If Alexander retreats, the player is also defeated. As in the campaign, if Alexander dies during one of the historical battles, the player is defeated. It ends with the Battle of the Hydaspes against Porus, an Indian king of the Pauravas dynasty. Both are fought against King Darius III of Persia. The fourth and fifth battles are the Battle of Issus and the Battle of Gaugamela, respectively. After the Battle of the Granicus comes the Siege of Halicarnassus, in which Memnon is killed. Next is the Battle of the Granicus against Memnon of Rhodes. In addition to the regular campaign, there are also six historical battles in the expansion, starting with the Battle of Chaeronea, where Alexander accompanies his father, Philip II, against the combined forces of Athens and Thebes.

The campaign is narrated by Brian Blessed. Alexander himself must also survive until the player accomplishes their goals if he dies, the player is defeated. The player only has 100 turns to complete their objectives. As Macedon, the player must conquer 30 provinces, including a number of specific cities like Tyre, Halicarnassus, and Babylon, from Persia and various 'barbarians,' like the Thracians, the Illyrians, the Scythians, and the Dahae.

While multiple factions were playable in the original game's campaign, Macedon is in the only playable faction in the campaign of Alexander. The main campaign of Alexander centers around Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire.

The gameplay of Alexander is mostly similar to the gameplay of the original Rome: Total War, with the player commanding individual armies on the battlefield or leading their entire nation on a campaign map.

Rome total war battle tactics