Countries that people like but shouldn’t be playable
Let me make a few things clear before the nationalists inevitably get on my case. I have nothing against the countries I’m about to talk about, as a matter of fact, I find their culture and histories fascinating. However, in the narrow scope of the Napoleonic Wars setting, these countries, based on historical facts, are ill fit to compete as one of the major powers. They are better off as minor powers unlockable perhaps as part of a mod, but not worth CA’s effort to balance as a playable faction. Decades of corruption and incompetence ate away at their governments and that corruption leaked over and sapped the quality of their militaries. If made playable, they would likely either be wildly historically inaccurate (see Warpath Expansion) or disappointing to their fans.
1)Spain- the government of this former Catholic fanatical superpower was in soap opera mode by the Napoleonic Wars, with a set of colonies that will be excluded from the game (no North America), a senile king, a slutty queen, and her boy toy minister who couldn’t decide whether to side with France or Britain, resulting in them being attacked by both. Aside from all that, Spain was also in a unique diplomatic position during the Peninsular War. Napoleon occupied their country by stealth and installed his brother onto the throne, resulting in a widespread guerrilla war. Neither of these concepts will work well for a faction under human control. As for the Spanish regular army, although they had their bright spots (see battle of Bailen), they were overall not in a proud state and consistently disappointed Wellington (a Spanish unit allowed the French to escape from the battle of Salamanca).
2)Turkey- they were a major power in the Egyptian campaign but in Europe, not so much. It appears from the trailers that they’ll be missing most of the Middle East, and will have to compete with the Europeans using only their Balkan territory. Their army, while exotic-looking, was low in quality. If the Turkish players were disappointed with the Ottoman Empire in ETW, there’s little reason for them to be any better during this period. We’re already missing Turkish units in the Limited Edition. Also, following the Egyptian campaign (which resulted in a French-Turkish treaty), the Turks didn’t engage in any more significant battles for the span of the Napoleonic Wars. Even in that campaign, much of the fighting was done by the Mamluks, who were substantially independent from the Ottomans (a point they’ll press after Napoleon left).
Will add if more come to mind...
But since you started the ball rolling I will add Sweden. Glorious past and a few great monarchs but their moment of greatness was well past by the 19th Century. The Dutch fall into this category but to an even greater extent.
Originally Posted by Swerg
