How exactly does this game work?

[sapper_astro]

I have played Crown of glory to death.

Its a decent game once i got the hang of it, but i am always on the lookout for a decent napoleonic wargame that covers more than just the battles.

Back when i played tabletop games, they were always WW1-WW2 games, so never got around to any other time periods (except SS America[:D]).

If anyone can explain the way this game works, battles, strategy, diplomacy, and how it will be in this computerised version, it will make things easier to know whether to keep an eye on it.

[malcolm_mccallum]

The core feature of EiA as a Napoleonic wargame is that it isn't a wargame. You don't win by conquering Europe and generally at the end of the game the map will look alot like it did at the start.

Over the course of 120 turns, each of the players is struggling to gain Victory Points. These can be gained through alliances, gaining or supporting provinces, economic manipulation, and certainly battle. War can bring a great influx of VPs but it can do the same for your opponents. The more powerful nations generally have more VPs to aim for so while Spain and Turkey can't crush France or Britain, they can still win with quiet, consistent gains.

Another major facet of the game is the conditional and unconditional surrenders. A nation can offer to surrender at anytime and this can really mess with an aggressor's plans. This is especially true when allies can be offered seperate peaces. Do you, as the aggressor, take the first victory you can get and accept a conditional surrender and get some small gains or do you seek only an unconditional surrender? If the latter, you may never win enough that you can force an unconditional and the longer a war drags on, the less value it is for VPs. Meanwhile you come across as an Ogre for demanding unconditional surrenders and the map begins to turn against you.