AAReport: Prussia

Crown of Glory: Europe in the Age of Napoleon, the player controls one of the crowned potentates of Europe in the Napoleonic Era, wielding authority over his nation's military strategy, economic development, diplomatic relations, and social organization. It is a very thorough simulation of the entire Napoleonic Era - spanning from 1799 to 1820, from the dockyards in Lisbon to the frozen wastes of Holy Mother Russia.

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JosephL
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AAReport: Prussia

Post by JosephL »

Ok so anyone who's been following my threads I have now undertaken Prussia as my next nation to come in second as... and I am doing a great job! Currently in second! The game isn't near over yet, but I will try to update this when anything of note happens.

Background:

Prussia is tricky. You start with 1 army and a bunch of scattered troops. Your troops are well trained but it takes a few turns to get them organized. You are also in a horrible position, stuck between France and Russia. Either of these opponents could crush you in the start of the game, so it is important not to get on the bad side of either. The one benefit you do have is you start the game at war with NOBODY.

The game up till now:

I went bank-crazy this game. Paranoid that I would have cash troubles I made sure early that my banks were going to keep the money flowing. My first idea and a successful one was piggy-back on France's assault on Austria. I declare war early and take home two provinces worth 1 glory each. Or that was the plan at least. Spain took one of the two, so I only got a 1 glory province and the bonus for winning the 1 month war vs. Austria. Strangely enough the allies didn't seem to care and I am now 100% neutral again.

I use this time to ensure my protection by forming an alliance with Russia. I have no intention of declaring war on France so I form a free passage treaty and let Russia and France duke it out on my soil. Blood makes the grass grow, so why not?

Prussia has a number of "Neutral" objectives. I secure an alliance with Britain, which is the country they favor (mostly). I begin systematically capturing neutral territories worth Glory. My armies are growing by leaps and bounds. I now have 4 mobile armies (no corps yet, nor guards).

Spain decides to intervene on the behalf of some backwater country and declares war on me. This is good. They took Bohemia from Austria and that should have been mine. It's payback time. Spain's army is months away and is probably much weaker than mine. I use this time to capture the two spanish controlled provinces before their army arrives.

When it finally does I decimate it, but not before it retreats into a small british province and captures it. As soon as it does I march on what is left of their army then demand their surrender. They comply. I let them smack britain because of what was going on in the rest of the world during this time.

While I was wandering around the neutral territories France was defeated by Britain but DEFEATED russia! This puts everyone on pretty even ground betwee 200 and 300 glory. Britain takes the lead with France's surrender. I end up right behind them and will waver in and out of first place based on how wars are going. Spain's surrender was also to britain and russia, so it didn't gain me any ground other than the perminent capture of 1 glory/turn.

For the briefest moment I thought I was done with wars and could now focus on delivering a KO punch to Sweden (not only does their control of denmark cost me 1 glory per turn but also I know their major objectives are all Prussian, so I figured I would hit them before they hit me). Well, turns out Turkey wants to save Mecklemburg and declares war on me... Guess Sweden will have to wait.

And now I stand at the bring of war with the Turkish Empire. I myself have now reached Empire status but I am unsure of the size of Turkey's army, I don't want to risk LOSING empire status so I decline becoming an empire.

The Turko-Prussian War has begun... and that is where we stand. Strangely, I marched south through west Austria and they marched north through EAST austria. I left half my army behind to defend my home, the armies marching on the attack never saw eachother... kinda funny :)

I'll toss up a screenshot of the map as it stands in the current month, May 1808

-Joe
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by JosephL »

Behold the Mighty Prussian (soon to be) Empire! This is after the war against Turkey. Their attacking forces shattered on my fort walls, but not without doing some damage to my capital and Krakow.

Glory Score:
Prussia: 735
Britain: 705
Sweden: 507 (how the heck did they get in third place?)
France: 459
Turkey: 219
Russia: 199
Spain: 129
Austria: -10 (Austria having successfully lost 5 wars, including two losses to france and they are next on my list, which will probably end the game... they still control 1 province worth something to me. I guess the good news is they are on a comeback, earlier they were down to -200 glory before decimating a bunch of Turks... they lost that war too, despite winning nearly every battle)



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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by Ralegh »

You went bank crazy, and now you are broke. Big spender!
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by JosephL »

Hey it is expensive to fund troops ALL THE WAY to constantinople (cost me about 900 gold but boy were THEY surprised to see me).

This game ended a lot faster than I thought. As soon as Turkey fell my score shot up to 800. France and Sweden declared war and tried to take me out, resulting in the largest battle I have seen so far:

Battle occured in Westphalia and consisted of 200,000 French against 150,000 Prussians (with 60,000 coming in reinforcments). I know I have seen bigger battles than this, but an important difference was that this battle was entirely comprised of high morale crack soldiers. It looked like the avg morale was about a 6.5 which means...

Basically we lined up and shot eachother to death. Final body count:

France: 27,000 Dead
Prussia: 18,000 Dead.

The resulting glory from this battle and from becoming an empire pushed me over the 1,000 glory mark. I have officially won my first game on Normal mode :)

Banner day! Erik will now give away free beer to celebrate.

What a waste of my sunday.... that's what my wife said at least when I tried to explain to her the delicate position of Prussia, eternally overshadowed by Russia.

Also for the record I tried this twice today. The first time I made the mistake of NOT securing a treaty with Russia... Here is my description of Russia.

Sure, they send small armies of 50,000 soldiers against you. The Russians are untrained and they break in about 10 shots, leaving about 10-20,000 dead russians every time. You'd think after losing over 100,000 people Russia would give up... but they keep coming.. and coming.... and eventually there are 5 Russian armies marching around my land. I can't fight all of them with my 2 armies. Cities are burning. We are forced to eat the thousands of dead russians laying on the countryside... they keep coming... more and more... 6 armies.... and Berlin falls as my national morale drops like a rock.

EH..... From the invulnerable standpoint Russia is a sure way on how to beat down anyone. Gaining Glory as russia is damn hard though.... you can only conquer Prussia so many times.

-Joe, Prussian Lapdog, Lieberman
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by Naomi »

Losing a battle costs glory pts, right? That leads me to wonder why Russia kept lavishing their men onto Prussian land. Did Russia w/ an AI mind not care about her glory standing? Besides, organising corps and supplying them (especially while abroad) are costly. How did Russia keep bankrolling such military demands? Was she also broke after the ten shots she gave to Prussia? What prompted Russia to make her mind up to invade Prussia while targeting Sweden and other Scandinavian countries she might taste comparable glory at less expense?

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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by sol_invictus »

I had a feeling that Russia would be a real pain for its neigbors. I mean what is Sweden, Prussia, Austria, or Turkey going to do to threten Russia if they don't play nice, invade. I don't think so. Seems like Russia has an almost invulnerable strategic position, huge armies, and the intiative to strike when and where she wants. Seems like France would do well to try to form an anti-Russia/British alliance. France, Spain, and one of the German powers should make a worthy block against the Queen of the Seas and the King of the Steppes. That will be my policy when I play France. When I play Austria and Prussia, I will strive to play nice with France and Russia at all costs initially. Like in the AAR, let France and Russia fight it out.
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JosephL
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by JosephL »

Losing Battles costs glory based on casualties and what units go down. I wasn't playing russia so I have no clue what long term effect it had on their economy, but Russia's free cossacks every year really keeps their costs down. The amount you pay is based on how far you are from home, Russia wasn't far at all (and I Dont think they were using supplies, they were foraging). Im sure Russia's economy didn't suffer.

Anyway, the cumulative glory loss Russia endured to topple Prussia in my first attempt was nothing compared to the glory they got for A) Capturing my capital city. B) Causing my surrender. Plus whatever gains I made was lost when I surrendered as well.

Russia has an invulnerable position, a strong economy (even if it is poorly developed), and an endless supply of troops.... just about.

They are not invincible though, gaining glory with them is hard because winning battles is very difficult. This means you have to use either hit and away tactics and suffer glory loss till you wear them down or use swarms of armies to bring down cities, since most of your enemies won't have enough units to kick you off their land. A good russian tactic I saw them use on me was they would keep an army or two on outlying provinces, seiging. As soon as I would move my army to stop them they would march on my capital. Having enemy units in your capital causes significant national morale loss. As national morale eventually bottoms out insurrections occur, your troops morale drops, your glory drops, and generally speaking things start to get ugly. Eventually revolutionaries will FORCE you to surrender.

Anyway, they aren't invincible, they have a huge flaw: The russian front is MASSIVE. Russia borders Sweden, Prussia, Austria, and Turkey. If any 3 of these nations took on Russia at the same time Russia would be hopelessly outgunned. Russia has numbers, but the piddly 50,000 Swedes could probably take out 150,000 russians without batting an eye. Prussia is well trained and in prime position to snag some russian front. Austria actually has a sizeable force and could easily march into russia. Turkey, by mid game, has about as many troops as Russia.

The key about Russia is they have no great way to gain glory. Sure they can capture provinces, but capturing a capital takes russia a lifetime, thousands and thousands of troops (and some glory loss to do so), ect. Plus you start out allied with the two nations who are your best targets and at war with the only nation who is strong enough to be a real threat on its own. Tactically they are in a good spot. Politically they are up a creek without a paddle. Sometimes I see Russia take on france directly and march on Paris. Other times I see them hang back and let the British do the work. Whichever path they chose they can't get out of their initial war until someone surrenders.

-Joe
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by JosephL »

Oh yeah...

And in the first game (not the one this AARP is from) Russia invaded Prussia because I had a brilliant idea of having enforced peace with Russia and a pact to declare war on enemys of france in exchange for an alliance and such. The part I missed was there was 1 month of overlap where I had a pact to declare war on enemies of France but NOT an enforced peace with Russia. During the year in which I was at peace with Russia and at war with Britain, Sweden, and Austra I was actually doing rather well. It all fell apart when Russia opened up my eastern front while I was still battling Britain and Sweden in the west.

-Joe
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by sol_invictus »

Again, this all sounds right. Russia is very safe in the fastness of the Steppe, but has some problems in projecting it's power far from home. This game really sounds like a winner. I am looking forward to playing it.
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by gordon.hazelton »

I notice you have fairly easily won/come second as both Spain & Prussia both historically waek countries

1] How historically acurate is the game

2] Is the AI particularly weak or are you are very experienced player and will us novices get get plenty of good gameplay from the AI
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by ioticus »

ORIGINAL: gordon.hazelton

I notice you have fairly easily won/come second as both Spain & Prussia both historically waek countries

1] How historically acurate is the game

2] Is the AI particularly weak or are you are very experienced player and will us novices get get plenty of good gameplay from the AI

I want to know how good the AI is too because whether I buy or not depends on how good the AI is.
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Erik Rutins
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by Erik Rutins »

Joe is playing at "Normal", which is the third lowest of thirteen difficulty levels, the highest being of course "Bonaparte". While no AI can beat an experienced and practiced human opponent, the AI in Crown of Glory is not weak. Until you learn the system, learn your nation of choice and play a few games, "Normal" will probably be quite difficult for the vast majority. When you master that level, just crank it up a notch. When you can beat the game on "Bonaparte", you will have definitely gotten your money's worth and you will also be ready to kick butt on the majority of human players, I would reckon.

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- Erik
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by Erik Rutins »

ORIGINAL: gordon.hazelton
1] How historically acurate is the game

The game rules generally encourage historical play. The setups are historical and well researched. However, as with any game it is a "sandbox" and once a player or players get hold of a nation, it's difficult to guess what he or she will decide to do. I would put this game quite high in terms of overall historical accuracy, the developers really know the Napoleonic period well.

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- Erik
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by ioticus »

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Joe is playing at "Normal", which is the third lowest of thirteen difficulty levels, the highest being of course "Bonaparte". While no AI can beat an experienced and practiced human opponent, the AI in Crown of Glory is not weak. Until you learn the system, learn your nation of choice and play a few games, "Normal" will probably be quite difficult for the vast majority. When you master that level, just crank it up a notch. When you can beat the game on "Bonaparte", you will have definitely gotten your money's worth and you will also be ready to kick butt on the majority of human players, I would reckon.

Regards,

- Erik

That is encouraging to hear, Erik. Out of curiosity, how do the difficulty levels differ in terms of AI? Does the AI play smarter, get resource bonuses at higher levels, or what?
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by JosephL »

I dont know the answer to how the AI changes based on difficulty, but yeah, Normal is the equivolent of "easy" :)

I would say I am well above average when compared to the normal populace and average or slightly below when compared to the average forum poster.

Also coming in second place is still losing. As spain I did nothing but ride on the shirt tails of France. It was no shock I came in second. Winning as Spain would require waiting till just the right moment to stab france in the back I think.

For my next game that I will try to play as a demo at Origins I will see about kicking the difficulty up. Wonder if I can win as Austria ;-)

Anyway, I am not a napoleonic buff so I can't comment on how precise in history it is, but from the gamer standpoint I like the fact that every nation has the potential to win while still being accurate enough that a Napoleonic Newbie like myself can't tell what is wrong :)

In the end this game may be very accurate, I don't know, but I do know I really enjoy playing it! That is what is most important to me.

-Joe
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by Erik Rutins »

Those of you who are heavy duty Napoleonic grogs, this game was developed by the same, but it can be played with or without a deep understanding of Napoleonic history. In my opinion, understanding the period helps a great deal with understanding the game and what is likely to work and what is not.

Napoleonic grogs will find the setting more intuitive and I believe realistic, but any strategy gamer can pick this up, play and have fun. Along the way, they'll probably figure out what Napoleonic wargaming is all about. [8D]

Joe's comments come from a non-grog but a very experienced gamer perspective. He's playing in the sandbox, so to speak. If the results come out pretty historical, it's probably not Joe's fault. [;)]

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- Erik
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by benpark »

Thanks for the AAR's, Joe. This looks like the type of Napoleonic game I've wanted for a long time.

Does the AI change in the tactical level games when the dificulty is raised? Is there a toggle to have a normal strat game, and harder tactical games?
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by JosephL »

I could be wrong on this but there is a difficulty gague and a power gague. I think if you set the difficulty to "normal" and the power of your enemies to +2 or +3 the AI wouldn't improve but victory in detailed combat (or in quick combat) would be quite a bit more challenging.

I'll defer this question to Erik or Eric beyond that... it may not be true... you know what they say when you assume things :)

-Joe
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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by ericbabe »

ORIGINAL: benpark

Thanks for the AAR's, Joe. This looks like the type of Napoleonic game I've wanted for a long time.

Does the AI change in the tactical level games when the dificulty is raised? Is there a toggle to have a normal strat game, and harder tactical games?

The difficulty level increases computer nation's economic bonuses and also some constants for the computer in detailed combat.

As Joe mentioned, there is also an independent power rating for each nation that modifies starting level of units and economic production.


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RE: AAReport: Prussia

Post by Hanal »

Besides the different difficulty levels, you also have a few different nations to try winning with. And though I was not a beta tester, I could imagine that a strategic plan that works playing one country, probably will not work when you change nations. So I see this as a game with a very high replay value....
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