Mod - Spanish Generals

[Russian Guard]

Attention CoG Forum Observers! [8|]

I have modded the following Generals into my standard (1805) campaign. If anyone is interested, let me know and I’ll post data on the other Nations. Spain is included in this thread.

There are of course many others that could reasonably be included in the game; these are my choices. Note that for Spain I did not include General De La Cuesta, even though he did play a prominent role in the Peninsular War. Why? Because it is impossible to give a Commander negative values. He was, by all accounts, simply terrible (One might make the same claim regarding Constantine; but while he was militarily incompetent his personal bravery and initiative were never challenged. Lastly he commanded the Russian Guard at Austerlitz, and was a Grand Duke, near to the Throne of Russia).

Note that I tend to play the standard 1805 campaign, and I set the VC to “highest glory” which means I play a full 10 years. Thus, Generals that do not arrive until say, 1809, are still very useful. In a few cases (as did CoG themselves – see: Blucher)) I opted to “promote” a General a bit before his actual historical promotion. I make my case in the rationale section for each.

Also that the ability values stated are not as seen in the game, but rather as seen in the commander file (commndr.txt).

Each General includes a brief biography (culled from several sources) and rationale for inclusion.

I have added:

Spain
Francisco Javier Castaños (Castanos)
Pedro Caro y Sureda, 3rd marqués de La Romana (La Romana)
José Pascual de Zayas y Chacón (Zayas)
Joaquín Blake y Joyes (Blake)

Russia
Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich (Constantine)
Count Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich (Miloradovich)
Dmitry Sergeevich Dokhturov (Dohkturov)
Alexander Ivanovich Osterman-Tolstoy (Tolstoy)

Austria
Johann Baron von Hiller (Hiller)

Sweden
General Count Carl Johan Adlercreutz (Adlercreutz)

It is my opinion that England, France, Prussia and Turkey are adequately represented and no Commanders were added to these Nations

edit: Added Dohkturov - with all respect to the CoG team, gave him slightly better skills than as depicted in the 1815 scenario, and he was a Corps level Commander beginning 1810

[Russian Guard]

Francisco Javier Castaños (Castanos)

Biographical Info
Most players of Napoleonic games (certainly of Empires in Arms) are aware of General Castanos. His most famous action was the victory over the French under Dupont, whom he defeated at Bailen in 1808; after this he served under Wellington in several engagements, and was commander of the Spanish army, ready, if required, to invade France in 1815.

Rationale
CoG made the decision to include him only in the 1815 scenario. It may or may not be historically accurate to limit him thus, but research suggests that there is sufficient ambiguity on this point to include him. Besides, there is considerable “fudging” when it comes to the presence of other Nation’s Commanders and rank in 1805 (for example, Prussia’s Blucher or Russia’s Barclay de Tolly).

I used CoG’s values for Castanos as found in the 1815 scenario:

Available turn: 0
Init Modifier: 20
Rank: 2 Star
Tactics: 4
Morale Bonus: 1.2
Cav: nil
Spec. Tactics: nil

[Russian Guard]

Pedro Caro y Sureda, 3rd marqués de La Romana (La Romana)

Biography
In 1793, La Romana entered the army as a cavalry colonel and fought against France in the War of the First Coalition. He was made Captain-General of Catalonia in 1802 and Chief of the Engineering Corps in 1805.

After spending some time in 1807 and 1808 performing garrison duties with a Spanish expeditionary Division in Hamburg and later Denmark under Marshal Bernadotte, La Romana returned to Spain with the outbreak of the Peninsular War.

Upon arrival in Spain, and using the small forces available to him, La Romana conducted successful small scale attacks against the French in 1809. Following the French defeat at Puente San Payo on June 6, Marshal Soult abandoned his attempts to reestablish French rule in Galicia. When Soult moved against the British on the Portuguese frontier, La Romana drove the French from Asturias.

La Romana was appointed to the Central Junta on August 29 and served until 1810. He then returned to military operations under Wellington but died on January 23, 1811.

Rationale
A well-known Spanish General, respected by Wellington, who claimed that losing La Romana was “the greatest which the cause could sustain.” He died in 1811 but so what; Kutusov died in 1813.

Available turn: 38 (November 1808)
Init Modifier: 0
Rank: 2 Star
Tactics: 3
Morale Bonus: 0.5
Cav: nil
Spec. Tactics: nil

edit: La Romana Tactics was supposed to be 3, morale bonus 0.5 not 0.8 - changes made

[Russian Guard]

Joaquín Blake y Joyes (Blake)

Biography
Blake saw action as a lieutenant of the grenadiers in the American Revolutionary War, taking part in the siege of Gibraltar and the 1783 re-conquest of Minorca.

At the start of the Peninsular War in 1808, Blake held the rank of Lieutenant General. He was appointed head of the Army of Galicia (a paper force of 43,000 holding the Spanish left wing along the Cantabrian mountains) during the French invasions and fought fairly well against the French despite being heavily out-numbered.

A string of defeats followed, culminating in the destruction of his Army of Galicia at the battle of Espinosa in November 1808. Blake resigned his command.

Rejuvenated in 1811, Blake fought the French at Battle of Albuera alongside William Beresford's Anglo–Portuguese army. The Spaniards successfully held the allied flank against the strongest French infantry attack of the war, earning him a promotion to Captain General. In reality, it was largely the personal initiative of José de Zayas that defeated the French assault and saved the allied army.

Blake was then transferred to eastern Spain to combat Marshal Suchet's advance on Valencia. After more defeats, Blake ended up trapped in the city with his army of 16,000, surrendering on January 8, 1812.

Rationale:
Regarded as an unlucky General, he was nonetheless personally brave and considered organizationally sound, and saw much action.

Available turn: 28 (January 1808)
Init Modifier: 0
Rank: 3 Star
Tactics: 2
Morale Bonus: 0.4
Cav: nil
Spec. Tactics: nil

[Russian Guard]

José Pascual de Zayas y Chacón (Zayas)

Biography
Zayas was a Spanish divisional commander of skill and daring in the Peninsular War. He is renowned for his initiative at the Battle of Albuera, where Zayas’ troops successfully repelled Marshal Soult’s powerful stroke against the Spanish left. This resistance decided the battle in favor of the allies.

Upon promotion to Division Commander on April 8th 1809, Zayas went on to numerous other engagements, most (but not all) of them successfully executed, although he spent a considerable amount of time retreating due to the incompetence of his superiors.

Rationale
Zayas is a seemingly little-known Spanish military figure that had quite a distinguished career. He was instrumental in advising the otherwise incompetent General De La Cuesta how to extricate himself from bad positions, and served well under most major Spanish military Commanders (Castanos, Blake, De La Cuesta). He doubtless would have been promoted higher in rank had it not been for the political rivalries of the time.

Available turn: 42 (March 1809)
Init Modifier: 30
Rank: 1 Star
Tactics: 6
Morale Bonus: 1.4
Cav: nil
Spec. Tactics: Great Devotion

[ericbabe]

Wow, nice looking mod.  I remember that we had a lot of debate over when to include Castaños.

[Russian Guard]

Thanks. In researching (and playtesting) this I gained a new respect for the work your team did in deciding which, or more importantly, how many, Commanders to include.

In early testing I included a boat-load of Commanders and, since most Armies don't reach the size and scope of France's Grand Armee (at least the way I play), you end up with generals for everything from Militia units to Supply Caissons.

I do think a few additions would be nice for CoG II. And here's my vote to give Castanos a free pass for 1805 [8D]