Walkthrough for Warrior of Rome - Sega Genesis

walkthrough for:

Warrior of Rome for the Sega Genesis

released in 1991 by Micronet

walkthrough by Fausto Chavez

faustozone@gmail.com

Warrior of Rome is a real time strategy war game that’s received little attention through the years, however, it's one of my favorite games ever.

Notes: The game’s manual omits critical information. This walkthrough attempts to fill in the gap. This game is also known 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, fight your way inland to break through Cleopatra’s palace walls, then storm the palace and reach Cleopatra. Show these dogs the might of Rome!

Army Formations: Units 1-4 are strong fighters, units 5-7 are medium strength (in the last two stages they are rock throwers/archers), units 8-10 are weak fighters but strong engineers (demolition or pit/barricade builders).

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. D pad moves 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 units with a cursor and menu options to give units orders to achieve objectives. FAST MOVEMENT units move quickly but deplete 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).

RETREAT STRENGTH indicates when a unit will abandon battle, but doing so depletes a chunk of health and will result in death if in low health. Units will fight until they’ve lost their given percent strength, 0% will fight to death, defaults vary by unit. When a unit dies, it will reappear at start point, same for enemies. I set retreat strength to zero since retreating just makes units weaker or kills them off.

The GAME SPEED is adjustable, 1 being fastest, 5 slowest (fast speed is best since the last three stages can take a long time, but 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. 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.

In the first stage, you must keep at least one base intact, and destroy all the pirate ships using Trap command (Trap also builds pits or brick walls to defend your bases, but it’s better just to go on the offensive). Game over if all your bases are destroyed. Click on a base (or pirate ship) to see durability. You start off the game with only five units inside bases. Be on the defensive until back up units arrive, building pits or walls to safeguard bases—or just attack from the start. 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 landing vessel from enemy attacks and land in Egypt. Password: L3FHPIZSFW

Protect your landing vessel from enemy ships' fire attacks, either by surrounding it with your own boats (without blocking its path) or engaging enemy ships 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 on 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 be 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 are about to storm the palace). There are different paths and strategies to approach this stage, such dividing your units on different paths or keeping them together, or to leave units behind safeguarding bridges or go for broke with them all towards the palace, or sending 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 close combat, retreat a unit midway through battle, then attack 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 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 being patient, methodical, and having your units supporting each other.

Here your units have a limited number of lives indicated by a number next to the unit list. Engineers have the most lives so use them as crash dummies leading the way. If a unit dies, it will be thrown all the way back to the beginning. Try to move units in a group rather than alone, preferably single file.

This stage consists of a series of rooms with fences that must be destroyed. Stepping on certain squares will cause enemies to appear nearby. These squares can only be triggered once, and afterwards can be crossed safely.

In this stage the most important units are archers 5-7, you need them to kill enemies behind fences, especially towards the end. Keep the archers moving together for maximum effect; be sure to keep them alive by sacrificing other units.

The way to beat enemies behind fences is to alternate archers, withdrawing before your archer is killed, then attack with a fresh archer. Keep fighters nearby in case more enemy units are triggered. Once the 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 beating the stage, along with NOT triggering new enemies by moving along the same squares, single file, inching your way to Cleopatra.) When enemies are triggered, use everything you’ve learned in previous battles to defeat them, then rest until all your units are completely healed before proceeding.

The last section of fences before the final chamber will require a lot of concentration. Have archers lead the way. When cleared, go down a narrow passage to the final room--once inside, lots of enemies will spawn!  You can backtrack to an untriggered spawn square to remove units from the last room, or barge in with all your units attacking. Keep making attempts as the battle rages on! The goal is to get a fresh engineering unit to the last fence and destroy it, granting access to Cleopatra.

(Recently a player mapped out all the squares that trigger enemies--which can be found at this website: https://herzogzwei.neocities.org/reviews/warrior-of-rome/

here's the link to map: https://herzogzwei.neocities.org/reviews/warrior-of-rome/map.png)

Ending Cut-Scene: GREBLBP2TE

Hail Julius Cesar! Hail Queen Cleopatra!