Notes on "Bonaparte"
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This scenario is now in its full release version. Thanks to all the playtesters who worked on the beta version in their own time, principally:

Don Gallagher
Daniel "Dirty-M" Mattsson
Jeroen Weterings
Gorgen Posse
Phillip Benz

Any errors, ommissions or inadequacies that remain are mine alone. If I've forgotten your contribution, please forgive me.

Fundamentals
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Basically, this is an out-and-out wargame. There are no settler-type units, so new cities and land improvement are out. Which is just as well, as this scenario is already massive!

It starts in May 1803, when Revolutionary France declared war on England and brought the Peace of Amiens to a sudden end. England and France will never make peace. (Even when the diplomats report that they have done!) All other diplomatic possibilities are open.

It ends in July 1815, just after the historical Battle of Waterloo that finally finished Napoleon. I could have chosen March 1821, when he died, but the scenario is fairly lengthy as it is. At 147 turns, it's not too bad though. If you want to play on, the scenario will let you, but the scores are frozen.

I've tried to make this as historically accurate as possible, given the limited number of troop types and the one-month game turns. The infantry units represent an active-service regiment (In the case of the British, an overseas-service brigade) of about 2000 men each; the cavalry, a regiment of 500 men+horses; and the artillery, 2-3 batteries totalling 18-20 pieces. At those scales, the starting strengths of the armies are about right.

The troop values "feel right" to me, but I'm open to comment.

The main thing to note at this stage, and it's really vital, is that  EVERY land square, with the exception of desert, mountain, tundra and swamp, contains a fortress. You can't see them, but they're there! You'll see the terrain marked "STACKABLE" instead. This allows armies to stack units together without risking loosing them all to one attack. Similarly, the English Channel and the area around Gibraltar has "Ocean Fortesses" that enable naval units to stack. Be careful, though. I didn't have the time or patience to do  all sea squares, and the area I chose was mainly to protect the computer against its idiot habit of stacking naval units in huge fleets.

The unit attack and defence values compensate for this and overall, the best form of defence is attack. However, proper Napoleonic concentration of force finally pays off, and not all conflicts lead to one side or the other being wiped out in move one. You'll find it really pays to group units of different types together, to get the best out of each.

Army Tactics
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Which brings me to how to fight these units. The Line Infantry/Musketeers/Fusiliers are cheap, and best for defence. Most nations have (or develop) Militia/Landwehr/Gendarmes which are even cheaper and OK for Home Defence. The Light Infantry/Grenadiers/Chasseurs are better, and also good for attack. They are 50-100% more expensive than line infantry. Even better for attack are the Heavy Cavalry (Cuirassiers, Dragoon Guards, Kurassiers). They are more mobile, but they are expensive.

Artillery is even better in attack, but Horse Artillery is VERY expensive, and Foot Artillery is SLOW. When attacking cities with modern Fortresses, Foot Artillery should be used to breach the ramparts if you want to prevent a massacre of your assault troops. Take your time and set up a proper seige.

Light Cavalry (Hussars, Light Dragoons, Chasseurs a Cheval) may seem of limited value at first. They are quite pricy (although not as bad as the Heavies) and have lowish attack values. Their (immense) value lies in scouting and screening.

They ignore Zones of Control, so can slip through enemy lines. They see 2 squares, so with their move of 4 can check out quite an area, spot enemy attacks coming and return to their lines in one move, especially on roads. If raiding, they can cause havoc to unprotected artillery and convoys behind enemy lines.

Because they ignore ZOC, and units can always move into a square occupied by another friendly unit, they can screen the penetration of stacks of their own infantry-artillery-heavy cav around blocking enemy fortresses/cities. This is a crucial tactic and you should never let yourself run out of light cavalry when on the offensive.

Dragoons are a sort of compromise between heavy and light cavalry. They move like heavies but have better hitting power than light. They can move across ZOC like light, and they also see 2. Good all-rounders.

Lanciers and Uhlans appear later in the scenario. Light Cavalry with an extra hitting force (but fragile if they loose a round of combat).

Of course, most nations have a few excellent Guard units, both infantry and cavalry, which cannot be built, but are raised automatically from time-to-time.

In conclusion - concentrate your forces (except in bad terrain without adequate forage for a large force) and you have the computer on the back foot. That means "on the defensive" if you're not a cricketer!

Naval Tactics
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No fortresses in every square here, unfortunately. Just in the Channel and around Gibraltar. Fleets should be able to stack like armies everywhere, but it would be too tedious to do every square, most of which would never see a fleet. Group your units in dense clumps for mutual support by all means, but don't stack them except to protect troopships or in squares marked "STACKABLE".

The ships fall into three categories:

Transport: Transports and Prames (French only), are for moving units  by sea. Transports can carry 1, Prames 2. Prames are Coastal and can only move 3. Useful for invading Britain, I suppose, M Bonaparte.

Scouting and Commerce Raiding: Xebecs, Brig-Sloops and Frigates. The latter two can see 2. Xebecs (a sort of fast, low-masted sloop) behave like submarines and are hard to spot. Fragile, though.

Line of Battle: Two- and Three-Deckers. Close-range sluggers. Not quick, but very tough.

Later, Advanced Naval Architecture allows Heavy Frigates which are Frigates powerful enough to stand up to Line-of-Battleships.

The Nations
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A few quick comments. 

The French
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The protagonists of the scenario. Biggest army, hardest VP total to achieve. Their Government form is basically Communism - not so far from the ideals of the Revolution! They get more free support for units (6) than the Monarchies (4) so can build the large army they are going to need. Army quality good: Infantry/cavalry about 50% veteran to start with, their famous artillery 100% veteran. (Boney was a gunner, so no wonder).

Navy good (40% veteran). Second best overall, but awkwardly split between the Med and the Channel.

Try to keep your alliance with the Spanish. They have a goodish navy and together you can hope to take on the Royal Navy. 

The English
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Should be British, strictly, but all the other nations called them English out of habit. Small army, even with the Portuguese. Their Government form is basically Republic, so the folks at home will get restless at too many units outside a 3 square radius of a friendly city. Remember, most squares have fortresses so your units don't have to stay in cities. You can build Prisons to help you with domestic unrest.

Very rich (bribe others to be allies?), and with good science. Nearer the Industrial Revolution than the others. Army units are very expensive to build (The English had no conscription until the First World War), but they are rather good. OK, I'm biased, but they did well historically. 

Use your outstanding navy (100% veteran) to keep the French at bay to begin with, and you have time to build up a reasonable army. Each unit costs 1 shield to support, though. Expansion is a problem. Spain and Norway/Sweden are the obvious routes to begin with. Then it just has to be France. Highish VP target, I have never won decisively with the English at Marshal (Deity) level.

The Austrians
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Napoleon's main continental opposition, in the real world. This time, it's up to your diplomacy. Below average infantry, outstanding cavalry and under-developed artillery. Tiny Navy. Good room for expansion to the south and west. Maybe even Turkey. You have to keep the Russians, French and Prussians sweet (most of the time) to allow your troops to move into the Balkans. 

Particular thanks to Don Gallagher here for his work on the Austrian/Prussian/Russian borders. They are a lot more accurate than they were at first, but I cannot get the Independents to attack any new cities (I set Barbarian activity at "None" when I set up the scenario as I didn't want then appearing at random, so this is a side effect, apparently) so there are some remaining inaccuracies. NOT Don's fault!
  
Initial cash flow problem. Build Traders. Moderate VP target.

The Prussians
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Surrounded by potential enemies! Probably the hardest to play well without exceptional diplomacy. Flatter everyone and build up your army. Forget naval power. Low VP target, and no wonder. Strangely, the computer always seems to do quite well when playing the Prussians.

The Russians
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Handicapped by their Government form (Despotism), science is a struggle and cash is always a problem. Should be played at Colonel, or at the most, General level. Your large number of cities allows you to build hordes of troops, though, especially the cheaper sort (due to your low productivity) so bully your tech out of your weaker neigbours. Easy expension to the south, but the vast distances and terrible road system make it difficult to switch your armies about. Maybe worth making a bid for naval supremacy in the Black Sea or the Baltic, but probably not both at once. High VP target, but you start off with a high score.

The Swedish
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Smallish, but good, army. Moderately sized and high quality navy. Lots of opportunity to expand in Scandinavia and a good defensive position at home. Look out for the Russians, who are your main rivals in the area.
Low VP target.

The Spanish
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Good sized, if rather inexperienced, navy. Terrible army. The worst. Still, your artillery is as good as the others' and you don't have many rivals, especially if you can keep the French on your side. Moderate-to-Low VP target, and all of North Africa, Sicily and perhaps Portugal to invade. Not a bad bet, really.
 
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Like my other scenario, units become veteran in the fires of battle. No Barracks or Port Facilities. The standard infantry move is 2. Roads multiply this by 2, not 3.
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OK. That's it for now. Mail me at netdesign@globalnet.co.uk with any feedback you may have. I'll still be interested to hear coments. The ones I had for "Colonies" were very useful and I shall be using them to make a better version, I hope.

John