Total War: Rome Remastered is a faithful remaster of a game that was released almost 20 years ago. Quite forgivable if you haven’t played this iconic strategy game at all. But even if you decided to return to it, you probably could forget a number of mechanics that are significantly different from modern Total War games like Warhammer 2.
In this list of useful tips for Rome Remastered, we will try to break down everything you need to know about how to get comfortable in this slightly modified and remastered classic.
Replenishment of units
If you’re used to modern Total War games (like Warhammer or Three Kingdoms), you already take it for granted that over time your divisions replenish automatically. This is not the case in Total War: Rome Remastered. Each damaged unit must be returned to the city and retrained. High-level units cannot be trained in cities without appropriate military buildings. Logical, right?
But don’t worry, it won’t force you to do extra work for nothing: for example, training units in a city with the best forge improves their stats. But this only works if more than half of the personnel are replenished. Plus, it’s in line with the original Rome Remastered population mechanic – which has been largely ignored in modern Total War games.
Population mechanics
Rome: Total War’s population mechanic was one of the game’s best yet underrated features. And although Warhammer had some absolutely impressive units, it lacked such population mechanics. In the original Rome, the population of cities changed regularly, and this was left in the remaster. In short, the troops that you train in the city affect the population.
This means that when you create an army, the number of troops you send into battle will have a direct economic impact on the city. The total population of the city will decrease, and in Rome Remastered this is an important factor: to get better units and buildings, you need larger cities. In addition, it gives you the ability to manually redistribute the population of cities by training hundreds of peasants and sending them to another city for demobilization.
Sieges
To capture a city protected by fortress walls, you will need siege equipment. In the later stages of the game you will be able to build onagers and other siege engines, but in the beginning you will be limited to ladders, battering rams and siege towers. They can be built on the initial siege screen. Each of these funds will require one of your departments to manage.
Generals have various abilities that increase their efficiency when capturing cities, such as making siege engines build faster or giving more points to spend on choosing siege vehicles to send to enemy walls. In general, this number of points is determined by the size of your army, although the experience of the general (star) also contributes.
Freedom to build cities
Unlike the complex interlocking building modifiers in modern Total War games, the city-building process in Rome Remastered is somewhat simplified, especially when compared to games like Civilization 6. You can prioritize exclusively military buildings or focus only on farms and mines . Of course, strategy is also required here, but in general, the choice is completely up to you.
Each faction has its own line of buildings, although they generally fall into similar categories: military, trade, farming, and religious. For example, Roman factions have unique temple buildings that provide special bonuses. Mines can be built in certain regions. Cities with ports usually bring in more money. The standard strategy is to strive for rapid population growth. The larger the city, the better units can be produced there.
Rapid expansion is the key to victory
The polished strategy of “blitzkrieg” in the old games of the Total War series was a sign of a high level of play. It’s not so easy in modern games (Warhammer, for example, has had a number of balance changes that make it much more difficult), but in Rome Remastered, rapid expansion is really the key to victory.
Whatever your starting point on the map, gather your forces for a concentrated attack on the nearby rebel settlements, then withdraw all troops and move on to the next city. You may run out of steam at some point, but these early acquisitions will provide you with the resources to prepare and run the rest of the campaign.
Strengths and weaknesses of factions
Even with the changes to the remaster’s unit balance, the troops of each faction are still significantly different from each other and form a system in the spirit of “rock-paper-scissors”. For example, the cataphracts of the Seleucids are a direct counterbalance to the Roman heavy cavalry. Roman legionnaires will easily cope with the poorly protected infantry of the Germans. The game is full of such checks and balances.
Over time, you will learn all the nuances of the battle. There is still room for experimentation here in Rome Remastered: the balance changes have proven to be really useful and even include a slight improvement in the terrible morale of the eastern infantry. If you’ve played, you’ll understand.
To run an empire is to run a family
Another great feature of the original Rome: Total War was the detailed family tree and character trait system, which is nothing like in modern Total War games, although Warhammer did have some great legendary lords.
For example, if you send a character to a remote town on the empire’s borders, they are much more likely to get the “Drunkard” trait or something similar. It would seem a mere trifle, but it perfectly matches the attention to detail characteristic of the game as a whole.
To build a successful empire, you will need a team of the best city managers and generals. Do not forget about their retinue – and one member of the retinue can literally be dragged with the mouse to another. This will allow you not to lose all bonuses after the death of a member of your family.
A source: thegamer.com
