Soon the Sun of Austerlitz will shine

[Adraeth]

Despite discussions on previous delay, despite our (the grognards players [really grunting ehh?]), despite our cannibalism on the beautiful AAR made by Ralegh (excellent idea the video)..... Finally we are at the countdown...

so thank you developers and testers who believed in EiANW project.

Just 3 days and i will forge the destiniy of Europe with a Mighty Power (i do not know which one i will pick first [:D])

[jamo262]

Now is the waterloo of our discontent made glorious summer!

By this the son of Austerlitz!

[cdbeck]

I'll be France, come back with a vengeance!

To quote Alan Moore in Swamp Thing,
"[size="-1"]I'll shed no tears for those who die unshriven, For they are men, just men. And what are men but Chariots of Wrath, by demons driven?"

There will be blood to pay! Vive la Revolution! Vive l'empereur!

SoM
[/size]

[sol_invictus]

I have not played the boardgame, so maybe I'm completely off the mark here, but I think playing Spain and Turkey will be quite fun. I certainly will not try to tackle France of Britain for my maiden voyage since I don't want to foul up everyone's game and humiliate myself.[X(] The only country I absolutely would not want to play is Austria, since it seems that they will be repeatedly thrashed by the French. Prussia might be a bit safer. I guess Russia would be a relatively safe bet for a first game. Oh the choices.

[jamo262]

ORIGINAL: Arinvald

I have not played the boardgame, so maybe I'm completely off the mark here, but I think playing Spain and Turkey will be quite fun. I certainly will not try to tackle France of Britain for my maiden voyage since I don't want to foul up everyone's game and humiliate myself.[X(] The only country I absolutely would not want to play is Austria, since it seems that they will be repeatedly thrashed by the French. Prussia might be a bit safer. I guess Russia would be a relatively safe bet for a first game. Oh the choices.

Let me blather on as my sense of excitment cannot be contained!

I'm my opinion Turkey is fun.

Especially when you pick the right chit and send intruding armies scurrying back to whence they came. The feudal manpower means that- baring disaster- losses can mean nothing as they are recharged automatically each year.

Be sure to garrison Constantinople and a black sea port as a safe haven for your fleet. Sometimes calvary superiority cannot be achieved which is a pity but its always something to aim for. Especially when threatened with an amphibious assault on your capital.

Spain I'm not so sure about. Maybe a guerrilla war is fun but losing fleets is not. They are too hard to rebuild.

Austria is somewhat more resilient than Prussia. It has greater resources, mountains in which to fight and a large hinterland to stall an unconditional peace.

Prussia needs to fight in a combination alliance to survive against Russia or France. Its army is a valuable asset. It has some of the best corp in the game.

Its a great game because when it is time for diplomacy it is all diplomacy. When it is time for war it is all war. And in the end no on wants to see some one get too dominant so when things are going bad there are often allies to help out.

Russia is the second ranked land power. It lurks on the edge of the map-board. I have seen its weight move early against the Turk and Swedes, but often it will support the Prussia and Austria early in the game with its best Corps and for Prussia- a leader.

If France is toppled then all bets are off!

Who is getting to far ahead? Bring them down!

Unfortunately the concept of dominant status is missing from the game. Dominant status functioned to define a set of long term territorial goals for each country. It definitely was an asset to game play as it shaped each players strategic thinking beyond cutting down each tall poppy as it arose. I have, however, no doubt that this game will never die and that in the fullness of time it will be included.

[Naomi]

ORIGINAL: jamo262


Unfortunately the concept of dominant status is missing from the game. Dominant status functioned to define a set of long term territorial goals for each country. It definitely was an asset to game play as it shaped each players strategic thinking beyond cutting down each tall poppy as it arose. I have, however, no doubt that this game will never die and that in the fullness of time it will be included.

Didn't expect it not to be included. What else is missing too?

[jnier]

ORIGINAL: jamo262
Spain I'm not so sure about. Maybe a guerrilla war is fun but losing fleets is not. They are too hard to rebuild.

Spain is a blast! The trick is to use your fleet as lever, without actually ever committing it to battle. The threat alone, of all those Spanish ships, scares the crap out of both England and France.

[yammahoper]

Well, assuming the game plays simular to the table top version;

GB must always stay aware of where all fleets are, especially if they are in striking distance of its homeland with corps ready to go.  GB need only slip up once and Fr, Ru or Sp can land corps.  The forage values in south england and around London are very good, so even severed supply will not have much effect on an army that can land.  It is essential GB garrison all ports, even in Ireland, though it can wait until it gets its first troops to do so (though I never do).  With one corp (and the cav corp), GB can begin to gain some slow conquest of minors, protect his isle and begin to fill the corps.  The money that GB has to offer through trade and the promise of assistance against all things french are her best weapons.  Tu, Pr and Sp are POOR and the $4-9 each eco phase in trade will mean a lot to them (unless Fr is willing to give more).  GB requires solid diplomacy to bring about the defeat of Fr and have a chance to win.  GB should try to bleed the Fr every way it can, and if Fr picks Sp or Tu as an ally, making the Fr give large sums of cash to them to fend off a well funded attack by one of GB allies will serve GB and all of Fr enemies well.

Sp is easiest to play when she picks a side.  The best option to stay nuetral as long as possible is to allow yourself to be bought off, by both Fr and GB is possible by floating up a peace treaty between the two, preferable with twin alliences, thus assuring both sides it shall neither hinder or aid the other, and getting some cash if possible from both.  Just $25 from GB and $15 from Fr will go a long way to fund early conquest of minors.  Sp is always strapped for cash, so do not leave the fleets at sea durring an eco phase, because it will cost $5 per fleet in maintence rather than $1 per fleet if they are in a controlled port.  Be opportunistic.  When Au ends up in war with Tu, ally with one or the other.  Your fleets can deliver corps of your own or the other side quickly much deeper in either nations territory faster than they can march there.  I ofen pick the Au because then I can hammer some extra pp out via fighting turkish fleets (Au has none).  In addition, it is easier to invade Tu than Au.  Either nation will have minors you could use, so negotiate for the Ceeding option in whatever sort of surrender you beat out of them.  Finally, your army is hard and slow to replace, so avoid fights were you are out of cav for support, or one lost battle could wipe out a score of that infantry via cav pursuit.  If GB leaves itself wide open, INVADE.

Fr is the most difficult to play because everyone is after you in one way or another.  You have the biggest and best army.  Use it.  Focus on it.  Fight smart and go for devestating victories that are not brief, but not to drawn out.  The danger is in any length of war that has to many casualties.  The enemy is going to try to drain you as much as possible because you are strong and rich and if they do not, you will overwhelm them.  Stagger your wars with hopefully a few eco phases of peace so you can rebuild.  The real way to knock the Pr out of the game as a threat is to destroy his cav.  Decimate it.  Do not stop fighting the Pr army until the cav is greatly diminished, preferably depleted.  Cav is the most expensive unit in the game and takes a long time to build.  It is also the unit that prevents cav pursuit from destroying infantry after a battle is won (if the game holds true to the original, after losing a battle, one factor lost in the final round must be cav to represent the cav holding the enemy at bay while an orderly retreat is executed.  Cav pursuit is then rolled, and loses come off cav first.  If there is no cav, then 5 militia per unit lost must be removed, OR three infantry/guard).  Fr has many good leaders, so create several armies each under a quality commander.  You can fight on multiple fronts, and when the need comes, those armies via the double move can react in time and space like no other.

Ru.  You are HARD to beat.  You have LOTS of corps, but many are under sized.  Most of your corps do not cav assigned to them so they will need a cav corp in support.  How you decide to build your armys and were you station them will have a ot to do with your success.  You do not NEED any allies, although you cannot afford to anger everyone either, but you can always negotiate from a position of strength.  Everybody will want your aid, but truth is, they have very little to offer.  There are a host of strategies to play the russians, and they have the strength that if one fails, they have time to develop another.  I always liked trying to expand in the med and own part of italy, promising GB that if he will not hinder my growth, he can have sicily and I will take Naples, plus whatever else I can get.  In return I will grow a couple of Russian armies in Italy to go at the Fr with while being able to invade from the north via fleets.  There is a lot to gain with this strategy, as GB will be more than willing to give up the continental minors since GB cannot ever hold them anyway.  The Au and Pr will not like this if they are smart, so beware the ides of march, so to speak.

it is well past my bedtime...

yamma 

[timothy_stone]

ORIGINAL: jnier

ORIGINAL: jamo262
Spain I'm not so sure about. Maybe a guerrilla war is fun but losing fleets is not. They are too hard to rebuild.

Spain is a blast! The trick is to use your fleet as lever, without actually ever committing it to battle. The threat alone, of all those Spanish ships, scares the crap out of both England and France.

I agree that your fleets are your best bargaining chip, but i differ in the use of it

The Brits are scared of your fleets, so the threat of allying with the FR is a valid one.

Don't imagine that the FR are scared of your fleets (their fleets are already pinned helplessly in port), and FR can trash your nation in a heart-beat. Threatening FR will get you laughed at

SP is an easy bag of p.p.s for france, never forget that.

Use the possibility of allying with FR and lending her your fleets as your bargaining chip to keep FR sweet (e.g. if you attack me, i won't lend you my fleets, but if you leave me alone then at the right time we can jump GB together...) and to keep GB off your back (attack my ships or portugal, and I am FR's ally against you)

[Adraeth]

Well in the boardgame i usually took Russia or Austria and Austria was the Country that allowed me to do my best game ever. I lost to France but only conditional peace, and i annihilated the Turkey (thanksgiving? [:D]) ..... so i think i will start with Austria.
 
Countdown clock says -2

[sol_invictus]

The thought of playing Austria scares me to no end and Prussia is not much better. I would rather play Turkey or Spain, but this is from someone who has never played the boardgame so my opinion may change. Russia would be my first choice.

[Odysseus]

I'm a big sucker for Russia. Always plays that nation if I can. Of course, I've never really played it that well or succesfully. In fact, I have some pretty spectacular failures behind me...But I don't care - I'm in this for the love of the game and the era more than for my ability to triumph...

[cdbeck]

ORIGINAL: Odysseus

I'm a big sucker for Russia. Always plays that nation if I can. Of course, I've never really played it that well or succesfully. In fact, I have some pretty spectacular failures behind me...But I don't care - I'm in this for the love of the game and the era more than for my ability to triumph...

LOL, Odysseus! That reminds me of playing the board game version of Diplomacy with all my friends. Whoever got Russia was always like "damn" because they knew they were going to lose, but it was going to take all night and be a long fight!

SoM

[yammahoper]

Wow. Your post makes me remember my long love of Total Anihalation...hmm, now I see why I always call it T.A. because I cannot spell it.

Anyway, if I do enjoy this game just as much, then I am really gonna love, in a 'I still fire up T.A. every now and then and put up the best fight I can, with a just better than 50-50 chance of winning" kind of way.

yamma

[Irish Guards]

Shall and wee shall see ...
Nation ... Just lookin forward to .. well ya know ... EiA Gaming .. [:D]
Every Nation can be very aggressive .. [X(]
Take a few months to try em all ..... Oh Dear .. [:'(]
Ireland ... [&o]
IrishDragoonGuards

[Adraeth]

Gentlemen, take your positions please... my clock says -1...
 
[;)]

[Guenter]

ORIGINAL: Adraeth Montecuccoli

Well in the boardgame i usually took Russia or Austria and Austria was the Country that allowed me to do my best game ever. I lost to France but only conditional peace, and i annihilated the Turkey (thanksgiving? [:D]) ..... so i think i will start with Austria.

Countdown clock says -2

Austria is cool. [;)]
Difficult to play, but very interesting and challenging.
I also like to play Russia or Prussia.

[pasternakski]

On publication, this game will be vilified, eviscerated, and fricasseed to an extent never before done to wildlife. Be ready. It won't be pretty.
 
I plan to buy and enjoy this game. I congratulate Marshall and all others involved in its development for picking up a failed project and bringing it to successful fruition. While you are basking in the life-destroying radiation of the "this ain't EiA," "This oughtta be B, not A, and should include C," and "It shouldda been this, not that" nuclear explosion that is about to ensue, I salute you.
 
Even worse than the immolation of your efforts is that Matrix will likely never again (after suffering through the last gasps of the WiF economic debacle) even consider "porting" a boardgame to computer.
 
*sigh*

[captskillet]

you think it will exceed the WITP frying that has taken place over the years?????? [;)]

[timothy_stone]

ORIGINAL: pasternakski

On publication, this game will be vilified, eviscerated, and fricasseed to an extent never before done to wildlife. Be ready. It won't be pretty.

I plan to buy and enjoy this game. I congratulate Marshall and all others involved in its development for picking up a failed project and bringing it to successful fruition. While you are basking in the life-destroying radiation of the "this ain't EiA," "This oughtta be B, not A, and should include C," and "It shouldda been this, not that" nuclear explosion that is about to ensue, I salute you.

Even worse than the immolation of your efforts is that Matrix will likely never again (after suffering through the last gasps of the WiF economic debacle) even consider "porting" a boardgame to computer.

*sigh*

I also plan to buy the game (I still play computer 3rd reich for memory's sake) and the pbem component of EiA will make it SO much more playable than 3R.

I'm also thankful that Matrix and Marshall have worked so long and hard on this.

I'm actually a little put disappointed with the beta-testers for not (apparently) noticing (or not pointing out) some rather large flaws that would (even with my limited programming experience) be relatively easy to adjust (for example, the brits not being able to intercept the neutral spanish fleet carrying an invading french army to London).

If not one of the beta testers actually know EiA, then it's not surprising that got overlooked. But to any player with even average EiA experience, that sticks out as a very large problem.

Small things like 'we can't have the kingdom of italy' are unfortunate for those who know and love the game, but not a big deal

changes that make a nation hugely harder to win with (without a corresponding adjustment in the VP-to-win total) are a big deal.