French forces in Russia 1805 - glitch or is there a reason?

[Bateman1982]

I started the longest grand campaign as Russia as I wanted to see how the early game pans out in terms of alliances forming.

From what I have seen, the relations seem to be event driven to a significant extent, I've just been dragged into the British coalition by an event without me having any say in it and am now at war with France.

Is there any point in me as Russia trying to keep the Ottomans at peace with me using diplomacy or will I be flung into war with the Ottomans by an event as well?

Also, a couple of turns after joining the coalition I noticed some French fortress artillery located at my capital St Petersburg.
No idea how they got there and my units set to offensive don't seem to chase them out, they just sit there.
Is that a glitch or is there some behaviour going on there that I'm not aware of?

There also seem to be a few very small French stacks around Chechnya, no idea how they got there so quickly!

[Stratman]

I started the longest grand campaign as Russia
Also, a couple of turns after joining the coalition I noticed some French fortress artillery located at my capital St Petersburg.

There also seem to be a few very small French stacks around Chechnya, no idea how they got there so quickly!

I think that WON is not a game that is played against AI well enough.
Personally, I play solo for all the factions.
I'm sorry for that answer.

[Bateman1982]

Thanks for the reply, I guess the weird behaviour of the French stacks is a sort of bug then or a bizarre AI behaviour.

I'm on a bit of an ageod binge at the moment working out what games I like, I may abandon this one in favour of Pride of Nations, To End All Wars & Wars of Succession as they all seem very good based on my current experience with them.

[Stratman]

Oh, I've been crazy about ageod games since I discovered them 4 years ago.
Pride Of Nations is an absolute masterpiece. Also my favorites - To End All Wars, Revolution Under Siege, Civil War2 and ... Wars Of Napoleon (IMO the last one is really cool for solo or pbem).

[Durk]

Yes, WON like PON is best if a player plays all major factions; whether multiplayer or solo, in part due to the very elegant diplomacy interface.
I would be hard press to choose a favorite. I like the simplicity of WON and AJE with their deep historical grounding. But I also like the complexity of RUS, CWII and ROP. And ROP, in my view is a 'perfect' game, really hard to play and very balanced.
I do concur, PON is a masterpiece. As with all AGEOD games, a study in history.
But when I say, it is hard to choose: Espana 38 is a wonderful lesson in the challenges of civil war in a modern age, as is EAW as a study of the Great War. The English Civil War and Wars of Succession explore historical epochs rarely presented in wargames.

[Bateman1982]

It's good to hear what people's favourites are, gives me ideas on which one I should try next!

You just reminded me that I picked up ROP during the recent Steam sale but have yet to try it.

I think I've got over the initial learning curve (cliff? :-) ) with ageod games now so I have lots of interesting looking games to choose from.
Which is nice.

[Offworlder]

I started the longest grand campaign as Russia as I wanted to see how the early game pans out in terms of alliances forming.

From what I have seen, the relations seem to be event driven to a significant extent, I've just been dragged into the British coalition by an event without me having any say in it and am now at war with France.

Is there any point in me as Russia trying to keep the Ottomans at peace with me using diplomacy or will I be flung into war with the Ottomans by an event as well?

Also, a couple of turns after joining the coalition I noticed some French fortress artillery located at my capital St Petersburg.
No idea how they got there and my units set to offensive don't seem to chase them out, they just sit there.
Is that a glitch or is there some behaviour going on there that I'm not aware of?

There also seem to be a few very small French stacks around Chechnya, no idea how they got there so quickly!

The French do get an option to sway both the Ottomans and Persians though not completely. In my experience, the Ottomans tend to be quite if left to the AI.

However, Russia actually needs a war with the Ottomans, not to conquer land (unfortunately there is no (what if) peace event that for example gives them the Danubian Provinces) but rather to train up and promote generals. Some of the best corps commanders start as divisional ones and not all get promoted when you need to create the reformed army. You also will need divisional commanders with better stats.

In my opinion the Russians are the second best faction in the game. They are the only ones that can actually create a force comparable to the French on land and sea, has discrete leadership and is capable to take on the Grande Armee with Napoleon at its head (the Brits can too but they need to concentrate the bulk of their army under Wellington). The Russian navy can be a powerful force on the seas and is capable of transporting substantial bodies of men anywhere. One other advantage is its particularly large force of cavalry that allows it run circles around the French and overrun broken units.

The AI is a bit iffy - no one really understands why it keeps sending corps HQ units, loose artillery and such units on these long treks. One way to get rid of them is to try to remove the movement treaty the French get with each peace. This essentially will prohibit them from entering your territory.

[Bateman1982]

The French do get an option to sway both the Ottomans and Persians though not completely. In my experience, the Ottomans tend to be quite if left to the AI.

However, Russia actually needs a war with the Ottomans, not to conquer land (unfortunately there is no (what if) peace event that for example gives them the Danubian Provinces) but rather to train up and promote generals. Some of the best corps commanders start as divisional ones and not all get promoted when you need to create the reformed army. You also will need divisional commanders with better stats.

In my opinion the Russians are the second best faction in the game. They are the only ones that can actually create a force comparable to the French on land and sea, has discrete leadership and is capable to take on the Grande Armee with Napoleon at its head (the Brits can too but they need to concentrate the bulk of their army under Wellington). The Russian navy can be a powerful force on the seas and is capable of transporting substantial bodies of men anywhere. One other advantage is its particularly large force of cavalry that allows it run circles around the French and overrun broken units.

The AI is a bit iffy - no one really understands why it keeps sending corps HQ units, loose artillery and such units on these long treks. One way to get rid of them is to try to remove the movement treaty the French get with each peace. This essentially will prohibit them from entering your territory.

Thanks, I can tolerate the loose artillery units appearing every now and then if the AI generally puts up a fight and doesn't blatantly break the rules.
Based on feedback from several forum users though it sounds like it's probably not worth investing the time to complete in a campaign in this game if playing against the AI.
I may try playing solo as multiple sides one day if I can muster up the motivation to do so.

I suppose there are plenty of other ageod games to cut my teeth on in single player in the meantime. (currently starting to push back against the Central Powers in TEAW and having great fun)

[Bateman1982]

It just happened again, in December 1805, a 200 power French stack just appeared in St Petersburg.
No idea where it could have come from, I had the Baltic fleet in the sea province next to the area and saw no transports.

How did France manage to get a unit directly to my capital with no warning?

[Offworlder]

Is it made up of fortress artillery and depots? As the French I saw that happening quite a number of times with Spanish fortress units and depots.

Otherwise check whether it could have marched them over Finland

[Bateman1982]

Yes the makeup sounds about right. It was approx 3,000 men and 30-40 artillery.
The army I had at st Petersburg disposed of them.

Sweden are also at war with France so I suppose they could have come over the border from Sweden.

I might send some cavalry on a scouting trip around Sweden to see what's there.