The Age of Napoleon PBEM v1.1

[Lord rebel]

I will not be able to post tomorrow so Monday

[Saladin23]

[Lord rebel]

Austrian Empire, January 1803

*Sicily is now part of the Austrian Empire! Its capital, Syracuse was totally undefended, I had to benefit from this, so I capture it. What a luck that Bonaparte didn’t saw this before me.

*The aggressive expansion policy of the French is disturbing; I want Munich to stay independent, a buffer zone between the French and Austrian Empires; touch Munich and I fear I will have to join the anti-French coalition.

*Prussian troops invade Austrian territory! Square 139, 45 has been taken by Prussian forces presumably on their way towards Dresden. Please I hope this was a misunderstanding and that you will give us this square back very soon because Prague needs it hardly.

[Eurisko]

Our struggle against the savages continues.

Let's try to keep this moving at a good speed.

[Nilat]

Originally posted by Lord rebel
*Prussian troops invade Austrian territory! Square 139, 45 has been taken by Prussian forces presumably on their way towards Dresden. Please I hope this was a misunderstanding and that you will give us this square back very soon because Prague needs it hardly.

We are sincerely sorry and we did not intend this to be a hostile action towards our fair neighbours. We will remove these as quickly as possible so your citizens in Prague may prosper.

[Patine]

France will magnanimously halt it's ambitions in Germany for the nonce, but will severely respond to attacks on what we've justly claimed, or, most certainly, the home territories.

[Saladin23]

A popular cartoon of the time.

19th January 1803
Outside Shorncliffe Camp
Folkestone, Kent
The United Kingdom

In a way typical of British weather it had begun to rain. For the past week all along the south coast of England the storm clouds had amassed like a great armada in the grey sky above, threatening to unleash a broadside upon the unsuspecting world below. But like all great build-ups it was turning out to be anti-climatic. What had promised to be a heavenly equivalent of grapeshot was at the moment only drizzle, like powder with too little saltpetre.

Regardless of the rain, it did little to effect the spirits of the officers of the 52nd Oxfordshire Light Infantry as they led their men through one of the many routine drills that had been developed at Shorncliffe specifically for light troops. Even had it been mild rain, they would have carried on as long as humanely possible, for such weather gave the men from Oxfordshire experience in fighting in less than ideal conditions. It also forced them to be more alert in case the rain helped to soften the sound of the enemy skirmishers, and given the possible effect that surprise could have in the duel when the two sides met it could be crucial. [1]

Having experienced a few weeks of the new training regime, the men of the 52nd did not mind carrying on since many of them had fought side by side with the more experienced officers in the deserts of Egypt two years ago. They also knew that whatever training they undertook organised by the commander of the 52nd was to improve themselves as soldiers first and foremost, unlike other regiments where men were flogged if they showed any hint of tiredness.

Watching the drill of the 52nd some distance away upon a hill overlooking the field in which the drill was being conducted was a small group of horsemen, a mixture of British officers and local officials. From the look of many of their faces, most wanted nothing more than to retire to the camp behind them, rather than get their suits and uniforms wet. They probably would have interrupted the conversation of the two men, who were keeping them from doing so, had they not been two very prominent figures in Britain.

The first was a former government minister dressed in a manner suggesting that he himself thought that it would not be long before was back in power. He wore a tailored jacket of a rich dark blue that was lined with expensive scarlet velvet whilst the buttons were of made from American silver. The black leather riding-boots had also been personally made for him and looked as though they had been bought yesterday. But it was his eyes that gave away his status. Like two icy spears, they were fixed upon the man who he was talking to with such fierceness, that it could have mistaken the man as being a harsh man, rather than the dedicated fanatic that he really was.

The other was a man whom the men of the 52nd had come to admire and love. He wore the red uniform and gold braiding of a British general, the scarlet facings of his jacket marking him out as the 52nd’s commander. He was a fairly tall man in his early forties with greying brown hair, though his lean young looking face could have made one think that he was just over thirty. The complete opposite of the other man, his dark brown eyes were full of warmth and confidence, accurately conveying him to be a learned listener, eager to try out and embrace new ideas, whilst at the same time dedicated to tackling new challenges when needed. He was a leader of men and a soldier’s general.

‘Even with only a few weeks of training in the new methods, Colonel Coote–Manningham and I have already seen a promising improvement in the men’s drill and conduct’ the general told the man confidently. ‘All I need is your support and so that I can write to Horse Guards urging them to train other light infantry in the new drill.’

The other man chuckled when he heard this. He took a few moments to choose his words carefully before replying. But both he and the general knew that even if proven in the field, there was little chance of there being full scale changes to the way the army was trained and used on the field unless the Duke of York sanctioned them.

‘Anything to improve the Army’s stamina, enthusiasm and conduct I would of course approve General Moore [2] if I was still Prime Minister rather than Henry Addington. If I was to take up your argument in the commons, it would be dismissed as unnecessary and just another attempt by William Pitt to have another go at dealing with that Corsican upstart in Paris. Sadly greed over duty has ruled through.’

At this point Pitt sighed and turned and looked in the direction of the coast. Moore understood what he meant.
To any Whig or Tory in Addington’s cabinet at Westminster, their thoughts would have been dismissed as sabre-rattling and paranoia. Had Bonaparte wanted war, why had he not pressed his advantage in 1802 when he had single-handedly defeated the coalition powers upon one battlefield after another? Instead they would have argued they had been able to contain the spread of republicanism and had ensured Britain’s access to those European markets that had been denied to her since 1789.

Looking across the Channel towards France and Europe however, both Moore and Pitt felt a feeling of foreboding. Although the ink resting upon the papers upon which the Treaty of Amiens was written was not even twelve months old, both could sense that the black clouds of war had already begin amassing upon the European continent. And would be unleashed soon.

‘Less than twelve months of peace and France is breaking it already.’ Pitt continued ‘It won’t be long now before Bonaparte goes that one step too far and re-ignites the war in Europe. I hear that there are plans to strengthen the defences on the south coast?’

‘There are plans’ Moore told him ‘I am hoping that recent events will push them ahead so that at the very least we have the structures in place to resist a French invasion. On that issue Horse Guards has agreed with the opinions of Vice Admiral Hood and myself of that tower we were up against in Corsica and are looking at constructing a system of them across the south coast.’

‘Indeed General, indeed.’ Pitt agreed. He took out a pocket watch. ‘Its almost five o’clock. I must leave you now so that I can get back to Walmar Castle and receive James Fox. Lord knows why he decided to put us together, but if I am to fight this government, I muster all the allies I can. Good day General.’

The two men shook hands and went took their parties their separate ways. If anything the timing of Pitt’s departure would allow Moore to recall the 52nd and prepare for the arrival of the 95th Regiment of the Foot tomorrow morning. Having heard of the new Baker rifle’s performance in the field, Moore was very interested in seeing what effect Shorncliffe’s tactics have upon their performance as well. He was curious to learn more about the ‘Rifles.’

*****

[1] At Shorncliffe, the development of a new training regime had a vital effect upon the conduct of British army in the Napoleonic Wars, particularly the regiments that would later make up the Light Brigade in the Peninsular War.

[2] I’ve decided upon following the exploit of General John Moore in this PBEM quite simply because he is largely an unsung hero of the Napoleonic Wars. Even Wellington has commented that the training methods that he employed (though didn’t create) and some of his engagements in the Peninsular War were vital to the success that he later enjoy. Unfortunately he was killed at the Battle of Corunna in 1809, saving what would eventually form the core of Wellington’s army in Portugal. He also had a moderately good field record.

IC: His Majesty’s Government has mobilised the troops of the East India Company and his Majesty’s army in India in response to the French attack upon our ally in Hyderabad. We also warn that if France continues her expansion into the German states we shall be forced to declare war.

His Majesty’s government condemns the seizure of Sicily but given that it was to restore order rather than outright conquest, we will not press the issue.

[Saladin23]

*Sicily is now part of the Austrian Empire! Its capital, Syracuse was totally undefended, I had to benefit from this, so I capture it. What a luck that Bonaparte didn’t saw this before me.

I did some checking and have discovered that the AI is having fun moving units around by ship. To put a stop to this (Valencia was next to be emptied btw) I’ve moved the ships to the nearest ports to unload their cargo. Given what’s happened, I’ve added the air flag to the European Infantry I gave to Fortresses to stop this in the future. You can get the new rules below:

[academia]

no news in mother russia

[Historical Atze]

Originally posted by Saladin23


I did some checking and have discovered that the AI is having fun moving units around by ship. To put a stop to this (Valencia was next to be emptied btw) I’ve moved the ships to the nearest ports to unload their cargo. Given what’s happened, I’ve added the air flag to the European Infantry I gave to Fortresses to stop this in the future. You can get the new rules below:

Which - if you don't mind that I interrupt - leads me to the question whether City Walls count for defending Air Units.

[Saladin23]

Which - if you don't mind that I interrupt - leads me to the question whether City Walls count for defending Air Units.

Atm my concern is that the AI is emptying its cities which is why I've done this for the sake of the PBEM. I'm assuming that the walls should have an effect though the European Infantry still have a good defence that should be able to stand up to most attacks. In any case when I checked they still put up a good enough fight.

The only other solution to stop the cities being emptied is to delete the entire european navy and remove their ability to build ships (which I'm seriously considering for 1.2).

[academia]

Originally posted by Saladin23

The only other solution to stop the cities being emptied is to delete the entire european navy and remove their ability to build ships (which I'm seriously considering for 1.2).

mmm... you may just remove their ability to build ships that transport units.

[Saladin23]

Actually Warships have a transport slot which is why there is a problem. Its my fault for not bringing this up earlier. I should stick this in the readme.

This is from the playtest PBEM:

House Rules:

Units being carried in ships that are sunk must be disbanded. The attacker needs to give the co-ordinates for where units need disbanding in their post.

Marines and shore parties are the only units that can be transported by warships.

Slaves can to be used only in the New World.

New cities cannot be built in Europe except razed cities.

Civ specific techs cannot be traded.

Units can not be traded.

I did it like this to try and simulate the role of marines on warships in the 18/19th Centuries.

Sorry about all of this, it seems that there are still a few things that need sorting in this scenario.

[Historical Atze]

What you could try is putting a 3 where 2 stands for air. I have seen this in many scenarios although it has some strange consequences (like I think walls don't count for them). Units of that type can't be shipped - I am not sure though if they can move over water themselves if they are given movement-points.

[Saladin23]

I've just tested your suggestion and it does work; the unit can no longer be transported. However I'm afraid that you are also right when you say that city walls don't count for them.

I decided then to double check the unit when it has the air unit tag. after testing the defence of the European Infantry against French Artilley several time when garrisoned in cities with and without city walls, I found that city walls do count towards the defence of the unit. The best solution is unfortunately use the air unit tag (although the unit's movement was moved to zero before the release of this version after it was found that ai was emptying the cities on land).

This incident has prompted me to give the rules a thorough checking over and so if its ok with you guys could we please play using this (final) version of the rules? I've sorted out the special unit attributes, removing all the errors I could find.