The combat action is very much in line with other Total War games where the focus is on choosing the right tactics to defeat enemies rather than focussing on individual combat.

As with all games of this genre, the weapons are all contemporary within the period in which the game is set, which in this case is 395AD. Regardless of the type of weapon used against a character, bladed or pointed, they do not display any injuries and their reactions to the violence can be realistic and on other occasions non-realistic. During large scale battles the bodies of the fallen do litter the battlefield.

More mechanised weapons are available and the most notable is the ballista which can be used to throw missiles a considerable distance.

The type of projectile thrown by the ballista can be augmented for a flaming boulder. If the projectile impacts with a group of characters they will be set alight and some will run around and scream. When they eventually fall to the ground and the flames dissipate there are no visible signs of burning to the bodies or clothing.