Rome: Total War is Out

[Stuie]

My wife just called to tell me she's on her way home to play RTW. Hahaha. At least I know my copy is waiting for me after work...

[Solver]

Hmm, sounds like I should download the demo. The game looks like it's worth the hassle of starting up Windows .

[Cookie Monster]

While there is no doubt that a woman who enjoys gaming is cool, a woman who enjoys strat games such as the total war series is truely superior!

[reds4ever]

a review

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/rometotalwar/review.html

[General Ludd]

I should be geting it later this afternoon.


I'm looking forward to it.

[Kassiopeia]

Whoo! I've been playing the tutorial campaign, "Prologue". I crushed SPQR pretty quickly but now I'm having trouble with the damn Greeks. They took a city from me by sheer numbers (I did manage to stave it off to just a moderate defeat), but in one siege they had only a moderate advantage and I was able to drive their hoplites away with some light cavalry and the town militia (!). The enemy generals seem quite suicidal. I hope the Imperial Campaign will be more challenging (but not too challenging, of course).

[Arnelos]

Oh my god is this game is addicting! Help!

I have the worst case of "Just One More Turn" Syndrome I've had in years. I only got 2 hours of sleep last night (finally went to bed at 5:30 a.m. local time) before I had to get up for work this morning (yeah, I work on Saturdays... it's political campaign season). I completely lost track of time because of how engrossed I was in this game.

After I'd spent considerable time just getting up to speed (since I've never played a "Total War" game before), I came to absolutely love this game. I haven't been so addicted to a strategy game in years. This game actually implements a number of features reminiscent of those advertised for MoO3 (the senate, the governors/generals, etc.) that either never made it in or which were horribly implemented. It does all that while still being pretty easy to understand AND even the peripherals (especially the graphics) are great.

This is to say nothing of the battles, which are just unbelievably cool and could, quite literally, be their own game.

If this doesn't win Strategy Game of the Year, something is seriously wrong with people's heads.

[The diplomat]

I started an imperial campiagn as the Julius faction. I am playing on moderate with heavy advice. So far the game is just incredible. It's about 245 BC, and I have conquered all of Gaul plus some other regions that the Senate asked me to take.

Well, I thought I had wiped the Gauls out. I have taken all what is now modern France. I think I have taken every Gaul settlement. Yet, after a couple turns of quiet, a huge Gaul army led by a Gaul family member pops out of nowhere in the middle of Gaul and is now laying siege to a Gaul settlement that I have taken. The Gaul army is about 800. I have about 700 in the settlement with about 200 reinforcements on their way. I am predicting another epic battle coming soon...

[Kassiopeia]

I wonder though, you can have only so many unit cards in an army, how are you supposed to get really big battles with thousands of soldiers? Do the numbers represented by a card get bigger later on or something? Or will you have to use the reinforcements trick to bring in several different armies (does make sense)?

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Its almost unbearable waiting for this one to drop through the letterbox, a game Ive followed all through its development

Can some of you lucky lucky people put some screenies up please

[The diplomat]

Originally posted by Kassiopeia
I wonder though, you can have only so many unit cards in an army, how are you supposed to get really big battles with thousands of soldiers? Do the numbers represented by a card get bigger later on or something? Or will you have to use the reinforcements trick to bring in several different armies (does make sense)?

In a custom battle, you can probably set any number you want.

In a campaign game, you are right, you would need reinforcements to have the really big battles. With reinforcements, imagine having 3 armies all with the max number of unit cards. That'd probably give you want you want.

[Falconne]

Been playing it since yesterday... I've put any semblence of a life I've got on hold for the next couple of weeks.

I'm wondering, Apolyton has forums for Civ, MOO, GalCiv, SMAC and um... RON even... would have been cool if it had a Total War forum.

[laurentius]

I have too much work to play this game now

[General Ludd]

Great game.



I kinda wish you didn't have to complete the campaign as a roman faction to unlock the others, though.

[Kassiopeia]

I haven't run into some truly nifty screenshot moments yet, but here are a few screenies anyways.

http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/antt..._principes.jpg Principes, heavy infantry, marching out of the woods to charge at the Gauls waiting on the plains outside - the buggers wouldn't make the first move no matter how I tried to lure them with my light cavalry.

http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/antt..._tarquinii.jpg The rebel army has taken Tarquine and the Faction Leader himself has picked up his sword and ridden with the elite forces to crush it.

http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/anttinor/images/rtw/battering_ram.jpg

http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/antt...rban_chase.jpg Chasing the defending rebel soldiers down the streets to the central plaza, which you must occupy to take the city (or alternatively just crush all of the enemy soldiers).

http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/antt...tw/victory.jpg The soldiers cry out, stomp their feet and throw their arms up after victory. Nice touch.

I should have taken some screenies of Rome when I took it, but it wasn't too epic a battle, there were 40 Town Watchmen against my army numbering over 300. It helps immersion a lot when the cities each look a bit different; a city with a Pro-Consul's Palace built will have a Pro-Consul's palace in the cityscape when you defend or attack it; Rome had the Colosseum and the Imperial Palace in it.