Napoleonic: Empires and Coalitions

[norlight]

I would like to try playing this.
At this point I can't think of any noticeable break of balance. Minor powers are definitely weaker at the start, but they all have good positions. And I really like the idea of coalitions and empires!

[VaeVictis]

I would like to try playing this.
At this point I can't think of any noticeable break of balance. Minor powers are definitely weaker at the start, but they all have good positions. And I really like the idea of coalitions and empires!

I am glad to hear you like the map and special rules. I had planned to run this back at the beginning of November, but I got side tracked with real life. I will look to start this up in January and will add you to the signups list under the forum games looking for players thread.

[norlight]

Oh, thanks VaeVictus.
I had not noticed that this was already in the process of creation before you said so. Thank you for signing me up!

[VaeVictis]

No problem and your welcome!

[pjkon]

I really like the coalitions and empires rules and I think the modifications to Prussia were good. I have to wonder about giving Spain an attack rout against England. I played England in 1700 with a similar map and found the nation to be a bit overpowered, so I see why you would want to weaken that power, but I do not think that this change does much in that regard, and harms Spain a bit because of increased English suspicion and hostility. The reason I think this is that Spain has little reason to ever use his attack rout. He can harm England a lot by tying up his units from a position from which he can hardly be driven back, but cannot gain anything himself from this action. It is clear just by counting units that he cannot hope to conquer England by himself, and I can see no other power with both the means and desire to help. Denmark-Norway will be occupied with Russian and Prussian matters and France has no northern fleet with which to attack. My advice would be to give France such a northern fleet unless you think this would weaken England to much. Overall I think this is a very minor problem if it is a problem at all The map changes seem to make this game well balanced overall, and other then England it is hard to see another overpowered nation. Russia probably comes closest. The weakest nation is Prussia, and given the likelihood for Swedish-Russian hostility that player will certainly have a fighting chance.

[VaeVictis]

I am pleased that you appreciate the new rules, they took some time to refine with the help of many players during the test game.

The reason I changed Spain and rearranged the sea spaces of the Atlantic was to mirror a similar dynamic as is felt between France and Britain in 1900. I realize that Spain has only 2 SC's rather than the 4 of 1900 France, but I believe that Spain needed the attack route for greater opportunity. In another variant I am currently running called 1740, Spain was arranged with no SC's bordering the Atlantic and fell prey to Britain without an avenue to rapidly gain access to the Atlantic. This allowed Britain to pick and choose the right time to strike and ferry armies down into the Iberian Peninsula.

I also believe that Britain's power is sufficiently curtailed by the scramble for Iceland with Denmark, the clashes with Prussia in northern Germany and France in the Low Countries and Western Germany, and the potential for conflict between Spain and Britain in the Atlantic. Your suggestion about the northern French fleet is intriguing and may be worth implementing if it appears overtly necessary after the first few games.

[VaeVictis]

Upon reviewing the map, I think pjkon's suggestion of F Brest is perhaps better than F Marseilles.

Additionally, I believe that France's access to Italy is too unfettered and need's to be reduced if the fleet is changed to Brest. Therefore, I propose the following map in contrast to the OP. F Marseilles has been replaced with F Brest and Marseilles has been caused to border Lorraine. This mirrors Austria's access to Italy, hopefully leveling the scales in northern Italy since the inhibition to French expansion of F Marseilles has been replaced with a more versatile army. Thoughts?