Late game vs France

Am playing as sweden and by 1810, i have got all of my 6 victory regions (total 15 needed and 2 starting)

I have defeated denmark, taking her two regions and russia, taking courland, moscow and everything inbetween. The rest being taken by the ottomans and, of course, france.

ecomomy wise i'm quite weak - due to only just capturing my first manufactory so only just getting access to industrial tech. This means i have had to rely on just two full stack armies.

Now the problem is france...who has wiped the floor with britian at sea(annyomous all game), eliminated prussia and austria and with my help, russia.

diplomatically, i was at war with france at the beginning of the game (by default) but after a few turns i made peace and signed a trade agreement.in addition i have been their ally since 1808. In short have a good relationship.

they then declared war on me out of the blue leaving me with a huge front to protect against an enemy with infinate reources and i'm screwed. Havent played on but i dont see a way out

The strange thing is that because i'm using a mod (TROM), france has no russian regions as its victory conditions.

Any onpinions/ideas/thoughts would be great

I haven't got any sage like advice for you and I haven't tried Sweden yet. Personally, I think a few extra modifications need to be made if you wish to try a full on campaign with many of the unplayables. Unlike Empire, you don't have regional town growth or the freedom to build what you need in your towns. As such the "not designed to be played" can be badly handicapped.

The other thing I've noticed is that the Ai seems to be able to produce and maintain troops quicker and better than Empire, and quicker and better than I usually can. Striking with a balanced halfish stack in Empire could get a job done. In Nap I find you really need to think about bigger stacks and follow up reserves. So a main army and deployable "extra's" to recon and screen. Then, after a massive battle these fresh units can replenish the army and tired units can rest.

How is this relevant to your OP? I think if you've only got two full stacks or there abouts you can (1) congratulate yourself for your military achievements, but (2) your probably toast even if you can pick good spots to hold the French off...

thanks ecka for your reply

i am wondering about fance though..if it has conquered all its VC regions, why would it be so aggressive towards an ally?

is it a case of the french AI being set to be much more aggressive by default in comparison to other factions?

has anyone played a campaign as a minor nation(not in a position to threaten france in the short/medium term) and seen france grow beyond its victory condition regions?How have they turned out?did they take over all europe?

There's some code in the game that pretty much ensures that a non player France will win autoresloves - which is what non player vs non player is. So everytime France hits, it likely wins. Over 200 turns you can imagine it'd spread far and wide...

I do have a tactic for you which is a lot easier to use in Napoleon - defending bridges. Some may call it an "exploit" but I think of it as a smart commander using terrain to even up the odds. The river crossing and bridge maps usually have two crossing points. Set an artillery battery facing each one with flanking infantry (that moves to the sides so they're all point in at the crossing. It can become tedious, but if you're into carnage you'll get plenty of it. The AI won't like you being there - like the existence of your army near where they are or want to be is an afront. So they'll throw stack after stack at you. Your half stack (3 arty, 4 inf, 2 skirmish and 1 cav) will butcher them with a bit of micromanagement.

I've found the above to be the best mechanism (other than playing on "normal") to trim the Ai enemy down a bit.

Against France, which usually brings lots of superb artillery to a battle (with much better accuracy than yours), this tactic can be pretty casualty intensive since your own infantry will be fully exposed to their arty fire while it's deployed that way.

I agree, but that will be the case in an open battle too with a wholw range of other problems against the French. His problem is smaller troop numbers.

To some extent it is the reason for the third (and any others you can afford) arty batteries. Their job is up on the high ground pounding the oppositions artillery. I tend to use the most experienced crews I have for this job for their better accuracy and reload. This tactic will give you exceptionally high experienced gun crews...one battle facing the main crossing the Ai uses can result in a brand new battery going from no chevrons to chevrons with a star. You need all battery's hammering ball at their arty when they can, and then the crossing batt's to revert to cannister during the rushes.

Yeah. Im afraid to say it but you are screwed! They will come at you like a spider monkey, with endless stacks of frencmen, You should have supported the coalition and help beat back the french war machine!

Unless you plan to abuse the AI, I don't really see a way out. There's a reason every nation in Europe hated Napoleon. He had an insatiable lust for conquest and power, and with his brilliance, it's a miracle the French ever stopped winning. Should have supported the coalition.

Pay the bills! muhahah!

Your best hope is to defend all key choke points ie bridge crossings, Hessen, Munich with full stacks. Then take about 20 turns to jumpstart your economy. Open up trade with the Ottomans and try to forge an alliance with them. Nothing much else you can do.

I think against France it takes so many artillery to a battle.It also gives us so much accuracy.