Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: Rondor

Personally, I feel Davout might have been a better tactical commander than Napoleon himself.

To what extent did Napoleons meglomania cloud his tactical judgement at critical points?


Berthier is an interesting choice mentioned earlier. His staff work would have been critically important since Napoleon basically wanted the entire Grand Armee under his direct control. I hadnt ever really thought about that.

Two best still IMO are Davout and Lannes.

How about the two worst?

The two worst? Bernadotte and Jourdon. They had very little talent and Joudon even called the 'anvil' by the english because they would win whenever they fought him.

I'll have to look it up. I wander through magazines and books about history voraciously, so I sometimes forget where I got what.

Ney - but I'm biased. There is a legend (and I stress legend, as it's somewhat far-fetched), which sulla05 refers to, that his execution was faked and he escaped, emigrated to my home state of North Carolina (not Virginia), moved to what was then the backwoods of Rowan County, and lived out his days as a country schoolmaster. Ah, you laugh, but there was in fact a teacher named Peter Ney in that area who appeared about the time Marshal Ney disappeared, was apparently French, and was about the right age. Peter Ney's grave is still there today. I don't say the legend is true or false, only that it was one of the first things to interest me in the Napoleonic period.

An interesting tale, never heard that before and I lived in Durham for about 4 years.

However, that is what you are basing your choice on for which marshal was the best? Personally, I would place Ney in the middle to low-middle, overall. I believe most games/individuals tend to overhype the "Bravest of the Brave" moniker into regarding Ney as something he was not.

Personally I would go 1- Davout, 2- Lannes, 3- Suchet. Subjectively rating leaders is always difficult and often stormy because opinions are like a**holes - everybody's got one.

ORIGINAL: bushpsu
...I believe most games/individuals tend to overhype the "Bravest of the Brave" moniker into regarding Ney as something he was not....

I believe you are right and in fact I think the "Bravest of the Brave" is partly responsible for the legend. I should also say that I voted for him as "best" because I'm relatively new to history of the Napoleonic Wars and he's really the only one I know much about - but in hindsight that's a vote for "favorite" rather than "best" and thus not a very informed vote at all. So I invite everyone to please disregard it![:)]

OT - hope you liked your stint in Durham!