6 player game - 2nd time lucky?

[Shri]

Shri - France, after losing the last game despite an epic fightback at Paris and surroundings, lost the war at Berlin, losing 100k vs 30k in 1 turn.

Mathew- Spain in old game and an ally, now England and sworn enemy

William - Swapped Russia for Austria

Richard - Swapping Austria for Russia

Hoots - Playing Spain and Ottomans.

Adam - Playing Prussia


Till turn 23 not much action except some minor stuff in Spain and Portugal.

[Shri]

Turn 24, the Austrians get pummeled by the French and Italian cities fall, netting French 12 NM and some EP.

Marshals Massena, Soult, Bessiers all win victories.
20k French and over 40k Austrians die in these battles all over Venezia part of Italy, Tyrol and the Bavarian borders.

[Shri]

Turn 25 and 26 are not very interesting except one major announcement.
The Prussians have declared War and are marching rapidly with over 75k troops under Blucher to help Austria and have a separate army around 25k or more marching into undefended Hanover.

Terrible news for France, simultaneously fighting 4 major powers. My premature DoW was to avoid this, but i guess i couldn't.

The minor battles net the French a few NM and EP.

[Shri]

Turn 27, the most topsy-turvy turn of the war so far.

Marshal Bessiers destroys an entire Prussian advance guard of around 14k men under Tauntzen. Further Marshals Soult and Massena hunt down all the smaller reinforced divisions like Schwarzenberg etc and crush them all.

But while Massena wins a major victory against Karl von Teschen, the 2 best Marshals Lannes and Davout lose badly to Gen. Mack who has dug-in at Linz with level 3 trenches. Terrible defeat for France.

French lose overall 17NM in battles and gain 20NM

The major battles are all attached below, plenty of them this turn.

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[Shri]

French losses climb to nearly 60k troops and Allied losses (Austrian primarily but also Prussian climb to over 50k

[Shri]

Turn 28, decisive victory in Italy, the entire Karl army and all supporting corps are dead to the last man, barring the pesky partisans and a few independent cavalry.
In Bavaria, Mack escapes but his remaining support reinforced divisions/small corps are liquidated.

[Shri]

Been an extremely bloody war so far, a look at losses till date.

[Shri]

The British losses are due to some misadventures in spain and spanish losses are compensated by massive portuguese losses.

[Shri]

Nappy wins 3 consolation victories by Mack's armies escape despite some losses. The Prussian army of the north captures Hanover and Bremen.

Marshal Soult makes a grand entry into Vienna.

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[Shri]

It has been less than 30 turns, less than 6 months and the French have conquered Vienna
Defeated a tiny Prussian corps.
Lost Hanover & Bremen to the northern Prussian army
The Prussians who have swallowed Brunswick now have a larger southern army under Blucher operating on Nappy's north flank.
Soult has taken Vienna the prize.
Massena has taken Venice another smaller but important prize.


Nappy is in a serious dilemma.

DOES HE PUSH NORTH AND DEAL WITH PRUSSIA?

OR

DOES HE PUSH INTO PRESSBURG? But there is a huge Russian army probably under Marshal One-Eyed dug - in and waiting for him.

He tries to do both and falters and worst thing happens


ENGLAND CONQUERS VIENNA ON TURN 30.
YES.

England marched an army of over 60k across half of Europe and took Vienna without a fight on turn 31.

Total and unmitigated disaster.

In addition, the cheeky English land at brest, destroy the forts and murder half the fleet, French lose 30 NM (hard gained NM) and 25 EP due to these actions, both in extremely short supply.

The ENGLISH CONQUEST OF VIENNA IS EITHER A MAJOR FAILING OF THE GAME OR A MAJOR BLOT ON THE PLAYER i.e. me.

Either way, the feeling of victory 2 turns ago is now dead. France may lose this game in 1805 itself.

[Shri]

If Nappy wins one more such Prryhic victory then he must shut shop and resign.

65k French men died, most of the elite french cavalry and 1/3 pioneer cavalry scouts which allowed Nappy to have a bird's eye view, are dead. Marshal Murat literally wept seeing his whole cavalry corps in tatters.
Nappy's had to literally send his grumbling guards charging up the hills to stave off defeat at great cost to the guardsmen and enemy. The guards won their victory at literal bayonet point and the Anglo-Russians ran with cowardice seeing their bayonet charges. (It literally happened so in battle summary)
Vienna was won by Marshal Soult on the ease 3 turns ago, this time it is littered with dead bodies. The Danube has turned red.

Though i seem to have killed the guards division of England and several cavalry divisions of Russia.

Total allied losses are <=55k.

After 3 huge battles and loss of 16NM, Nappy retakes Wien, which had been won by Marshal Soult on the cheap.

[Shri]

That was just the 32nd turn of the game. Barely 8 months over and the war has been a total bloodbath.

[Shri]

Over 190k Frenchmen and about 240k Allied soldiers dead in this carnage and the first year is still ongoing.

Prussian and Russians losses have been very light. Austrian losses have been devastating, English have surprisingly lost the third highest men after France and Austria.