Napoleonic Total War III Review

As a Follow-up the mod Version 1 has come out and an even more interesting mod update Version 2 will be out shortly. Highlights include:
1.Many more countries involved.
2. The armies have been updated to include many more units.
3. The size of the units has increased by 1.5 times.
4. There are 90+battle maps.
5. Besides the historic battles, there are strategy maps that playes to take a group of strongpoints and hold them. A whole new kind of strategy.
6. The enemy is hidden on the battle map and you must scout for his location and position of his army.
7. This mod is version 1 that came out in July. There will be a new Version 2 which should be coming out very shortly (possibly within a month) that offers additional upgrades in unit size, accuracy of unit detail and an SP format that allows for competitive play to sharpen skills in practice mode.
8. Historic battle scenerios (such as Marengo, Eylau and 3 three different games that offer the battle of Austerlitz broken down into 3 different scenerios that allow you to fight each one seperately. Each battle has you controlling up to 80 units and thousands of troops. This includes many new historic battles that far outdistance the same number on the Vanilla Game.
8. A way to easily jump between the mod and NTW by the push of a button.
9 A campaign game that offers all new features including the play of smaller Europeon States as allies in various scenerios.
I will stop here as I think you would now have a fair idea how this mod works. Go the Forum NTW mods and read about the game. Using an internet search engine, look up Napoleonic TW, or NTW3 - you will find information on the game from the mod designers that fully spell out the whole new look for the game. Go to UT to see some of the videos of specific battles - I think you will be quite impressed.
Finally, this takes you back to a European Battle Format as grand as RTW, MTW and ET did in the past. I believe this game given a little time to be reviewed by fellow gamers will bring back a significant following. Even now clans and other expert players from around the world are including this mod in their competitive play. For the average player and military history buff such as myself, this mod has put the game on a whole new level of interest.The same goes for my friends who after reviewing the mod have immediatly downloaded it.
The increased following will once again fill the hosted games Battlefield list. Just like NTW it takes time for this to happen but since this mod has only been officially out since July and has not been advertised in the same way as NTW and STW (through historical and gaming magazines).
I truly think you see significant and epoch changes to the game.
Tell your friends and fellow gamesters to check it out. My name is Kayaker on NTW, I have even started a group " The Pub Club" focusing more to the independent player. It will be played on NTW3.

The mod is really good.

We played a handful of games between guys in the clan, which were really fun.

However, when we tried to get games with other people, including people who made the mod, they just camped. Everyone camped. We were like wtf you're camping? And they pretty much told us to eat a bag of dicks. So yeah.

If you like bags of dicks, i guess this is your thing.

Originally Posted by peapd

The mod is really good.

We played a handful of games between guys in the clan, which were really fun.

However, when we tried to get games with other people, including people who made the mod, they just camped. Everyone camped. We were like wtf you're camping? And they pretty much told us to eat a bag of dicks. So yeah.

If you like bags of dicks, i guess this is your thing.

ha ha ha cos this mod is so realistic everyone plays like wellington. joking aside, good luck with it...

I dont mind campers, they always loose.
Well if you are a really bad attacker , you may fail...but I ?
I have campers for breakfast.

I think one should be a bit hesitant to label anyone a camper in NTW3, especially by the standards of vanilla. Not only is it an inherently slower game, but also might there being a larger strategic movement going on under the fog of war preparing for an assault somewhere, which gives the appearance of camping where as this is not actually the case.

In all the games I have played recently both the side I have been on aswell as the oposing side have made attacks. Sure I have had my share of campers, but generally speaking the larger the game, the more attacking going on I have found out.

While the mod is great and offers the realistic Napoleonic battles, it is slow paced, which is realistic, but not all of us have hours of time which this mod takes to complete the game. This is one reason why I prefer vanilla game, because it's fast paced and you can get more games finished much quicker - except for some games I had with my clan on Arcole which took as long as 3 hours to complete, and were in my oppinion one of best games I ever played in vanilla NTW.

Originally Posted by Karlovacko

While the mod is great and offers the realistic Napoleonic battles, it is slow paced, which is realistic, but not all of us have hours of time which this mod takes to complete the game. This is one reason why I prefer vanilla game, because it's fast paced and you can get more games finished much quicker - except for some games I had with my clan on Arcole which took as long as 3 hours to complete, and were in my oppinion one of best games I ever played in vanilla NTW.

True...one alternative are the LOC maps wich are played on the 1 hour clock.

So you know that , lag permits , game will be over in 60 minutes. And no camping there either!

Um. If you sit in your deployment zone, what do you call it?

Oh right, you're "attacking with artillery" when I walk into range. I get it.

Thanks for the realism, I was really missing that.

I play so many games when both teams move to the center of the map to engage and all I can do is think about how unrealistic it is.

I forget who, but someone said during one of our games: "It's like the campers made a mod just for them."

I agree, the mod is alot slower which means that you need the time for it, and usually I will try to not get involved in a battle unless I have about 2+ hours to spare, while in vanilla I can be done is as quick as 15 min, so both vanilla and NTW3 are in a sense complement eachother well for me.

Um. If you sit in your deployment zone, what do you call it?

a camper.
Nothing wrong with that.

Im one of the mod makers, and I has never camped , just because it doesnt work. Trust me , I play 1 game a night , everyone always try to attack.

if you cant beat campers , I guess the easy way out is blame the mod. Fair enough, Iam ok if it helps you to sleep sound at night.

But as I told you b4 you may need to try the LOC maps.

Gentlemen, nothing is made for everyone. And you are in all your right not to like it or play. Its fine.

But please dont blame your shortcomings on other people, it will spoil your character in the long run.

i personally havnt got a problem with camping. i've recently gone back to playing empire and a few of the maps i use in 1v1 i pretend to camp and use a noob box to lull the over confident arrogant players in who always say "u dont dont know wot ur doing do u".
i put stakes up to funnel them in to where i want them and then spring my ambush on them. its funny as they go all quiet when i have destroyed there army in seconds or they rage quit. i have pretty much beaten all the so called top players on there using this ruse and i find it highly amusing.
on the other hand as jmartin is basically saying if camping is all a player can do then they need to learn more skills. nappy, empire etc are strategy war games and u need to do whatever it takes to win (within the rules) and if that means u camp abit during the battle then so be it.
a good player should be able to adopt a number of different play styles and tactics to become a true all round player...

Your mod does several things:

1. Increases penalties for running units, decreasing opportunities for maneuver.

2. Decreases ability of cav to charge through the middle of the line or into the front of infantry. Also weakens cav in general.

3. Increases likely hood for chain-rout, making meat shield units not feasible.

4. Lowers unit move speed overall.

5. Practically eliminates light infantry, or units with range advantage over standard line.

6. Increases the disparity of stats between types of line units - Guards vs. Standard Line, increasing reliance on unit quality vs. unit use.


Take anyone who is expert at this game and ask them to envision an environment with:
a) weak cav
b) only line infantry and art
c) a culture that seems to privilege art use

Your answer will be camper heaven.


[N]Fullin

Your passive aggressive response to my previous post is offensive. You claim that these arguments I've made above are only because I am bad at the game: "if you cant beat campers..."

At least admit that these observations, based on your own release notes, are accurate.

I understand that you don't play high level NTW, so you don't understand my arguments and can't make a comparison to standard vanilla game-play at high level.

That being the case, fair enough; but don't belittle my statements because this is the internet and you can get away with it. You made a mod for campers, whether you intended to or not.

The defensive manor in which you relied to me makes me think that you are embarrassed by this. You claim that I project "my shortcomings" on your mod.

I am making arguments. You insult me.

At the least, confirm that these aspects of your mod are correct.

However, because of the anonymous beauty of the internet, this could continue for some time! I propose a solution. You claim, essentially, that your mod rules and I suck.

I will play you two matches, one on vanilla to establish a base-line for your skill, and a second match on your mod. Flatlands on both, best of 3. We will see how you perform on your mod and what my shortcomings are.

(I set vanilla rules: no art, max 5 lights. You set mod rules)

I will give you some free publicity by posting the match on my youtube channel.

You grive the fact that the units move slower while you ignore the decreased effect of long range musketry. So all in all the game is slower, not really different in balance regarding manouvering, you just need more patience and foresight and less micro and apm.

Not charging through lines adds realism, and requirement of planning ahead. Cavalry also gains power but becomes harder to use.

Keeping morale up and avoiding chain routs is not a skill of it's own? Is it not also more realistic?

Does not slower movespeed in conjunction with fog of war add to more strategic manouvering in larger teamgames?

Light infantry is alive and as powerful as ever, just that they have more of a harassment role. However in shooting they are retardedly resilient as well. Also the added depth of line infantry justifies the slight back seat lights do have to take.

They at the same time increase the relative cost of guards.

Lights and cav are very much alive, cav in a very high degree, spending half your funds on cav might pay off very well. Although I must agree some artillery fights become absurd.

All in all you sound as if you want NTW3 to redo vanilla NTW.

In my personal oppinion, you kinda cannot compare vanilla and that mod, really. It's like two different games using the same graphics. You just cannot play the mod with the vanilla's mind set of rushing and crushing, with the usage of your overpowered lights, and shooter cavalry.

And wow is Jmartin challenging people? Well in that case I'll support my clanmate
Salute & Advance Huntsman!

However, because of the anonymous beauty of the internet, this could continue for some time! I propose a solution. You claim, essentially, that your mod rules and I suck.

I will play you two matches, one on vanilla to establish a base-line for your skill, and a second match on your mod. Flatlands on both, best of 3. We will see how you perform on your mod and what my shortcomings are.

(I set vanilla rules: no art, max 5 lights. You set mod rules)

I counterpropose a pissing contest m8. I may have better chances there.


Listen, please and dont misunderstand me, was never my intention to insult you or attack you,and if i did I apologize and take it back.

I was not questioning you, only your arguments.

if you start playing chess tomorrow and complain because the knight is too slow and why my bishop cant move sideways... your argument looses weight inmediatly. Thats was my only point.

I dont compare NTW3 to Vanilla and I never compared your skills to mine. Because I dont care, and doesnt matter ...really ?, a good game for me is better than to win a game.
And better be , as I loose regularly

Do you think I was born knowing how to play chess or NTW3? or where you born a vanilla master?

When I started playing I lost constantly, but never blamed the rules. Cos rules are only that, rules.

You may like a game or not , thats your prerrogative and choice, but blaming the mod for your inability or unwillingness to learn it and play it ,it is wrong.
I dont like vanilla so I stop play it. But when i played it , I mastered the game... but never I started nor follow any thread saying it was bad.

I just stop playing it.

I understand that you don't play high level NTW, so you don't understand my arguments and can't make a comparison to standard vanilla game-play at high level.

Comparing, you cant compare apples and oranges, you may like one better than the other, and thats about it.

now , saying oranges are for campers.....its not fair and its not true either.

That being the case, fair enough; but don't belittle my statements because this is the internet and you can get away with it. You made a mod for campers, whether you intended to or not.

I have belittled your statement , as you have belittle our work, our work taking much more time and effort that your 3 belittlering lines.

And Im sorry, I would belittle your statement on the internet or in a pub , but not as an insult to you , just that I found your statement, not you, belittleable.

And in this case what different does it makes if on the internet or you and I in a pub having 2 beers?


As I told you b4 , you dont need to like it, and its fair , but when we play 2 games a day for more than a year and none camps its very difficult to see you complaining and accusing us to make a mod for campers.

But then again i promise we will look into it and see if there is an issue with that and if so , fix it.

You have 70 maps to choose from in the meantime,LoC rules maps and not just grassy flatlands, to avoid camping. You have a lot of fast units to flank and attack,, longer artillery range and fast cavalry, but you have as well a longer learning curve in this game, and that can be a a no go for some. And again Im not blaming you, as you may not have the time , nor the will.


When I started playing I got trashed every game, and I still do actually , and that was ,and still is my motivation.
But I guess some people motivations is other people deterrents.

peapd, one cannot draw conclusions about a mod, let alone such an extensive modification as NTW3, after a handful of games with one's friends. From your posts and (over)reaction I can see that you jumped to wrong conclusions indeed.

You are not the first and not the last to come and throw in the face of people who invest their time and effort in creating a great mod a "sound" opinion of an NTW veteran. And, your view is by no means more original or striking as compared to your predecessors.

If you really wish to learn more about the mod then I would strongly suggest to download and view a few decent battle replays and you'll see what it is all about. (here is a sample if you care http://www.thelordz.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=155&t=13118)

[N]Fullin

Your reply does not answer my challenge. You have metaphorically slapped me, I will have a screenshot of your dead army or your concession here.

Either play me so I may destroy you as per the terms above, or rescind your comments and edit your posts in this thread to that respect.

Just tell me what part has offended you and I will do both.

Accept your challenge and apologize for whatever offended you.

Yours
Lord Fullin

ps:Iam starting to like this guy.

im not,anyone who wishes to prove himself this much is an attention seeker.
1v1 on flassy gratlands let me guess 5 lights max etc etc id rather stick pins in my eyes... fullin get back to work and stop entertaining vanilla peasents with something to prove.

Its not the mod that makes you camp,its the people who you play against.
does T bone camp? Do any of us camp?
If he plays mostly with his own friends then i suggest he plays with different friends that dont camp.

Vanilla peasant?

lol, someone needs to learn some better insults

but yeah, why do you even mention that noob Tbone?