specific. It’s one of those games where there’s always something new for you to learn, and that’s what makes it so playable.

You’re about to take your first steps into an addictive, immersive world that you’ll never forget. Good luck, soldier.