Hi countmc,
Having now played this scenario up to 1809. Achieving naval victory is much harder, I was able to, but only with much trial and error.
When you have a chance, I’d be interested to know the following:
- What was the score and around what month you achieved it?
- Did you attempt to invade England and what happened?
- How did you find the British Naval Blockade of French ports (what was the final total cost)?
Spain continues to be a nut that I find hard to crack.
I’m glad to hear it. It certainly was historically. Does this mean you failed to renew the Franco-Spanish alliance despite having achieved maritime supremacy?
Did you intend for the French Militia unit to now count against the total number of French units lost for purposes of ignoring zone of control?
Yes I did. During my recent research, I discovered that the National Guard served in part as a force pool for Napoleon’s regular army.
In the end, it seemed fitting that all the branches, navy, army, artillery, cavalry, gendarmes should be counted in determining the status of L’Élan Napoléonien and the Ignore ZOC effects as they all drew from France’s manpower reserve.
It would be interesting if, as in real history, the player could spend a large sum of money to create fortifications on the coastal cities. This was also what Napoleon did in reality to counter the incessant British naval raids and bombardments.
I believe this was my intent when I introduced the ability for the French player to build extra Coastal Fortresses after discovering the ‘Siege Warfare’ advance. Typically, though not always, most fortified veteran Régiment de Ligne units in a city with a CF will survive shore bombardment from a Three Decker.
I wanted to introduce this uncertainty factor so that the French player didn’t end up taking the defense of coastal France for granted and therefore that they should be wary of possible British invasions.
If I allowed the French to build even minor forts it would be near impossible for the AI to mount credible invasions were they could capture French coastal cities.
The new tech tree adds a whole new element and is much appreciated.
I felt that previously the French tended to run out of techs to research by mid-game and would therefore switch their science over to taxes. I therefore decided to add some extra techs and give the player some interesting rewards for doing so.
If you are still in mood to make changes I would recommend removing the General Confederation of the Rhine troops, letting Napoleon receive Saxon troops instead, and then using that slot for your lost Russian Guard Cavalry unit. You could put an event in place that if the allies take Dresden the Saxon troops revert to allied control (would be similar to how the Saxons changing sides in the Battle of Nations helped lead to Napoleons defeat in that battle).
You wouldn’t happen to have ancestors from the region would you?
As far as I was able to determine in my research, the Saxon contingents simply didn’t contribute as many troops as the Rhine Confederation did to Napoleon’s forces and therefore I opted for the latter.
As I may have indicated, starting in 1813, it is quite possible, if the right conditions are met, for Napoleon’s minor allies to defect. Contingents of Saxony and Brunswick may potentially, at that time, join the Allied camp.
Overall, remains devilishly hard and challenging. Has huge re-play value and a great scenario. I cannot wait to see what scenario you turn your considerable talents to next time.
As I may have mentioned in other threads, I’m currently working on the Battle of Alesia. The scenario attempts to reproduce the 3 day battle around the oppidum between Caesar’s Roman army and Vercingetorix' troops caught within the hill fort and the Gallic Relief force sent to free them.
It doesn’t have the same scope or scale as Napoleon but I hope players will find it interesting and fun to play nonetheless.
