Other Napoleonic Wars games or mods?

[Joseon194]

I just wanted to ask if anyone here knows other strategy games that take place in the Napoleonic era? Games such as Napoleon total war where you see the troops marching and fighting.

[Werewolfviking]

If you don't mind playing an old game there are the Cossacks games (http://store.steampowered.com/app/4880/)

[Pathfinder]

Imperial Glory is a little older than Empire TW. Very similar to it I believe, but set in the Napoleonic era.

[Didz]

The best attempt I've seen so far was Napoleon 1813 http://www.napoleonguide.com/wargames_nap1813.htm

It had all the right ideas but unfortunately was flawed in its execution and was basically unplayable.

Like a lot of designers the 1813 designers failed to follow the principles of William Siborne when modelling terrain and so all the battlefields when viewed from above appear flat.

In 1816 Siborne established the principle that when modelling battlefields intended to be viewed from above the vertical height needs to be exaggerated by a factor of three to offset the optical illusion caused by looking down on the ground. CA follows that principle but many other designers don't and their battlefields appear flat and boring as a result.

However, the biggest design problem was trying to match real time campaign movement with real time battle resolution. This never worked properly and caused repeated crashes. A turn based campaign system would have made this issue much easier to manage and avoided the problems.

[Faiakas]

I agree about Cossacks. Still a very good game.
Napoleon 1813 was my biggest disappointment. Totally right as Didz said. The game was unplayable.

There are couple games that Cannot compare with NTW but you can check them if you like.

The company Talonsoft released many years ago the Napoleonic games (Waterloo, Napoleon in Russia). Were decent turn base games for the particular time.
Also PyroStudios had released the game Imperial glory which was based on Total War.

Europa Universalis also has a module for the Napoleonic Era

The Latest game is from Paradox company and called March of the Eagles. You can check it on the Steam. Personally without having playing, it seems good.
Personally NTW is the best Napoleonic game at the moment BUT I cannot forget although there has been so many years since I first saw, the game that made me love Napoleonic Era and that was @ my Amiga 500: Fields of Glory(1994) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVmPhntrQu0)

Have Fun.

[Didz]

I owned pretty much all of the Talonsoft games, and was a member of the Napoleonic Online Wargame Group which used them pretty much exclusively at the time as there really wasn't much else available. As you say they were decent at the time, but not very realistic and prone to cheats and exploits. But no campaign mode on these games except for linked battles.

I owned Fields of Glory.

I'll have a look at March of the Eagles.

[Didz]

Ok! had a look at March of the Eagles and as far as I'm concerned it's a complete non-starter for me on two counts.

1. It uses the same useless real time campaign movement system used by EU games, which is the reason I never buy any of them either. In fact, it looks as though it has been built on the EU game engine.
2. Having watched several gameplay video's I've not seen any evidence of a battlefield mode, so I'm assuming that the baby-stepping armies just bump into each other and one or other wins, which isn't what I'm looking for either.

Basically, it looks like Paradox have done their usual trick of emphasizing all the boring bits of strategy gaming and skipped the interesting stuff. So, I would be giving them any money for their failed effort to impress me.

[Glabro]

What about Histwar: Napoleon?

[Mjarr]

Imperial Glory
-Basically Napoleon : Total War before there was NTW. Good diplomacy but unfortunately, otherwise quite lacking.

Histwar: Napoleon
-I have no comment on this one since I tried the demo and... I just can't get it to work properly. Tutorial broke the moment I touched something out of order and it crashed the moment I did something else afterwards. I should really look into it again if there's more recent demo out.

Napoleonic games which don't really fulfill the OP's criteria but are Napoleonic games anyway:

Talonsoft's Napoleonic games (also known as John Tiller's Battleground Napoleon)
-Playable, but very long-winded and prone to sillyness on par with Steel Panthers.

March of the Eagles
-Hearts of Iron meets Europa Universalis with some corners cut. Not bad, but it lacks depth in the long run and it is sort of unfinished.
(Random trivia: Was originally supposed to be Napoleon's Campaigns 2 before some dealship went into it)

Napoleon's Campaigns
-Decent, if bit buggy and replay value is pretty poor aside from self-imposed challenges. Basically just following icons as you give them orders and wait for results, since it uses wego system for turns. Once turn is over it executes AI's and player's moves at the same time and in case of combat, resolves them one at a time depending which one started first.

Commander : Napoleon at War
-Commander series taken to Napoleonic era. Unfortunately it is far too abstracted to work. If it was Panzer General in Napoleonic era instead of the mess it is, it would be at least ok.

Stuff I have heard of but not played personally, most of these won't fit the criteria either due mechanics or genre:

Campaigns on the Danube
Napoleon in Italy
Crown of Glory
Empires in Arms

Games which... sorta fit OP's description:

Waterloo (1989?)
-You basically assume role of Napoleon or Wellington at Waterloo, troops are represented by crude polygon blocks, and you can give orders to corps, their leaders etc with text commands. Couriers take time to send new orders and so on and so on. Pretty curious and fun in its own way, if extremely complex and tricky to get started. You really need the manual in some form because of the text parser.

Austerlitz (Can't remember when it was made)
-Same as the previous example, but focuses on the battle of Austerlitz.

Honourable mention: Napoleonic wars mod for Operation Flashpoint. Despite its ridiculous premise, they actually managed to get it somewhat playable for single player purposes (considering the game and especially engine we are talking about) if you know how to make your own custom battles in the mission editor and get the chain of command working.

There is also Mount & Blade Napoleonic Wars which is sort of melee-shooter-multiplayer cluster based on the Mount & Blade engine. Pretty good with still somewhat active community. Bit steep learning curve though. I am also under the impression Scourge of War : Waterloo is nearing release, but at very least it is work-in-progress.

[Didz]

What about Histwar: Napoleon?

I haven't looked at this one for a while now.

It was obviously a labour of love, by a Napoleonic fan but suffers from a lack of funding and resources. In a way it's a shame that it wasn't a kickstarter project or something as it might have attracted the funding to make it a more complete and polished product.

Based on my early game testing, what it does, it does well. But what it does is limited to battles only, there was no campaign element to it when I last looked.

My only other criticism is that it ignores the 'Siborne Rule' about terrain height modification for model battlefields. So, like 1813 and several other similar games its battlefield terrain appears flat and featureless. It's the one area where realism needs to be sacrificed for visual presentation. The UI was also a bit clunky when I last played it, but that may have been improved as it was a recognised shortcoming at the time.

[Faiakas]

Stuff I have heard of but not played personally, most of these won't fit the criteria either due mechanics or genre:

Campaigns on the Danube
Napoleon in Italy
Crown of Glory
Empires in Arms
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About Empires in Arms I just want to add that I have it as a board game. The board game is indeed very strategic but also very complicated. You need tones of hours to play it because its not a risk type game but has to do with financial management, Industrial management and so more.
The map is huge and Believe me the games are paused and continue another day.
Check the video if you like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QudotY0nDWU

[General Maximus]

There is Paradox's March of the Eagles, a very nice game focused on war campaigning rather than battles. So you won't get to see real time battles, but you'll have a detailed campaign and military infrastructure system, with the map of Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Wonder how this hasn't been brought up before.

[Steph]

That's because it HAS been

[Faiakas]

There is Paradox's March of the Eagles, a very nice game focused on war campaigning rather than battles. So you won't get to see real time battles, but you'll have a detailed campaign and military infrastructure system, with the map of Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Wonder how this hasn't been brought up before.

I has been couple of posts above......

[Didz]

I has been couple of posts above......

We were talking about a month ago weren't we.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...1#post14488595

[Sirlion]

Of ALL the Napoleonic Games I have tried - almost every game available - I have to say with a bit of sadness that NTW is the best. And when you say that a game so limited, not historical and with horrible formations is the best, you have to wonder how well devs know Napoleonic warfare. ..
Imperial Glory is a close second because it has good diplomacy and gameplay, cool maps and decent formations.
However it is limited in scope and graphics, not to mention number of tropos.
March of the Eagles... My God those were the worst spent money I had given to Paradox. I was expecting greatness on par with Victoria 2 which I consider the best Paradox game ever made. Instead it was a shadow of a strategy game. An easy money grab with zero effort put into it.
EU stripped of all the cool features, with a super small map, no diplomacy whatsoever, waves of enemies like mindless zombies, no historical regiments... and after one crappy patch they abandoned it like a bastard child.

[Faiakas]

We were talking about a month ago weren't we.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...1#post14488595

Nope! Couple of days. The starting post is older but the replies posts are new.

[Faiakas]

Of ALL the Napoleonic Games I have tried - almost every game available - I have to say with a bit of sadness that NTW is the best. And when you say that a game so limited, not historical and with horrible formations is the best, you have to wonder how well devs know Napoleonic warfare. ..
Imperial Glory is a close second because it has good diplomacy and gameplay, cool maps and decent formations.
However it is limited in scope and graphics, not to mention number of tropos.
March of the Eagles... My God those were the worst spent money I had given to Paradox. I was expecting greatness on par with Victoria 2 which I consider the best Paradox game ever made. Instead it was a shadow of a strategy game. An easy money grab with zero effort put into it.
EU stripped of all the cool features, with a super small map, no diplomacy whatsoever, waves of enemies like mindless zombies, no historical regiments... and after one crappy patch they abandoned it like a bastard child.

I wouldn't be Sad at all considering all the above games. Comparing the games with NTW and having playing most of them, I'm very satisfied with the features that NTW offers plus with the gameplay. Of course it could have been better like ALL the games but lets stay to reality and enjoy it in its current form.

[Man o' War]

Probably a silly question and I know it's not Napoleonic per se, but have you tried Empire Total War?

It has everything you're looking for in terms of armies and navies and can be continued into the Napoleonic era.

It's a good game and well worth a shot if you haven't played it.

[Sirlion]

Probably a silly question and I know it's not Napoleonic per se, but have you tried Empire Total War?

It has everything you're looking for in terms of armies and navies and can be continued into the Napoleonic era.

It's a good game and well worth a shot if you haven't played it.

Why would you consider the horrible prequel to NTW? It has NOTHING right. Full of bugs (hell to this day, year 2015, the camera that follows the cannonballs is broken, and the AI is totally inept beyond ridiculous), broken gameplay, silly exploits for battles, absurd reloading times for troops and firing drills that can barely be effective, the only fun you can have is in multiplayer where you and other players cheat like crazy and you get excited seeing 10 Guards with different colors stabbing each other to see who is the best at worst animation.

NTW is miles better in every aspect. Only the Imperial Destroyer mod IMHO gets ETW close to a decent experience.

I wouldn't be Sad at all considering all the above games. Comparing the games with NTW and having playing most of them, I'm very satisfied with the features that NTW offers plus with the gameplay. Of course it could have been better like ALL the games but lets stay to reality and enjoy it in its current form.

I'm not saying it is not enjoyable, I wouldnt be modding it if it wasnt. But it is a pity considering how much better it could have been compared to what we currently have. Had CA done what they said, and gave us real modding tools, then this would have easily been the best TW game to date.