This is a guide to the units that the faction "Rome" has not to all units in Total War: Rome II.

Everything you will read in this guide is accurate in patch 16 as far as I am aware. The game is
now on patch 17, I will be updating it at some point soon when I get around to playing the game
a bit (Been playing Attila & Arena). Most things are the same but there are some small changes to
a few infantry units and some bigger changes to the Legionary Cavalry.

If you notice errors of any kind (information, spelling, grammar, anything else) please leave
a comment and I will try to fix them ASAP.

Faction Power Rank: 2nd (Out of 32) (Shares 2nd Place With Boii)

Rome is currently one of the most powerful factions in the game. Most players will usually
rate them in at least the top 5, usually top 3. The only factions Rome should really fear in
multiplayer are the Boii and Tylis (Particularly Tylis, it is generally equal with Boii if used well).

Rome's main strenth comes from it's very powerful swordsmen supported by cavalry which is
very good at fighting other cavalry along with powerful elite skirmishers.

The typical play style you want to follow as Rome is to engage all your excellent swordsmen
in melee ASAP and then use your supporting cavalry / spear / skirmishers to keep enemy
cavalry and skirmishers from bothering your swordsmen so they can grind out the battle.
Kill or scare of enemy skirmishers and block all attempts from enemy cavalry to rear charge
or in any other way mess with your infantry and you have already won half the battle.
Another thing is try to blob up your enemy as much as possibly the more of a giant blob
the engagement is the better for your Evocati Cohorts.

Roman units generally excel in prolonged fights rather than relying on their charge. This means
that in many cases you are better of to just run your units in without trying to out manoeuvre the
enemy too much and in so doing make it harder for your opponent to manoeuvre by potentially
overwhelming him or her and catching them of guard (Unless they have very good micro),
obviously manoeuvre and don't just charge in if the enemy has pikemen. Keep in mind that this
style of play does not work out very well for you as a player if you get too used to it and then try to
play another faction since most factions with the exception of some barbarian factions will
generally get destroyed if you attempt to play them this way.

The number 1 rule of playing as Rome is to remember your infantry is there to win the battle.
Your skirmishers, spears and cavalry are there to act as a sort of "bodyguard" for the infantry
preventing them from getting outflanked or killed by specialised units.

A list of all the biggest misconceptions people have about Roman units.


No it's not, don't fall into trap of believing this, it will lead you to bring too few cavalry units when
you in fact need more and will cause you to underestimate Rome's cavalry strength when facing
them. The Legionary Cavalry are amazing in their price range and can stand up to almost any
cavalry unit of the same price. Auxiliary Cavalry is the strongest mid teir cavalry from any faction
located in Africa or Europe (Excluding Nomads), it can even stand up to Noble Blood Cavalry for
an extended period of time particularly if it is using Flying Wedge. Despite costing abit more than
many other mid teir cavalry the Auxiliary Cavalry allow you to essentially have mid teir cavalry
superiority which is invaluable. In short Roman cavalry can overpower many other faction's
cavalry so never underestimate them.



Roman swordsmen are insanely powerful but they are far from invincible many barbarian
swordsmen such as Sword Followers or Tribal warriors are capable of giving Evocati Cohorts
a run for their money. Elephants and chariots also pose a massive threat to your swordsmen
and should be dealt with ASAP.



They are very tough spearmen but are not suited to frontline combat like hoplites due to
their lack of Hoplite Wall.



In past patches this might have been the case but it no longer is. On even ground with
neither one having a terrain advantage Auxiliary Syrian Archers will win. So don't be
afraid of engaging Mercenary Cretan Archers with your Syrians they will not only win but
they cost 80 less meaning it is cost effective no matter how much damage they take and
the factions with the Cretans need them alive a lot more than you do because their
infantry is usually weak unlike Rome's. The only time you do not want to fight Cretans is
if they have a terrain advantage or if they have elephants and you need your Syrians
to be in good shape to be able to deal with them.

A list of some of the biggest mistakes players make when choosing what units to bring when
playing as Rome.


The amount of game's I have seen Rome lose due to this even at tournament level play is
beyond belief. Your infantry is doing well but then your low tier cavalry gets massacred by
Heavy Horse which then proceeds to rear charge your infantry to death. Seriously bring
Auxiliary Cavalry they are capable of beating Heavy Horse and will prevent the Heavy
Horse from back charging your Evocati Cohorts to death. They may cost 100 more than
Heavy Horse but for four you will only need to pay 400 more, that is not that much to pay
to guarantee the safety of your Evocati Cohorts.



Blocking barbarian charges is a good thing and you should definately do it whenever you can
particularly against Oathsworn but if you bring like 6 Hastati it will severely weaken your
Evocati Cohort mainline so be conservative with how many Hastati you bring. Meatshields
are one thing but don't forget that your real killing power is in your Evocati Cohorts so
having too few of them to win the battle is a lot worst than having 1-2 too few meatshields.
It is also important to keep in mind that Hastati lose to Celtic Warriors so they are only useful
for killing of Levy Freemen and blocking charges, never bring them to fight against Celtic
Warriors.



Roman elephants are not Indian Armoured Elephants, a single javelin volley from 210 cost
Levy Freemen will run them amok and after multiple volleys they will start taking severe damage.
They are almost never cost effective against factions with Levy Freemen so don't fall into the
trap of thinking they will be very effective against most barbarian factions.

FYI the factions with Levy Freemen are Arverni, Boii, Galatia, Iceni, Nervii, Tylis. The Suebi
also have Spear Levy which is a slightly better version of Levy Freemen.



Generally around 6 melee infantry, a mix of Legionary Cohort and Evocati Cohort will
more than suffice against these factions. Spend some money on spears, skirmishers and
in particular good cavalry such as Auxiliary Cavalry. Bringing good cavalry against factions
with much better cavalry might not make a lot of sense at first but remember that you need
to be able to tie down cataphracts once they charge you so they cannot cycle charge you.
If you let cataphracts cycle charge you they can easily get hundreds of kills. Cheaper
cavalry will generally die to quickly and not have the mass to properly stop cataphracts.

Rome has access to the 3 standard generals that all factions have (Strategist, Warrior,
Commander) but it also has access to a special general called "Caesar" if you own the
Caesar in Gaul DLC.



Has 2 abilities than can only be used once per battle and you can't use them in the first
minute of the battle.

Loyalty of the 10th: Increases melee defence by 20 and makes the unit unbreakable
for a certain amount of time.

Presence: Makes units recharge their abilities 60 seconds faster (Only really useful for
Auxiliary Syrian Archers or Balearic Slingers).

This general can be useful when going up against scare armies, so he is particularly good
for when you are going up against the Suebi which will most likely rely on scare tactics. He
can also be useful if you have skirmishers for his ability to make their abilities be usable again
much sooner after having been used.

The added 20 melee defense provided by the Loyalty of the 10th ability could also be used
to make a barbarian charge cause less damage to your infantry.

Rome is one of only two factions to have access to a dedicated general's bodyguard (the
other being Carthage), this gives a big advantage in allowing Rome to keep it's general
away from the fight and much more safe from danger than a unit that has to fight on the
frontline. Rome is the only faction that can only put their general in a dedicated general's
bodyguard unit and does not have the option to use a regular unit as their general's bodyguard.



Price: 430
Limit: 1
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: Not Applicable

Small unit dedicated to protecting the general, it only has half the soldiers that a regular
cavalry unit has. It has high health and good armour but low attack. It is capable of beating
certain very weak cavalry units like Illyrian Cavalry or Light Horse. Keep in mind that it will
be very damaged after such an engagement and will die very easily to anything that
attacks it so only use it in an emergency. The Legatus can also be very useful at taking
out cheap low armour skirmishers (Do not use it to attack heavily armoured skirmishers,
particularly Peltasts). It can be very useful in the late game in close battles if it has survived
undamaged since it can be used as a sort of cavalry unit to perform rear charges which
can in many situations prove decisive. If you are going up against Rome never
underestimate what the Legatus is capable of.




Price: 450
Limit: 1
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: Not Applicable

Like a Legatus but with 10 less health and 10 more armour. Don't really see the point in it,
it's a Legatus but costs 20 more. Might be slightly better at taking skirmisher fire but I don't
really think there is a noticeable difference.

THE MIGHTY LEGIONS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.....

This is where Rome's biggest strength as a faction is. From cheap Hastati to the elite Pretorian
Guards, Rome has 15 melee infantry in it's roster (more than any other faction in the game)
among them some of the most deadly and cost effective swordsmen in the game, the Evocati
Cohort. When playing as Rome your melee infantry will be what will be giving you most of your
killing power, the rest of the army will be there merely to support them.



Price: 330
Limit: 4
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 0/5 (Useless)

These guys are crap there is pretty much never a reason to bring them. If you want cheap
swordsmen Hastati are always the better choice, for only 20 more cost they are so much better.
Unlike many other poor man's version of units that Rome has this one is never worth it, they
are so much worst than Hastati that it is better to alter your build that to buy them.




Price: 350
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 4/5 (Very Useful)

Very cost effective units that can pay for themselves really easily if used well. New players
and players with bad micro need to be careful because if they get in a bad engagement or
get rear charged they can easily rout like most other cheap units due to their low morale of
only 45.




Price: 600
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 1/5 (Very Little Usefulness)

As a general rule never bring these guys, for 40 more cost you can get legionaries which are
a much more stable unit. They can potentially do damage but they are so easy to kill that
it's not worth it particularly for Rome that has so many other great options.




Price: 620
Limit: 6
Requires DLC: Yes (Daughters of Mars)
My Usefulness Rating: 1/5 (Very Little Usefulness)

The female version of Gladiators. They are basically Gladiators but with more
armour and morale but less attack. If you really do want to bring Gladiator units
for some reason then bring these over the regular ones they are a bit more sturdy.




Price: 660
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 4/5 (Very Useful)

A poor man's Legionary Cohort they are identical to Legionary Cohort except for having 10
less armour. Use them when you do not have enough funds to make your build work with
Legionary Cohorts, otherwise just stick with the Legionary Cohorts their extra armour means
they are a bit more sturdy.




Price: 680
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

Similar to Legionaries & Legionary Cohort but they have more melee defence and less armour.
Some people really like them but I personally can't see the point in them they seem to perform
the same in melee but they die to missiles easier, so yeah you are almost always better of with
Legionaries or Legionary Cohort.




Price: 700
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 4/5 (Very Useful)

If you want swordsmen in the 700 price range (in this case exactly 700) they are the best
choice from Rome's roster. They will beat units like Thorax Swordsmen, Libyan Infantry and
Parthian Swordsmen in most cases but they will lose against most barbarian mid tier infantry
due to their low charge bonus.




Price: 760
Limit: 3
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 1/5 (Very Little Usefulness)

Think Mercenary Samnite Warriors only worst. No reason to ever buy these as Rome.




Price: 850
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 5/5 (Extremely Useful)

A poor man's Evocati Cohort. Use these when you do not have enough funds to make your
build work with Evocati Cohort. They are Evocati Cohort with 5 less armour and 2 less attack,
it may not sound like much but it definitely makes a difference.




Price: 890
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 5/5 (Extremely Useful)

The quintessential Roman infantry unit, they are the number 1 reason for anybody to choose to
play as Rome. In most match ups these should make up at least half of your mainline infantry,
they are Rome's workhorse unit. They are insanely cost effective, capable of stalemating a
Royal Peltasts and even doing well vs other elite swordsmen.




Price: 910
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

Poor man's Eagle Cohort. Use them when you do not have enough funds to make your build
work with Eagle Cohort.




Price: 930
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 5/5 (Extremely Useful)

5 More armour and 3 more melee defence at the expense of 3 attack. These perform
like Evocati in melee combat but are more resistant to missile fire. It is generally not needed
to buy these over Evocati Cohort but if you make your build and are left with like 150 funds
then it's a good idea to upgrade some of your Evocati Cohort to Armoured Legionaries.




Price: 930
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

They have more melee defence than Evocati Cohort but a lot less attack meaning you do not
want these guys as the majority of your troops because they perform worst than Evocati
Cohort. They cost so much because they have the encourage ability which improves morale in
nearby friendly units. If you choose to buy them get 1 or 2 and spread them out so they cover
as many units with their encourage ability as possible. There is not a lot of reason to use these
if your mainline is mostly Evocati Cohort since their 65 morale means that if they start routing
you have most likely already lost the battle. Eagle Cohort make more sense in an army
with a lot of Legionary Cohort or similar units. You can also use them to help against a
Suebi scare build but Evocati Cohort with 65 morale and a Caesar's general Loyalty of the
10th ability should be more than enough in most cases.




Price: 1280
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

Poor man's Pretorian Guard. 5 Less armour for 20 less cost.




Price: 1300
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

Despite being Rome's strongest swordsmen it is usually not a good idea to bring them because
they lose to many barbarian elite swordsmen such as Oathsworn and are nowhere near as
cost effective as the Evocati Cohort.

Spear infantry is not Rome's strong point but it has some decent low tier choices along with
some very specialised mid teir spears and super sturdy Triarii if they are needed. With Rome
you generally only want to bring a maximum of two spears except when facing factions with very
powerful cavalry such as Armenia, Parthia or Pontus.



Price: 200
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 4/5 (Very Useful)

Think better version of Eastern Spearmen, they are one of the cheapest units to have the
disciplined trait and the Square formation. They can do a bit of damage if you get them in a
cavalry blob, they can also be used to keep horse archers at bay or as meat shields. As
you might have guessed at 200 cost they are not the best unit but they are super cheap which
ends up making them quite useful in many situations. They do not have javelins so they are
not as useful as the Levy Freemen that many barbarian factions have.

In square they can hold out for a pretty good amount of time against low to mid tier
swordsmen (Don't expect them to actually kill any of them).




Price: 400
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

Slightly better stats than the Militia Hoplites of Greek factions but without Hoplite Wall or Shield
Wall and for 100 more cost. Not the most cost effective units in existence but they still fill a
needed role in the Roman roster by giving you a decent fairly cheap spear unit. They are useful
when going up against factions with very powerful cavalry such as Armenia, Parthia or Pontus.




Price: 440
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

Anti-cavalry glass cannons. If you get them into a blob of cavalry after all the charges are over
they will get kills in the blink of an eye but if they get charged by cavalry or shot at by skirmishers
they will die extremely fast. Not a bad unit but they require correct use to be effective, not
recommended for new players.




Price: 460
Limit: 6
Requires DLC: Yes (Daughters of Mars)
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

The female version of the Gladiator Spearmen, they have less attack and charge but more
armour and morale. A slightly safer option than the Gladiator Spearmen.




Price: 790
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 2/5 (Little Usefulness)

Very good sturdy spearmen but with very few practical uses. At 790 they are too expensive
to be cavalry support but with no Hoplite Wall / Shield Wall ability they can't really be used
as frontline infantry units. The only use I can see for them is in a battle against nomadic
factions.

In the skirmishing department Rome has access to crappy but cheap javelinmen and powerful
elite archers and slingers.



Price: 200
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

Cheapest javelin-men in the game. They have same base missile damage as most regular
javelin-men but 3 less armour piercing damage at only 9. Most other stats aside from the
missile damage are terrible. Javelin units with the exception of 41 damage ones are generally
not super useful in the current patch however these are very very cheap so they can be
useful in some situations. They are really cheap way to deal damage to units that are
vulnerable to missiles (Such as pikemen) or help deal with low tier elephants.




Price: 340
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 2/5 (Little Usefulness)

Nothing special to say about these, they are about as basic a javelin unit as it gets,
not crap but not special in any way.




Price: 520
Limit: 3
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 5/5 (Extremely Useful)

The quintessential Roman missile unit. They are amazing at fighting other skirmishers due to
their very high armour (For an archers unit). Their missile damage is only 35 but this is
somewhat made up for due to them having access to heavy shot and the Precision Shot
ability. Taking cost in mind they are arguably the best archer in the game (Cimmerian Heavy
Archers have less armour and no heavy shot while Mercenary Cretan Archers have less
armour and Quick Reload instead of Precision Shot which is not as good an ability).

They will win in a one on one fight vs Mercenary Cretan Archers as well as all elite slingers,
the only long range skirmishers capable of defeating them are the Cimmerian Heavy Archers
but even they will use up most if not all their ammo doing so leaving them useless.




Price: 560
Limit: 3
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 4/5 (Very Useful)

Second best slinger in the game after the Mercenary Rhodian Slingers. Use them if you
want to be able to skirmish against enemy infantry without worrying about ammunition count
since they have a lot more ammunition than archers. They tend to do damage overtime rather
than quickly, if you want to do damage faster use the Auxiliary Syrian Archers but keep in mind
you will not be able to skirmish as long due to the lower ammunition count.

They will lose to almost all elite archers so avoid fighting elite archers with these guys, use them
for skirmishing against infantry.

There is a common misconception that Rome's cavalry is weak, this could not be further from the
truth. While Rome's cavalry might not be as strong as Armenia, Baktria, Parthia or Pontus it is
still more powerful than all cavalry among factions located in Europe or Africa (Excluding
nomads). Rome's cavalry is mediocre again infantry but it excels against other cavalry due
to it's 15 bonus vs large. Against most factions your cavalry should be used in an anti-cavalry
capacity not for fighting infantry.




Price: 500
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 1/5 (Very Little Usefulness) (Legionary Cavalry Makes Them Obsolete)

These are regarded by good cavalry unit by some players but a closer look at their stats
will show you that Legionary Cavalry is the far better option, for only 40 more you lose 2
melee defence but you gain 5 health, 5 morale and the disciplined trait. Always get the
Legionary Cavalry, Equites will rout if the opponent so much as sneezes on them!




Price: 540
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 5/5 (Extremely Useful)

The ultimate holding cavalry in the 600 or less price range. While their attack is terrible at only
33, they have 70 armour and 80 health, to put that in context that is the same armour and 10
less health than a Noble Blood Cavalry. They beat most cavalry units costing 600 or less except
for the Massilian Cavalry (They beat the Massilian Cavalry if they use Flying Wedge and the
Massilians do not use Diamond, I am not sure of the outcome if they use Diamond). Use these
guys to fight other cheap cavalry and light skirmishers. Avoid high armour skirmishers like
peltasts because they will take a long time to kill them due to their low attack giving other enemy
skirmishers time to shot your Legionary Cavalry to death. Their bad attack, charge and only medium mass means they will do very little damage to heavy infantry so only rear charge if you
have nothing else to do or to give morale penalty to units that are close to routing.

*Can win if it uses Flying Wedge.




Price: 650
Limit: 4
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

Since they lose to a lot of similarly priced cavalry units they make little sense in an anti-cavalry
role it it is better to use either the cheaper Legionary Cavalry or the Better Auxiliary Cavalry
when your intention is to use your cavalry primarily as a counter to enemy cavalry. The main
reason to use these is if you want a heavy cavalry with decent damage for charging infantry but
do not want to pay 800 for Auxiliary Cavalry.

Keep in mind they also are one of only a few Roman units to not have the disciplined trait
so if your general dies they will be very easily routed.




Price: 800
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 5/5 (Extremely Useful)

The quintessential Roman cavalry unit. While more expensive than many mid tier cavalry
units it can also beat any non-Asian and non-Nomadic cavalry unit. Their performance against
infantry is similar to Heavy Horse (Arverni, Boii) or potentially slightly worst, so considering
they cost 100 more than Heavy Horse they are not very cost effective against infantry
since you getting same thing that other factions get but for 100 more. When fighting cavalry
however it is a completely different story, since they have the 15 bonus vs large they
beat all mid tier cavalry from European and African factions (Except Nomads), this means that
by paying that tiny bit extra you can do something most people don't normally think Rome can
do..... have cavalry superiority.

A overlooked jewel in the Roman roster, most people do not give these guys the credit they
deserve.

*Can stalemate if it uses Flying Wedge.




Price: 1250
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 2/5 (Little Usefulness)

A very powerful elite melee cavalry unit capable of beating many other similar units like Noble Horse and stalemating others such as Azat knights. Despite this like all elite melee cavalry it is
not cost effective and therefore not worth bringing in the current patch.

Unit from categories where there is only a single unit (I put them here to avoid creating a
whole section just for one unit).



Price: 840
Limit: 2
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 5/5 (Extremely Useful)

Rome's only shock cavalry. Think sturdy but low killing power Thessalian Cavalry. These
cavalrymen are extremely tough they have the same health and only 10 less armour than
Macedon's elite Companion Cavalry. Despite their very high health and armour their attack
and charge bonus is quite low for a shock cavalry at only 34 and 57 respectively. This leads
to these shock cavalry behaving quite differently from other mid tier shock cavalry. They are
a lot harder to kill (almost as hard to kill as elite shock cavalry) but also kill enemy units a lot
slower meaning the usual idea that shock cavalry provides quick devastating charges but
dies quickly just does not apply to these guys.

They can beat Thessalian Cavalry if the Thessalian Cavalry is not using Diamond.




Price: 550
Limit: 3
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 2/5 (Little Usefulness)

Rome's only missile cavalry. These units have very good missile damage at 41 but their
melee stats are worst than most other similar units. You need to make their ammunition
count because they will not be very useful in melee like Raiding Horsemen or similar units.
Not a forgiving unit, make sure your micro is up to it before attempting to use these.
Usually their only use is as a mobile anti-elephant unit.




Price: 1400
Limit: 2 (Unless you are a spammer you will not be bringing more than 1 so it does not matter)
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 3/5 (Useful)

They are the worst elephants in the game but they are still elephants. They are much easier
to run amok than other elephant units. In many ways having them in the roster is stronger
than they themselves are because they force the enemy to buy units specifically to
counter them or face being stomped all over. Even though they are not as useful as other
elephants they can cause hundreds of casualties to the enemy if he/she does not counter them
properly or fails to bring the units needed to counter them. Most useful as a "SURPRISE!!!"
kind of unit.




Price: 450
Limit: Infinite
Requires DLC: No
My Usefulness Rating: 2/5 (Little Usefulness)

Basic dogs, nothing special really. You can use them to kill weak horse archers but if the enemy
can micro well he/she will be able to escape so it's only useful at lower levels of play. If you can
get them into the back of the enemy or into their skirmishers they can do ok. Main problem is
they cost too much for what they are. Keep in mind once the handlers release the dogs you can
no longer give them orders, any order you give will be carried out by the handlers the dogs
will just do whatever they want.

The dogs themselves are hard to see even more so in forests, you can try to use this to your
advantage.

This section discusses all the formations that the Roman units have at their disposal along with
when and when not to use them.




Units With This Ability: Socii Hastati, Hastati, Legionaries, Principes, Legionary Cohort,
Veteran Legionaries, Evocati Cohort, First Cohort, Armoured Legionaries, Eagle Cohort,
Pretorians, Pretorian Guard

This ability blocks most enemy missiles being fired into the front of your swordsmen.
It does not protect the unit from missile fire to the side or rear and also leaves the
unit very vulnerable to enemy charges. Use it only when the enemy is skirmishing and
your flanks and rear are protected and their is no enemy cavalry or infantry close enough
to charge you before you can exit Attacking Testudo. The unit can only walk when in
Attacking Testudo it cannot run. Ordering them to run will cause them to break the Testudo
and charge.




Units With This Ability: Equites, Legionary Cavalry, Pretorian Cavalry

Weird broken ability, never use it. Your cavalry is fast enough to escape most missile fire
so just run away it's a lot better. Units cannot move when in Cavalry Testudo.




Units With This Ability: Triarii

Similar to Attacking Testudo except it gives you a bracing bonus so you are not
vulnerable to charges. You cannot move while in Defensive Testudo.




Units With This Ability: Equites, Legionary Cavalry, Socii Equites, Auxiliary Cavalry,
Pretorian Cavalry

Puts your cavalry into a flying wedge formation and increases their attack and charge
bonus at the expense of some melee defence and making the unit accelerate slower.
Improves your cavalry's performance vs other cavalry, against infantry you are better of
staying in a wide formation since you gonna need to cycle charge. Keep in mind your
cavalry is less manoeuvrable when in Flying Wedge.




Units With This Ability: Hastati, Legionaries, Principes, Legionary Cohort, Veteran
Legionaries, Evocati Cohort, First Cohort, Armoured Legionaries, Eagle Cohort,
Pretorians, Pretorian Guard

Like attacking Testudo this formation protects you from missile fire. It provides less
protection than Attacking Testudo but it allows you to run. Use it if the enemy is skirmishing
and there are no enemy cavalry or infantry unit close enough to charge you before you
can go back into a normal formation but you want to be able to run (If you are going
to sit still it is better to use Attacking Testudo).




Units With This Ability: Vigiles, Gladiator Spearmen, Spear Gladiatreces, Triarii

Gives your unit a bracing bonus and makes it impossible to be attacked in the rear. Use
it when you want a unit to hold out for longer especially when it is being surrounded.

This section discusses all the Toggleable Stances that the Roman units have at their disposal
along with when and when not to use them.



Units With This Ability: Socii Hastati, Hastati, Legionaries, Principes, Legionary Cohort,
Socii Extrodinarii, Veteran Legionaries, Evocati Cohort, First Cohort, Armoured
Legionaries, Eagle Cohort, Pretorians, Pretorian Guard, Vigiles, Auxiliary Infantry, Triarii,
Leves, Velites, Auxiliary Syrian Archers, Auxiliary Balearic Slingers, Auxiliary Numidian
Cavalry

This is on by default and does different things depending on wether a unit is melee infantry
or a skirmisher.

For melee infantry when it is off it stops them from throwing their Pilum (Javelin) when stationary
or charging at enemies. As Rome you pretty much never want to turn this off, the only exception
is in a team game where your ally has low armour units fighting near your melee infantry (In
this case throwing your javelins will most likely cause your ally's units a lot of friendly fire).
Keep in mind this is only for Rome, other factions have reason to turn it off such as having
their spearmen brace properly while in square.

For skirmishers it stops them from firing without being given a direct order to fire at a specific unit.
Use it when you do not want your skirmishers wasting their ammunition on any unit they see
so you can use it on high value targets.



Units With This Ability: Socii Hastati, Hastati, Legionaries, Principes, Legionary Cohort,
Socii Extrodinarii, Veteran Legionaries, Evocati Cohort, First Cohort, Armoured
Legionaries, Eagle Cohort, Pretorians, Pretorian Guard, Vigiles, Auxiliary Infantry, Triarii

When Formation Attack is on like it is by default the unit will attempt to hold it's formation
and not wrap around the enemy, this makes the unit kill enemies slower but it also loses
soldiers more slowly. Switch Formation Attack off when rear charging, fighting pikemen or
to quickly kill off hoplites or other sturdy but low attack units, leave it on when facing enemy
units with good offensive stats.



Units With This Ability: Legatus, General & Bodyguard, Equites, Legionary Cavalry,
Socii Equites, Auxiliary Cavalry, Pretorian Cavalry, Auxiliary Numidian Cavalry

This basically just makes your cavalrymen dismount their horses and fight on foot. Pretty
much never a good idea, in multiplayer at least.

This section discusses all the abilities that the Roman units have at their disposal along with
when and when not to use them.



Units With This Ability: Spear Gladiatreces

This ability makes the unit have a faster charge speed and acceleration as well a slightly
increasing the charge bonus at the expense of melee defence while active and fatigue
when it wears off. Do not use it, it's not worth it.



Units With This Ability: Gladiatreces

This ability increases the charge bonus massively and the weapon damage a little bit at the
expense of melee defence while it is active and fatigue when it wears off. Use it when charging
against more powerful units that you will lose against in a prolonged fight so that you can do
maximum damage during the charge.



Units With This Ability: Auxiliary African Elephants

Pointless useless ability, never use it. This ability can only be used when the elephants
are running amok, it basically just kills the elephants to prevent them from trampling your
own army. Due to the high cost of elephants it is basically never a good idea to use this,
just move your units out of their way wherever you can.



Units With This Ability: Gladiators, Gladiatreces, Gladiator Spearmen, Spear Gladiatreces

This ability massively increases your weapon damage at the expense of fatigue when it
wears off. Use it when you want to do a lot of damage fast, if your unit is losing or if your
unit is already exhausted.



Units With This Ability: Auxiliary Syrian Archers

Increases your unit's missile damage from 35 to 41 at the expense of fatigue once it wears
off. Very useful for taking out elephants or other high value targets like enemy elite swordsmen.



Units With This Ability: Auxiliary Balearic Slingers

Increases your unit's shots per minute from 8 to 11 at the expense of fatigue once it wears
off. It enables your unit to do damage more quickly, it is useful when firing into an infantry
engagement. Never use it if you are skirmishing since it will make kiting a lot harder due to
the unit being fatigued.



Units With This Ability: Spear Gladiatreces

Makes the unit accelerate, move and charge a lot faster at the expense of fatigue when it
wears off. Use it only it emergencies when you need to quickly support a cavalry fight before
your cavalry loses.



Units With This Ability: War Dogs

Basically this is how the War Dogs unit attacks, it will do it automatically if given an attack
order but when it does it automatically it will wait till it's close to the enemy it has been
ordered to attack. Essentially this makes the handlers release their dogs which will then
go and attack whatever they were told to attack assuming they win they will then attack
whatever they see fit (You can't give them orders anymore, all orders will be given to
handlers).

You may have heard players refer to using only Pre-Marian units or even set rules in their
custom games regarding Pre-Marian and Imperial units, there was a even a tournament
recently that split Rome into 2 factions (Pre-Marian and Imperial). This section of the guide
is intended to explain which units fall into which category along with which historical period
they are from.



Pre-Marian refers to Roman units from before the Marian Reforms of the Roman army by
Gaius Marius in 107 BC. Units from this period are also sometimes called Polybian from
the Polybian System that the Roman army used.

• General & Bodyguard

• Socii Hastati (Italian Allied Unit)
  
• Hastati
  
• Principes
  
• Socii Extrodinarii (Italian Allied Unit)

• Triarii

• Leves
  
• Velites

• Equites
  
• Socii Equites (Italian Allied Unit)

• Socii Equites Extrodinarii (Italian Allied Unit)

Units from the late period of the Roman Republic after the Marian Reforms of 107 BC up to
30 BC. These kind of units are from around the time of Julius Caesar and the decades before
him. In terms of structure and organisation they would be similar to the Imperial era units but with
different uniforms, in game they have different uniforms and usually 10 less armour compared to
their Imperial equivalents. Keep in mind the vast majority of players consider these to be part of
Imperial era legions rather than a separate category even though technically they are are from
a different period.

• Legionaries
  
• Veteran Legionaries
  
• First Cohort
  
• Pretorians

• Legionary Cavalry

• War Dogs

Units from the period of the height of Rome's power starting from the reign of the first emperor
Augustus in 30 BC to 284 AD. These are the well known legionaries everybody thinks of when
they think about Roman legionaries, the ones that wear Lorica Segmentata.

Despite the fact units like elephants or balearic slingers would have probably existed in the
Roman army before this period the ones in the game are from the Imperial period. This is
because they are "Auxiliary", the Roman Auxilia was created by emperor Augustus.

• Legatus

• Legionary Cohort
  
• Evocati Cohort
  
• Armoured Legionaries
  
• Eagle Cohort
  
• Pretorian Guard

• Vigiles (Uniform of unit commander in game is wrongly from the Later Republic period*.)
  
• Auxiliary Infantry

• Auxiliary Syrian Archers
  
• Auxiliary Balearic Slingers

• Auxiliary Cavalry
  
• Pretorian Cavalry

• Auxiliary Numidian Cavalry
  
• Auxiliary African Elephants

*This is definitely a mistake since the Vigiles where created by emperor Augustus.




Since gladiators are not technically part of the roman army they do not fall into
either Pre-Marian, Late Republican or Imperial.

• Gladiators
  
• Gladiatreces

• Gladiator Spearmen
  
• Spear Gladiatreces

Rome is a very powerful faction with extremely good units among them a few hidden jewels
nobody takes a second look at. It is most suited to players who prefer to take a brute force
approach to battles over lots of manoeuvring, it is also a very easy faction to use making
it ideal for beginners.

If you found this guide useful please rate up!!!



Have fun massacring the filthy barbarians..... ROMA INVICTA!!!