Walkthrough for Warrior of Rome - Sega Genesis

walkthrough for:

Warrior of Rome for the Sega Genesis

by Fausto Chavez

faustozone@gmail.com

I’ve decided to write a walkthrough for this game since there is none yet in existence. This is a real time strategy war game that’s received little attention through the years. Being a fan of strategy games, history, and of the Genesis, this is one of my favorite games ever.

Notes: The game’s manual is poorly written, omits critical information and is in fact misleading. This walkthrough corrects those errors. This game is known also as Ambition of Caesar (Japan). There was a sequel made which has a completely different game engine.

Story: You play Julius Cesar commanding armed forces through four scenarios. First, defend the island of Crete against a pirate attack, then lead your navy across the Mediterranean to land in Egypt, travel inland to break through Cleopatra’s palace walls, then storm the palace and reach Cleopatra. Show these dogs the might of Rome!

Controls: Button layout is customizable in game by pressing A then choosing SYSTEM, defaults are: button A selects, button B cancels, button C moves your view of the map when held. Start Button pauses game. D pad moves the cursor. SYSTEM also gives access to SAVE and LOAD game options, though game is only saved while system is on. The game has a top-down view, where you control military units with a cursor, giving them orders to achieve objectives. Units 1-4 are strong fighters, 5-7 are medium strength and in last two stages are rock throwers/archers, 8-10 are weak fighters but strong engineers (demolition or  pit, barricades builders). FAST MOVEMENT moves units quickly but depletes health, SLOW MOVEMENT units move slower but do not lose health, unit at REST does nothing and recovers health, TRAP / REMOVE FENCE command destroys obstacles or builds pits, walls but depletes health (in stage 2 REPAIR SHIP). The GAME SPEED is adjustable 1 being fastest, 5 slowest (fast speed is best since last three stages can take a long time, when action is heavy slow speed may help keep track of things). INTERRUPT SWITCH gives the option of turning on / off notifications regarding your units actions. RETREAT STRENGTH percentage, units will fight until they’ve lost their given percent strength, 0% will fight to death (I set all units at least 20%, so they won’t fight till death) defaults vary by unit. When a unit dies, it will reappear at start point, same for enemies. MAP SWITCH options brings up a full view of the map on one screen.

Stage 1. Objective: defend your bases and destroy the pirate ships.

This stage is not too hard, can be beat in 30 minutes if player is skilled. You must keep at least one base intact, and destroy all the pirate ships using the Trap command. Trap command also builds pits or brick walls. Game is over if all of your bases are destroyed. Click on a base to see base or pirate ship durability. You start off the game with only five units inside bases. Be on the defensive until your additional units arrive then go on the attack. You can build pits or walls to safeguard bases. Battles that take place within a base will destroy that base. Remember, units 1-4 can defeat enemies of equal strength, 8-10 can demolish the pirate ships quickly, 5-7 are mixed strengths.

Stage 2. Objective: protect your main vessel from enemy attacks, and land in Egypt.

Password: L3FHPIZSFW

This stage is not too hard, but will take up more than an hour to complete. Keep your main vessel protected from enemy ships' fire attacks, either by surrounding it with your own boats (without blocking its path), or engaging enemy far out at sea. Engaging enemy ships in battle prevents them from launching fire at your main boat. Use Repair Ship option to repair ships. Your main boat will follow a zigzag path, but will eventually land unless it sustains heavy damage and sinks. Idle ships will be blown off course by the wind, so keep adjusting their movement to coincide with your main boat's course, which can be seen by clicking the main boat.

Stage 3. Objective: Demolish barriers, protect bridges and reach Cleopatra’s palace. Password: NXDS5ZJZVF

Now the going gets tough. This stage will is the first real test of your mettle, wits and determination. There are two rivers with bridges. If all bridges at any river are destroyed, you are unable to cross and cannot win (unless your units about to storm palace). There are different paths and strategies to approach this stage, such as whether to divide your units on different paths or keep them together, whether to leave units behind safeguarding bridges or go for broke with them all towards the palace, or to send a single unit astray to distract enemy units from primary objectives, etc.  Use engineers 8-10 to demolish barricades, then storm across the first river. The enemy here will put up a fierce resistance. Soften up enemies with rock throwing units 5-7 before initiating combat, retreat a unit midway through battle, then attack it with a fresh unit. Save engineers 8-10 for demolition, or to finish off weak enemy units. At some point, you must make a break for the the next set of bridges.  Once you penetrate the final area, maneuver engineers to underneath the palace, ignoring the two obstacles to the right, since you only need to destroy the single barrier beneath the palace. If you fail in your attempts, eventually the enemy will destroy the palace barriers, granting entry.

Stage 4. Objective: Demolish fences, penetrate deep into the palace and rescue Cleopatra. Password: O5TCJ5OI4B

Now the final battle begins, an epic battle worthy of Rome. The key to this stage is to be patient, methodical and have your units supporting each other. Units 5-7 are now archers. Here your units have a limited number of lives. If a unit dies, it will be thrown all the way back to beginning, from there be careful to follow a path that won’t trigger new enemies (if possible) and try to move units together rather than alone. This stage consists of a series of rooms with fences that must be destroyed. Stepping on certain squares (usually darker) will trigger enemies to appear. I will number the rooms, beginning with the first room as 1, and passing each set of stairs will the the next room #. First, move all your units from the first room into the second. Defeat all the enemies that appear in the 2nd room before continuing. Then, move archer units slowly into the next room (3rd) to face off against the enemy units behind the first fence. The way to beat enemies behind fences is to alternate archers against a single enemy unit, withdrawing before your archer is defeated, then attacking with a fresh archer. For the first fence, Kill an enemy unit by positioning your archers just below the first fence (where only one enemy unit can fire back). Keep fighters nearby in case enemy more units are triggered. Once that enemy behind the fence is defeated, move an engineer to destroy the fence, then attack the remaining enemies with fighters. (This is the key to the beating the stage, along with not triggering new enemies by moving along the same squares). Take some time destroying fences to make passing room. If you try to run across the next section, you will be mowed down, so instead, move along the left, again alternating attacks with archers, demolishing fences then sending your strong fighters up along the left wall. Once cleared, you can dash across the next two rooms (4 and 5) and stopping at the 6th room, a corner where you can gather your army before proceeding into the next large room (7). Approach this room very slowly and methodical, inching your way across, using everything you’ve learned in previous battles. In the next room (8), proceed along both the left and right walls simultaneously, clearing enemies and destroying fences. Then pour into the next room (9) and defeat all enemies that appear before moving into the next hall. This next section requires much concentration. You must alternate archer attacks against enemies that appear behind fences, defeating them twice before before being able to clear a fence. Repeat for all 5 fences. Then comes a narrow hallway leading to the final room. The hallway will not trigger enemies, but when you enter the final room, all sorts of enemies will appear. Different strategies are possible. Maybe backtrack a unit to make enemies appear elsewhere, taking them away from the final room. Or if you pour into the final room with all units, as some die, move them from the first room and as they proceed will trigger enemy units in other rooms, thereby taking away enemies from the final room. The goal is to get a fresh engineer unit to the last fence and destroy it, thereby granting access to Cleopatra.

Ending Cut-Scene: GREBLBP2T

Summary: I've played through all the stages of Warrior of Rome many times and really enjoyed this game. Your typical player who was weaned on Mario and Sonic with short attention spans will not like it, but fans of strategy and ancient history may delight. There is great music here that captures the ancient Roman theme. There are cut scenes between the stages that are great, and were a fine reward for playing through the stages. Though the game has only four stages, be prepared to spend many hours to completion (not including failed attempts). Warrior of Rome is one underappreciated tough cookie.