The Late, Great AAR

[Happycat]

Well, the server crash took out the AAR of the game that Borsook and I are engaged in.

But here's the good news! I have decided to repost the missing thumbnails, and although the detailed reporting of the first year or so of the campaign will be missing, I will prepare a summary to bring things up to date.

A reminder, the campaign game we are playing is giving the French "minor" help to compensate for their manpower situation. Borsook and I have played this game a few times now, and feel that the French are a bit underpowered. It certainly appears that the little bit of assistance is paying off for the French this time, as you will soon see...

[Happycat]

Here are the screenies that evaporated when the server melted down.

These cover the period from the beginning of the war to November 25, 1806.

The major events during this time were:

1. Collapse of Austria
2. A major battle in mid-Atlantic which saw the French Navy wiped out, and severe damage to the Royal Navy.
3. A quick collapse of Saxony, but Prussia continues to hold out.
4. There has been no Austrian revolt yet.
5. Britain has been quiet, other than privateers and frigates preying on French merchant shipping.

[Happycat]

December 15, 1806 to July 3, 1807. Sorry that some of these are in counter symbols rather than the pretty little images most people seem to prefer. My preferences run towards the counters, and when the server ate the AAR, I had decided to not re-post the information. However, now that I have changed my mind, I have to work with the images as they are, not as we might wish them to be.

So the events of this period have been focused within Prussia, and it has been a long a bloody fight. The French have a technological edge over the Coalition at the moment, and when they make up their minds to do so, the French can punch holes in my line wherever they like.

During this time the Royal Navy has continued to keep busy hunting down French merchants. I don't think anything is getting through to France at all.

[IainMcNeil]

Thanks Happycat - i know how frustrating it is to lose this stuff!

[Happycat]

Thanks Happycat - i know how frustrating it is to lose this stuff!

It's no big deal.

[joerock22]

Yes, thanks for reposting. It's fun to compare where we are in our respective campaigns (minor French advantage). In my game, it's August 1808 and the front line cities are still Riga and Kiev. At one point, I didn't expect Russia to see 1809, but my opponent let me off the hook by not coming after me when I was reeling. An Austrian revolt timed with a British landing helped; it gave Russia time to rebuild her battered army. But your Russian army looks a lot stronger than mine did, and I give you a better chance to actually defeat the French in the end. I'd consider posting my own AAR, but I don't know anything about hosting images on the internet or posting them into a forum. Do you know anywhere I can host images for free, or do you have to pay to do that?

[firepowerjohan]

To em it seems game is balanced in latest patch? Joe, you played with minor French advantage I guess next time you will play with even difficulty since as you said France coudl have finished you off if they wanted?

[joerock22]

Winter would have prevented my opponent from finishing me off, but he certainly could have taken Kiev and Riga. Russia is already having problems with pp. We played two games on the 1.02 beta patch at even advantage, and both games the Coalition was in Paris by May 1808. I don't know if the changes in the 1.06 patch would allow the French player to last much longer, but we might have to give it a try. So far, minor French advantage on the 1.06 patch has given us the most competetive game by far.

[Happycat]

Yes, thanks for reposting. It's fun to compare where we are in our respective campaigns (minor French advantage). In my game, it's August 1808 and the front line cities are still Riga and Kiev. At one point, I didn't expect Russia to see 1809, but my opponent let me off the hook by not coming after me when I was reeling. An Austrian revolt timed with a British landing helped; it gave Russia time to rebuild her battered army. But your Russian army looks a lot stronger than mine did, and I give you a better chance to actually defeat the French in the end. I'd consider posting my own AAR, but I don't know anything about hosting images on the internet or posting them into a forum. Do you know anywhere I can host images for free, or do you have to pay to do that?

For free filehosting, try these. You will have to put up with some advertising, but just keep clicking "pass" when offered something. These sites are otherwise safe, according to McAfee Siteadvisor. They are both easy to use, but I think overall I like imageshack the best, because of the thumbnailing option.

www.fileden.com

www.imageshack.us

[joerock22]

For free filehosting, try these. You will have to put up with some advertising, but just keep clicking "pass" when offered something. These sites are otherwise safe, according to McAfee Siteadvisor. They are both easy to use, but I think overall I like imageshack the best, because of the thumbnailing option.

www.fileden.com

www.imageshack.us

Thanks, Happycat. I will try this and see if I can't post something soon.

[Happycat]

July 23, 1807 through October 31, 1807 --- With the collapse of Prussia, and Russia reeling from continued French assaults, something needed to be done to take some of the heat off of the Russians. The British invaded Denmark, not out of any particular animosity to the Danes, but because it seems to offer the most secure way to establish a presence on the continent. The French have to advance up a very narrow corridor, and I am hoping that the British can defend this narrow strip of land long enough to allow the conquest of Copenhagen.

As the screen shots will show, the battle in Denmark has been a slow, grinding affair. The only thing that happened relatively quickly was the destruction of the Danish navy by British and Russian forces.

In the Bay of Biscay, a couple of more merchants were stopped, looted and destroyed. This is about the only success that the Coalition can point to right now.

In Russia, the French continue moving east---slow as a glacier, but just as unstoppable. I don't know if the minor French advantage inhibits Russian production, but I know my production is not very good right now, and I am not that optimistic that the Russians can hold off France. It now comes down to whether winter arrives soon or not.

[firepowerjohan]

Yes, handicap advantage lowers the Russian production you can check their war effort % in the Production panel. If it shows less than 100% then it is reduced due to handicap.

Wow, what an upcoming battle there seems to be soon in the east.

[Happycat]

The British in Denmark have been defeated. Over the next few months, from November 1807 to April 1808, the weather slowed the French down, but now they are established in force before Moscow and St. Petersburg. Moscow will probably fall, if I was to guess. St. Petersburg may well hold out, provided that I can keep a flow of units coming in to replace the defender in the fortress as it gets worn down. To this end, the British will be of some assistance.

If Russia falls, Britain faces the French alone.

The game continues to be entertaining, but my opponent and I both have concerns about the game balance. When playing with no advantage to either side, and assuming two players of roughly equal competence, it is likely that France will collapse by 1809 or 1810. But with just minor advantage give to France, they become unstoppable, and it would appear that the Coalition will almost always collapse by 1809 or 1810.

I also note that in our current game, there has not been even one offer of an Austrian revolt. Wonder if this has anything to do with the minor advantage given to France?

[Happycat]

Well, quite a disappointing ending. With minor French advantage, it was fairly easy for the French to finish off the Russians. My opponent did a very good job waiting through the winter of 1807/08. By June, he had captured Moscow and St. Petersburg. The minor advantage seems to have done the following:

1. Given the French extra war effort
2. Taken war effort off of Coalition allies, crippling the Russian economy in particular
3. Seems to eliminate any chance of an Austrian revolt (so, I had lots of money and manpower for Austria, but never got to use it)

One thing that would help is to add a third Russian capital. As it stands now, there are huge areas of the map not being used---all the action takes place around Prague, then Berlin, Koenigsburg, Smolensk, Moscow, St. Petersburg. In a game with minor advantage, Russia collapses too easily. In a standard game with no advantage to either side, the French still don't have enough manpower or horses. So either way, it's a problem.

I would love to see some changes to the map, but I guess that can't be done without an editor. But perhaps the manpower and horse levels for France can be modded in the scripts?