Rome: Total War Egyptian Faction Guide By: A.AL-Ibrahim (3abdulra7man) --------------------------------- 1.0 Author’s note --------------------------------- I have written this guide to help the beginners who are playing Rome: Total War, and are using the Egyptian Faction. This guide explains all basic stuff and has a basic walkthrough of the game. --------------------------------- 2.0 Walkthrough --------------------------------- [2.1 The Beginning] The Egyptians are among the strongest factions in the game, their units are strong and feared and their chariots are unique. The Egyptians start with 6 cities, Alexandria (which earns 1351 denarii each turn), Memphis (which earns 414 denarii each turn), Thebes (which earns 274 denarii each turn), Jerusalem (which earns 867 denarii each turn), Sidon (which earns 276 denarii each turn) and Salamis (which earns 644 denarii each turn). Alexandria, Memphis and Thebes are close to each other, and Jerusalem, Sidon and Salamis are to the north east. The first city you should conquer at the start would be Petra and Bostra, because they are weak and they hold a strategic position because you don’t want the Parthians and Seleucids to attack your capital. You start with only weak units; you start with a couple of Nubian spearman, Skirmishes, bowmen and 2 chariot archers. The most important thing to do is to create a lot of diplomats so that you can send them all around the map and get trade rights and map information. Try to make alliances with the Numidians, Thracians and Seleucids because they will try and attack you, especially the Seleucids. [2.2 Constructing your Empire] You need to improve your cities so that you can get more money and make better units, but first you have only 5000 denarii and that’s not enough. So you should start off by building roads, you built roads so that you can move your armies around faster and improve trade in your cities. What are roads for if you don’t have a place to trade? After you finish the roads you should built markets and improve your farming, also built ports so that you can earn more money by trading over seas. After building markets, farms, ports, and roads your income should increase allowing you to train units and conquering provinces. You should not worry about attacks from the west if you allied your self with the Numidians, you should train troops in Sidon and Damascus since they will be attacked by the Seleucids. Try to take out the Seleucids early on in the game because you do not want to fight any elephants without chariots. The city of Dumatha which is located east of Bostra would be likely taken by the Parthians or Seleucids, so you should conquer it before they do but if you didn’t it will be easy to take it. After taking the south east of the map, concentrate on improving your cities further more. Build barracks, walls, smiths, traders, stables, farms, temples and sewers to train more effective units, make a sense of security, and improve happiness and population growth rates and income. You can chose if you want your cites to be economic cities or military cites. For military cities, the cities should be located at the border of your empire or have high population. For economic cities you should built traders, ports, farms and mines (if available). But I’ll make my cities both if I had the money. [2.3 Expanding Your Empire] The most effective way to take out your opponents is to only fight one opponent at a time. Try to get alliances with everybody else. If you’re fighting two or more factions at once they will destroy you. Now it’s time to kill all those Seleucids and drive them to extinction. Take an army and Seleucia, and make sure you have mercenaries so that they can garrison the city, now head west from Seleucia and take Hatra. Hatra has good resources for trade so you’ll get a lot of money from it. Now advance an army to attack Damascus and another to take Antioch. After you conquer these to major cities, the Seleucids will be weak and you can then train elephants! Now there should be only few cities left, so go take Tarsus, Halicarnassus, and Sardis, and any other cities that the Seleucids have conquered. Now after your northern campaign of eliminating the Seleucids, you should concentrate on the Numidians. The Numidians have the House of Scipii to worry about, and you should have an easy time to attack their rear. But before you attack you better upgrade your cities and train an army. Upgrade the former Seleucid lands and then concentrate on taking down the Numidians and the whole of North Africa. You might have encountered the roman families so it would be wise to form alliances and get trade rights and map information from them. Now you have the south of he map in your control and now all you have to do is to conquer the whole map, it’s up too you in which order you should defeat the rest of the factions. --------------------------------- 3.0 Troops --------------------------------- [3.1 Infantry] The Infantry are the core of any army; they can be used in most circumstance, and come in a wide variety. [3.1.1 Peasants] Peasants are the worst unit you can train; they are weak and have no armor. Peasants are very cheap and are armed with a trident. They can be trained in one turn, cost 120 denarii and are only useful in patrolling cities and reducing squalor because each unit has 60 soldiers. They have poor morale and will flee easily. They will fight to protect their lands but will fight poorly if dragged to attack other factions. They will also be slaughtered by enemy cavalry. [3.1.2 Nubian Spearmen] Nubian Spearmen are the weakest spearmen you can train; they only carry an oval shield and a spear, and have poor morale. The good thing is that they can form phalanx and can take down enemy cavalry. The problem is that they are vulnerable at the flanks and slow. They are best used to defend cities and replace peasants. Combine them with missile troops and you have a good defense against invaders. They can be trained in 1 turn and cost 230 denarii. [3.1.3 Nile Spearmen] They are a step up from the Nubian Spearmen; they have longer spears and have light padded armor. They have better defense and can take out cavalry. They are more qualified to attack and are vulnerable at the flanks. They can form phalanx and have better morale. They are recruited in only 1 turn and cost 360 denarii. [3.1.4 Desert Axemen] These desert axemen are best suited to fight in deserts, they are very powerful and have good defense points, and they can stand up to most infantry and will slaughter weaker troops. They have great morale and will not back down from a fight. They have good stamina and faster than spearmen, but will be beaten by cavalry. Desert Axemen are best used to attack other infantry and missile troops. Desert Axemen take 1 turn to train and cost 370 denarii. [3.1.5 Pharaoh’s Guards] Pharaoh’s Guards are your elite infantry, they are powerful spearmen and loyal to end, they have excellent stamina and morale, they can also form phalanx and they have no shield but have superb armor and can fight in any circumstance. They are both excellent defenders and attackers. They can take down any cavalry and because of their power, they take two turns to train and cost 600 denarii. [3.2 Missile Troops] Missile troops are essential in any army; they are very effective against infantry and light cavalry. Missile troops are excellent with destroying the enemy’s morale before they even get close to fight with melee. The only weakness is in close combat, and so they have to be placed away from cavalry and infantry units. [3.2.1 Slingers] Slingers are the first missile troops you can train, they are perfect to harass enemy units, but will be slaughtered by cavalry and close combat units. They are very weak and with little armor. They can pick up stone on the way to the battlefield but are not useful against elite units. Slingers are trained in 1 turn and cost 150 denarii. [3.2.2 Skirmishers] Skirmishers are better at harassing the enemy than slingers because they inflict more casualties. They can hide in long grass and have bonus against chariots and elephants. They are fast but are vulnerable to cavalry and close combat. Overall, they are good to have in any army but must be supported. They only take 1 turn to train and cost 180 denarii. [3.2.3 Bowmen] Bowmen have longer range and are more effective at scaring the enemy because of the high casualty rate. They can use fire arrows which inflict greater damage but are less accurate than normal arrows. They are a spearmen feared enemy because spears cannot keep up with the speed of these bowmen. They have little armor but are equipped with swords. They are trained in 1 turn and cost 190 denarii. [3.2.4 Camel Archers] Camel archers are very good units and a wise general’s friend. They are fast and have great stamina. They can form Cantabrian circle to effectively harass enemy troops. They are good to hunt down fleeing enemies and have advantage against cavalry. The horses fear camels because of their scent and so they are effective archers. They camel archers are trained in 1 turn and cost 420 denarii. [3.2.5 Egyptian Chariot Archers] Egyptian chariot archers are the elite of the elite. These units inflict devastating damage to all kinds of troops. The archers are very talented and well armored; they can fire arrows while the chariot is moving at full speeds. They are a must-have in any army. The chariot is pulled by 2 powerful horses and is equipped with scythes to cut down enemy infantry. They are effective in any circumstance. They can be trained in 1 turn and cost 650 denarii. [3.2.6 Pharaoh’s Bowmen] They are the second best missile unit after the chariot archers. They are elite archers and have very long range. They can use fire arrows and wear armor unlike most archers. They have good stamina and morale. They are very effective against most units other than heavy cavalry. [3.3 Cavalry] Cavalry are the best support troops. They are fast and can pursue and eliminate enemies. They are deadly if flanking and can perform powerful charges that inflict great damage. They can wipe out archers and skirmishers with ease. They are perfect for supporting flanks and used as relief units. [3.3.1 Nubian Cavalry] Nubian cavalry are the first cavalry unit you can train. They are good for flanking the enemy and attacking isolated units. They are good for supporting archers and skirmishers. They will suffer casualties if charging spearmen and can form wedge. Nubian cavalry will kill enemy archers and skirmishers. They are armed with spears and a shield, but wear no armor, and carry a sword for close combat. They take 1 turn to train and cost 420 denarii. [3.3.2 Desert Cavalry] Desert Cavalry have better armored than Nubian cavalry, but have weaker charge and attack. They are extremely fast and are good for killing fleeing enemies. They are good for taking out archers and skirmishers but will be slaughtered by spearmen or heavier cavalry. They are effective against armored troops because their axes. They can form wedge and they take 1 turn to train, and they cost 420 denarii. [3.3.3 Nile Cavalry] Nile Cavalry are among the elites; they wear mail armor and have powerful charges. They are more effective than Nubian cavalry and can form wedge. They do not carry shields, but can take out archers and skirmishers and kill light cavalry. They are useful on the battle field, take 2 turn to train and cost 570 denarii. [3.3.4 Egyptian Chariots] These chariots are blood-thirsty killing machines. They are as fast as normal cavalry, can slaughter most infantry units and even scary them away. Each chariot has a driver and 2 swordsmen. All of them wear heavy armor and the chariot has scythes to kill and foolish enemies. They are disciplined and have good morale. Combine these with chariot archers and a couple of infantry and you’ll have the perfect army, just be sure to have camel archers with you. --------------------------------- 4.0 Strategies --------------------------------- Everybody has a different strategy, and you should determine what is best for you. My strategy is to have a balanced army with the combination of all kinds of troops, but I tend to have a lot of chariots and camels. -------------------------------- 5.0 Legal Stuff -------------------------------- I hope you that you had some help from this guide; this guide may not be reproduced, only used for private use only. It may not be used on any website that is not authorized to use it. Websites authorized to use this Guide: www.gamefaqs.com Guide by: A.AL-Ibrahim (3abdulra7man)