More, and better units at the start of campaign?

[♠ Thomas Cochrane ♠]

I'll share some thoughts i've been having on having-good-units-at-the-beginning-of-the-campaign
I've only considered naval units - cus that's what i'm more interested in, and i'm not sure how this would constitute changes for land units, and more for ETW than NTW cus of timeframe, but I was thinking: instead of making ships classified as "first rates" for example, classify them due to their class, like Temeraire class being a later and infinitley more advanced class than [i'm not sure of what class the first HMS Victory that was lost was], for example. This way one can use good ships early on, but they would suck in comparrison to later ships. This also follows history and how ships like the old HMS Raisonable were kept in service through the Napoleonic wars as flagships, but even as a 64 gun ship it sucked ass, and wouldn't have been pitted against a 32 gun frigate, due to its unsturdy frame etc. I know its impossible to create a model for the first rates of the early 18th century, cus they looked SO different to the later ones featured in the game, but the stats could be recreated, and with new naval innovation researched new classes of ships would become available. This is very doable, but not sure if its possible to make the older classes obsolete with new technologies, or if construction could only be linked to the building itself.

some feedback sil vous plait.

Cheers,
Le Loup des Mers.

[omaraca]

I concur with what you are saying with the Navy and agree the the fleets should be larger with differnt class ships that will not be available in the future but where present at Trafalgar. I will do some research on the Navys of that time but "first rate" was a description for ships over a certian size and cannons available. I think if you can create these ships but have them not be buildable and when sunk they are lost and must be replaced with a newer model and if you do not spend the money to build a fleet you will loose the seas and your economy suffers.

As for the land units at least for France, as that is where my knowledge is based, I know that in 1805 the French had the best trained army in the field. That was why he was so successful in 1805 and at Austerlitz. Here we have excellant troops that disappeared later in time as Napoleon was required to increase his army and had to relay on younger less experienced and poorly trained troops later on. I am not sure how you reflect this in the game but instead of increasing the experience with new buildings for France, it should not get units with chevrons straight out but only earn the chevrons in battle. The later armies relied on the officers more. As for calvary it was not as good in 1805 but by 1807 was at its prime, but some of their superiority was due to their large numbers not necessarily superior horsemanship. The artillery for France was supperior throughout this time. Carbiniers, though different uniforms in 1805, were elite units and there were only 2 regiments throughout the napolenoic era. There were 12 Curiassier Regiments in 1805. As for the Dragoons, for france they were both calvary and infantry trained and thus were not good calvary only fair and often didn't have horses and were used as infantry also only fair. The fact that you get lancers at the start of the 1805 campaign is unrealistic as France did not use them till later in the empire. They were also converted Dragoon regiments. the first 10 Hussars regiments were also available in 1805 also. The artillery in the mods is most realistic. As for the old guard you know how I stand but they were the cream of the crop for France in both infantry and calvary and while I did not mention it in myother post they also had their artillary arm mainly horse artilary at thistime, and their marines and Sapeurs in 1805.

A lot if this is difficult with an Total War philosophy, as the idea for these games is to build technology or buildings to gain better troops and most of the other Total War games transend many years of development and building to create great armies and nations. In Napoleon Total War the time frame is much shorter and the units should already exist excpet for changes to artillery and warships which did improve with technology during this time. Here it was more about economy and being able to sustain your armies with said economy. While the tech tree works well in the other games it is not quite as good here and should instead focus on making money and getting support on the home front to continue the wars. It should also center more around diplomacy and treaties and alliances with buildings that grow diplomats with better negotiation skills. The other thing is that some of the minor nations could not build the massive armies they build when they are left idle which is why thier lands where fought over so much. Making an area a protectorate then watch it build three stacks that nerver do anything is unrealistic I am not sure how this would all work but some changs along these lines would be a more realistic representation of the times.

Please feel free to ask me questions if I have not been clear here.

Was also wondering if there was a way to get Lanes as one of the generals in the Europe Campaign?

[♠ Thomas Cochrane ♠]

I concur with what you are saying with the Navy and agree the the fleets should be larger with differnt class ships that will not be available in the future but where present at Trafalgar. I will do some research on the Navys of that time but "first rate" was a description for ships over a certian size and cannons available. I think if you can create these ships but have them not be buildable and when sunk they are lost and must be replaced with a newer model and if you do not spend the money to build a fleet you will loose the seas and your economy suffers.

Was also wondering if there was a way to get Lanes as one of the generals in the Europe Campaign?

haha yep I know about first rates mate, guess it does looks a bit stupid though. I meant to say that the unit should not be classified as JUST a first rate for example, but maybe a 120 Gun Nelson Class First Rate for example

also, who's Lanes? I cant find anything on a "Lanes" its very possible to make new generals, or just rename an existing one.

[omaraca]

Sorry about that, spelling error forgot an "n", Marshal Lannes, "One of Napoleon's closest marshals, Jean Lannes was a courageous fighter, excellent tactician", he is in the Italian campaign but not in the Europeon one, he died in 1809 at Aspern-Essling and I think they took him out of the Europe canpaign because of that. It would be nice to have him as he was one of the best, better than Ney definitely. He would have been one of the generals in 1805 as Ney wasn't even at Austerlitz so in 1805 you should see Davout, Bernadotte, Lannes, and Murat not Ney, and Oudinot and Solut should come up as new generals early in the selection area than they do. I am not adept at modding as I don't have a lot of time for it with work and family but love to play my Total War games as I have been a historian all my life, even have a Bachelor of Arts in History, my first love then had to go to business school and find a real job. I am a little older than most of you on the forums but have never lost the love for wargaming.