Looking for gamers up for playing Napoleonic Empires, play by forum (on triplea)

  • Customizer

    I was thinking of starting a Play By Forum game of Napoleonic Empires.

    If we can find 8 players (including me), we can do the version with Politics (in other words, it is a Free for All)

    Otherwise, I need just one opponent for a game of the standard version that has only 2 sides.

    If you don’t know what Napoleonic Empires is, then check out this thread:
    http://tripleadev.1671093.n2.nabble.com/Napoleonic-Empires-FFA-tp6967206p6967206.html

    The game comes with TripleA, so if you’ve downloaded triplea then you already have it.  http://triplea.sourceforge.net/

    If you are interested, please post, and mention in your post which Alliance and which Nations you are interested in playing:

    Alliance choice:

    • Carolingians  (france, spain, sweden, ottomans)
    • Coalition  (uk, austria, prussia, russia)

    Nation choices (in turn order):
    France  - Cow
    UK  - Veqryn
    Spain  - Funcioneta
    Prussia  - Gargantua
    Sweden  - Seth The Newb
    Austria  - Canuck
    Ottoman Empire  - Noll
    Russia  - Ol’ Blood & Guts

    I’m pretty much fine with any side, so I’ll pick whoever is left after everyone else picks.

    thanks,
    veqryn

    nap_alt_skin3.png

  • Customizer

    Another screenshot from a game i had of it:

    NapoleonicEmpiresFFA.jpg
    triplea_napoleonic_empires_mini.jpg

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    I’m In.

    I’ll take Prussia, because I know that by being caught in the middle it’s going to be all about the Deal or No Deal scenarios. :P


  • I’m out for now, sorry but thanks for the invite!


  • I am in…and I will take whichever side gives me the best shot at Gargantua!  :evil:


  • On second thought…I will take the Russians  8-)


  • I think I want to be a naval power, so that leaves UK, France, Spain, or Sweden. I haven’t ever played this before and will have to find a set of rules and play against the cpu some. So I don’t know if I want to be a major power like France/UK . . . freedom fries ftw!  :-P

    Spain or Sweden would be my choice.

  • '20 '18 '16 '13 '12

    Love to give it a try because I basically got addicted to “great war” after just 1 game but if you guys are starting right away I might be pressed for time. If you’re still organising it in a week or so let me know.

  • Customizer

    We can wait a week to get 8 players in.  The game is really much better with 8 humans and zero AIs.

    For the rules, this plays mostly by “Revised” rules (with an exception for bombarding).
    Since there is no Air, that means there are actually very few differences between this and AA50 or Revised.

    So, for clarification:

    Battleships do not repair, ever. (custom rule)
    If you make an amphibious assault, noone can retreat (not even the non-amphibious guys). (Revised rule)
    Your bombardments will kill units, with no chance for them to fire back at all. (Revised rule)
    You can not have more bombardments than the total number of units being offloaded from the sea into the amphibious assault. (AA50 rule)
    You can only enter an Enemy owned convoy zone during Combat Movement phase, and never during non-combat unit phase. (all A&A games, in particular the original europe and pacific)
    Only sea units with attack power (ie: everything but transports) can capture a Convoy zone from the enemy.  (all A&A games, in particular the original europe and pacific)
    Convoy zones only generate income for their original owner.  If captured, they generate income for noone (they can only be “denied”, not captured).  (all A&A games, in particular the original europe and pacific)
    Corvettes are treated as submarines from the original Axis & Allies Classic. Corvettes can retreat separately from the main force during offense, and can retreat when on the defense to any adjacent friendly/empty sea zone.  They do not submerge, they actually move to an adjacent friendly or empty sea zone.  (A&A Classic rule)

    that is everything…

    Now we just need 3 more people…


  • Bah, what the… I join! I pick Spain, of course  :-D


  • @Canuck12:

    Love to give it a try because I basically got addicted to “great war” after just 1 game but if you guys are starting right away I might be pressed for time. If you’re still organising it in a week or so let me know.

    Gargantua has got me addicted to it after one game as well!


  • Sweden for me then  :-D

    I was so very tempted to choose Spain, but I was worried what would happen if either France turned their attention Spain’s way right away or if England/France teamed up isolating spain from any potential help.

    I did have some questions about the encampment and open border treaties. It probably won’t happen to sweden, at least not right away. But say I get into an open borders treaty with someone and they start marching troops through my nation to get somewhere else. What’s to stop them from suddenly saying just kidding and attacking you or conversely me pouncing on them? Is it set in stone for a certain period, can neither of us just do away with it if we have troops in each other’s nations? Is there like a one turn warning or what?

    And what about encampments? Is it like a minor factory and produces 3 units? Or is it the ipc worth of the terr? Is it something else? Do your capitals have units placement limits?

  • TripleA

    Spain for me… this reminds me of risk in starcraft. I warn you guys, I never played this before and I don’t make promises I can’t keep. :)

  • Customizer

    About Treaties:

    There are 4 “Political States” that you can be in with a player: War, Ceasefire, Open-Borders, and Alliance.
    War is self explanatory.
    Ceasefire is just like being “neutral” in Global1940.  It means you can not enter that player’s land territories.  You can still have ships in the same sea zone though.  Otherwise, you are completely ignored by the other player.
    Open-Borders means you can enter that player’s land territories.  You are otherwise completely ignored by that player.  If an enemy of that player, who is neutral/ceasefire/allied to you, attacks that player on their territory, your units will be ignored.  If an enemy of that player, is also an enemy of you, attacks that player on their territory, your units will participate.  
    Allied is also self explanatory.  Allied also means you give back any original territories you have conquered from this player (if you were previously at war, or if you conquered it from a 3rd nation, etc).  
    If you are allied/open-borders with someone, then they switch to ceasefire, any units you have in their territories may move out of their territories IF they are touching a territory that they can move into (ie: border territories).  If they are in a territory that is surrounded by territories you can not move to, then they are stuck there until either you declare war, or you go back to open-borders/alliance.

    What is to stop someone from becoming Allied one turn, then declaring War the next turn?  Let me address this:
    When you declare a “political state” with someone, it lasts for a certain number of turns.  The formula is very simple.

    When you declare “War” on someone (doesn’t matter what state you were previously), then you are stuck in a State of War for 2 full rounds (this current round, plus the whole next round).  After 2 rounds, you remain in a State of War but are given the option to change it to “Ceasefire”.

    When you declare “Ceasefire” with someone (doesn’t matter what state you were previously), then you are stuck in a State of Ceasefire for 1 full round (the current round).  You will remain in a State of Ceasefire after this round, but are given the option to change it to either: “War” or “Open-Borders”.

    When you declare “Open-Borders” with someone (doesn’t matter what state you were previously), then you are stuck in State of Open-Borders for 1 full round (the current round).  You will remain in a State of Open-Borders after this round, but are given the option to change it to either: “Ceasefire” or “Open-Borders”.  Additionally, after 2 full rounds, you will be given the option to change it directly to “War”.

    When you declare “Allied” with someone (doesn’t matter what state you were previously), then you are stuck in State of Alliance for 1 full round (the current round).  You will remain in a State of Alliance after this round, but are given the option to change it to “Open-Borders”.  Additionally, after 2 full rounds, you will be given the option to change it directly to “Ceasefire”

    Essentially, the formula is that you must wait 1 round to go “up” the ladder one at a time, from War -> Ceasefire -> Open-Borders -> Alliance.  You must also wait 1 round to go down the ladder one at a time.  But if you wait 2 rounds, you can go down two spaces (openborders -> war, or alliance -> ceasefire).   Declaring War forces you to wait 2 rounds to do anything.

    Alliances and War do not chain together by default.  Meaning, I can be allied to Seth, and Seth can be allied to you, and I can be at War with you.  If you guys do not like that, there is a ‘game option’ that will force alliances and war to chain together.  Let me know.

    We have 7 people so far.  Need just 1 more.

    Nation choices (in turn order):
    France  -
    UK  -
    Spain  - Funcioneta
    Prussia  - Gargantua
    Sweden  - Seth The Newb
    Austria  -
    Ottoman Empire  -
    Russia  - Ol’ Blood & Guts

    Haven’t picked yet:
    Veqryn
    Cow
    Canuck12

    @Cow, sorry but Funcioneta got Spain already.  If you want a naval power, you can do UK.  Otherwise both France and Ottomans usually do both naval and land, while Austria is just land based.

    @Canuck, who do you want?


  • Does the fact that you’re allied automatically mean you’ll defend together or do you actually have to be at war with the attacking player?

  • Customizer

    You must both be at war with the attacking player, in order to defend together. 
    Generally speaking, if you are allied, then you and your ally are probably going to egg each other on to declare war on the same enemies.

    If we like, we can click the game option to have all alliances chain together, and war chain together.  It is off by default.  But if we turn it on, then all your allies are forced to declare war on all your enemies (happens the second you become allied).

    If we leave it off, then the main advantage of being allied is:
    1. you can cross each other’s territory.
    2. you can’t declare war on each other (not without stopping first in “ceasefire” or “open-borders”)
    3. trust + you end up pressuring each other into have the same enemies anyway


  • Seems pretty straightforward, I’m just trying to make sure I figure out what’s going on .  …  at least now I don’t have to count spaces and check for landing zones to make sure air won’t threaten my fleet.  :wink:

    What’s the benefit of the ship of the lines anyway? For that price, I’d rather have 2 frigates, frig+corvette, or maybe frig+brig then buy another ship of the line.  I get that we don’t want them too powerful, especially without air to help neutralize them. And historically there weren’t too many nations running around with large numbers of them in the first place. But it seems like a waste.

  • Customizer

    Each ship serves a purpose, and while you will see some bought more than others, a good navy will buy some of each (assuming it can afford to). 
    All ships, except Barques, can capture “convoy zones”.

    attack / defense / movement / cost

    0/1/2/8 Barques are transports.  They can defend (at 1),  but are not good at attacking. They have “3” space, meaning that they can carry 3x marines, or 1x marine + 1x general land unit, or just 1x cavalry.

    1/1/2/6 Cutters are like the artillery of the sea, but are also good fodder.  They are cheap, but without units for them to support they are not very good (they support brigs, frigates, and battleships, by giving them +1 attack).  Their main disadvantage, besides the fact that they need ships to support, is that they can not carry any units at all.

    1/2/2/8 Brigantines are the mainstays of most fleets. They are hardy vessels, good on defense, very cost effective, and if paired one to one with a Cutter, the Brig will receive +1 attack (making it 2/2).  They can also transport a single marine.

    2/1/2/9 Corvettes are special attack and interception vessels. They do not receive support from Cutters, but they have other advantages: First Strike (just like submarines from Revised), and the ability to retreat separately on offense, and retreat on defense, to any adjacent friendly or empty sea zone.  They can also transport a single marine.

    3/2/2/12 Frigates are heavy vessels, with good bombardment ability. If paired one to one with a Cutter, the Frigate will receive +1 attack.  They bombard @3, and can carry a single marine.

    4/4/2/21 Battleships are the pride of every navy.  They have 2 hitpoints, but do not repair.  If paired one to one with a Cutter, the Battleship will receive +1 attack.  They bombard @4, and can carry a single marine.

    The sea units have been balanced for more than 1 year of playing. 
    Technically speaking, buying 3 cutters + 3 brigantines, will be better than any other buy you can think of.  But there are very good reasons to buy things other than just brigs and cutters.

    If you want the most offensive bang for the buck, you will buy lots of corvettes.
    If you want purely defensive power, you will buy mostly brigantines.
    If you want the most bombardment for your buck, you will buy lots of frigates.
    If you want a well balanced navy, you will buy a good mixture, including many cutters, brigantines, and a few corvettes, and a battleships or frigate or two.

    Why should you buy a battleship? 
    First, you don’t have much “production space”.  If you move a general (the moving factory, the guy colored in red) into a territory worth only 2, then you can only produce 2 boats there.  Maybe you have enough money to buy 8 brigantines and cutters, but with only 2 space and things to do, you might just need to buy that BB.
    Second, do not ever underestimate 2 hit points.  Even without the ability to repair, it is still huge.  For example, lets say you buy 1 frigate and 1 cutter, while I buy a battleship.  If the enemy deals 1 hp of damage, you lose that cutter and the value of your attack shrinks by 2 and defense shrinks by 1.  I absorb that damage and keep hitting you for 4.

    You will see that while cutters and brigs are the most popular, Battleships and Frigates and Corvettes are still quite popular.


  • @Cow:

    Spain for me… this reminds me of risk in starcraft. I warn you guys, I never played this before and I don’t make promises I can’t keep. :)

    Funcioneta already chose Spain

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    Is this shit show going to happen? :p

    Who goes first?

Suggested Topics

Axis & Allies Boardgaming Custom Painted Miniatures

35

Online

17.0k

Users

39.3k

Topics

1.7m

Posts