From: robertt@mel.dbce.csiro.au (Robert Thompson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: EiA:  1792 Scenario
Keywords: EiA,Empires in Arms
Date: 7 Nov 92 02:36:38 GMT
Organization: CSIRO, Div. Building Constr. and Eng'ing, Melb., Australia



In article <1992Nov3.185703.6458@il.us.swissbank.com> jrtracy@sbcoc.com writes:
>Howdy from Perfidious Albion...
>
>Sorry to see the EiA thread slow down...I would like to 'hear' people's  
>comments on the 1792 scenario published in the _General_ a while back.  It  
>involved a few rules modifications to suit the era including lousy  
>foraging, potential imprisonment/execution of losing French generals (!),  
>a Bonaparte junior who must win battles to upgrade to the Emperor we've  
>come to despise by 1805, and other little details.  I've tried this a  
>couple of times at the last two AvalonCons in the States, and both were  
>fairly wild affairs.  Neither were completed, but in both the Brits were  
>pulling away by the time we broke up.  I would be interested to find out  
>if anyone has played this past 1797, and if so, how they feel it compares  
>with the 1805 start.  It seemed different enough to us that player's  
>strategies were significantly altered, at least in part due to the  
>disorientating effect of a relatively weak France.  Russia seemed the  
>consensus juggernaut, and suffered accordingly, while Spain showed a  
>little more muscle than in 1805.  Also, the Dutch have a 20-ship fleet  
>equal to the Royal Navy skill-wise, which, combined with weaker blockade  
>rules, *should* have cut into the strength of the British; unfortunately,  
>we didn't get our act together in time to take advantage of the mods.  Any  
>comments?
>
Ok, I was France in the only game of 1792 my group has played.

Generally we thought the whole thing was pretty good with a few exceptions.

1) The execution rule for French generals is unhistorical. Plenty of generals
got the chop, but not at the rank of the generals in the game. Only should
be used if the French player wants an "exciting time".

2) Generals should become available after the restoration. I recommend that
each French general that would have arrived under the Republic be given a
50% chance of arriving after the restoration.


Our game was posted as a 70k document to this newsgroup, so hopefully
interested parties are "informed" as to what happened.

In summary, Russia was a powerhouse and came within an hairsbreath of
becoming a Dominant power. Only losing most of their army fighting the
French and Turks in a climatic 2 month period stopped them. France was
initially weak losing the first three wars it was in. However the French
won the fourth war, defeating Austria and going on to "pay back" every
player that had picked on them. Having smashed every military opponent
the French were declared the unquestioned winners with their ally Spain
taking second place. So ours ended about 1797 also. Oh, yes, BTW, 
Bonaparte never got beyond a "C" leader. The Republic trashed everybody
without needing Napoleon's skills much. Unfortunatly our British player
was probably the most incompetent EiA player I have ever played with.
So Britain didn't get a fair go, and was not available to provide an
effective check to Russia or France becoming "overmighty".

Should people worry that this means you should still trash France first,
in this game I did a brilliant job running France (after making a inept
mess of the first 3 wars) once I got going. _And_ other players were
inept at just the right time and place to save me. It is a lesson that
France _can_ become the the terror of 1805, so you need to keep an eye
out, but not become totally paranoid.

Overall it worked well. The poor foraging worked well, along with
house rules that limited supply in mountain areas.

Next week we start a new 1805 campaign. Viva La Emperor!


_____________________________________________________________________________
| Robert Thompson  CSIRO Division of Building, Construction and Engineering |
|                  Post Office Box 56, Highett, Victoria, Australia   3190  |
| Internet: robertt@mel.dbce.csiro.au Tel:+61 3 252 6182 Fax:+61 3 252 6241 |
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|  Though this be madness, yet there is method in it - William Shakespeare  |
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