Defend the rebels of Latium
After upgrading where necessary, you enter the battle where you need to form a battle-line. On one side of the screen you'll see the opposition and it's up to you to hover over the map, studying the terrain, placing your troops where you want them to start from and then issuing various orders. There's no time limit here, so you can ponder over the best tactics to defeat your opponents. The main challenge that you'll face is deciding on how to use the terrain to your advantage to tackle these enemies. For example: In the battle where you need to defeat the rebels of Latium (they're seeking independence from Roman control) you'll be faced with rough terrain on the left hand side of the map and open ground on the right. Rough terrain will hinder your cavalry, who are more suited to open ground, but light infantry are comfortable moving through these sections.
The example I've given for the terrain in this particular battle is an extremely simple scenario; I sent my cavalry and heavy infantry across open ground and the light infantry through the rough terrain, flanking them from the left hand side and beating them with ease. But, as you progress through the campaign the terrain severely effects the battle conditions, with mountainous regions(ideal for archers), forests ideal for sneaking through with skirmishers and taking your opponent by surprise and a number of different terrains on the same battlefield.
So, prior to each battle you need to move each unit of troops to a starting position on the battlefield and issue orders via the user interface. There isn't a wealth of orders on offer, in fact Great Battles of Rome is an extremely basic strategy game, but the armies do respond accurately to those commands that you choose prior to battle. Among orders that can be issued are setting your team up in an offensive, defensive or balanced formation, ordering them to charge, advancing them slowly up the battlefield or ordering them to hang back for the opposition to come to them. The interface for choosing these orders is fairly basic, and the limited options won't appeal to those seeking a deep simulation, but the budget price (£20 or £15 at Play.com!), should be an indication that you won't be playing a title that aims to compete with the likes of Rome Total War.
Okay so, once you're happy with the starting position you can begin the battle, the camera pans out and shows the 3D battle playing out in real-time. You can cycle through the units (squads, not individual) issue a few orders, and zoom in and out the action. The orders are fairly limited during battles, you can rally troops, which boosts morale, move the sqauds to whereever you want on the battlefield, order them to attack, halt or leg it, but the majority of the planning still takes place before the game begins. This does mean that you spend the majority of the early battles just sitting back and watching the action unfold, but as you progress and the battles become more furious and tactically more complicated, you'll need to use these commands to rally your troops and judge when to send one of your individual squads 'charging' at the enemy, when to hold back, and when to flank.
