From Austerlitz to Waterloo

[isenchine]

Thank you, Tigranes.

You're right about culture. I changed the culture levels and should have reviewed all 205 cities

I'm surprised about London, I think that I always saw it as a port, even in the WWI map. Interesting idea about the fort. However, I will have to check the map as England is quite crowded.

Names are worse in French! Can I call them "Rheinbund" ?

PS: Epic is not really Epic, I just kept the name because I like it!

 

[Tigranes]

The thing about your London is that it looks more like Dover. Usual Londons are 1 tile north from yours and a little west. Which means you can attack London from the sea only from one coastal tile, which can be protected by a superior Royal Navy. Also being farther away from Continent means that attacker cannot charge London and return back to the port during the same turn. I fought numerous Multiplayer battles involving London -- geography always gave British the edge. Perhaps fort is not the ideal solution, because then London will not be able to benefit from all things Port related, from Custom Houses and Harbors to building Ships. But with the current geography the largest city on the planet is too vulnerable.

 

[isenchine]

My London is the London of Firaxis' WWI map (Jon Shafer), same location, as is Calais. I don't like this map as it is twisted. I might change it but it's a lot of work.

Ideally, for Civ4, European maps should have a wider channel, even if it is not accurate proportionally.

 

[Tigranes]

I thought with Platy's worldbuilder editing cities is really easy, but there is no function "Select All" in City Data mode. And holding Ctrl key does not allow to select multiple cities to apply changes at once. Replace ALL in WordPad (say Culture=100 to Culture=300) is much more faster and effective.

 

[Tigranes]

So, shall we expect any hot fix, or what? Some cities are starving because they did not even undergo their 1st expansion!

 

[isenchine]

Starving cities in 1805: sounds like a historical scenario!

Anyway, here it is:

Version 4.1 uploaded on 18 December 2015 (see 1st post for download link):

- Reduced a bit the power of Range Strike (Cannons, Ships) and added some damage inflicted also to attackers (dll)
- Reviewed Culture of 205 Cities upwards (Europe 1805)
- Reduced name of "Confederation of the Rhine" to "Rhine Confederation"

The Selection Screen is still a problem but you can always go back to France to have it resized correctly until you make your final choice.

Sorry about London, did not change anything. A new map is the way to go. Not before a couple of months though.

I just saw now your edit about universities. It just does not feel right for me to have universities (or monasteries, or cathedrals) in all cities, even at pop 3 or less. In my private mod, I have a tag iCitySizeBldPrereq. I don't want to implement this as this would mean changing XML schemas and barring Mac players from the mod. By the way, I did review all cities and placed universities in them only if they had one in 1805!

Last note for now: the mod can be rated in the download page (same goes for this thread).

 

[Tigranes]

Rating is given, as I am very much impressed with everything in this work. Naming those units -- how did you found Russian Cannon officers' names? Incredible level of detail, simply incredible

I was reading about Kubrick the other day and he wanted to make a movie about Napoleon, he has collected 18,000 books in his library about the Man but alas that project went unrealized. Good thing that this one did not.

 

[Tigranes]

Quick question about Spain in 1805. She kept switching sides and there was no war with Britain in 1805. And later Peninsular War -- any Python events about Spanish rebels fighting Napoleon? Spain drained a lot of Napoleon's forces, you know... The war on the peninsula lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814, and is regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation, significant for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla warfare. No Spanish guerrillas?

Also this is the first time I see 4 Christianities in any mod , any particular reason why Anglicanism was singled out from the vast many varieties of Protestantism?
Also perhaps Christianity needs to be renamed to Catholicism if you have 4 different creeds in your mod.

 

[isenchine]

Thank you very much for the rating!

I don't guarantee that all the Russian cannon officers' names are indeed what they claim to be, but all were Commanders in the Russian army during the Patriotic War of 1812. I just fell short of three names...

I read about Kubrick. Difficult for a perfectionnist like him to finish such a work. Me, I was pushed by Napoleon himself. The man wanted his revenge!

I'm not sure to understand what you mean about Spain. Spain is at war with the UK at the beginning of the Europe 1805 scenario, as it was really. The battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 also saw some important losses for the Spanish Navy (from Wikipedia: "The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost").

Later, the Spanish guerilla certainly took its toll on Napoleon, but it's an open scenario and I don't really plan to add Python events for the time being.

Anglicanism? Because of England? It always felt singular to me, or perhaps should I say "insular"!

I thought of renaming Christianity to Catholicism. In the end, I wonder why I bothered about religion at all!

 

[Tigranes]

I'm not sure to understand what you mean about Spain. Spain is at war with the UK at the beginning of the Europe 1805 scenario, as it was really. The battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 also saw some important losses for the Spanish Navy (from Wikipedia: "The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost").

Later, the Spanish guerilla certainly took its toll on Napoleon, but it's an open scenario and I don't really plan to add Python events for the time being.

After Trafalgar, Godoy withdrew from the Continental System that Napoleon had devised to combat Britain, only to join it again in 1807 after Napoleon had defeated the Prussians.

After Trafalgar the only important military actions between Spain and Britain was failed attempt in Argentina. Even though at 1805 both nation been at war -- in just 3 years things will change to complete opposite with Peninsular War and stay like that for the duration of Napoleon's reign. Napoleon said of the conflict, "It was [the Spanish war] that overthrew me. All my disasters can be traced back to this fatal knot". I think this admitting in itself (even though history does not agree with him) deserves making Spain to hate France more than Britain. I know it is hard to accomplish without event, AI will hate Britain and love France till the game ends, but given the toll Spain took on Napoleon's Empire you could perhaps leave things as they are but influence Spanish attitude with diplo modifiers. Like it fights Britain but likes her more than France and will change sides with high probability...

 

[isenchine]

I see what you mean but let's be clear: technically speaking, Spain remained at war with Britain until July 1808. Until then, Spain remained the ally of France and invaded Portugal together with them in 1807.

In the scenario, it gives the opportunity for Spain to conquer back Gibraltar!

The diplo modifiers are currently like this:

France Vs. UK: -8 from both sides. Anyway, after that I made them permanently at war.

France Vs. Spain: -2 from both sides.

UK towards Spain: -4
Spain towards UK: -6

It's difficult to imagine anything in 1805 but animosity between the two countries.

However, the modifiers between France and Spain could be lowered further. Napoleon hated the Bourbons and in particular despised King Carlos IV of Spain who probably did not trust Napoleon more than he deserved.

I propose the following:
Spain towards UK: -4 instead of -6
France Vs. Spain: -6 from both sides instead of -2

What do you think?

PS: Python events could be complicated as these nations were all switching sides very easily. If you play a scenario with a certain line of conduct, you don't necessarily want a drastic change to be forced upon you. I'm not a fan of the "Revolutions" component for example. The solution might be a fourth scenario, in 1808... but not before the new map... in a couple of months... maybe!

 

[Tigranes]

With an open end scenario your reasoning makes a lot of sense. My line of reasoning is always about playing some loose "history simulator", I rarely play random maps.

Unfortunately AI ineptitude makes all these a minor issue. After 15 turns only I almost managed to destroy half of the Royal Navy ... thanks to onshore batteries and my few ships finishing off the stupid Brits who park outside my cities, where my cannons can damage them badly.

I wanted to complain about France having not a single Ship of the Line, but now realized that in the hands of human player France does not need any buffing. In the same 15 turns I made Austria and Naples my vassals, Turkey declared war and was defeated. Russia payed 140 gold just to make peace with me, Prussia gave me a city for peace, only Sweden is acting out and only because I lack a fleet to land in Scandinavia. By the way, what role do the Americans play in this scenario, with no cities or events? Just bought their Democracy to rush by some Ship of the Lines after 9 turns of anarchy!

 

[isenchine]

No Ships of the Line for the French is a deliberate move to represent their weakened navy after Trafalgar.

As for AI UK, I still have to see them land in continental Europe (same problem as for WWI scenario).

America in the scenario? I guess it's more of a to US players! Before this scenario, I was not aware of these "Barbary Wars". Well, I've seen them do what they are supposed to do: capture a city in North Africa and establish an outpost there. For a human player, it could be quite a challenging game!

I don't quite understand your last sentence, but I'll just add that - like in WWI scenario - America automatically gets whatever Tech England has researched.

 

[Tigranes]

Just bought their Democracy to rush buy some Ship of the Lines after 9 turns of anarchy!

I think there was a small typo in the last statement Napoleon payed 32K gold to purchase Democracy tech from civ America, which made Universal Suffrage available for France. It took 9 turns of anarchy to change civics as French, but now I can rush buy Ship of the Lines, as it took very long time to train them otherwise.

Who are Cardinalis Notus and Eurilis?

 

[isenchine]

Napoleon buying democracy: that doesn't sound like a historical scenario after all!

You mean the four Cardinalis? Boreas, Eurus, Notus and Zephyrus?

 

[Tigranes]

Napoleon buying democracy: that doesn't sound like a historical scenario after all!

Well, you never allowed for Louisiana to be sold to America for some cold hard cash.

Hey, a referendum ratifying the new constitution of the Consulate, which made Napoleon Bonaparte First Consul for life, was held on 10 May 1802. The official result showed 99.76% of voters in favour of the change. A referendum concerning the establishment of the French Empire was held in France in November 1804. The officially-announced result showed a nearly unanimous French electorate approving the change in Napoleon Bonaparte's status from First Consul to Emperor of the French. About seven million voters were called to participate, of which 52.80% abstained. Don't tarnish the reputation of the democratically elected Emperor of Frenchmen

 

[Tigranes]

Spoiler :

Ok this was fun

AI acted surprisingly smart, was able to go all the way to Revel and caught me off guard. Main army captured Smolensk. Main stupidity was the refusal to attack my single red Cannon parked next to Revel and bombarding them for 10+ turns! But they would attack any other unit on spot and would do some strategic road pillaging.

As usual my few euros:

1. Russian Ice promotion is absolutely useless and uninspiring trait and promotion for all the 3 scenarios. Felt like having nothing at all. Please change it to something similar but no connection with tundra or Ice, which you don't find on the battlefields of Europe. I propose Patriot promotion -- same bonus as Ice, but for the cultural borders. Meaning Russian units have larger probability to win inside cultural borders vs fighting in Germany or Italy.

2. Napoleon needs to have Aggressive train, instead of organized. If any leader ever deserves it in your mod (for some reason no one has ) -- that trait belongs to the Emperor.

3. I am not sure how winter affects Russians vs French. Different rate? Do the cultural borders affect that? Some info in Pedia in Game Concepts is needed.

4. For additional fun Napoleon unit could be a very nice Easter egg for these scenarios. Also Suvorov, Wellington, Blucher. I am pretty sure all the wars would stop if Napoleon were killed at some point. Perhaps auto peace and capitulation for the nation loosing her "Most Valuable Player"?

5. Perhaps Cannons in ports should only be able to have active defense shot on enemy ships , but regular range bombardment of the enemy on Coast tiles should be prohibited due to the stupidity of AI. Britain lost her entire Royal Navy to 4 french Frigates which would kill red/yellow British Ship of the lines damaged by Cannons.

6. For Russian 1812 was patriotic war, with Partisans playing important role. they may be weak to attack regular green units, but they would certainly be able to see what is going on around Smolensk after French captured it. And Pillage few roads perhaps. I propose to create new unit Partisan available to Spain and Russia only and only generated after the fall of their cities.

Spoiler :

Fun fact in 1805 game as Americans. The very same turn America captured her African capital -- Napoleon captured BOTH Berlin and Vienna

 

[isenchine]

Good for the fun!

I can't see your 1st image in spoiler.

About your Euros:

1 & 3: the ice promotion protects Russian units from the winter effects in the 1812 scenario only (2 damage against 8 per turn - Morale promotion: 4 damage). I agree that otherwise the promotion is a bit useless but it's 1 mod with 3 scenarios... While I can play with this winter effect in a "special" scenario (1812), I don't want to extend it to 1805 scenario because 1) it's more complicated to code (south of map) 2) the AI has no clue of it anyway. The Ice promotion is given to the Russian units by the "Russian" trait, which also gives them CITY_GARRISON1. "Units have larger probability to win inside cultural borders vs fighting in Germany or Italy": I don't know how to code that efficiently.

2) Napoleon's traits. Aggressive is not so good, City Raiders promotion only (instead of Combat1 that I don't want to give, you have to earn it on the battlefield!). Charismatic is more important with the <iLevelExperienceModifier>-25. And he has Organized trait because he was. Aggressive, everything is relative. He was declared war much more than he did declare war. Ferdinand, Blücher, Gustav IV Adolf and Muhammad Ali have the Aggressive trait.

4) That's an idea but I sticked to the rule "if a Leader then not a Unit". Yes, war would stop if Napoleon had died on the battlefield - but that would not be fun. Forced peace and then what? Oh... Suvorov died in 1800.

5) I don't know how to do that. Cannons are damaged too. Should I reduce Napoleon's navy even further?

6) Partisan unit. I don't really see what this unit could bring more than the other ones. Russia in 1812 scenario has 15 cities to produce musketmen (against 1 "French" city). Besides, pillaging roads and harrassing French troops was the role of the Cossacks. A partisan unit would best fit in Spanish guerrilla, but as discussed earlier, that is not yet on the tracks.

Thank you for this extended review and continue to have fun, with this Mod or with any other Mod!


PS/Edit: there is a "Hint" text about winter: "(Russian Scenario of 1812) Winter strikes from the first week of October to the last week of March. Unprepared units, who do not have the 'Ice' Promotion like Russian troops, will suffer more...". I agree that I should also have a "Concept" for that.

 

[Tigranes]

There is a traditional March promotion, units healing while moving. Russian trait can be healing while moving in cultural borders! Very unusual and must be easy to code...

 

[isenchine]

Well, the March promotion is coded in the dll and it's not easy for me to code it in C++. Not to mention that it would require another XML tag and thus make the Mod unplayable for Mac users...