Here are some basic cheats to keep the war machine going. There are others but these are tried and proven, and can affect the outcome of your campaign while still making you 'earn' your victories (i.e. you'll still have the fun of fighting your own battles with the outcome unknown).
Method 1: Denari by 40,000 Increments
Once you load up the game or have started a new campaign, hit the '~' (tilde) key to bring up the command console.
Type in the following command:
add_money 40000
I go with the Denari value no greater than 40000 as the system does not seem to accept anything larger than that. 40,000 Denari will be added to your total treasury. If you want more, just keep entering in the command (this is with the latest patches mind you - in the original game, you had to consistently exit out of the game entirely and re-enter your campaign to be able to add another 40,000 denari). Have fun!
Method 2: Infinite Denari Cheat
A better way to start the imperial campaign with a ton of dough is to follow this path to the specific game file (C being whatever drive you installed the game on):
c:\program files\activision\Rome Total War\Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\descr_strat.txt
Look for that file called: descr_strat.txt
Find the lines of code that looks like this (or the line of the particular faction/nation you're going to be playing the campaign with:
; >>>> start of factions section <<<<
faction romans_julii, comfortable caesar
denari 5000
settlement
{
See that line in the code that says 'denari 5000'? Edit that to be whatever you want. I went with 100000000000 (without commas mind you) and my campaign has been wickedly fun not having to worry about making money, allowing me to build anything anywhere and build up massive armies bent on conquest. You can only edit this file BEFORE you begin a campaign so do it before you start your game!!!
Remember, if you take any of the other houses/factions, just change those houses starting Denari values (like if you take House Brutii, just edit the "faction romans_brutii line of denari code' that has the denari value in it).
Method 3: Add Population Cheat
Adding population on the fly is a neat thing to help expand your kingdom fast. Not only does the infantry output of your kingdom swell, but you can also build the latest and greatest buildings for your city. More importantly, larger cities will support the training and construction of better war units. The population increase is limited to 4,000 per addition, but it's fast enough to bring all your early cities up to the 24,000 mark. It goes like this:
Hit the "~" key to bring up the console. Now type:
add_population City_Name 4000
Replace "city_name" above with the name of the city in question. If it is a two-name city, just use the underscore "_" symbol to join the first and last names as in "New_York". Additionally, you have to spell out the name of the city EXACTLY as it appears in the game and it IS case sensitive. I only mention this as some of the settlements use capital "I" that look like lower-case "L" to the untrained eye. Just do this cheat about 5 or 6 times depending on the initial size of the city and you're set. Now you can go in and update the governor's house and all the civilian buildings will follow.
Method 4: Speeding Up Building Construction Cheat
Add whatever buildings you want to your build que. Then enter in the following to have them all constructed in this one turn:
Hit the "~" key to bring up the console again. Now type:
process_cq NameOfSettlement
Naturally, replace the NameOfSettlement call above to the EXACT name of the settlement in question. Use caps where caps are used in the actual city name. If it's a two word city name, use an underscore to join them as in "Campus_Lzyges".
Other things I've noticed:
Always construct Spies and keep them in your own settlements. It helps kick out the enemy spies.
Don't annihilate the citizens of any settlement you've just captured. You'll need them for future growth if you're playing without the add_population cheat above. Instead, select "Occupy Settlement" or infuse your kingdom throughout by "Enslave Population" .
Destroy the religious building in any settlement you've captured and reconstruct one in your kingdom's favor. I usually will also go with a religious building that helps in keeping a high public order. Otherwise, your kingdoms fall into revolt if not under the thumb of a large army or decent governer.
If a city of yours is on the cusp of advancing to the next population growth level, consider disbanding existing military units or units in que to get there in the current turn. Even hire some mercenaries only to disband them in the settlement's territory to put that settlement over the top. They'll count towards that city's population.
Keep governors with high governing skills in your trouble (unhappy cities). Let your generals (high command characters) run about the map with large armies. Characters with neither governing or generalship skills can be used in either way.
Always hire mercenary groups to keep your moving general group ready to fend off any attacker.
Good Luck and may your cheating heart never find you guilty!