The young Marie-Louise (beginner) questions

[Emp_Palpatine]

Hey there,

Just got this games.

Man, I remember reading about it around 2008/10 and the lackluster AI and so on.
I've seen that Pzgnd has been cooking!

So, a question, that would be the first of many:

-> Some menu fonts (like options ones) are really fat and huge, is there a way to tamper with this?

-> I've read parts of the manual. No Kingdom of Italy is included, I guess? I like "Napoleonic minors", so just wondering.
Also, does France keep Rhineland if the Confederation of the Rhine is created?

Keep up the impressive work, it's rare to see such dedication to that an old game. I know a few I like that would deserve such efforts.

[pzgndr]

Welcome! Please see https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopic.php?t=280699 regarding the large fonts. You need to install Quixley LET fonts. Regarding additional kingdoms, it would have been nice if Marshall Ellis had roughed these in when creating the original game. At this point, it's a pain to try adding new kingdom codes and settings to the applicable provinces in the databases. I've just spent the past week wrestling with kingdom issues. More about that when I post Hotfix #1 for v1.27.02 Beta later this week. Not sure what you mean about France keeping Rhineland; that's not a province? France keeps its home provinces when it creates COR, and loses them as they become conquered later. That reconquering kingdom minors issues came back to haunt me this past week (Grrr). I realize players like all of those optional kingdoms from the original game, but you'll just have to be content with COR, Ottoman, and Poland.

And that old "lackluster" AI of yesteryear? Gone. It's still not as brilliant or nefarious as some veteran human players may be, but it's competent and challenging enough to be a good computer opponent. Give it a shot!

[Emp_Palpatine]

Thanks for the answers.

- The font tip did the trick, thanks.

- As for Rhineland, I meant the "left bank", i.e. provinces like Julich, Palatinate and so on that were annexed to France and part of the de jure territory.
I've seen in the manual that Julich, for instance, is needed for CoR. => Does it switch to CoR upon creation or does it stay French (as it was in History)?

As a (junior) developper but decades old wargamer, I perfectly understand the Kingdoms hassle. Or anyone actually.
(still miss Italy & Westphalia, but it is what it is! )

[pzgndr]

- As for Rhineland, I meant the "left bank", i.e. provinces like Julich, Palatinate and so on that were annexed to France and part of the de jure territory.
I've seen in the manual that Julich, for instance, is needed for CoR. => Does it switch to CoR upon creation or does it stay French (as it was in History)?

I had to go check. Julich is a COR component but Palatinate is not. So Julich becomes part of COR. Julich and Palatinate are both minor nations and not French home provinces. Ditto for Flanders, Liege, and Luxemburg. For the most part they are all de jure French territory as conquered minors, but they are not part of France. Maybe this helps?

[Emp_Palpatine]

This helps indeed.

IMO, as Julich is the Cologne area (département de la Roer on French napoleonic maps) and was annexed to France proper, it shouldn't be a CoR component for historicity -and nice borders- sake.

But that's my Frenchness + obsession over such details that's speaking. It's obviously not game-breaking.

[Emp_Palpatine]

Some questions :

- I've read the manual explainations about depots but... Could you guys give me some insights?
Like how do you proceed? One every couple of provinces? Deleting old ones in favor of new ones? Continuous chain from Paris to Moscow?

- What do you do with leaderless corps? Do they just "follow" the rest? Do they benefit from anything from present leaders?

Thanks!

[Emp_Palpatine]

Apparently, having only one leader in an area commands the whole stack. It seemed so in my test. Can anyone confirm?

Also, I've seen around the net and Murat's tutorial that 2 to 4 prov' distance is recommanded for depots. Is this ok? Should I start from the capital city?

Another question : are the maintenance costs paid monthly (each turn) or only during the quarterly economy phase? I can't tell from the manual or other sources.

Thanks.

[pzgndr]

Only the senior leader commands in battle, just one. For depots, you need a source city in your home nation or a conquered minor. Then additional depots can be placed up to two areas away from a depot in chain. Corps can trace supply to a depot up to three areas away. You should have a good supply chain to support a war against another MP. For maintenance, these are quarterly costs assessed during the economic phase. Hope this helps.

[Emp_Palpatine]

Thanks.

I must say I am slowly being hooked by the game, starting, playing a few months, paying my mistakes and starting again.

And indeed there is some AI in there, for now it's a decent adversary and not a pushover. It managed to badly surprise me by protecting efficiently its assets.

Thanks for your work pzgndr.

Not bad for an almost two decades old product.

[pzgndr]

And indeed there is some AI in there, for now it's a decent adversary and not a pushover. It managed to badly surprise me by protecting efficiently its assets.
Thanks for your work pzgndr.

Thank you. I hope others are encouraged to try this old warhorse game again. My goal has always been to make bug fixes, game enhancements, and AI improvements to get this game to the point where it deserves to be.

The AI computer opponents are never going to be brilliant compared to experienced veteran players, but they're a decent enough adversay to be challenging and acceptable as substitute players in small-group PBEM games.

And some good news: there are 21 different games included. If you play each of the Major Powers, in each of the three scenarios - 1805, 1812, and 1813. And double that for Classic EIA versus Alternate EIH. There's always something new to try and learn from. Enjoy!

[Emp_Palpatine]

Another question :

Is there a way to prevent another power agression against a Free State after a defeat?

Context : as France, I defeat Prussia. Surrender, forced peace in action. 2 turns after that, they attack Hesse that I am SUPPOSED to defend... but there is no war between us.

I am supposed to attack Prussia manually? But won't the enforced peace prevent me to do so?

[pzgndr]

Context : as France, I defeat Prussia. Surrender, forced peace in action. 2 turns after that, they attack Hesse that I am SUPPOSED to defend... but there is no war between us.

If I understand, Prussia DOWed Hesse and you got control. That's fine, the controlling MP is not technically at war, it's the minor Hesse that is at war. Same situation as if France and Prussia are neutral and one DOWs a minor and the other gets control.