Ridiculous morale for French?

I noticed recently when looking at French statistics during my Russian campaign that their morale is absolutely out of this planet. Their armed citizenry has morale of 13 (!) compared to my 8-10 of regular infantry. their line is even better going up as far as 16! What kind of black magic is this?

It's CA's lame attempt to beef up the French in campaign in order to make them harder to defeat.

Originally Posted by Prince of Darkness

It's CA's lame attempt to beef up the French in campaign in order to make them harder to defeat.

In what way would you beef up the Frenchmen? Easy to complain.

Depending on experience and which general leads them, some French units can get morale as high as 25 or even higher, too, which means you'll pretty much have to annihilate them because they're practically impossible to rout. Well, they will eventually rout, but not before you have reduced them to just a hand full of men.

Dude do you have any idea how charismatic and inspiring Napolean was?

Originally Posted by Ransom Locke

Dude do you have any idea how charismatic and inspiring Napolean was?

This.

And also, even though Napoleon was an autocratic monarch, he still gained that position by popular referendum. The French people at this time still regarded themselves as a Republic and were determined to spread the ideals of the Revolution across the Europe, and so they were highly motivated.

Originally Posted by Ransom Locke

Dude do you have any idea how charismatic and inspiring Napolean was?

Not so charismatic that a bunch of peasants pressed into military service with barely any training and with only the most basic equipment would fight to the death rather than run away after seeing half of their unit get blasted to pieces.

Too be honest Napoleon became less and less popular following 1808 when he was forced to enforce conscription to fill in the gaps in the Grand Army. My problem is that I do not understand how those newly trained recruits or citizenry pressed into service by the need to defend their homes can have higher morale then my veterans of wars in Northern Italy, Spain and Southern France. Those are literally guys who fought in dozens of small and big battles against numerous opponents, know their commander and are confident of victory.

Originally Posted by Mehow80

Too be honest Napoleon became less and less popular following 1808 when he was forced to enforce conscription to fill in the gaps in the Grand Army. My problem is that I do not understand how those newly trained recruits or citizenry pressed into service by the need to defend their homes can have higher morale then my veterans of wars in Northern Italy, Spain and Southern France. Those are literally guys who fought in dozens of small and big battles against numerous opponents, know their commander and are confident of victory.

It is because of system French army used - all veteran troops were promoted into Guard units if they met the requirements (3 field campaigns, etc), not necessarily Old Guard,but any of Guard units they had.

Anyway, all Allied generals considered Army led by Napoleon as the most dangerous of all. In 1813 and 1814 Bernadotte suggested them strategy to avoid fight with Napoleon and instead destroy his Marshals one by one. Only because of that tactics, Napoleon was defeated because he couldnt be everywhere.. but wherever they attacked Napoleon, he was able to defeat them.. and still he lost war.

Regarding the in-game bonus to morale - it is based on command stars general has - good general adds more morale to men,than bad general.

Well this may not apply to the Napoleonic wars as much as to the earlier Coalition wars, but the French adapted their organisation and tactics to overcome the lack of military drilling when they introduced the Levée en masse. The opposition armies, while better trained to carry out complex manoeuvres, often consisted of mercenaries with no particular attachment to the cause they were fighting for. And then there's the element of vertical mobility throughout the ranks, with French officers being promoted based on merit, which undoubtedly is a boost for morale compared to a situation where officers are "parachuted" from on high by virtue of their noble blood.

after battle, Napoleon himself complimented his men and praised them.

Originally Posted by xX_iCeD_Xx

after battle, Napoleon himself complimented his men and praised them.

This.
Also, Napoleon was a psychological genius.
He knew most of his Grand Armee by name.
That's a lot of men.

Originally Posted by Diamond

He knew most of his Grand Armee by name.
That's a lot of men.

Please be kidding.

The idea that Napoleon knew the names of all Grande Armee recruits is nonsense. He often asked high officers to point out a few recruits who had shown themselves to be good and Napoleon would mention in a speech, maybe. The idea of the 'revolution' was still very much alive due to Napoleon's propaganda machine and the use of conscription along with a very effective corps system meant that recruits were often unable to falter in battle without a good, harsh punishment.

I bet some of the extra morale troops get with Napoleon is his mysterious Destined to Rule trait. If you mouse over this trait for a tooltip, you'll find that unlike other traits, the tooltip does not tell you the effects of Destined to Rule... I bet it has some powerful effects.

klesh: yes, good catch, it is most probably how CA did it. (and not that hard to adjust it by editing parameters for that trait...)

Originally Posted by JaM

klesh: yes, good catch, it is most probably how CA did it. (and not that hard to adjust it by editing parameters for that trait...)

Ahh, you know, I've never searched the .packs to see exactly what Destined to Rule does... and I have no idea why not! Brb.