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[Let's Play] Napoleon: Total War - Vive l'Empire!
Steel-Angel
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Game settings are VH/VH. Playing as France.
---
Some men live a simple life, while others have a fire that threatens to engulf the world. I do not know when the fire in Napoleon first burned. Perhaps he had always had a destiny. But sometimes, destiny can use a little help... or even a revolution.
The old ways were drowned in a tide of blood. A man could be whatever he wanted, if he could weather the storm...
As the first days of 13 Nivôse dawn over the French people, our glorious fatherland is once more under siege by the enemies of the revolution. Our old foes - Britain, Austria, Russia, and their lickspittles - conspire to bring France beneath a yoke of absolute despotism. Humbled Prussia remains "neutral", even as their manufactories churn out cannon and shot for their Germanic cousins to the south, even while their shattered armies sharpen bayonets prepared for bloody vengeance.
It is an era of Total War. The enemies of civilization have instituted our levee-en-masse, and today the Empire fights not mercenary bands but thousands of slave-soldiers, impressed into the gunline to die for their hated oppressors. It is with a heavy heart that Frenchmen raise muskets against these hapless victims of circumstance; but we will show no quarter. The springs of popular government in revolution are at once virtue and terror: virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is powerless. The oppressed peoples of Europe shall know liberty when the poilu brings it to them at bayonet-point.
These past thirteen years have seen the continent ravaged by the coalition and its depraved wish to place a Bourbon as the totalitarian ruler of a free people. I am Louis Alexander Berthier, veteran of far too many wars for the survival of the French nation. I have been tasked by Emperor Bonaparte himself with this sacred duty - the creation of a Grand Army, to crush forever the dreams of this vile confederacy of tyrant-kings.
All of France - his Empire - marches for war!
---
Our first strike against the hated Austrians begins in Italy. General Jean-Andre Massena knows this land well; he is a veteran of the siege of Mantua, and no stranger to the Tyrolean countryside. Tempered by his years on the front, weak-minded gossip proclaims him insensitive to the sufferings of the fusilier at the sharp end. Perhaps there is some merit to these claims, but can anyone baptized in the fires of the Revolution remain of tender sensibilities? His aggression in the art of war is something to be commended rather than reviled, in my opinion.
Assigned to his command is the IV Corps of the Grand Armee, referred to as the Armee d'Italie. It consists of two regiments of line infantry, a squadron of Chasseurs a Cheval, and an 8-lb artillery battery.
They march towards Venice, now occupied by reactionary criminals following the Treaty of Campio Formio in 1797. It is a black stain on French honor that the Venetians were abandoned to the Austrian tyrant's misrule. Today however, the Empire shall redeem the failings of the old Directory. Liberation comes beneath the Tricolour, for Italy and all Europe.
But before Massena can assault the city, he must contend with an army led by Archduke Charles, the most (and only) talented Austrian field commander. The scouts report that IV Corps faces the best forces the Austrians can muster - elite Hungarian Hussars and even Grenadiers!
It is said that Karl von Österreich-Teschen is a match for Emperor Bonaparte himself. Massena will prove the rumors for what they are - empty propaganda from a bankrupt and dying Habsburg line.
Massena surveys the field of Mars. He has seized the initiative from the Austrian commander, having crossed the Adige River unseen and intercepted Charles in a valley near the town of Caldiero. Fusiliers exhausted from the arduous forced-march are given a few moments to rest in the shade of the trees, while the 1st Light Horse screens IV Corps's position on the extreme left.
The 1er and 2e Regiments d'Infanterie de Ligne are entirely new formations, having been issued the call to arms after Napoleon destroyed the corrupt Directory. These young men of country stock will today prove themselves heroes of the Revolution... or martyrs. More than one soldier mutters prayers to the Virgin Mary and the saints for divine protection, should Marechal Massena's - or Karl von Österreich-Teschen's - reputation prove well-earned.
An eerie, unnatural silence hangs in the mid-afternoon as the artillery battery is wheeled into position as quietly as possible. The element of surprise is everything. Massena knows his own limits and those of IV Corps. If Archduke Charles discovers the trap before it is sprung, defeat by the Habsburg princeling is inevitable.
Charles arranges his Hungarians for inspection. His efforts have done much to restore the pride of the Austrian army after so many humbling defeats by the French people. Today though, his efforts to boost morale will prove to be his undoing. His army is gathered in marching order - perfect targets for round shot.
Despite the reforms of the Austrian commander, the logistical and organizational problems of its reluctantly multinational army continues to plague the Habsburg empire. The light cavalry squadron watches with some amusement as German officers struggle to control and direct their Italian, Slavic, Czech and Polish soldiers. French arms are coming to liberate these oppressed peoples from their cruel masters in Vienna for liberty and the Revolution!
The guns are finally dragged over the crest of the valley with great effort from the pack animals. They are unlimbered, and the slaughter begins.
The hills echo with "La Marseillaise" as the infantry advances from the reverse slope, though the song is drowned out by the dreadful roar of the 8-pdr battery.
In the span of two volleys, the Magyar cavalry are reduced to red smears in the cold earth by round shot. Confusion and terror reigns throughout the Austrian lines, though the Archduke tries to bring back order to his men by commanding his own artillery (crewed entirely by German-speakers) to move up the other side of the valley for counter-battery fire.
It is an intelligent move, but one that Massena has predicted. The 1er Cheval-Legeres pounce on the general's signal, sweeping down through the valley...
Vive L'France!
Vive L'Empereur!
Vive L'Empire!
The battery is overrun by the chasseur squadron, gun carriages trampled into kindling and their crews gutted by bloody saberwork.
With their artillery support out of action, the Austrians make a haphazard assault by their Grenadiers against the bluffs, urged on by Archduke Charles. But elan is no substitute for massed firepower, as the fusiliers stand and deliver a devastating volley.
The elite Grenadiers crack beneath the pressure and flee, leading to a rout of the entire Austrian army. They are cut down like so much wheat by the pursuing 1er Cheval-Legeres. The butcher's bill is rather generous in our favor; we have killed or captured ten for every man lost.
Massena has won a decisive victory - with the annihilation of Charles's army, all that remains for the Austrians in Venice is a single Hungarian regiment supported by half-hearted collaborationists.
---
Some men live a simple life, while others have a fire that threatens to engulf the world. I do not know when the fire in Napoleon first burned. Perhaps he had always had a destiny. But sometimes, destiny can use a little help... or even a revolution.
The old ways were drowned in a tide of blood. A man could be whatever he wanted, if he could weather the storm...
As the first days of 13 Nivôse dawn over the French people, our glorious fatherland is once more under siege by the enemies of the revolution. Our old foes - Britain, Austria, Russia, and their lickspittles - conspire to bring France beneath a yoke of absolute despotism. Humbled Prussia remains "neutral", even as their manufactories churn out cannon and shot for their Germanic cousins to the south, even while their shattered armies sharpen bayonets prepared for bloody vengeance.
It is an era of Total War. The enemies of civilization have instituted our levee-en-masse, and today the Empire fights not mercenary bands but thousands of slave-soldiers, impressed into the gunline to die for their hated oppressors. It is with a heavy heart that Frenchmen raise muskets against these hapless victims of circumstance; but we will show no quarter. The springs of popular government in revolution are at once virtue and terror: virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is powerless. The oppressed peoples of Europe shall know liberty when the poilu brings it to them at bayonet-point.
These past thirteen years have seen the continent ravaged by the coalition and its depraved wish to place a Bourbon as the totalitarian ruler of a free people. I am Louis Alexander Berthier, veteran of far too many wars for the survival of the French nation. I have been tasked by Emperor Bonaparte himself with this sacred duty - the creation of a Grand Army, to crush forever the dreams of this vile confederacy of tyrant-kings.
All of France - his Empire - marches for war!
---
Our first strike against the hated Austrians begins in Italy. General Jean-Andre Massena knows this land well; he is a veteran of the siege of Mantua, and no stranger to the Tyrolean countryside. Tempered by his years on the front, weak-minded gossip proclaims him insensitive to the sufferings of the fusilier at the sharp end. Perhaps there is some merit to these claims, but can anyone baptized in the fires of the Revolution remain of tender sensibilities? His aggression in the art of war is something to be commended rather than reviled, in my opinion.
Assigned to his command is the IV Corps of the Grand Armee, referred to as the Armee d'Italie. It consists of two regiments of line infantry, a squadron of Chasseurs a Cheval, and an 8-lb artillery battery.
They march towards Venice, now occupied by reactionary criminals following the Treaty of Campio Formio in 1797. It is a black stain on French honor that the Venetians were abandoned to the Austrian tyrant's misrule. Today however, the Empire shall redeem the failings of the old Directory. Liberation comes beneath the Tricolour, for Italy and all Europe.
But before Massena can assault the city, he must contend with an army led by Archduke Charles, the most (and only) talented Austrian field commander. The scouts report that IV Corps faces the best forces the Austrians can muster - elite Hungarian Hussars and even Grenadiers!
It is said that Karl von Österreich-Teschen is a match for Emperor Bonaparte himself. Massena will prove the rumors for what they are - empty propaganda from a bankrupt and dying Habsburg line.
Massena surveys the field of Mars. He has seized the initiative from the Austrian commander, having crossed the Adige River unseen and intercepted Charles in a valley near the town of Caldiero. Fusiliers exhausted from the arduous forced-march are given a few moments to rest in the shade of the trees, while the 1st Light Horse screens IV Corps's position on the extreme left.
The 1er and 2e Regiments d'Infanterie de Ligne are entirely new formations, having been issued the call to arms after Napoleon destroyed the corrupt Directory. These young men of country stock will today prove themselves heroes of the Revolution... or martyrs. More than one soldier mutters prayers to the Virgin Mary and the saints for divine protection, should Marechal Massena's - or Karl von Österreich-Teschen's - reputation prove well-earned.
An eerie, unnatural silence hangs in the mid-afternoon as the artillery battery is wheeled into position as quietly as possible. The element of surprise is everything. Massena knows his own limits and those of IV Corps. If Archduke Charles discovers the trap before it is sprung, defeat by the Habsburg princeling is inevitable.
Charles arranges his Hungarians for inspection. His efforts have done much to restore the pride of the Austrian army after so many humbling defeats by the French people. Today though, his efforts to boost morale will prove to be his undoing. His army is gathered in marching order - perfect targets for round shot.
Despite the reforms of the Austrian commander, the logistical and organizational problems of its reluctantly multinational army continues to plague the Habsburg empire. The light cavalry squadron watches with some amusement as German officers struggle to control and direct their Italian, Slavic, Czech and Polish soldiers. French arms are coming to liberate these oppressed peoples from their cruel masters in Vienna for liberty and the Revolution!
The guns are finally dragged over the crest of the valley with great effort from the pack animals. They are unlimbered, and the slaughter begins.
The hills echo with "La Marseillaise" as the infantry advances from the reverse slope, though the song is drowned out by the dreadful roar of the 8-pdr battery.
In the span of two volleys, the Magyar cavalry are reduced to red smears in the cold earth by round shot. Confusion and terror reigns throughout the Austrian lines, though the Archduke tries to bring back order to his men by commanding his own artillery (crewed entirely by German-speakers) to move up the other side of the valley for counter-battery fire.
It is an intelligent move, but one that Massena has predicted. The 1er Cheval-Legeres pounce on the general's signal, sweeping down through the valley...
Vive L'France!
Vive L'Empereur!
Vive L'Empire!
The battery is overrun by the chasseur squadron, gun carriages trampled into kindling and their crews gutted by bloody saberwork.
With their artillery support out of action, the Austrians make a haphazard assault by their Grenadiers against the bluffs, urged on by Archduke Charles. But elan is no substitute for massed firepower, as the fusiliers stand and deliver a devastating volley.
The elite Grenadiers crack beneath the pressure and flee, leading to a rout of the entire Austrian army. They are cut down like so much wheat by the pursuing 1er Cheval-Legeres. The butcher's bill is rather generous in our favor; we have killed or captured ten for every man lost.
Massena has won a decisive victory - with the annihilation of Charles's army, all that remains for the Austrians in Venice is a single Hungarian regiment supported by half-hearted collaborationists.
Steel-Angel on
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Ignore my avatar Frog lover.
We already have one of these threads here, and there are quite a few other LPs running in SE right now. If you would like me to move this thread to the Games and Tech. forum or Critical Failures, please let me know.
Thanks.
XBox LIVE: Bogestrom | Destiny
PSN: Bogestrom
XBox LIVE: Bogestrom | Destiny
PSN: Bogestrom
Alrighty, I'll start cropping some of the pictures and spoilering the ones that mess up h-scroll.
Also restarted this since I found I could run the game on higher settings reasonably well. Except for anti-aliasing. Sorry if the jaggies are distracting, but the rest of the game should look better now.
Contrary to our expectations, the Austrians have rallied approximately eight regiments worth of collaborationist vipers. The response of the Italian revolutionaries to IV Corps's arrival has been lukewarm at best. Massena found a frosty reception from the resistance, and was told in no uncertain terms that Napoleon would find no allies among the nationalists - still bitter at the dismemberment of Venice and its subsequent annexation by Austria.
This reaction was somewhat expected, if unwelcome; only a show of arms will demonstrate Napoleon's resolve to ensure the liberty of the Italian people. IV Corps storms the streets of Venice, its ancient canals running red with the blood of royalists, reactionaries, and their running-dogs. Gregor Ritzel, the commander of the Austrian garrison, surrenders his sword to Massena at a subdued ceremony in the shadow of St. Mark's Square.
In an astonishing gesture of friendship, Napoleon arranges for a client republic to be installed in Veneto, its independence guaranteed by French arms. This is an act of great generosity; rather than annexing the region to his crown or that of his brother's, the Emperor has presided over the rebirth of the Venetian Republic. Political control is ceded from Marechal Massena to an interim civilian council, until free and fair elections can be arranged.
Coalition propagandists claim these reforms are the product of a guilty conscience, and bombard the new state with anti-French material despite our best efforts to intercept and eliminate their promoters. Nonetheless, the Emperor's beneficence wins over much of the population; two new units of line infantry are recruited from volunteers for the crusade of liberation.
The 15e and 16e Regiments Infanterie de Ligne (Italienne) are attached to the Armee d'Italie; commanded by French officers, these eager Italians will be vital for our future offensives toward Eastern Europe. The chasseur squadron also makes a daring raid into Triest, riding hard through the port and setting much of it ablaze with incendiaries.
On the diplomatic front, our embassies across the continent have been quite busy since the Third Coalition was formed; trade agreements with a number of minor states have been established, whose avarice surpasses their unjustified paranoia of our Emperor.
The most interesting deal of all however, is a settlement with Frederick William III of Prussia. Though inclined to support his Germanic cousin to the south, Prussia's designs on Austrian territory and unease with expanding Russian influence in his eastern territories has left the young king willing to come to terms with the French Empire. The border is opened once more for caravans of goods to flow; further, France transfers Hanover in exchange for Westphalia and safe passage of Bernadotte's army of occupation. This thaw in relations also allows for our government to study Prussian drill techniques, as well as their gymnasiums for youth education.
Napoleon's genius extends beyond affairs civil and military - he has achieved a diplomatic coup. Although the danger of Prussian intervention still hangs over our war effort, King George III may very well be disinclined to join an alliance with the Prussian upstart that now rules over his old domain. This wedge between the Anglos and Germans may not be significant enough to prevent an accord between them, but we have bought valuable time for our armies to crush Austria.
Another notable victory in our intercourse with other nations is an alliance with Denmark. Though averse to direct participation in the crusade against tyranny, the Danes harbor a great hatred for the perfidious Anglo. Their merchantmen are plundered mercilessly by the Royal Navy, their rights as a sovereign nation disregarded by British pirates - our diplomats play on these grievances, and successfully persuade the Danish nation into a formal alliance with our own. This comes at some cost though - French advisors establish a military mission to modernize the Danish military at our own expense.
Finally, the Ottoman Empire once more declares war on the Austrian Empire, a last gasp of a dying empire for glory and conquest.
The Mohammedans of the Ottoman Empire are weak, the rule of their sultans reliant on the fickle whims of the Janissary Corps, and their status as a Great Power is questionable at best; but the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and our embassy to the Sublime Porte offers to renew the Franco-Ottoman alliance. This is declined - memories of Napoleon's Egyptian adventure die hard - but they gladly accept a trade agreement, which will provide badly needed tariff revenue for the war effort. Every Austrian that falls by a Janissary's scimitar is one less to stand against the Grand Armee.
An overview of the administration by our Emperor has led to a thorough reform of the justice ministry. The old Keeper of the Seals has been sacked, and replaced by a new appointee named Ilbert Saxnay. Saxnay's reputation for honesty and proletarian sympathies has made him quite popular among the working classes. As I understand it, the courts no longer bother with gaoling prostitutes or gamblers under his ministry. Public approval for the Empire previously stood at 64% - since the shift in policy, this has increased to 66%.
---
Some gameplay notes:
1. Liberating Venice into Italy is a great thing. They start out unfriendly to you and your Kingdom of Italy ally, but the historical grievances quickly fade with an alliance and trade agreement. Further, although you only get half of the region's income if you liberate instead of occupying, the puppet state gets the same income bonuses as independent countries as well as the massive discounts for unit recruitment and upkeep.
2. Hanover generates a bit more income than Cleves-Mark, which is why Prussia is willing to trade the techs. The region swap is nice because you won't be surrounded on all sides by angry Huns when they join the Coalition.
3. Autoresolved the Venice battle, because the odds were ridiculously in my favor. Usually I have to fight it myself because a unit or two from Karl von Osterreich-Teschen's army managed to escape annihilation, but this time I cut down everything as they fled.