Napoleon's Glory

[Dortmund]

Friedland, 1807. Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier.


After the French Revolution the absolutist kingdoms of Europe gather together in the first two coalitions to deal with the newly established Republic of France in what is known as the revolutionary wars. A young Napoleon arrives in France in these turbulent times and helps in the Italian campaign to defeat with his wit and courage the armies of the coalitions and to consolidate the government.


Bonaparte in Arcole’s bridge. Antoine Jean Gros.

However, with Napoleon in Egypt, the situation in France gets worse by a series of defeats to the Second Coalition, while the fame of the corsican continues to increase. Thus, the government brings him back to France to face an apparent invasion. However, despite when he returns the situation has improved militarily, France’s economy is ruined and the government is unpopular, which gives Napoleon and his followers the excuse for a coup and he places himself at the forefront of the country as Prime Consul, lifelong Consul and, eventually, Emperor.


The crowning of Napoleon. Jaques-Louis David.


A citizen of humble origins had reached the top with his courage and intelligence. In his short life he had gone from being a young revolutionary man to an absolute monarch. His contradictory figure provoked both praise and criticism, love and hate. What was obvious was his great intelligence and ego. Enthroned like a roman emperor, Napoleon made and unmade at will, was venerated by french soldiers and citizens and feared by his enemies. Those were the days of Napoleon’s glory.


Napoleon in his imperial throne. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.


Welcome to one of the three 7 player PBEM games that we have initiated in Punta de Lanza forum. The players are:

1-Maulet: Russia
2-Haplo:Patryn: Great Britain
3-Xtraviz: Prussia
4-Dortmund: France
5-Fsansir: Spain
6-Gonzalo: Austria
7-Antonyo: Turkey

Fsansir and I will narrate the campaign from the point of view of our side, the Franco-Spanish. From here we'll talk about our plans and how the campaign unfolds. We hope that you like it!

[warspite1]

Subscribed!

[warspite1]

Any news on this?

[Leibst]

Hey Dortmund, we want more![;)]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Any news on this?

warspite1

Apparently not [8|]

[Dortmund]

Sorry for the delay. It was due to a combination of work and open games, but these days I’ll write you what has happened in our particular and alternative Napoleonic world. As you’ll see in the next posts the game is growing in intensity and is getting more and more interesting after a slow start due to the bad weather and the diplomatic situation.


January 1805

The game starts with a slow, leisurely pace. As there are no major movements in January we focus on managing the resources available and we also pay attention to the diplomacy.

A pair of new events take place in early January:



-Le Franc Germinal: twice a year, in March and September, France will receive more money because of the economic reforms. This event actually reminds us about that same national modifier.

-Talleyrand: An exceptional diplomat who brings 2 bonus diplomats each quarter (of year?). The downside is that he has a bad relation with Napoleon and could be fired at any time.




The first military and political actions appear:

-Supplies to Spain. It is the delivery of 500.000 francs and 100 tons of war supplies to Spain, paying 30 points of engagement. It is a expensive measure especially in engagement points (I won 4 each turn). There are many more options like this related to other countries, but are blocked until that countries are at war with Britain.
-Platoon Fire (50 EPs). If I pay the cost, I’ll have access to that national modifier, which will add 10% to the rate of fire of the regular and elite infantry.
-Harassment Tactics (50 EPs). Another national modifier that makes light cavalry increase by 25% the chances of inflicting damage when pursuing.
-Incendiary Shells (50 EPs). It allows the use of that regional decision (unknown to me).


The political options are almost all related to the annexation of territories where the requested conditions are archieved. They are therefore useless now. However there are other interesting options as "improve the state administration" (winning 10 EPs per 1,000 thousand pounds), "raise new taxes" (winning 750,000 pounds in exchange for 10 EPs) and "ciphers and codes" (it gives that modifier national enabling the widespread use of this regional decision).

For now I just choose "new taxes" because I run out of money.




As for the creation of new units and replacements, several units receive new replacements. During the first two turns I observe that the naval units who have some missing elements do not receive them. Then I put them in a passive posture to prioritize them and they finally receive their first replacements. But it is not as easy as in previous ones and the unit will stay a long time blocked in port, reforming.
When I have enough resources I create new infantry divisions with which to reinforce the army of Massena (one light infantry division and one regular infantry division), and also a new artillery battery in Paris to please Napoleon.



Diplomacy:
The good news in the diplomatic field are that the closest nations to France (Netherlands, Berg, Switzerland, Bavaria and Italy declare) declare war on GB and Hanover, and Spain and France get their positions closer. At the meeting with Godoy we talk that France will support Spain and we trace the maritime strategy, wich Fsansir has written about.

Conversely, of course, Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria also approach their positions. Russia and Austria even ally themselves. A powerful new coalition is foreseen...

[Dortmund]

February 1805

The weather is horrible all the entire month long and the troops remain in their winter quarters. Move them is needlessly losing force through attrition. The last week of the month I begin to move the body of Soult * inward despite the rain and I check firsthand what I’ve commented. You should perceive the great amount of wear that forces suffer when moving compared to other AGEOD games, even when moving in good weather. The landing in England is a chimera without controlling the seas, but Napoleon’s army spends the winter in their place for not paying the high cost of moving with these climate conditions.

* Now that I think about it, I’ve not shown you the armies in detail. Before starting the hostilities I will make a diagram of the Napoleonic army to give you an idea at the right time.

In early February, after checking that the fleets do not receive replacements, I put them in passive posture to prioritize them in order to receive that replacements. That works and the units begin to receive ships. However recieve naval replacements in WON it’s not as easy as in other games, but more realistic, and the boats are built over time. The trouble is that the affected units will have to spend several months in port, but well… I was not going to sail them away with the powerful Royal Navy hovering nearby.


In the list of production units you can see the naval units receiving replacements and what it will take to finish their building. I have highlighted the Majesteux flagship unit.


Diplomacy
We highlight a diplomatic approchement between France, Spain and the Ottoman Sultan Selim III (antonyo). The talks have been good. We both have common enemies and we can benefit from an agreement, but so far remains distant because relations between the two countries are very low (-9).



However, the small German states on the Rhine, despite maintaining cordial relations with France, are unwilling to improve relations despite a couple of diplomats sent to each country.

Another important and worrying but predictable news is the signed alliance between Russia and Austria. Maybe that covenant is the reason that, despite the tensions, state visits take place between France and Austria. The Prussians also sent emissaries to France.

Spain and France sign a trade agreement that improve our relationships.

Anecdotally, a brief diplomatic incident bursts between Persia, Armenia and Russia in the form of war, but is soon resolved and peace is signed.

As for options a new option appears: recruitment abroad, which enables that national modifier to France. But because of the wide range of options between which I can choose, I will continue the policy of saving engagement points that I’m following in order to have more than enough points to spare. That way I can use them when it’s really worthy.

[warspite1]

I will make a diagram of the Napoleonic army to give you an idea at the right time.

Can you show more on the navies too please?

[Crimguy]

I'm in. I'm not buying until I get a new computer so this is as good as it gets for me.

Love to hear your thoughts on gameplay mechanics as you go.

[Dortmund]

I'm in. I'm not buying until I get a new computer so this is as good as it gets for me.

Love to hear your thoughts on gameplay mechanics as you go.

This game doesn't require a great computer to be played. Mine has 7 years and the turn goes a little slow, but no problem.

Can you show more on the navies too please?

Oh, man, I forgot to put here that important part. Sorry, I have to translate the AAR and I just forgot that part, that should be placed after the first post. Please pardon any mistakes in the text as english is not our native language. Here it is:

Initial situation. January 1, 1805.

At the start of the campaign Napoleon is located in Boulogne-sur-mer (Calais area) with a large army (which will be the Grande Armée) with the intention of invading England. But he needs a powerful fleet wich he lacks. With this purpose in December 1804 he pressured Spain to declare war on England and thus combine both fleets in order to try to defeat the English fleet. However, even combining both fleets he would’nt have enough power to defeat the much larger Royal Navy. But Napoleon was bold and thought he could archieve in the sea what he did into the battlefield, where he succeeded confronting very superior forces...


Objectives panel.



In this window we can see important information as the scoring, the objectives, the comparison of land / sea power and the national morale.
France is first at VPs value with an avantage of 1,250 points over Britain, the second nation in this list. If we reach 9,375 VPs we’ll win the game, so we have a 53% progression to victory.

In national morale we have 110 points, with a slight lead of 5 points over our archrival Britain. The other countries have a moral of 100.
The comparison of land / sea power figures quickly show us which army and fleet is more powerful now. Again we go ahead in terms of army (the stronger of all nations) but the English army is much more powerful: 4.32 times more than the French one. Here we can see that even adding the Spanish naval power to the French one, we would not reach even half the British power.

The big square shows us the objective cities of the nation and the value of his capture cities. Specially remarkable is the high value of London (150), whose capture would virtually end the war. Also noteworthy are Vienna (20) and Warsaw (15). The other cities have a value between 5 and 2 points.


Diplomacy

Let’s take a look at the allies and enemies of France. At the same time I will send the first diplomatic offers.

Friendly nations:
The friendliest countries are those part of the French Alliance: Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and Berg.

France has alliance treaties with Bavaria and Fsansir’s Spain. The relations with Spain are 60, cordial. The relations are better with Bavaria, a nation that has a small but pretty decent army. The bad thing is that it is controlled by the AI, so I offer the Bavarians the possibility of entering the French Alliance, to see if I can manage to control this army someway.

Another friendly country is Nassau, which gives me military access and supplies. The relations are excellent (95), so I also offer them to join the French Alliance.

Enemies:
Britain and Hanover are now both members of the anti-French coalition and are at war with us. As Britain is protected by a large river called ocean we must pay attention to Hanover. Oldenburg and Hesse are the countries through which I must pass to get to Hanover, so I send diplomats to improve our relations.

Egypt is another country with bad relations with France -95, the result no doubt of Napoleon's expedition.
The kingdom of Piedmont (which only rules now Sardinia), with -50 also has bad relations. Russia and Austria also have the same number.

The kingdom of Sicily -25 relationships is also a possible target for the army of Massena, if allowed by the Austrians.

Neutral:
Baden, Wurtemberg and the Holy Roman Empire are other important countries to get along with so we can cross our troops thorugh its territory to reach Bavaria and Austria, so I propose state visits to the three states. Furthermore, I offer Baden and Wurtemberg local support, which means that in case of attack France will support them.

I see important too to get along with the papacy to reach the Kingdom of Sicily. State visit.

After all this diplomatic affairs, I have left 42 diplomats.

Strategic map. Status of fleets and armies.
In the strategic map we can see the position of the various forces involved, both our own and the enemy forces detected. We begin by fleets.

Fleets:



As you can see, the English fleets block some of the most important ports on the Atlantic coast. As you will see, the French naval leaders are very poor. I remember that this is for historical reasons related to the French Revolution.
-In Brest is located my strongest squad, which can be more powerful because now suffers a command point penalty. I will send more admirals there if I can. A more powerful enemy fleet blocks the port.
-In Rochefort I have a small squad of different units.
-In Boulogne is a landing flotilla that is capable of carrying a large number of troops to England. However the escort vessels consist only of a few frigates and the transport ships have a ridiculous evasion capability.
-In Toulon is docked my second most powerful fleet. His admiral is Villeneuve... an incompetent commander with a strategic value of only 1 point, which means that if he tries to evade combat he’ll be caught almost always. Besides its low morale infects the fleet. I get rid of him leaving him on land immediately to try to avoid a Trafalgar battle. The commander who replaces him is not great but at least there is no command point penalty.
-In the Indic ocean there is a small but interesting flotilla, led by my best naval leader.
-In Saint Malo is a unit of corsairs. In the Civil War 2 fast ships play a good role for trade. In this game I do not know his role yet, but I think it's not the same because they have a low level of supplies.

Moreover, as already mentioned Fsansir, the English also strangle the Spanish Atlantic ports. Nelson is in Cadiz plugging the exit of the Cadiz spanish fleet. The same applies to La Coruna. The only unblocked Spanish fleet in the Iberian Peninsula is located in Cartagena.


Armies:




France has two armies and can form a third one. A popup window warns us that we can have a maximum of 24 corps. Both armies as the bodies will increase as time goes on and the conflict intensifies.

Napoleon's army is located mostly around Boulogne, although other corps are located along the northern coast of France. In total it consists of 9 corps plus Napoleon’s one. The condition of these cops is excellent, for almost all contain units of all kinds, including support units as Headquarters (services that include doctors, engineers, signals, and instructors) and pontoons. Besides the units included in each body are balanced (infantry, cavalry, artillery ...), so I see no need to make any changes at all.

The second army is the Armée d'Italie commanded by Massena, a general who has very good characteristics of attack and defense but a mediocre strategic value. It is also a corrupt looter and (as Admiral Villeneuve) is a discouraged leader that lowers the morale of his troops. It has 4 bodies rather weak compared to Napoleon ones because this army has containment purpose.

We'll talk later in detail about the armies and their leaders.


Plans.
It seems rather soon to decide what to do. It’s winter, we have with Napoleon's army in the north and blocked fleets. For now I’ll just reinforce and I’ll keep playing diplomacy so the german states of the Rhine get closer to France’s interests.

Formation of new units



There’s a great variety of new units to choose from. After thinking carefully I decide to build a couple of pontoon units and a corps HQ. I’ll put them in those coprs of Napoleon's army that lack them. This will improve the speed, fatigue recovery, artillery, experience gain, and so on of all units of the corps. The benefits are worth it. I also start the formation of a new infantry division in Torino to reinforce the army of Italy.


Regional decisions
Another great assortment of options to choose from. I’ve decided to play the following:
-Habeas Corpus, develop territory and requisition horses, all in Torino and Genoa. As you can see the Italians are going to bear the worse part of the French regional decisions... If I have luck, I'll put in jail the Piedmontese dissidents thereby winning 25% loyalty in these areas. I choose the decision "develop territory" just in case the "habeas corpus" fails, in order to win the loyalty lose by requisition horses. Horses are the scarcest resource in France.
-“Export Goods” in the Aegean sea to earn 200 pounds. Well away if the english player wants to avoid having to send ships to the other side of the Mediterranean.
-Runner In Boulogne. If we are lucky it will provide 300 pounds and 15 war supplies.
-Defensive works in Brest. It will improve the entrenchment in this area passing British ships. In theory, if the entrenchment is 5 or more, the batteries can shoot fleets, although it is uncertain as they are blocked.
-Draft In Nice, Toulon, Antwerp and Bruges. To get new recruits I lose 20% of loyalty and 3% of development in the selected areas. To compensate this I’ve decided to play in Antwerp and Bruges the two "develop territory" decisions left.

[Dortmund]

March 1805

Bad weather continues to be the keynote this month. However when the weather clears out Napoleon's army slowly moves away from the coast inland so Haplo’s fleet (the english player) can’t have it located. At the same time this army moves towards the Rhine for an upcoming invasion of Austria or Hanover. Finally the only corps left in Boulogne is the Davout one, the most powerful, in order to protect the fleet that is building new ships and have a defensive force if there’s an English landing on the coast.

I move the army corps separately, without crowding. We're playing with half traffic penalty rule, which means that if many units cross the same territory at the same time, they suffer a cohesion drop and a movement delay.




Davout's corps remains on the coast. Further south you can see the Lannes and Murat corps in Paris. The rest of Napoleon's army is moving towards the highlighted areas.

At the beginning of the month two pontoon units are finished in Paris and they move to the corps that lacked them: the cavalry reserve of Murat and the Imperial Guard of Bessières. The army of Italy, gathered in Turin, is also enhanced by two new infantry divisions (a regular and a light division) and an artillery battery.

Napoleon receives disturbing news the third week of March: Britain and Russia are allied, and Austria also signes a defense treaty with Britain. A new coalition is being forged.

[warspite1]

Dortmund thanks for doing this, this makes great reading [&o]. I am looking forward to more.

[Dortmund]

Thanks for the feedback!


April 1805
April comes with a new option of raising new taxes in order to earn some money if you spend 10 engagement points. I select it without hesitation. There’s few money having to use it in new replacements that fill the attrition losses.

As for diplomacy there are important news. Earlier this month we learn that Austria and Britain sign an alliance with Prussia. But these are not the only treaties: the Kingdom of Sicily offers a defensive treaty to Britain, which accepts. Austria, Hannover, Georgia and Russia fall into the alliance too. The thing starts to get interesting, as you can see.

In the second week, we heard that Britain has created the Third Coalition with Russia and the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. Therefore these two countries automatically declare war on France. In addition, the Kingdom of Sicily also declares war to France emboldened after signing an alliance with Britain.



Therefore I see the need to move to Austria and start pulling the strings to declare war before this country enters the coalition. So I forge a casus belli in order to declare war on Austria as soon as Napoleon's and Massena’s armies are ready. The Grande Armee of Napoleon heads for Austria leaving behind only the Davout, Murat and Augereau corps to protect France.

Curiously, during the second and third week the British land sailors in Ceuta and Galicia. These are small units that the British can create in coastal regions close to their fleets through regional decisions, and Haplo use them to test the defenses and disturb a little. So he can gather information about the Spanish forces in the north of the Iberian peninsula.


The british disembark sailors in Ceuta and Galicia. You can see too that my ally Fsansir is gathering a powerful force in Sevilla. He plans to invade Gibraltar.

[warspite1]

So is there any reason you cannot put a corps or two into Spain (of the three you have left in France) to help kick the British out?

What are the three French corps actually guarding against - are the British strong enough to invade France??

[Dortmund]

Yes, you can send a expeditionary force to help one of your allies, but with an upcoming conflict with Austria and the possibility of an English landing in France I'm not going to help Fsansir in his invasion. However he has requested me some engineers that help to break the fortifications.

I don't really know if the british can land a powerful force in France, but the land force comparison tells me that his army is the 70% more or less than mine.

[Dortmund]

May 1805


This month there is little new. I press on to Bavaria with some delays due to bad weather. I will remain with Napoleon's army in this allied state until the outbreak of the war with Austria, wich will probably happen in June. I'll tell you in detail the situation when the war starts.

Now finally, after many months of serenity the war is about to start, so it’s a good time to review the troops.



Napoleon's army is almost as started the game, but a couple of new pontoon units have joined the corps that lacked them. These units allow a much faster river crossing and as well include engineers, increasing the ability to attack or defend fortresses and the speed of entrenchment. All corps also have a headquarters containing Medical Services, instructors and signal units, allowing greater recovery of cohesion, an improvement of the unit’s experience, and more command points. Other units present in all corps are the supply wagons, enhancing firepower and helping to maintain your forces well fed when they are away from your cities.

The Grande Armee is the corps that directs Napoleon personally, aided as always by Marshal Berthier. In addition to units already described, it includes a reserve artillery directed by Caffarelli.

The Imperial Guard is forming a separate body but I’ll usually keep it next to or adjacent to the body of Napoleon. Its commander, Bessières, is excellent. The body consists of an infantry division, an artillery brigade, a brigade of light cavalry and a brigade of heavy cavalry. All units are, of course, elite.

The first corps is that of Bernadotte, a great but unmotivated general. It has two divisions of infantry and light cavalry.

The second corps is directed by Auguste de Marmont, a good administrator and gunner, containing two divisions of infantry and cavalry. Many of the soldiers are dutch, but there is no penalty thanks to General Grouchy, who heads one of the infantry divisions.

The third corps is led by Davout, one of the best French generals. The three infantry divisions are among the best in the French army. A division of light cavalry completes the corps.

Jean Soult leads the fourth corps. He’s one of the best French generals, not only for its excellent qualities, but also because he reduces by 25% the supply consumption. Soult has 4 infantry divisions, one light cavalry division and a brigade of corsican sharpshooters.

The fifth corps is under the command of Lannes, a charismatic and able leader who improves the cohesion of his troops. The body consists of three infantry divisions and light cavalry division.

The sixth corps is under the tutelage of Ney, a competent and charismatic general, as well as stubborn. Ney, understands perfectly the the light cavalry ability to hide movements and evade the enemy. Ney has three infantry divisions and one light cavalry division.

The seventh corps is led by Augereau, a charismatic general who manages to increase the cohesion of its troops... but little fitted to command. It has two infantry divisions (very good ones), and a cavalry and artillery brigade.

The last corps is that of Murat's cavalry reserve. Murat is an average commander, but has useful skills as charismatic and very fast rider. On the contrary he seems to delay too much the retreat from a battle. The corps contains medium and heavy cavalry divisions, but it also has a unit of dragoons on foot.



The army of Italy, of course, is much smaller than that of Napoleon. Massena has a total of five corps. The army of Italy corps are not as prepared as the Grande Armee ones, and some corps lack pontoon units, which would help in northern Italy, full of rivers. Yet they are being constructed. But all corps have headquarters and supply units.

Massena’s corps, the armée d'Italie, is composed of a pair of cavalry divisions (medium and heavy), a light cavalry division, a horse artillery division and an artillery brigade. Massena is an excellent general in attack and defense, but his strategy value is medium. He is a hopeless looter, so people will see him as a tyrant and the loyalty to France is further reduced where he passes. He’s not too motivated, which reduces his units cohesion.

The "center", the most powerful corps, is run by Partouneaux, an insurgents persecutor. It has 5 infantry divisions.

The "left flank" is under the command of Duhesme, a hated occupier yet admired by his troops. He has 4 divisions in charge.

The "right wing", also with 4 divisions, is directed by Molitor, who seems to be the best overall Italy commander in numbers. Furthermore, to compensate the harsh Duhesme and Massena, he is a good civil administrator, increasing the loyalty of the people, and an officer training, which improves two conscript units to regular units per turn if he does not move.

The last corps is Gouvion’s one, a good defensive commander. Gouvion has only one Italian infantry division, a pair of light cavalry brigades, an artillery brigade and a horse artillery brigade. His mission now is to protect Genoa.

[warspite1]

Dortmund a few questions:

- You mention the divisional qualities in some of the corps. Can you transfer divisions and units freely between corps?

- Why are some pictures (of divisional commanders?) the same?

- Are the leader qualities set in stone (every game the same) or is there a random element to them? e.g. could Marmont start one game with a certain set of characteristics and another game with a different set?

- Finally, why are you declaring war on Austria first? Is this forced upon you or are you free to choose whatever strategy you want?

Many thanks

[Orm]

Thank you for this nice report. [:)] [&o]

[freeboy]

this will be interesting and thanks

[Aurelian]

Much better than mine