Napoleon Total War Multi-Player Strategy Guide for Newbs

[terminator acheron]

but then again

[terminator acheron]

did you know u had to wait 20 secs b4 you can post again

[terminator acheron]

i think that should be about 10 minutes - 20 seconds is way to short

[terminator acheron]

so can anyone tell me what a bogus post is

[Major Hemorrhoid]

It's a very basic guide which is meant only as a starting point for "newbs", Sup With That?. I tried to make it as simplistic and as short as possible, although my immense brain apparently made that impossible!



By the way terminator_acheron, a "bogus" post is any post that begins with the words "Major Hemorrhoid"!

[Guard Chasseur à Cheval]

most line infantry (except for the "elite" units) pretty much sucks

Disagree.

The cheap one-star general's bodyguard unit is usually a decent investment

It's a terrible investment. Your army will quickly rout when faced by an army commanded by a good general.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyLFj...eature=related
POM got his ass kicked here because he had a crap general.

[daniu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyLFj...eature=related
POM got his ass kicked here because he had a crap general.

No, he got his ass kicked because he performs a frontal charge into light infantry covered by line and cannons firing cannister shot.
The attack would probably have lasted longer if he had taken a better general, but that would just have resulted in his men dying instead of routing.

For the record, I usually take higher ranking generals myself.

[Guard Chasseur à Cheval]

The attack would probably have lasted longer if he had taken a better general, but that would just have resulted in his men dying instead of routing.

But he would fire few more shots at the enemy.

[daniu]

But he would fire few more shots at the enemy.

Well, it looks to me as if he was trying to go into melee...
but even if he got a few shots off, it would have made a difference of maybe 20 men against the light infantry.

[Strumf663]

Daniu is right. He stoppeh his line way too close to the skirms. I think he should of stopped when he got into range to avoid line inf fire. But yes, the cannon would have still owned him with canister.

Or he could have charged with his line, and disrupted the rest with lancers suicide style. But he stioll would have lost beacuse his opp had a better general and more elite line inf.

[Major Hemorrhoid]

Well Guard Chasseur A Cheval, it's possible that I used too strong of a word when I described my opinion of regular line infantry. "Sucks" may have been too strong a word. Perhaps "blows" is a better way to describe them. However, I still provide the new player with the option of bringing as many as seven line infantry units (hell, he can bring twenty for all I care!) to the battle anyway. Their square forming ability can come in handy if you're too noobish to fend of cavalry charges without line infantry. Still, the fact remains that they are slow, tire easily, have relatively poor accuracy, have slower reload times than they should have in comparison to rifle units, and only fire from the first rank of their formations! All ranks other than the first rank in a line infantry formation stand around with their thumbs up their asses until someone in the front rank dies, severly reducing the firepower of the unit as a whole. I have found ways to offset this "glitch", however I still prefer the skirmisher/light infantry units that employ a far larger percentage of their muskets/rifles in a firefight.

As far as the general's bodyguard unit goes, I'll admit to using a three star general on occasion, but a one star general usually suffices. Always remember though, that any additional stars on the general's shoulders increases the size of the gigantic "bull's eye" target that he already has on his chest! Most good players won't let an opponent's high ranking general survive the entire game, even if the opponent tries his best to conceal his expensive, high-ranking general.

By the way Guard Chasseur A Cheval, the POM lost because he doesn't know how to play the game, not because of any severely handicapped unit choices on his part (although his choice of units could have been better).

[Aanker]

Seems as if when he got his units back from routing, he never even attempted to reform and attack in cohesion, instead his units were sent in piecemeal. I didn't watch the beginning of the video (I was only interested in the fact that the Prince of Macedon had actually posted a defeat), but I suspect that was the case even while he was initiating his first attack.

Also, it seems as if he wanted to attack line-to-line, instead of using his greater maneuverability to flank his enemy.

As for the Line Infantry... I think it would be worth it to bring up the fact that skirmisher-heavy builds are mainly, if not only, effective on flat maps. Otherwise, there are far better builds than the 70%-skirmisher armies (I am not a grand 'builder' myself - in fact I rarely put any considerable time into my builds - but there should be some experienced players here with useful knowledge on this area).

[Major Hemorrhoid]

You're quite right Aanker, skirmisher "spam" builds are far more effective on flat featureless or flat semi-featureless maps. However they and similar builds can be quite effective on other maps as well. The bottom line is that if you suck at playing the game, NO build is going to save your ass! However, in a close game with evenly matched opponents, bringing the better build to the fight just might tip the balance of the game in your favor.

[Aanker]

You're quite right Aanker, skirmisher "spam" builds are far more effective on flat featureless or flat semi-featureless maps.

Bah, I just noticed that I keep stating the same facts over and over again. I believe this is the third or fourth time you have given me that answer ...

Still... Regarding the skirmishers, I think that...

...Oops.

Am I getting senile at this very young age? It's a bad sign... A bad sign indeed.

[Major Hemorrhoid]

<Aanker





I'm almost fifty Aanker, and sharp as a..........what is that long, thin thing made out of leather called again?

[eleftherios]

Very good point, Danweck! The main problem with the Ottoman's is that their artillery is expensive, and on top of that, it also sucks! If you read my guide closely, you'll see that I advised "newbs" on what factions are best based on "no rules" games. However, I love using the Ottoman's in "no artillery" and "cavalry only" games! They are EXTREMELY effective when employed under these circumstances!

However Danweck, because you brought it up, I have decided to include what I feel is quite possibly the sixth most powerful NTW faction in my guide (even in "no rules" games), none other than your beloved Ottoman Empire!

Ottomen have the second heaviest cannnons in the game (18lbr), after the French grand battery, and the second heaviest howitzers in the game that also have the precision abilitiy after the Russian 10 and 20 lbr Unicorns.

[Major Hemorrhoid]

Well eleftherios, if your main goal with your artillery is knocking buildings or walls down, the Ottoman artillery is excellent! However, for field battles I've found their artillery somewhat lacking. First of all, the Ottoman 18 pounder cannon has a firepower rating of 35, accuracy rating of 35, and a reload rating of 30, (compared to the French 12 pounder cannon which has an accuaracy rating of 50, reload rating of 40, and a firepower rating of 30) making it very effective at knocking buidlings and walls down, but not so effective in a field battle. The Ottoman's howitzers really suck, with a firepower rating of 18, accuracy rating of 35, and a slow reload rating of 20 at an insanely high cost of 1,080 gold per unit (compared to the French howitzer's accuracy rating of 50, reload rating of 30, firepower rating of 18, and cost of a paultry 890 gold per unit)! As far as the Ottoman mortars go, they suck even worse than their howitzers! They have a firepower rating of 70 (but you rarely actually hit anything with them), a terrible accuracy rating of 10, and an absolutely atrocious reload rating of 5. Add to all this the fact that they have no horse artillery at all, and it should be apparent that Ottoman artillery sucks when utilized in field battles. Overall, the Ottoman artillery probably is very good in siege battles (which I never play), but I definitely find their artillery units overpriced and lacking in effectiveness when it comes to field battles. However eleftherios, I do find that the good Ottoman infantry and excellent Ottoman cavalry does compensate for their terrible artillery, to a degree at least.

[Major Hemorrhoid]

I have added a small "tactical advice for newbs" section to my guide. Hopefully, it will be of some use to a few of you "newbs" out there. As always any member input is appreciated, however the guide is probably too long as is, so I can't really add much more to it without risking confusing the poor little buggers too much. Just joking. "Newbs" are awesome! Without "newbs", I couldn't win ANY games!

[De Soto]

NAPOLEON TOTAL WAR MULTI-PLAYER STRATEGY GUIDE FOR NEWBS (Land Battles Only)

(A) Faction Selection:
The six most powerful factions when used in "no rules" battles starting with the most powerful, and ending with the least powerful:
1. France (good infantry, very good artillery, and very good cavalry)
2. Great Britain (very good infantry, good artillery, and average cavalry)
3. Russia (average infantry, very good artillery, and good cavalry).
4. Prussia (very good infantry, poor artillery, and good cavalry)
5. Austria (good infantry, average artillery, and good cavalry)
6. Ottoman Empire (good infantry, very poor artillery, and very good cavalry)
Select one of these factions, preferably France. There is no sense in handicapping yourself from the start by choosing an underpowered faction and being immediately "steam-rolled" by your opponent.

(B) Map Selection:
Map selection isn't tremendously important for newbs. You're probably going to get your rear end handed to you no matter what map you play on. Besides, you need to learn them all and then decide which ones fit your style of play the best.

(C) Unit Selection and Basic Tactics:
Unit selection and tactics are however extremely important, even for newbs. You'll need a large contingent of skirmishers and light infantry simply to offset the hoards of skirmishers and light infantry that your opponent will probably throw at you (somewhere around six to eight units of skirmishers and or light infantry units should suffice), a relatively large amount of artillery (three units should do, one supporting each of your flanks, and one supporting your center), and adequate cavalry. This is the tough one, as your opponent will bring anywhere between zero and twenty units of cavalry to the battle! However, most people probably bring somewhere between four and eight cavalry units to most of their games, usually stationing half of their cavalry on each of their flanks to counter movements by enemy cavalry around their flanks, which is what you should do. Also, all or at least the vast majority of your cavalry should be lancers (sometimes referred to as "uhlans") if they are available to your chosen faction. When you need to charge one of your opponent's units with your lancer cavalry units, charge your opponent while your cavalry is in a three or four rank linear formation (avoid the "diamond" formation unless your goal is penetration instead of inflicting maximum carnage on your opponent's units) taking care NOT to charge his unit from the same angle of attack with more than one unit of lancers, which creates a "traffic jam" and blunts the effectiveness of your lancer's charge bonus. Anyway, charge, disengage, and charge again until the desired results are achieved, you decide your cavalry has had enough, or your cavalry routs!
Helpful Tip: If your cavalry is caught up in melee with a unit which is about to rout (red), simply right mouse button click on an area behind the enemy unit after selecting one of your cavalry units, and run a couple of your horsemen beyond the melee. This will normally cause the ememy unit to immediately rout, making it unecessary to disengage your cavalry and engage in another cavalry charge in order to rout the enemy unit.

As strange as it sounds, most line infantry (except for the "elite" units) pretty much sucks and is therefore optional. About the only good thing about it is that it has the abilty to form squares (which transforms your line infantry into cavalry massacreing, Terminator-like cyborgs the second you click on the "form square" icon), but as you improve your reaction times, you'll quickly learn how to fend of cavalry attacks using a combination of artillery, skirmishers, light infantry, and your own cavalry with counter-charges.
The cheap one-star general's bodyguard unit is usually a decent investment, if for no other reason than it makes a good late game "damn, all my cavalry is dead" stop-gap unit, since you will probably (and should) try harder to keep it alive than the rest of your cavalry units. Higher ranking general's bodyguard units are pretty much a waste of money, since your opponent will "snipe" them almost as soon as the game starts whereas your one-star general at least has a small chance of surviving into the late stages of the game. Still, I suppose you could attempt to hide your high ranking general near the edge of the map somewhere should you decide to invest the excessive amount of funds required to purchase one. Since his "morale bonus" applies to your entire army regardless of where your general is located, this may actually be a viable strategy in some cases. However, don't be surprised if your opponent routs and/or kills your expensive, high ranking general with a fast moving cavalry unit while you concentrate on the actual battle. This will have the unfortunate consequence of causing a massive morale drop for your entire army, and very likely cause all or most of your army to immediately "chain rout". This is another reason why I avoid wasting money on high ranking generals. The cheap, one-star general seems to me to be a much better investment. Hell, with enough practice you may even learn how to sneak your crappy one-star general close enough to your units during the heat of battle to actually use his special abilities once or twice before he gets "sniped", but normally that's a relatively futile endeavor against a good player.

So there you have it:
1. 6-8 units of skirmishers/light infantry.
2. 4-8 units of cavalry (preferably lancer cavalry).
3. 3 units of artillery (preferably howitzers with maybe one cannon mixed in until you learn how to use the longer ranged, more deadly cannons effectively).
4. 1 one-star general's bodyguard unit.
5. Add up to as many as a half dozen units of various kinds of line infantry if you are encountering problems with enemy cavalry routing your skirmishers/light infantry and/or artillery units.
You'll need to experiment with different combinations of units to find out which ones work the best for you, however this guide's recommendations are as good a place as any for a "newb" to start.

I will now touch briefly on some very basic tactics (we have already briefly covered some basic cavalry tactics earlier in this section) which can be utilized to good effect while playing Napoleon Total War. Basically, the more firepower you can bring to bear on your opponent (the more guys you have shooting at his guys) the faster your opponent will "break" (the faster his units will rout). This can be accomplished in several ways, first and foremost would be any kind of flanking attack (attacking either the right or left side of your opponent's army). By flanking the enemy with your infantry, artillery, and ranged attack cavalry units you can fire into your opponent's units using "enfilading" fire (or fire from the side which travels down the length of your opponent's units). This, and firing at the enemy's units from the rear has a devistatingly detrimental effect on your opponent's units' morale. Once you have achieved local force superiority on one (envelopement) or both (double envelopement) of your enemy's flanks (actually, you can envelope his flanks without force superiority, but the envelopement tactic works far better if you can achieve at least a slight local numerical superiority over your opponent), you should press your attack by trying to position your forces so that they can blast your opponent's units with enfilading and rear fire. As soon as you see any of your opponent's units wavering (turning red), you should swiftly charge in your melee cavalry (preferably lancers which you should have already positioned in such a way as to be able to charge the enemy's wavering units without having to traverse too much ground, or having to charge through a rain of enemy fire), ranged attack cavalry (if they aren't busy using their ranged attack capabilty to support other attacks) and/or infantry (preferably line infantry which is far better at melee than skirmishers or light infantry {again, only if they aren't busy using their ranged attack capability in support of other attacks}) to deliver the "coup de gras" or "blow of mercy" (death blow) to your enemy's wavering units. In some situations (depending on the map and positioning of your opponent's army) you may have no alternative but to launch a frontal assault into the center of your opponent's lines. In this case, be prepared for extremely heavy casualties, because such battles are normally blood baths. You can still use similar tactics as in a flanking attack however, if you can maneuver some or your units precisely enough, or your opponent makes the common mistake of not managing his units' "facing" (the direction his units are facing) well enough. Of course it goes without saying that your opponent is not just going to sit there and allow you to envelope one or both of his flanks or smash through his center (unless of course, you're playing against another newb) without trying to stop you! This is where the "chess-like" strategy of the game comes into effect, and the only way to learn this facet of the game is by playing against human opponents (the game's artificial intelligence is far too predictable to be of any use whatsoever in this area). I can however tell you that while you're trying to envelope one or both of your opponent's flanks or smash through his center, a good player will probably be trying to do the exact same thing to you!

(D) Game Selection:
Try your best to find unranked games without rules, although that may be nearly impossible. The next best thing is any unranked games where the rules are relatively unrestrictive. Of course, if you don't mind seeing your generalship rating plummet to one star within a couple of days and would rather play in ranked games, be my guest. Extremely restrictive ("no artillery", "only one unit", "only cavalry", "only infantry", etc.) games are designed for the more experienced players, and you newbs need to learn how to use the various units in combination before attempting to play in these highly specialized games.

(E) Gaming Etiquette:
Always congratulate your opponent/opponents on a game well played (even if he/they sucked) by sending a "gg" message to him/them, of course unless he/they "rage quit", in which case that would be impossible. Also, refrain from sending messages containing foul language while gaming, and if you are the victim of foul language and/or taunting, name-calling, or any other form of bad behavior, and you find such behavior offensive (I actually thoroughly enjoy such behavior on the part of my opponent/opponents, because it means that I was able to "get under his/their skin"), simply disconnect from the game and find a game where the players appear to be less "unstable".This is where compiling a list of "friends" who are not a-holes pays BIG dividends!

If you would like to see some LGA clan members beating up on some unfortunate newbs, here's the link www.youtube.com/hafesie . The guy who makes the videos (ccqwert7 {pyramidforce}) does outstanding work, even if he is LGA.

Also, this link may be helpful http://www.youtube.com/user/saiedz#p/u/0FCSHnRYpMWR if you would like to witness how pros (such as myself for example) whip up on the so called "Leet" Napoleon Total War players! Enjoy!

tl;dr

too many smilies.

[daniu]

tl;dr

too many smilies.

Seriously, you had to quote the whole thing?