Egypt

[frogbeastegg]

Guide

[Inuyasha12]

The first thing you want to do is take all your good troops in alexandria, memphis and thebes and build and army to take petra, bostra, and palmyra in quick succession. The numidians are very passive they will never betray u. Once you take one over, enslave them and build 1-2 peasant units, then keep going. Don't worry because they are all rebel towns Also build a diplomat in jerusalem and send it to dumatha(long way) to obtain trade rights and alliance from parthia. Do this with the numidians in lybia with the diplomat that is provided for you. Never, EVER trust the seleucids they are treacherous bastards and their word means nothing!!
If you want you can now take a break and build up your cities, for a couple of years. Then you'll either decide to attack the seleucids or you'll be attacked by them!!

First take damascus, if you want you can slaughter/massacre the population to free up your army from garrison duty, this is a highly mobile war! Then head for antioch, divide and conquer baby!! Their settlements are now separated from each other. Build a good garrison in antioch and head either west or east to rampage through the seleucid lands. Missile troops are very good against their phalanx troops, just sit there with your archers and soften them up. After awhile throw in you chariots break their lines and send in your infantry to slaugther the rest. I suggest you don't fight parthia, they have their cities very far in the middle of the desert, and it takes awhile to get you troops there. Just go for the greek city states and pontius.


The rest, well thats up to you..
P.S. Don't use numidian spearmen, or any desert infantry on hoplites. They wont even hold for a second. Use chariots, and missle troops. Infantry is afraid of chariots..

[pyhhricvictory]

I thought the Numidians were backstabbers as well. I was fighting a rather drawn out war against the Selucids ( ) when the Numidians blockaded my ports and attacked Thebes. I gave up on that campaign, I had wars against the Selucids, Parthians and Numidians and for sime reason the Greeks were sinking all of my ships.

[Lord_Winter]

Okey having finished one short campaign on hard with the ancient anchronism egyptians of Rome:TW I will just say a few short words...

First dont go for the barabarians first at Bosra, Palmyra and Petra these can be sub goals accomplished by small mercenary forces or family members with a few units and a diplomat...

Instead build up for the first two-three turns, built roads (important since their is a good distance between memphis and jerusalem) then blitx Damascus...Antioch and Tarsus...archers and regular spearmen as well as mercenaries will do the job without a problem most of the Selucides are hoplite or light cavalry which can easily be beaten with lots of arrow fire and then charged with at best cav from behind else surrounded by supperior number of your own troops...also as quickly as possible get egyptian chariots and cavalry since used right both these types of troops are very useful in rome...

You will after this camapign have crippled the power of the Selucides and begin to consolidate the entire area Bosra, Hatra, Babylonia, Dumathra, Palamyra, Petra remember to bribe all armies which come out of the numidian desert or conquer siwa and cyracenia...both of which can be accomplished by relative small armies...

[TheDuck]

Okey having finished one short campaign on hard with the ancient anchronism egyptians of Rome:TW I will just say a few short words...

First dont go for the barabarians first at Bosra, Palmyra and Petra these can be sub goals accomplished by small mercenary forces or family members with a few units and a diplomat...

Instead build up for the first two-three turns, built roads (important since their is a good distance between memphis and jerusalem) then blitx Damascus...Antioch and Tarsus...archers and regular spearmen as well as mercenaries will do the job without a problem most of the Selucides are hoplite or light cavalry which can easily be beaten with lots of arrow fire and then charged with at best cav from behind else surrounded by supperior number of your own troops...also as quickly as possible get egyptian chariots and cavalry since used right both these types of troops are very useful in rome...

You will after this camapign have crippled the power of the Selucides and begin to consolidate the entire area Bosra, Hatra, Babylonia, Dumathra, Palamyra, Petra remember to bribe all armies which come out of the numidian desert or conquer siwa and cyracenia...both of which can be accomplished by relative small armies...

This follows my early experience. I went for the jugular on the coastal cities (Antioch, Damascus, Tarsus, Jerusalem). Once you have roads built along this lane then the rest of the desert is yours for the taking. Later game the advanced archers (Pharoes?) are absolutely deadly against massed spear you will face in the north. And also agreed on the chariots. Chariots should be fought like MTW cavalry. Charge by double clicking behind their intended target so that the continue to run all the way through the target. You will cause massive casualties doing this (since the effectively can charge all the way through it). Its quite pleasing in an ultra-violent kinda way. ;)

Don't get involved with the Parthians early on unless you want a multi-front war. The Numidians will hit you later if they survive. If the Scipii get a foot hold in north africa, expect lots of action in that area. The choice then becomes one of either 'holding the line' on one front while advancing on another, or fighting a two front war (kinda costly). I found myself building two troop production centers, one around Memphis and the other around Antioch to handle all the aggression on my borders (while expanding into Asia Minor).

[musubi]

I did no attacking for the first few turns, and spent resources building roads and a basic infrastructure. The Egyptians enjoy a fair income to start with, so check where your resources are first and exploit them.

I then decided to take the usual local rebel towns (it would be rude not to) and moved West to take Libya and Cyrenaica. In hindsight, I didn't need to do this but I wanted a small western border to guard as I planned on moving North and East in force.

As you start with a nice coastal position, it was relatively easy to move out East and north and I totally agree that the Selucids are untrustworthy, don't lose any sleep taking the towns from these guys. Enslave is sufficient to hold a town with a small garrison as their culture is similar to the Egyptians, however don't neglect the basic hygiene development as plague was quick to break out if you dont bother. Having said that, 12000 population and no sewers - I'd probably revolt too!

In my humble opinion, the unit of choice is the axeman. These guys will go toe-to-toe with ANY of the selucid units bar their heavy chariots (and the odd elephant). They will tear through a frontal attack against even a phalanx without taking heavy casualties, so a tactic I would use would be to commit axemen to facedown the phalanx's one-on-one and use a second unit to hit from the side...very nasty! After 50 battles, I have lost only 1 and that was a sea battle I had no choice over. My standard battle group consists of 5 axeman, 4 spears, 3 archers and a couple of cavalry. The spears basically stand there, the axemen do the damage and the cavalry do the required chasing of the routed enemy.

I currently hold from Libya in the West to the towns of Tarsus, Hatra and Arsakia in the East. Unfortunately, the Romans have come to visit and it's getting lively but I have strong income and a good unit base. 2 battles with the Romans and the axemen are still the key.

[JohnTzimisces]

It seems everyone likes to go on the offensive pretty quick with Egypt.

My favorite strategy with them is to build up the settlements, take the rebel towns and then take Crete to access all that Greek trade. This puts you in a great economic position for later on in the game when the inevitable backstabbing begins. Plus, when the Seleucids decide to attack (which they always will) you can quickly take Tarsus, Antioch and Damascus to further expand your trading empire. A quick jaunt east to take Seleucia and the Hanging Gardens will really give a boost to the old economy. My reasoning for this is that the Egyptian towns seem to grow a lot faster then the other factions. All that cash coming in really turns you into a war machine later on.

[randomn00b]

Just adding a few cents.

Once you get the Antioch region (Tarsus, Antioch, Damascus), you have a juggernaut that is going to be nigh-unstoppable. Considering the Selecuids have a very, very weak army early game, Egypt is a very, very easy faction to play.

Antioch, Sidon, Jerusalem, Tarsus, and Salamis alone give you about 10k a turn once you get up Ports and Roads.

With Egypt, money troubles are nonexistant. Your early game army dominates the people you start fighting out (Selecuids).

You have a ton of Bowmen in Egypt (at least on Normal/Normal), take these and move them into Sidon and Jerusalem. Meanwhile, build up some Nile Spearmen for a decent phalanx to protect your Bowmen and city sieging, and throw in some Desert Cavalry/Chariots for the standard flanking.

You also get a few Chariot Archers in Alexandria. They kick ass, bring em along too.

Take this force, which should be everything you can muster up and put into Sidon and rush Damascus, Antioch, and Tarsus. At this point, I find Egypt overruns with gold, has a huge population in Alexandria, Memphis, and Thebes, and so gets very, very boring.

One last thing: Build Roads. They are your top priority. I cannot emphasize this enough. It's a long walk from Alexandria to Antioch.

Your main army (which whups Selecuid arse) is in Alexandria, and it's going to take way too long to go after the Selecuids without Roads, and Paved Roads.

Getting this army to Antioch is the most important thing the first two-three turns of the Egyptian campaign.

[LestaT]

I have played Egypt. After conquering 15 provinces I got bored and stop. Too easy even on VH/VH....

[Curry]

I thought the Numidians were backstabbers as well. I was fighting a rather drawn out war against the Selucids ( ) when the Numidians blockaded my ports and attacked Thebes. I gave up on that campaign, I had wars against the Selucids, Parthians and Numidians and for sime reason the Greeks were sinking all of my ships.

What ? They blockaded your ports ? My ports have never been blockaded by AI ships.

[kendonosensei]

Egypt has a wonderful selection of units. Egyptian armies can do anything you want them to. The only thing the lack is very heavy cavalry - however in the desert, their horsemen are unrivaled.

Never forget the importance of chariots. Regular chariots are like elephants - they're designed to break up a unit's formation. Run them ahead of a unit of Nile/Desert Infantry and your pursuing troops will cut through them.

Archers, however, will be key to winning most engagements. Your basic archers units come with more men than your enemies' missile units. Pharaoh's Bowmen have excellent range, damage and armour - they excel in combat. Don't go mad with archers - have enough infantry and cavalry to protect them. But never forget to use them.

As the others have said, stay on the initiative. Your short-term target should be Antioch. Once you take this, you'll cut the Seleucid empire in two. Take Damascus as soon as you have built up a medium sized force to take it. Enslave the population and then move on.

Don't forget to take the rebel provinces. They will help you increase your income and solidify your frontiers. However DO NOT MAKE THEM A PRIORITY! Go for those first two Seleucid settlements I mentioned.

Once you have taken those first two cities, you'll have secured the immediate region. Continue to expand and increase your technology. Aim to get Temple Cities of Imhotep or Horus in your main army-producing cities, to increase their effectiveness. Don't forget temples of Isis, which are useful to increase the population of provinces which have low fertility.

[Slon]

I was playing as Egypt, and I started wondering: is there any point in getting archers/bowmen instead of chariot archers? They seem to be easier to retrain and 2*56 = 112 archers (which is almost like 120 bowmen). Plus, the chariot archers can be used for hunting down enemies and for flanking infantry/cavalry. So, is there a reason to get bowmen/pharaoh's bowmen instead of chariot archers? What about camel archers? Are they better than chariot archers, since they are so high-tier, or are they obsolete?

[Oshidashi]

Dude, don't use only chariot archers, your bowmen or pharao archers do much more missile damage to the enemy then your chariots. Why? It's quite simple: A unit of chariots concists of 24 men on 8 chariots, which makes 3 guys on every chariot. One of them drives, the other one has a small sword and the third has a bow. As a result there are only 8 men shooting. They have a strong missile power though (14) but you rather want to destroy your foes with 40 shooting bowmen with a missile power of 7, it kills many more. The elite pharao archers are the best as their unit is 40men with a missile power of 14.

I would say use a maximum of 2 chariot archers in your (fully stacked) army. If you want to chase and hunt down the enemy you'd better use desert cavalry who, at least in the desert, even outrun mounted missile units.

[RollingWave]

Sion, several reason, one is that chariot archers can't use fire arrow which is very useful in some situations, and they can't be stationed on walls, and in terms of cost effectiveness of purely shooting they aren't as good as foot archers.

However... mass chariot archer is very devestating on the right terrain.. no wonder it was THE way to fight for hundreds of years.

[Grand Duke Vytautas]

Man, I think Egypt is the easiest faction in the game (I play on fair medium/medium settings, short campaign, cause I get bored on long one). This is how I played. In the first couple of turns I made some build up, placed watchtowers, forts where needed, hired some arabian mercenaries (these guys rock!), started building navy, then conquered two rebel towns to the east, prepared for war with seleucids (they are your main enemy of course), used 2 diplomats in ships to get trade agreements sell map ally with other factions. Then kicked some Seleucid ass , taken Damascus from them and those bastards come to me offering ceasefire, the deal was made - they payed me 10000 for that, but they'll be crushed in the near future anyway. And talking about economy, yeah baby Egypt is a mega-cashcow. And what cool units Egyptians have, I like of course chariots the most! Pharaon rulez!
NOW ADVANCCCE! (cool accent by the way )

[General Carnage]

Egypt is very very easy until you attack Rome.

[RollingWave]

How would you guys go at Rome usually? would you go strait for the Italian Penisula or try to take the Balkans and or sciliy as a jump pad?

As egypt though you are good both offense and defensively... offensvily a combination of chariot + calvary charge will beat most army (and u can hit and run with chariot archers too... giving you huge flexibility) defensively you have desert axeman on the walls, one of the best archer line ups and if those fail u still have many phalanx to hold the square. the only thing you don't have is elephants, but you are also in close proximity to places that can grab elephant mercenaries.

[Craterus]

i'm so angry!!!
i just wrote a detailed account of my successful egyptian campaign but i wasn't logged in when i posted it apparently... (waste of 20 mins) !!!!
i will start again...

I have an Egyptian campaign that is quite successful and i own all of Southern and Eastern Asia, i own 6 of 7 wonders of the world (not zeus -brutii) and Siwa so i'm branching into africa...

From the start, I sent a diplomat to gain a trade agreement (carthaginians and numidians) and alliance (numidians only, they betrayed this a few years later so i disagree with whoever said they don't betray you...). I also sent a diplomat to form an alliance with the Seleucids and Parthians. I sent the general (Kiya) that is wandering outside your starting towns to take Petra, Bostra, Damascus, Hatra and Palmyra.
Next, the Seleucids broke their alliance and attacked Sidon... I slaughtered them from the siege.. Next, I took Antioch and Tarsus . Thinking that the Seleucids only had one city left, I sent an army to Seleucia and I sent an army north towards the Armenians. I took Seleucia but wasn't given the faction destroyed message

I sent a scout navy to look for any reamaining seleucid towns around eastern asia and saw that they had Sardis. I took the army from Mazaka (taken and my city by now) to take Sardis, Halicarnassus, Nicomedia, Bergamum and Rhodes. This is all of Eastern Asia, i think. I then took Sinope and the remaining Armenian factions. Then the Numidians betrayed me by attacking Memphis, i attacked them and took Siwa for my trouble. Then I took Cyrene as I was in the area...

Back to Asia, the Parthians betrayed me and tried to take seleucia so i made a quick army and sent to divert the Parthian forces, then I took Dumatha, Susa, Phraaspa and Arta?? (dont remember the name)

This brings us to now... I have 1,240,000 denarii (masses of trade and a carful save/spend policy)I have 6 of 7 wonders of the world and things are looking pretty rosy

Where next? From Asia, I plan to march into former Parthian (now rebel) territory in the north. The Scipii are on my border in East Africa so that's a problem. I've sent a diplomat to try and ward off their attacks for now so I can establish an army worthy of holding off the Marian Reformed Romans...
Anyone who can suggest a plan of action for fighting the Romans please pm me or post here..
I was thinking i could send armies through macedon (now brutii) and attack rome at the centre but this will be difficult because I will have to trudge through a strong Brutii faction...

[AntiochusIII]

Well, I assume you're playing RTW 1.2 so...

In a big battle with the Marian Romans you have
1. Inferior - far inferior infantry.
2. Deadly Chariots - better go with archer ones
3. World-murdering Archers - Pharoah's bowmen
4. Ordinary, even slightly weak phalanxes - Pharoah's guards are pretty good, though
5. Cavalry (Cleruch) which matches Roman's after Reform ones. (What a cheat...) Though the Romans, in my experience, rarely use their Legionary/Praetorian Cavalry. They still have Generals cavalry, though.
6. Oh, and superb infantry flanker in the form of Axemen. You may or may not weaken them yourself already but they're still a great flanker nonetheless.

You will often face a massive infantry force that can easily beat yours...Urban Cohort!

Place your chariots on far left/right from your line.
Place your cavalry for flanking operation, as usual.
Place your Axemen close to the edge of your phalanx.
Use your phalanx as the main line. Place them on top of each other if you want to really pin down those Roman demi-gods.
Place your archers/onagers behind your phalanxes.
Like this...
C=chariot, c=cavalry, a=axemen, p=phalanx, A=archer/onager, -=empty

CC-----pppppp-----CC
--cc-aa-AAAA-aa-cc--

Use your chariots to disrupt enemy lines. Some Roman infantry will follow you; if not, they'll slowly be shot down freely. If they send cavalry against you (most likely) charge them and decimate them. Chariots own cavalry. It's likely that they'll lose their generals this way.

While they approach your phalanx, your archers will slaughter them. If you use onager use fire. No Urban Cohorts will survive if they are hit by burning stones. Burning arrows do you no good, however.

Stretch your cavalry far on your flank while they come.

When they reach your phalanx flank them with axemen, if your phalanx/axemen began to waver launch a cavalry charge on their rear; retreat after charge. Don't let them be bogged down. If the Roman line is thick you may even want to order your archers to shoot down those who're behind.

If they try to flank your axemen with spare Legions, rain arrows on those unit. Storm one unit at a time. They'll be decimated in no time. If not, charge your cavalry in, and out; on their rear/flank.

If you have spare chariots, let them shoot down Roman infantry on their rear. If their lines are thick enough (while fighting) you'll have minimal friendly fire.

The result should be you flanking them but they're thick in the middle and put pressure on your phalanx. When you feel like finishing them charge in your cavalry the last time. You should be sure that they'll break down by this rear-charge when you do.

After that it's mopping up.

P.S. If things get fishy you may even sacrifice some archers by engaging Romans on their open flanks/rear.

[Craterus]

i usually put my chariot archers and bedouin archers on the flanks and send them forward immediately, to fire on the armies strongest unit... this works quite well

i have no need to worry i will make many pharoh's guards and nile cavalry they are good strong units! accompanied by desert axeman and thracians (if i can get the thracians back from asia in time)

thanks for your advice Antiochus III

[McDoogle]

Does anyone know exactly where to find FULL Technology Trees for all and any cultures in Rome Total war.

A link would be awesome thanx.

[Craterus]

I'm sure that there must be a thread about it around here somewhere but I don't know where, sorry. Have you tried searching for it using the google thing?

[tibilicus]

My tips for the egyptians. Your rich rich beyond your widest dreams. Dont go and sit around go and use that wealth build armies hire mercenerise and go kill every one !

[Craterus]

I sat around for a while and secured my fronts, mainly northern (seleucid) but also western (numidians).. Sign an alliannce with the Numidians and tthey wont dare attack for a long while but keep an army outside or inside memphis ready for their attack..

The Seleucids, however, are annoying and dont know the meaning of alliance and friendship... Lol, so when they attack, hit them hard and don't give them time to recover. Make two armies from the start and send one across to Seleucia and eventually the Parthian territory, and another army to annihalate the Seleucid western provinces.. Good Luck!

[CMDR Coconut]

I have a silly question.

I'd like to play Egypt in singleplayer campaign mode. Is that possible?

[Craterus]

Yes, complete a short campaign with one of the Roman factions.. Then the Egyptians, Gaul, Greeks, Seleucid Empire, Parthia etc. are unlocked. have fun

[cunobelinus]

or u could go into rome total war file and unlock everything without doin everything

[Craterus]

I think you need to complete a short campaign with the Romans first. Any confirmation?

[pezhetairoi]

Confirmation given. Egypt is a major faction unlockable by playing a short campaign. Littlegannon, not only do you have to unlock the faction files in the rtw files, you also have to set your preferences to first time play: false.

[King Clas]

As been said, go for crete. They are an excellent base for further expansion and the trade will be very good for your economy. Most of the time all roman factions end upp in war with the greek cities. Even thoue you may not be allied with Rome head forth into war with the greeks. Take Rhodes and then Sparta. Be prepared for war with Macedonia sooner or later since they will become rivals. As has been repeated over and over again here is, never ever trust the seleucid empire. They are rather easy to beat but they just keep coming and i do hope for a breakthrough to happen soon.

A fun thing that happend me. I landed a fairly large army on Crete led by a family member. The rebel army in the city decided to met me in the field . So cool! however since Rome cant reflect guerilla warfare so good the rebel army was crushed in the open field. After that taking the city was a piece of cake.

/Clas