User manual SEGA PC GAMES ROME: TOTAL WAR (2 OF 3)

[. . . ] 39 · Diplomats can be attached to your armies like other characters. They can be removed from the army by clicking on the Characters tab, selecting the diplomat and then right-clicking a spot on the game map. How to Use Assassins Assassins are trained in settlements that have a forum, agora or bazaar or larger trading structure. · Move an assassin onto an enemy army, settlement or agent to attempt a mission. · An assassination can be carried out on any character at the location. [. . . ] The only exception to this is when the defenders sally out or a relief force attacks the besiegers. Attacking and defending armies use different victory conditions and deployment rules. I Waiting Before a Battle If you're the attacker, you can wait before starting the battle. There's a chance the weather won't change, but you can't postpone a fight forever waiting for the perfect day: · Battles fought in bad weather--rain, snow, sandstorms and so forth--will be more tiring for your troops and for the enemy. · Wet weather is likely to have a negative impact on bow-armed units (bows and bowstrings do not like damp conditions). · Mist, fog and sandstorms can make it difficult to find the enemy. I Victory Generally, in a field battle you need to drive the enemy from the battlefield to win. You can press the ESC key and select Exit Battle at any time to end a battle. · Victory may require killing many enemy troops, although a crisis of morale (the death of a general) will make the enemy flee the battle. 48 49 As the defender, you have to fight with the weather your attacker has decided is good enough--for his purposes!An ambush gives you no chance of choosing the weather for the battle. I The View Onto the Battlefield All your units on the battlefield carry a banner in your faction color and symbol for easy identification. · Click on the large banner to select the unit--this can be quite useful in the middle of tense hand-to-hand fighting. · Some units also carry smaller flags showing your faction color and symbol. These show a combination of a unit's experience and upgrades to weaponry and armor. The more small flags a unit carries, the more fearsome it will be in combat!· General's bodyguard units carry square banners that are quite different from other units. It's always possible to see at a glance where a general can be found. · Any captain leading an army is similarly shown by the square banner carried by his unit. However, because he's a captain and not a general, he won't be personally leading a bodyguard unit and could be part of any kind of unit, even humble peasants!· Terrain has exactly the effects you would expect in real life: units can hide in wooded terrain, marching through river fords slows your troops, marching in snow makes men tired and so on. · Out-of-bounds on the map is marked by a red line that's visible when the camera is close to the battlefield's edge. Units cannot be ordered beyond this line, but they will go there when routing or withdrawing. I Changing Your Deployment The game places your units on the field in a sensible formation, but it may not be exactly what you want. Click on Start Deployment to rearrange your battle lines: · You are never forced to change deployment. · You cannot re-deploy your army if you're ambushed--and your army will be in a marching column, not drawn up for battle!· Units must be positioned within the boundaries of your deployment zone. [. . . ] As crewmen are killed, the number of pieces that can fire (and rate of fire) drops. · Just like other missile units, the bar shows the ammunition supply for the unit. When attacked by missiles or in hand-to-hand combat, crews may abandon their pieces. If the crew can move back to their pieces and resume firing, the hand symbol appears when the cursor is moved over an artillery piece. [. . . ]