Total War ROME II: Tactical View

ROME II’s battles feature an entirely new feature called the Tactical View. This enables players to pull the camera seamlessly to a satellite view, in which the entire sweep of the battlefield can be taken in at a glance, and movement orders can be given where required.
Using the Custom Battles option in ROME II, we’ve recreated three of the most remarkable engagements in military history – Pharsalus, Zama and Raphia – to demonstrate how useful the tactical map can be.

The Battle of Pharsalus, 48 BC

Gaius Julius Caeser (yellow) VS Gnaeus Pompeus Magnus (red)
Pharsalus was the decisive battle of Caesar’s civil war. At Pharsalus, he defeated his former co-consul and took the reins of power in Rome, effectively ending the Republic and ushering in the era of the Roman Empire. After chasing Pompey’s army to Greece, Caesar found himself heavily outnumbered, and Pompey held the higher ground. When the armies met, Pompey’s cavalry charged Caesar’s at the flank and, as expected, Caeser’s cavalry turned tail. However, Caesar had hidden a fourth line of infantry behind his cavalry, who used their Pilum spears to attack and ultimately rout Pompey’s cavalry. This left Pompey’s flank wide open to attack, at which point Caeser rolled up his flank, and the fate of Pompey’s army was sealed.

The Battle of Raphia, 217 BC

Ptolemaic Egypt (yellow) VS The Seleucid Empire (red)
Depicting the early stages of the battle, this screenshot depicts the military disposition of Antiochus III of The Seleucid Empire and Ptolemy IV Philopater of Egypt. The two units at the front of Antiochus’ army are Indian war elephants which, in the early stages of the battle, panicked and routed Ptolemy’s smaller, North African war elephants. Ptolemy’s cavalry were also routed, but the Egyptian centre held, and he won the day.

The Battle of Zama, 202 BC

Scipio Africanus (yellow) VS Hannibal Barca (red)
Zama marked the end of the second Punic War, and the clash of two great generals: Scipio Africanus and Hannibal Barca of Carthage. In the years prior to Zama, Hannibal had run an startling military campaign throughout Italy, winning a number of key engagements against Rome. However, when the Romans changed tack and decided to attack Carthage itself, Hannibal was recalled to the city’s defence. As the battle began, Hannibal ordered his elephants directly into the front lines of Roman Hastati, but Scipio ordered the horns to be blown and, panicked by the noise, the elephants recoiled and smashed into Hannibal’s left flank. The Roman cavalry attacked the Carthaginian cavalry on either flank, and chased them from the field. This left the central core of Roman and Carthaginian infantry to fight a closely-matched and bloody engagement. The tide turned, however, when the Roman cavalry wheeled around from chasing Hannibal’s cavalry, and smashed into the rear of the Carthaginian forces, sealing the deal.