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Dortmund
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Napoleon's Glory

Thu Dec 17, 2015 12:05 am

03CoronacionNapoleon.jpg

[color="#ADD8E6"]Friedland, 1807. Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier.[/color]


After the French Revolution the absolutist kingdoms of Europe gather together in the first two coalitions to deal with the newly established Republic of France in what is known as the revolutionary wars. A young Napoleon arrives in France in these turbulent times and helps in the Italian campaign to defeat with his wit and courage the armies of the coalitions and to consolidate the government.

03CoronacionNapoleon.jpg

[color="#ADD8E6"]Bonaparte in Arcole’s bridge. Antoine Jean Gros. [/color]

However, with Napoleon in Egypt, the situation in France gets worse by a series of defeats to the Second Coalition, while the fame of the corsican continues to increase. Thus, the government brings him back to France to face an apparent invasion. However, despite when he returns the situation has improved militarily, France’s economy is ruined and the government is unpopular, which gives Napoleon and his followers the excuse for a coup and he places himself at the forefront of the country as Prime Consul, lifelong Consul and, eventually, Emperor.

03CoronacionNapoleon.jpg

[color="#ADD8E6"]The crowning of Napoleon. Jaques-Louis David. [/color]

A citizen of humble origins had reached the top with his courage and intelligence. In his short life he had gone from being a young revolutionary man to an absolute monarch. His contradictory figure provoked both praise and criticism, love and hate. What was obvious was his great intelligence and ego. Enthroned like a roman emperor, Napoleon made and unmade at will, was venerated by french soldiers and citizens and feared by his enemies. Those were the days of Napoleon’s glory.

03CoronacionNapoleon.jpg

[color="#ADD8E6"]Napoleon in his imperial throne. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.[/color]


Welcome to one of the three 7 player PBEM games that we have initiated in Punta de Lanza forum. The players are:

1-Maulet: Russia
2-Haplo:Patryn: Great Britain
3-Xtraviz: Prussia
4-Dortmund: France
5-Fsansir: Spain
6-Gonzalo: Austria
7-Antonyo: Turkey

Fsansir and I will narrate the campaign from the point of view of our side, the Franco-Spanish. From here we'll talk about our plans and how the campaign unfolds. We hope that you like it.
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Pocus
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Thu Dec 17, 2015 10:21 am

Huzzah!!! Vive l'Empire !! :)
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Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

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Fsansir
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Thu Dec 17, 2015 8:47 pm

Hi everybody. As Spanish player, I'm going to post here my reports. At least until L'empereur Dormunt sends Murat to Madrid ;)

The game is going to be a hard one, against people from Punta de Lanza, a Spanish Web for wargamers, if you speak (or understand) Spanish you must visit it

http://www.puntadelanza.net/Foro/phpBB3/

Also, this AAR is going to be posted there in Spanish

People here have a years of experience in wargames (sometimes more than they want to admit) so prepare for a very exciting gameplay where nothing is going to be predictable (neither historical) and our rivals are high skilled AGEOD gamers.

Wellcom to:

NAPOLEON'S GLORY

And Spanish :w00t:
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loki100
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Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:14 pm

really impressed ... settles down with a glass of wine (bordeaux of course) and some chorizo to watch the fun :)
AJE The Hero, The Traitor and The Barbarian
PoN Manufacturing Italy; A clear bright sun
RoP The Mightiest Empires Fall
WIA Burning down the Houses; Wars in America; The Tea Wars

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Fsansir
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Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:15 pm

PROLOGE

This is the Spanish situation regarding objectives and force comparison at the beginning of the scenario:

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There are a lot of objectives in foreign hands and very few under our control, so we must start working on this as soon as possible if we want to be a competitive power in Europe. At first we will focus in the more feasible ones, Gibraltar and North Africa, then we will see how the game progress and which opportunities we have to focus in others (Malta, Italy…).

About the force comparison, the most remarkable is the overwhelming British naval superiority . In ground forces there are not surprises, under France, Britain and Russia, but at the same level of Austria.

The Spanish national modifiers:

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The bonus in assault and the siege RGD will be very useful in Gibraltar. About the naval bonuses… well, maybe they will be useful in the future, but right now the fleet will sit in their ports as long as the powerful British fleet keep blockading our shores in such force.
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Fsansir
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Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:15 pm

loki100 wrote:really impressed ... settles down with a glass of wine (bordeaux of course) and some chorizo to watch the fun :)


Wellcome Loki
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Fsansir
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Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:53 pm

SPANISH GROUND FORCES:

In Madrid we have the Ejército de España and the Guardia Real

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Right now I can only have one army (would like to change its name from Esercito to the correct Ejercito, but it’s not possible to change army names). It’s commanded by the good for nothing Godoy. It will stay in Madrid until another general better than him (almost anyone) reach seniority enough to replace him without VP or NM penalties.

Officers in command of these stacks:

Godoy
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And the Duque del Infantado
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Duque del Infantado, an average officer, and his guards will depart towards South to take part in the siege of Gibraltar.

In Toledo is Castaños with the Central Corps:

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Castaños:
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He is not a bad officer with some interesting traits, but with only a 3 in strategic he will be deactivated most of the time. He will go to Gibraltar with some of his units to fight in the siege and acquire some experience. The other units will remain in Toledo as mobile reserve with a less capable officer (I have some of those).

In Valencia camps the Oriental Corps with Benito San Juan in command:

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Good troops with a mediocre chief, so the units will depart to Gibraltar and San Juan will take charge of the Central Corps.

In Granada is Teodoro Reding and the South Corps

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A bad officer, but his trait “Swiss commander” is going to be useful as far as I have several Swiss brigades which could be combined in a division under his command without penalties.

With him there are the Marqués de la Romana and Don Juan de Kindelán

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De La Romana is one of my best officers and is going to command a powerful division in Gibraltar (the guards, probably). Kindelán is also a good officer and his trait “good population administrator” will be useful in occupied regions.

The South Corps will be the core of the army for the Gibraltar siege.

In Leon are two army groups, the North Corps:

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Palafox is very good in defense, but have the same problem than Castaños, only a 3 in strategic.

With him is Don Juan Caraffa

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The other group is Blake’s Occidental Corps:

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Palafox will go with his corps towards south, and Caraffa will go with him. Blake is an average chief, if he wouldn’t have the trait slow mover he would be in charge of the defense of the Peninsula in the north, but that trait and the low infrastructures in the area would result in that he would hardly reach any point where the British could disembark at time. He will be send to America and I will bring another officer from there, more suitable for the peninsular movement war. Until then, Trancos will form a division to protect the area as best as he can until French reinforcements arrive (a British disembark in north Spain is as dangerous for them as for me).

In North Africa there are a few Spanish regiments under command of my most talented general:

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Ballesteros is by far my best man, but he has a very low seniority. As soon as I can I’ll transport him and his men to Cadiz and will give him the command of a powerful independent division in hope he gains some seniority and become a good corps leader in the near future.

Let’s go to the colonies.

In Cuba we have Salazar with a corps

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It’s a strong enough force that combined with the garrison would be able to stop any British attack. The officers will depart to Spain and Blake will replace them here. Salazar will be the commander in chief in the north of Spain and Zerain, with his siege trait, will go to Gibraltar.

I’ve been tempted to send Palafox because of his defensive habilities, but I discarded it because due the British naval superiority they could surrender the fort only blockading it and I can’t afford losing a good officer in such a secondary front. By the other way, I don’t care losing Blake here.

In Santo Domingo There is a small Spanish force leaded by General Viallacampo

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I know for sure that there are British attacking Haiti and this small force would not stop them. Right now, they will join the garrison and, as soon as possible, they will be evacuated to Cuba. If Britain wants Santo Domingo there is little I could do to avoid it.

In La Plata are my main forces in America:

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Their chief is an average Spanish officer (a good for nothing), but Vigodet is a little more interesting general thanks to his infantryman trait. If Portugal enters in the war I don’t discard some offensive actions with this general in Brazil.

This is the summary of the Spanish ground forces (only active units, there are some powerful garrisons too). They look as a good war machine, but actually, the mediocrity of their officers and the bad shape of the units (most of them are skeletons dependent of expensive replacements to fill their ranks) it would not be possible to start any operation before spring. Until then, I’ll move officers to their new posts and will gather all the troops which will take part in the siege of Gibraltar in Cadiz.

For the Gibraltar assault, I’ll use two corps (only nominal, I’m not able to form corps yet). One with Castaños and the other with Palafox (will see the accurate composition of these corps once the units are all together in Cadiz). Also, I plan to give Ballesteros a powerful division to operate independent. May be I’ll give him a corps and put all the other more senior two star officers together in the other one (not know what to do, he is so good…).
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Fsansir
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Thu Dec 17, 2015 10:10 pm

ARMADA

The main Spanish fleet is in Cadiz with Gravina in command

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This fleet is going to be blocked by Nelson, who starts in the Straight (I’m scared just seeing his stack)

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There’s no way of evading or defeating Nelson (neither together with the French trapped in Cadiz with me), so I’ll stay in Cadiz and will urge to my ally to do the same. We must avoid Trafalgar at all cost.

In El Ferrol I have another fleet

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Blockaded too

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A smaller fleet is in Cartagena

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This escuadra is not blocked by the British, but it have my worst admiral in command.

And in Cuba I have a fleet with my best sailor in command

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They are not blocked, but I’m sure that the English have superiority in those waters too.

The ships will remain in port, that’s obvious. Soon or later, the British will have to resupply their fleets, then I have to take advantage of this and try to join all my fleets in one, may be then I could achieve a punctual advantage and, in a combined effort with the French, defeat the British fleets piece by piece with local superiority. For me, that place must be the Mediterranean because Britain will never send all the fleet there leaving the Channel without forces. Will be the main topic in the next conference with the Emperor.

Meanwhile, I’ll move officers. Hidalgo de Cisneros will go to Cadiz, Gravina to El Ferrol, Cordova to Cuba and Escano and Alava to Cartagena. With the sloops Sq. Peruano (in Cuba) I’ll do these movements between Spain and America because of it speed an evasion values I hope it’ll evade the British ships, but with the British officers you never know.

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With my light units based in Cartagena I’ll try to blockade Gibraltar and, may be, Malta, always with orders to evade and retreat in the same moment they see a British vessel. With that I try to force the British player to divide even more his fleets to cover as much terrain as possible, so I’ll favor a scenario where a local superiority is feasible.

In Cuba, Britain must move troops all along America. I must be alert and may be catch one of these transport fleets by surprise with light escort. I’ll also send some light ships to the blockade zone to take a look there.
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lycortas2
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Fri Dec 18, 2015 4:39 am

I am looking forward to reading your AAR.
I have begun a 7 player campaign as Spain so I want to watch what you do with Spain.
Do you feel that Blake could be rated slightly better? I know he was no genius but he is the second weakest general in our army in this game.

Good luck.
Mike

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loki100
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Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:03 am

interesting that the Spanish army is basically pretty useful but undermined by poor commanders. Good luck with that objective list ... should be a 10 year project to make any progress :)
AJE The Hero, The Traitor and The Barbarian
PoN Manufacturing Italy; A clear bright sun
RoP The Mightiest Empires Fall
WIA Burning down the Houses; Wars in America; The Tea Wars

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Fsansir
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Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:30 pm

lycortas2 wrote:I am looking forward to reading your AAR.
I have begun a 7 player campaign as Spain so I want to watch what you do with Spain.
Do you feel that Blake could be rated slightly better? I know he was no genius but he is the second weakest general in our army in this game.

Good luck.
Mike


Well, I wouldn't say that Blake is so bad, he is in the (bad) average of the Spanish officers (3-1-1). It's for his slow mover trait because I don't want him in the Peninsula. And if I loose him I have a lot of officers like him. What I miss is a trait to command Irish troops, he was half Irish and Spain had some Irish regiments (also I miss them in the force pool).
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Fsansir
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Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:31 pm

loki100 wrote:interesting that the Spanish army is basically pretty useful but undermined by poor commanders. Good luck with that objective list ... should be a 10 year project to make any progress :)


Belive it or not, I have assumed I'm not going to win this game :neener:
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Sir Garnet
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Sat Dec 19, 2015 6:00 am

The quality of the players and AAR promises to be very high - I'm looking forward to it. It has inspired me to write up my own rather brief notes on my first foray in the game - as Spain in 1805, of course. I've picked up a good idea from you already - using sloops to run blockades with distinguished passengers. Though I might wait to see your reports before I take that risk.

I was surprised to discover that the fixed formations were understrength - which drew off precious replacements intended for the field forces. I found Spain's military resources sufficiently lean to seek to conserve it and avoid disasters at all costs - Spain can field siege guns at Gibraltar, indeed, but I recommend requesting discreet French help with a corps for the siege. My view is that the Cartagena fleet's transport is precious for operations in the Med, and ships in general are too prohibitively expensive to fight with except at the decisive moment. Low monarch ratings limit diplomatic options, so Spain is stuck with such casus belli as come down the road.

Spanish victory within a 10 year span seems unlikely indeed. However, outpacing all but the big 3 might be manageable by snagging objectives around the Med.

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Dortmund
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Sat Dec 19, 2015 11:20 am

Allright, after Fsansir's explanation it's france's turn to relate the beginning of the campaign. Please pardon any mistakes in the text as english is not our native language.

[color="#008080"]Initial situation. January 1, 1805.[/color]


20Constr.jpg


At the start of the campaign Napoleon is located in Boulogne-sur-mer (Calais area) with a large army (which will be the Grande Armée) with the intention of invading England. But he needs a powerful fleet wich he lacks. With this purpose in December 1804 he pressured Spain to declare war on England and thus combine both fleets in order to try to defeat the English fleet. However, even combining both fleets he would’nt have enough power to defeat the much larger Royal Navy. But Napoleon was bold and thought he could archieve in the sea what he did into the battlefield, where he succeeded confronting very superior forces...


[color="#008080"]Objectives panel.[/color]

20Constr.jpg


In this window we can see important information as the scoring, the objectives, the comparison of land / sea power and the national morale.
France is first at VPs value with an avantage of 1,250 points over Britain, the second nation in this list. If we reach 9,375 VPs we’ll win the game, so we have a 53% progression to victory.

In national morale we have 110 points, with a slight lead of 5 points over our archrival Britain. The other countries have a moral of 100.
The comparison of land / sea power figures quickly show us which army and fleet is more powerful now. Again we go ahead in terms of army (the stronger of all nations) but the English army is much more powerful: 4.32 times more than the French one. Here we can see that even adding the Spanish naval power to the French one, we would not reach even half the British power.

The big square shows us the objective cities of the nation and the value of his capture cities. Specially remarkable is the high value of London (150), whose capture would virtually end the war. Also noteworthy are Vienna (20) and Warsaw (15). The other cities have a value between 5 and 2 points.


[color="#008080"]Diplomacy:[/color]

Let’s take a look at the allies and enemies of France. At the same time I will send the first diplomatic offers.

Friendly nations:
The friendliest countries are those part of the French Alliance: Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and Berg.

France has alliance treaties with Bavaria and Fsansir’s Spain. The relations with Spain are 60, cordial. The relations are better with Bavaria, a nation that has a small but pretty decent army. The bad thing is that it is controlled by the AI, so I offer the Bavarians the possibility of entering the French Alliance, to see if I can manage to control this army someway.

Another friendly country is Nassau, which gives me military access and supplies. The relations are excellent (95), so I also offer them to join the French Alliance.

Enemies:
Britain and Hanover are now both members of the anti-French coalition and are at war with us. As Britain is protected by a large river called ocean we must pay attention to Hanover. Oldenburg and Hesse are the countries through which I must pass to get to Hanover, so I send diplomats to improve our relations.

Egypt is another country with bad relations with France -95, the result no doubt of Napoleon's expedition.
The kingdom of Piedmont (which only rules now Sardinia), with -50 also has bad relations. Russia and Austria also have the same number.

The kingdom of Sicily -25 relationships is also a possible target for the army of Massena, if allowed by the Austrians.

Neutral:
Baden, Wurtemberg and the Holy Roman Empire are other important countries to get along with so we can cross our troops thorugh its territory to reach Bavaria and Austria, so I propose state visits to the three states. Furthermore, I offer Baden and Wurtemberg local support, which means that in case of attack France will support them.

I see important too to get along with the papacy to reach the Kingdom of Sicily. State visit.

After all this diplomatic affairs, I have left 42 diplomats.


[color="#008080"]Strategic map. Status of fleets and armies:[/color]
In the strategic map we can see the position of the various forces involved, both our own and the enemy forces detected. We begin by fleets.

Fleets:

20Constr.jpg


As you can see, the English fleets block some of the most important ports on the Atlantic coast. As you will see, the French naval leaders are very poor. I remember that this is for historical reasons related to the French Revolution.
-In Brest is located my strongest squad, which can be more powerful because now suffers a command point penalty. I will send more admirals there if I can. A more powerful enemy fleet blocks the port.
-In Rochefort I have a small squad of different units.
-In Boulogne is a landing flotilla that is capable of carrying a large number of troops to England. However the escort vessels consist only of a few frigates and the transport ships have a ridiculous evasion capability.
-In Toulon is docked my second most powerful fleet. His admiral is Villeneuve... an incompetent commander with a strategic value of only 1 point, which means that if he tries to evade combat he’ll be caught almost always. Besides its low morale infects the fleet. I get rid of him leaving him on land immediately to try to avoid a Trafalgar battle. The commander who replaces him is not great but at least there is no command point penalty.
-In the Indic ocean there is a small but interesting flotilla, led by my best naval leader.
-In Saint Malo is a unit of corsairs. In the Civil War 2 fast ships play a good role for trade. In this game I do not know his role yet, but I think it's not the same because they have a low level of supplies.

Moreover, as already mentioned Fsansir, the English also strangle the Spanish Atlantic ports. Nelson is in Cadiz plugging the exit of the Cadiz spanish fleet. The same applies to La Coruna. The only unblocked Spanish fleet in the Iberian Peninsula is located in Cartagena.


Armies:


20Constr.jpg


France has two armies and can form a third one. A popup window warns us that we can have a maximum of 24 corps. Both armies as the bodies will increase as time goes on and the conflict intensifies.

Napoleon's army is located mostly around Boulogne, although other corps are located along the northern coast of France. In total it consists of 9 corps plus Napoleon’s one. The condition of these cops is excellent, for almost all contain units of all kinds, including support units as Headquarters (services that include doctors, engineers, signals, and instructors) and pontoons. Besides the units included in each body are balanced (infantry, cavalry, artillery ...), so I see no need to make any changes at all.

The second army is the Armée d'Italie commanded by Massena, a general who has very good characteristics of attack and defense but a mediocre strategic value. It is also a corrupt looter and (as Admiral Villeneuve) is a discouraged leader that lowers the morale of his troops. It has 4 bodies rather weak compared to Napoleon ones because this army has containment purpose.

We'll talk later in detail about the armies and their leaders.


[color="#008080"]Plans:[/color]It seems rather soon to decide what to do. It’s winter, we have with Napoleon's army in the north and blocked fleets. For now I’ll just reinforce and I’ll keep playing diplomacy so the german states of the Rhine get closer to France’s interests.


[color="#008080"]Formation of new units:[/color]

20Constr.jpg


There’s a great variety of new units to choose from. After thinking carefully I decide to build a couple of pontoon units and a corps HQ. I’ll put them in those coprs of Napoleon's army that lack them. This will improve the speed, fatigue recovery, artillery, experience gain, and so on of all units of the corps. The benefits are worth it. I also start the formation of a new infantry division in Torino to reinforce the army of Italy.


[color="#008080"]Regional decisions:[/color]
Another great assortment of options to choose from. I’ve decided to play the following:
-Habeas Corpus, develop territory and requisition horses, all in Torino and Genoa. As you can see the Italians are going to bear the worse part of the French regional decisions... If I have luck, I'll put in jail the Piedmontese dissidents thereby winning 25% loyalty in these areas. I choose the decision "develop territory" just in case the "habeas corpus" fails, in order to win the loyalty lose by requisition horses. Horses are the scarcest resource in France.
-“Export Goods” in the Aegean sea to earn 200 pounds. Well away if the english player wants to avoid having to send ships to the other side of the Mediterranean.
-Runner In Boulogne. If we are lucky it will provide 300 pounds and 15 war supplies.
-Defensive works in Brest. It will improve the entrenchment in this area passing British ships. In theory, if the entrenchment is 5 or more, the batteries can shoot fleets, although it is uncertain as they are blocked.
-Draft In Nice, Toulon, Antwerp and Bruges. To get new recruits I lose 20% of loyalty and 3% of development in the selected areas. To compensate this I’ve decided to play in Antwerp and Bruges the two "develop territory" decisions left.
Attachments
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Fsansir
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Sat Dec 19, 2015 3:02 pm

Sir Garnet wrote:The quality of the players and AAR promises to be very high - I'm looking forward to it. It has inspired me to write up my own rather brief notes on my first foray in the game - as Spain in 1805, of course. I've picked up a good idea from you already - using sloops to run blockades with distinguished passengers. Though I might wait to see your reports before I take that risk.

I was surprised to discover that the fixed formations were understrength - which drew off precious replacements intended for the field forces. I found Spain's military resources sufficiently lean to seek to conserve it and avoid disasters at all costs - Spain can field siege guns at Gibraltar, indeed, but I recommend requesting discreet French help with a corps for the siege. My view is that the Cartagena fleet's transport is precious for operations in the Med, and ships in general are too prohibitively expensive to fight with except at the decisive moment. Low monarch ratings limit diplomatic options, so Spain is stuck with such casus belli as come down the road.

Spanish victory within a 10 year span seems unlikely indeed. However, outpacing all but the big 3 might be manageable by snagging objectives around the Med.

Thank you Sir Garnet.

About the sloops, against the AI is already proven. Just be careful and try to avoid blocked ports like Cadiz or El Ferrol, use the small ports of northern Spain.

Spain also have a huge problem with replacements, almost all Spanish economy of 1805 is just to refill the starting units and that without, as you said, any dissaster. I don't think Spain could afford any of those at the beginning. Prudence is the most important thing a Spanish player must have.

For Gibraltar, I have ordered some siege complements to reinforce my army, but more of this on the next report (whenever it comes, with all these patches is being difficult to coordinate for six players, so we are going a little bit slow).
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Fsansir
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Tue Dec 29, 2015 1:40 pm

JANUARY 1805

First things first, from the War Ministry are ordered the formation of support units to ensure a minimum efficiency in Gibraltar siege.

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A field hospital to recover cohesion in the difficult Gibraltarian terrain, an engineers unit because is mandatory for the siege RGDs and a siege artillery battery to improve our odds of making a breach in the fort.

The bad situation of the army consumes all my initial replacements in only a couple of turns

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I have to focus all my economic resources for buying more because, even the great numbers they already used, my units are still very far of their 100%. Anyway, my manpower limitations limits de acquisition of the most needed infantry replacements. This is the replacement situation at the end of the month:

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Thanks to my investments in new ship replacements, the Juno sq. (Cartagena) receives a new 36 gun frigate in the second week of the month

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(Note to the developers: All new Spanish ships lacks of a proper name and it does less immersive the game, if help is needed to improve the Spanish ships database I’m sure that me and other Punta de Lanza forum users will be glad to contribute).

About the RGDs used, my lack of manpower made me use the 2 volunteers decisions I had in the pool the firsts

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But it’s not enough and I have to use the more aggressive draft decision. I play it in Granada, where there are no production building and the 20% loyalty loose will not affect my economy

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To equilibrate a little the loyalty in this region, I also use here a Develop RGD (+10% loyalty). More of this are used to develop provinces in the path North-South Spain of my troops (maybe they will travel faster and the supplies transit is also improved, because the movement of the troops is being quite painful right now) I also use them in my industrial cores (Madrid, Barcelona and Cadiz) in hope they improve their production a little if I invest in their richness.

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Admiral Cisneros is promoted, losing one strategic point in the process (didn’t Spain have incompetents enough?).

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About diplomacy, there are diplomatics going and coming with the Ottomans and France. To remark a little di9plomatic misunderstanding when we didn’t answered a commercial agreement treaty from France. The Emperor, God praise his patience, sent another diplomatic forgiving HM Carlos IV and not following the popular French tradition of cutting Borbon heads (poor cousin Luisito).

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The number of diplomatics and the incompetence of the monarch limits my diplomatic movements a lot, my French ally will have to deal with the bulk of our alliance diplomacy. Even so, Spain will try to approach the Sultan (if only they could see us now…). If we can take him into our alliance will be a serious problem for Russia and Austria.

We had the event of Casa de Indias

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Money and ship replacements, good news. I hope our American friends remain with us as long as possible.

It’s time to talk about the implementation of all the military movements plans we made in the previous report. The officers are starting to arrive to their new posts.

Salazar occupied the command of the North army and we form our first division there under general Tranco orders. They will remain in Leon until further others arrive.

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Gravina arrives to El Ferrol,

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Escaño and Álava take command of the Cartagena Sq. With them, I feel secure enough to load Ballesteros’ African Corps from Ceuta and bring it to Spain. The fleet arrives to Ceuta without any problem (I was afraid of a British interception with Nelson’s fleet). Now, we hope the return travel is as peaceful as this one.

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In La Plata I form another division under Vigodet command

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Blake take his post as Cuba garrison Commander

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Now, it’s time for a recklessness action. As far as I can see, the British fleets are maintaining their pickets in front of our main ports and they not move neither divide their fleet to patrol other waters, so I’m going to form a small transport fleet under Cisneros orders and try to sneak it from Cuba to Spain with all the 3 cavalry brigades stationed there and which will be more useful in the Peninsula

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If the British find this fleet, not even Neptune miracles will save it.

Global situation of our troops:

Reding is going to join Castaños (who is also commanding the guards) in a few days in Bélmez. Once together they’ll depart to Sevilla

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In the center, San Juan’s Oriental Corps is slowly approaching Ciudad Real (only one day to arrive). Once there, San Juan will go to Toledo and join the troops of the Central Corps and the Oriental Corps will continue towards Cordoba.

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In the North, Palafox and his men will arrive to Madrid in 7 days

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In February will continue the arduous path to Cadiz of all the Spanish troops and we will be especially looking to Cisnero’s fleet adventures in the Atlantic.
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Dortmund
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Wed Dec 30, 2015 5:58 pm

[color="#008080"]January 1805[/color]

The game starts with a slow, leisurely pace. As there are no major movements in January we focus on managing the resources available and we also pay attention to the diplomacy.

A pair of new events take place in early January:

24.jpg


-Le Franc Germinal: twice a year, in March and September, France will receive more money because of the economic reforms. This event actually reminds us about that same national modifier.

-Talleyrand: An exceptional diplomat who brings 2 bonus diplomats each quarter (of year?). The downside is that he has a bad relation with Napoleon and could be fired at any time.

24.jpg



The first military and political actions appear:

-Supplies to Spain. It is the delivery of 500.000 francs and 100 tons of war supplies to Spain, paying 30 points of engagement. It is a expensive measure especially in engagement points (I won 4 each turn). There are many more options like this related to other countries, but are blocked until that countries are at war with Britain.
-Platoon Fire (50 EPs). If I pay the cost, I’ll have access to that national modifier, which will add 10% to the rate of fire of the regular and elite infantry.
-Harassment Tactics (50 EPs). Another national modifier that makes light cavalry increase by 25% the chances of inflicting damage when pursuing.
-Incendiary Shells (50 EPs). It allows the use of that regional decision (unknown to me).


The political options are almost all related to the annexation of territories where the requested conditions are archieved. They are therefore useless now. However there are other interesting options as "improve the state administration" (winning 10 EPs per 1,000 thousand pounds), "raise new taxes" (winning 750,000 pounds in exchange for 10 EPs) and "ciphers and codes" (it gives that modifier national enabling the widespread use of this regional decision).

For now I just choose "new taxes" because I run out of money.

24.jpg



As for the creation of new units and replacements, several units receive new replacements. During the first two turns I observe that the naval units who have some missing elements do not receive them. Then I put them in a passive posture to prioritize them and they finally receive their first replacements. But it is not as easy as in previous ones and the unit will stay a long time blocked in port, reforming.
When I have enough resources I create new infantry divisions with which to reinforce the army of Massena (one light infantry division and one regular infantry division), and also a new artillery battery in Paris to please Napoleon.

24.jpg


[color="#008080"]Diplomacy:
[/color]
The good news in the diplomatic field are that the closest nations to France (Netherlands, Berg, Switzerland, Bavaria and Italy declare) declare war on GB and Hanover, and Spain and France get their positions closer. At the meeting with Godoy we talk that France will support Spain and we trace the maritime strategy, wich Fsansir has written about.

Conversely, of course, Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria also approach their positions. Russia and Austria even ally themselves. A powerful new coalition is foreseen...
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loki100
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Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:14 pm

remains fascinating to see how you both are preparing your states. How much difference in practice do you find the national modifiers (realise that some like enabling corps have very visible benefits)?
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Dortmund
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Thu Dec 31, 2015 8:34 pm

loki100 wrote:remains fascinating to see how you both are preparing your states. How much difference in practice do you find the national modifiers (realise that some like enabling corps have very visible benefits)?

I can't tell for sure as I've not seen in depth other countries than France and Spain, but it seems that France has a much better organised army at the beginning of the game because of the ability to form divisions and corps. Other countries must wait until that national modifier is available for them. The french economy and conscripts are too in reasonable good numbers but there is a lack of horses that can be dealed with the requisition horses RGD. The spanish, on the contrary, have a lack of conscripts due to his historical low population.

The national modifiers are a very good way to give more identity to the different countries, like the spanish 'casa de indias' or the french 'franc germinal'. They give more sauce.

Thanks for reading us!

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Fri Jan 01, 2016 11:32 am

Many thanks for this AAR.
I hope you continue to keep us informed here.

Happy New Year.

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Sir Garnet
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Sun Jan 03, 2016 8:14 am

One misses corps both for Command reasons and evening out losses within each unit. Having divisions or smaller front-line units means they are liable to be targeted and wiped out in a hard fight rather than just absorbing losses along with the rest of the "unit." When there are only divisions and a cap, a lot of thought can go into organizing each division. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the number of divisions and troops are well - matched for the Spanish field armies.

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BBBD316
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Wed Jan 06, 2016 4:07 am

Really enjoying the detail you guys are going into as I am waiting for the Steam release.

Is it not possible to work diplomatically on Prussia to just delay their entry into the war?

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Dortmund
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Wed Jan 06, 2016 10:36 pm

Thanks! Prussia's player is getting closer to Great Britain, Austria and Russia and there's nothing we can do about it, so maybe they can form a coalition in 1805. However in the last turns Prussia and Austria have send diplomats to France in order to improve relations. Maybe they want to slow down the beginning of the next war.

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Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:50 am

Sorry for the delay. It was due to a combination of work and open games, but these days I’ll write you what has happened in our particular and alternative Napoleonic world. As you’ll see in the next posts the game is growing in intensity and is getting more and more interesting after a slow start due to the bad weather and the diplomatic situation.

[color="#008080"]February 1805[/color]

The weather is horrible all the entire month long and the troops remain in their winter quarters. Move them is needlessly losing force through attrition. The last week of the month I begin to move the body of Soult * inward despite the rain and I check firsthand what I’ve commented. You should perceive the great amount of wear that forces suffer when moving compared to other AGEOD games, even when moving in good weather. The landing in England is a chimera without controlling the seas, but Napoleon’s army spends the winter in their place for not paying the high cost of moving with these climate conditions.

* Now that I think about it, I’ve not shown you the armies in detail. Before starting the hostilities I will make a diagram of the Napoleonic army to give you an idea at the right time.

In early February, after checking that the fleets do not receive replacements, I put them in passive posture to prioritize them in order to receive that replacements. That works and the units begin to receive ships. However recieve naval replacements in WON it’s not as easy as in other games, but more realistic, and the boats are built over time. The trouble is that the affected units will have to spend several months in port, but well… I was not going to sail them away with the powerful Royal Navy hovering nearby.

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[color="#008080"] The list of production units shows you the naval units receiving replacements and what it will take to finish their building. I have highlighted the Majesteux flagship unit.[/color]


Diplomacy
I highlight a diplomatic approchement between France, Spain and the Ottoman Sultan Selim III ([b] antonyo [/ b]). The talks have been good. We both have common enemies and we can benefit from an agreement, but so far remains distant because relations between the two countries are very low (-9).

25.jpg


However, the small German states on the Rhine, despite maintaining cordial relations with France, are unwilling to improve relations despite a couple of diplomats sent to each country.

Another important and worrying but predictable news is the signed alliance between Russia and Austria. Maybe that covenant is the reason that, despite the tensions, state visits take place between France and Austria. The Prussians also sent emissaries to France.

Spain and France sign a trade agreement that improve our relationships.

Anecdotally, a brief diplomatic incident bursts between Persia, Armenia and Russia in the form of war, but is soon resolved and peace is signed.

As for options a new option appears: recruitment abroad, which enables that national modifier to France. But because of the wide range of options between which I can choose, I will continue the policy of saving engagement points that I’m following in order to have more than enough points to spare. That way I can use them when it’s really worthy.
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Sesleri
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Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:10 pm

Subscribed! Hope this continues.

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loki100
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Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:40 pm

again fascinating stuff, do like the idea that rebuilding/expanding/repairing a fleet is a major undertaking. All helps to make any losses really hurt and leads to a cautious strategy?
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Dortmund
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Tue Jan 26, 2016 12:26 pm

Yes, Loki, it's more realistic than other AGEOD games where you can pay for a ship replacement one turn and magically receive it the next turn. It's a great game.

However there are bad things too that the developers are slowly taking care. As we play we're getting amazed by the hits the forces take when simply moving. I have to pay almost all of resources I earn each turn to simply mantain the losses taken by the wear and exhaustion, even when there's good weather. :bonk:


[color="#008080"]March 1805[/color]
Bad weather continues to be the keynote this month. However when the weather clears out Napoleon's army slowly moves away from the coast inland so Haplo’s fleet can’t have it located. At the same time this army moves towards the Rhine for an upcoming invasion of Austria or Hanover. Finally the only corps left in Boulogne is the Davout one, the most powerful, in order to protect the fleet that is building new ships and have a defensive force if there’s an English landing on the coast.

I move the army corps separately, without crowding. We're playing with half traffic penalty rule, which means that if many units cross the same territory at the same time, they suffer a cohesion drop and a movement delay.

The attachment 27.jpg is no longer available

[color="#008080"]Davout's corps remains on the coast. Further south you can see the Lannes and Murat corps in Paris. The rest of Napoleon's army is moving towards the highlighted areas.[/color]

At the beginning of the month two pontoon units are finished in Paris and they move to the corps that lacked them: the cavalry reserve of Murat and the Imperial Guard of Bessières. The army of Italy, gathered in Turin, is also enhanced by two new infantry divisions (a regular and a light division) and an artillery battery.

Napoleon receives disturbing news the third week of March: Britain and Russia are allied, and Austria also signes a defense treaty with Britain. A new coalition is being forged.
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loki100
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Tue Jan 26, 2016 4:33 pm

Dortmund wrote:Yes, Loki, it's more realistic than other AGEOD games where you can pay for a ship replacement one turn and magically receive it the next turn. It's a great game.

However there are bad things too that the developers are slowly taking care. As we play we're getting amazed by the hits the forces take when simply moving. I have to pay almost all of resources I earn each turn to simply mantain the losses taken by the wear and exhaustion, even when there's good weather.


that was one of the things that frustrated me with the original NCP, you could lose so much cohesion trying to move that some provinces it was impossible to actually exit - especially with poor commanders and in winter. I don't know if it is a deliberate attempt to model desertion etc (not sure this was especially a problem in the Napoleonic wars?) or an unintended consequence of the weekly turns as I've not encountered this as a problem in any of their other games.
AJE The Hero, The Traitor and The Barbarian
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Dortmund
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Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:01 pm

[color="#008080"]April 1805
[/color]


April comes with a new option of raising new taxes in order to earn some money if you spend 10 engagement points. I select it without hesitation. There’s few money having to use it in new replacements that fill the attrition losses.

As for diplomacy there are important news. Earlier this month we learn that Austria and Britain sign an alliance with Prussia. But these are not the only treaties: the Kingdom of Sicily offers a defensive treaty to Britain, which accepts. Austria, Hannover, Georgia and Russia fall into the alliance too. The thing starts to get interesting, as you can see.

In the second week, we heard that Britain has created the Third Coalition with Russia and the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. Therefore these two countries automatically declare war on France. In addition, the Kingdom of Sicily also declares war to France emboldened after signing an alliance with Britain.

28.jpg


Therefore I see the need to move to Austria and start pulling the strings to declare war before this country enters the coalition. So I forge a casus belli in order to declare war on Austria as soon as Napoleon's and Massena’s armies are ready. The Grande Armee of Napoleon heads for Austria leaving behind only the Davout, Murat and Augereau corps to protect France.

Curiously, during the second and third week the British land sailors in Ceuta and Galicia. These are small units that the British can create in coastal regions close to their fleets through regional decisions, and Haplo use them to test the defenses and disturb a little. So he can gather information about the Spanish forces in the north of the Iberian peninsula.

28.jpg

[color="#008080"]The british disembark sailors in Ceuta and Galicia. You can see too that my ally Fsansir is gathering a powerful force in Sevilla. He plans to invade Gibraltar. [/color]
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Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:04 pm

[color="#008080"]May 1805[/color]
This month there is little new. I press on to Bavaria with some delays due to bad weather. I will remain with Napoleon's army in this allied state until the outbreak of the war with Austria, wich will probably happen in June. I'll tell you in detail the situation when the war starts.

Now finally, after many months of serenity the war is about to start, so it’s a good time to review the troops.

30GrandeARmee.jpg



Napoleon's army is almost as started the game, but a couple of new pontoon units have joined the corps that lacked them. These units allow a much faster river crossing and as well include engineers, increasing the ability to attack or defend fortresses and the speed of entrenchment. All corps also have a headquarters containing Medical Services, instructors and signal units, allowing greater recovery of cohesion, an improvement of the unit’s experience, and more command points. Other units present in all corps are the supply wagons, enhancing firepower and helping to maintain your forces well fed when they are away from your cities.

The Grande Armee is the corps that directs Napoleon personally, aided as always by Marshal Berthier. In addition to units already described, it includes a reserve artillery directed by Caffarelli.

The Imperial Guard is forming a separate body but I’ll usually keep it next to or adjacent to the body of Napoleon. Its commander, Bessières, is excellent. The body consists of an infantry division, an artillery brigade, a brigade of light cavalry and a brigade of heavy cavalry. All units are, of course, elite.

The first corps is that of Bernadotte, a great but unmotivated general. It has two divisions of infantry and light cavalry.

The second corps is directed by Auguste de Marmont, a good administrator and gunner, containing two divisions of infantry and cavalry. Many of the soldiers are dutch, but there is no penalty thanks to General Grouchy, who heads one of the infantry divisions.

The third corps is led by Davout, one of the best French generals. The three infantry divisions are among the best in the French army. A division of light cavalry completes the corps.

Jean Soult leads the fourth corps. He’s one of the best French generals, not only for its excellent qualities, but also because he reduces by 25% the supply consumption. Soult has 4 infantry divisions, one light cavalry division and a brigade of corsican sharpshooters.

The fifth corps is under the command of Lannes, a charismatic and able leader who improves the cohesion of his troops. The body consists of three infantry divisions and light cavalry division.

The sixth corps is under the tutelage of Ney, a competent and charismatic general, as well as stubborn. Ney, understands perfectly the the light cavalry ability to hide movements and evade the enemy. Ney has three infantry divisions and one light cavalry division.

The seventh corps is led by Augereau, a charismatic general who manages to increase the cohesion of its troops... but little fitted to command. It has two infantry divisions (very good ones), and a cavalry and artillery brigade.

The last corps is that of Murat's cavalry reserve. Murat is an average commander, but has useful skills as charismatic and very fast rider. On the contrary he seems to delay too much the retreat from a battle. The corps contains medium and heavy cavalry divisions, but it also has a unit of dragoons on foot.

30GrandeARmee.jpg


The army of Italy, of course, is much smaller than that of Napoleon. Massena has a total of five corps. The army of Italy corps are not as prepared as the Grande Armee ones, and some corps lack pontoon units, which would help in northern Italy, full of rivers. Yet they are being constructed. But all corps have headquarters and supply units.

Massena’s corps, the armée d'Italie, is composed of a pair of cavalry divisions (medium and heavy), a light cavalry division, a horse artillery division and an artillery brigade. Massena is an excellent general in attack and defense, but his strategy value is medium. He is a hopeless looter, so people will see him as a tyrant and the loyalty to France is further reduced where he passes. He’s not too motivated, which reduces his units cohesion.

The "center", the most powerful corps, is run by Partouneaux, an insurgents persecutor. It has 5 infantry divisions.

The "left flank" is under the command of Duhesme, a hated occupier yet admired by his troops. He has 4 divisions in charge.

The "right wing", also with 4 divisions, is directed by Molitor, who seems to be the best overall Italy commander in numbers. Furthermore, to compensate the harsh Duhesme and Massena, he is a good civil administrator, increasing the loyalty of the people, and an officer training, which improves two conscript units to regular units per turn if he does not move.

The last corps is Gouvion’s one, a good defensive commander. Gouvion has only one Italian infantry division, a pair of light cavalry brigades, an artillery brigade and a horse artillery brigade. His mission now is to protect Genoa.
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