Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: morvwilson

I could see that happening if AU/PR stack takes the inland route. Tougher to guard the supply line.
What if the AU/PR start stacked together in Dresden with depots in dresden and Magdeburg and Magdeburg garrisoned.
First AU/PR move could be to Hanover (right next to Magdeburg) no supply problem. Second move to Amsterdam then either supply by sea from BR or from Magdeburg. Then stay on the coast as much as possible, (maybe catch FR fleet in Pippins death grip?) until you can reach Paris.
How would the french stop this advance?

quote:

ORIGINAL: morvwilson
I was thinking invasion supply from the GB's until an opportune port can be taken.

As to the south, garrisons would be left in Mantua, Salzburg and Dresden(saxon corps). With a large AU/PR advance nearing Paris I do not think FR action will be in the south.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Pippin

For a while I have been thinking on writing one of those strategic essays for EiA/EiH. At least in regards to the British player. However I guess I can state a few BASICS for now as I don’t know when I’ll get around to it..

The major pieces to master for Britain IMHO is the navy. You have the biggest and the best, so take full advantage of it. Don’t do something stupid like early start trading it away for little gains. Yes , we have all seen those newbies who decided to do those portraids and smash em face on into the port-guns just to eliminate some French pieces. Well great, you’ve lost a big chunk of your navy for someone else’s fleet that certainly was no where near as useful as yours, so what have you gained in comparison to your loss?

Watch the channel! Make sure France can not just march across easily into your territory. In other words, use your fleet once again to ensure this is not possible, so keep it safe and within reach of home. In other words, don’t go off sailing your navy halfway around the world without expecting to pay the repercussions afterwards. There are some players who will let you get away with this, if I am France, I will definitely give you a raping for it! I will even get an ally or two, or three to join me in the beating you are about to get!

Beware of joined forces. Once again, you may have the best navy..but what happens when a few opponents stack together and:

#1. Secure the channel crossing… (I sense your doom coming soon after this)
#2. Lock you into a port… (Can basically make your fleet useless for the rest of the game)
#3. Some worse fates yet to come..


Be very cautions of splitting up your navy. Now, yes there are often multiple gains by doing so but… can you afford to risk this? Keep in mind many players love nothing else but to see Britain get greedy and weakening her naval stacks… It takes 1000x more effort to break a British navy when it is fully stacked, than to jump onto it while in little clumps.

Keep Nelson protected! And for god’s stake don’t put him with a tiny scout group either! Besides the attack bonus, that windgage is one of the biggest naval winning factors. That extra +1 modifier for wind gauge will often help to spell doom for your opponent(s), it will also cause a major decrease in the ships you lose. That first strike effect is more important than a lot of players realize. Nelson is more important than the extra +1 political point he gives, though that is another nice benefit of course. Remember, the larger stack Nelson is on, the more ships he can help give the first strike bonus to. This is huge.

Do not lose your dominant status! Look at the key territories you need to watch out for. Gibraltar, Malta, etc. These are very easily taken from you if your opponents wish. Make sure you have a plan to prevent losing the last territory that will cause you to lose that dominant status.

Britain also can chose when to do its naval movement. Use this to your advantage. No one else has this ability.

The “Pippin Death-Grip Special“:

One of my favourite moves… look for an opponent who has been bottled up in port, or had to flee there. If you suspect the port is under garrisoned, block the bastard in (assuming you haven’t pursued him). Lock and hold him locked in there while sitting in the BB and hit the garrison with your grunts. If it fails, it’s not the end of the world… But if you get in… he can say goodbye to his ships.

Only problem is if you do this too well, there may not be enough enemy ships left to gain PP points for the rest of the game :P

Too many things to mention here.. But on a side note, I will trade with everyone EXCEPT for France. Not only does this make things a little more frustrating for the big boss, but it seems to win more trust over the other players.

quote:

ORIGINAL: morvwilson

My mistake

Then stack the AU in Theresienstadt in Jan then first move into Dresden to join the PR. In march they move to Hanover then to Amsterdam.

How would the FR counter this?

quote:

ORIGINAL: McGuire

Right! Like with any game! If there is no risk to lose - where's the fun in winning?

After my post I had a little look on my map:

Best positioning for FR would be:
Option 1:
Lorraine-province (more defensive)
- it's within the FR home nation
- you can reach Amsterdam without forced march (4 staps because of dominance)
- you can reach Le Havre or Paris (4/3 steps) if they march south
- you can reach Vienna with little effort (6 steps / 2 turns)

Option 2:
Freiburg in Baden minor (more aggresive)
- slightly outside of FR home nation (worse for foraging)
- you can reach Amserdam by forced march
- you can reach Le Havre and Paris (first by forced march) if they move south
- you can reach Vienna by forced march

I think I'd chose option 2.
Hav a cav corp set up a supply chain um to the area left of Munich in Bavaria (make it look like your building a "alternate suppy for you forces" if one gets cut).
The move last: forced march to Vienna (supplied by that depot). If you can take the city, leave troops and move back as first the next round.
If you cannot take it - try until you have it or they react!
1. If they move back - they'll starve (we had the cut of the land supply in an earlier post)!
2. If they move toward you - they starve, too! Then youl have two options:
2a) move Vienna troops back as last - and attack them as first next round! In case they go towards Paris.
2b) move Vienna troops back tho your stack and wait! In case they go towards your armies. Starve 'em twice!

For FR it's a win-win-situation!

Coming to the point (yeah - there is one):
From my point of view an advance to Amsterdam is not worth it! The clash between FR and AU/PR has to be within Germany (e.g. Duchies, Baden, Berg). This way the AU/PR troops are threatening FR while being able to defend both home nations. An advance that far north opens the front up for a counter-attack in the south (and the other way around).

My two cents!

quote:

ORIGINAL: 9thlegere

I realise that there is a small advice sheet at the back of the old rule book but I have played EIA with the same group of friends (4 of us) for about ten years now.

I just wanted to see what kind of strategy people used that may give me some ideas (or and edge!) the next time we play.

I also realise this is a large question so why not try and just answer your favourite countires strategy.

What do you look to do in the first few turns?

Cheers

quote:

ORIGINAL: iamspamus

Anyone played with the 8th power, Sweden? We did once. I think that I was France. He and I ended up scwhacking others in a rotation. Really low VP divisor, though.

Jason

quote:

ORIGINAL: Arinvald

Much talk about what Russia should/can demand for its cooperation, but what about Spain? If I were Spain, I would insist on getting Portugal. What would be the reaction of most British players? If Britain refuses, could Spain ally with France and have France help Spain gain Portugal? How much trouble can Britain cause Spain by cutting off the Treasure Fleet? How easy is it for Britain to hold Portugal against a French/Spanish alliance?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Arinvald

Thanks for the comments. There is so much to consider for each power. I guess that is what makes the game such a fun classic. Time to re-read the rules in preparation for my first game. I must admit that the prospect is rather daunting. I feel like a lamb entering a lion's den.

quote:

ORIGINAL: meyerg

Austria and Prussia strategy:

Ally with each other. Too many times I have seen France (sometimes me), convince Austria or Prussia to join the dark side. At the beginning of the game, France is at its weakest.

I have seen the Austria-Prussia alliance smashed when France surrender to one for generous peace terms and pounds the other. It is amazing how tough it is to be pounded by three French corps your buddy could have popped and not be bitter.

As for forming Poland, it is usually best to wait for some leaders so you have some chance of keeping Poland. Some of our Russian players are so greedy, form Poland as Prussia and you see the Russian player at war with you to "get Poland and keep it from France".

quote:

ORIGINAL: Forward_March

Add to that that except for the Janissaries, the Turks really have no staying power, and marching south should be relatively easy. Should that advance be accompanied by miserable luck with the die, the Russian hinterland is a great place to starve your enemy to death.
Those pesky Turks shouldn't be allowed to aggrandize too much, anyway;)

quote:

ORIGINAL: fjbn

I don't understand you. If Russia is atacked in Corfu in january 1805 it means that GB prefers a Russia allied to France.That means that Prussia and Austria will be destroyed.

By the way, if GB atacks Russia in Corfú, risking an attack of harbour defences (OK, only 20, but they attack first) how many ships are blockading French Navy? and what about Spanish Navy?.

I think this is not a good strategy. You can attack Russia only after France has been defeated, not before.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jimmer

In the boardgame, one sues for peace. Period. One cannot sue for peace to one power but not another UNLESS one is not yet at war with the other. This is one reason becoming allies early can be important (because the ally can declare war on the aggressor, and so not be left out when the enemy sues).

Now, one ally could say "conditional" while the other says "unconditional". In that case, the one who said "unconditional" could be in trouble. For instance, if Austria and Prussia are both at war with France (along with GB -- but in the Grand Campaign board version, GB was REQUIRED to allow only unconditional peace against France), and France sues, Austria and Prussia had better have talked about what they would do. And, on top of that, they had better not backstab their ally. An unconditional is pretty harsh, and France would be a fool to take one just so he could stay at war with the other ally, except in certain end-cases. But, say Prussia said "conditional" after promising Austria he would say only "unconditional", Austria is going to be very angry. Prussia should expect later retaliation.

Another end case exists, however: If one major gets control of a minor that the other major has declared war upon. In such situations, the controlling major can go to war to defend the minor. In such a case, the ally of the other major is stuck until the next turn. People HAVE been known to be obliterated in a single month in some cases. We had that happen to Austria once: Declared war on Bavaria. France took control (Napoleon just happened to have the Grand Armee sitting two spaces away -- the decoy stack in the North had 5 corps, but only 5 troops as well). So, naturally, Nappy happily declared war, and had a single month in which to either annihilate the Austrian army or prepare for a two-front war. Nappy outpicked (using Outflank), and the rest is history. Austria was nearly obliterated in a single battle. Charles was spared capture by the three infantry left in the stack at the end of the battle. He had to sue for peace the next turn. Now, while Prussia COULD have declared war, it would have been stupid, as Austria could no longer help, and Russia was more interested in killing Turkey that game. So, Prussia stayed OUT, and Austria actually accepted an unconditional.

France did quite well that game. It almost happened true to history, except a lot earlier (this all happened in January of '05). The twelve months following that was not a pleasant time for Prussia. Prussia won the first major battle, but that only staved off the inevitable.

France actually did quite well for a long time in that game, primarily because of that decoy stack. The stack down by Bavaria only had four corps in it, so it looked weaker. Looks can indeed be deceiving. French corps are HUGE compared to other nations. We were all pretty much rookies in those days, so nobody realized how important these little details were.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sardonic

Then I guess we would fight. I dont allow other players to tell me what goals to seek.
If you want help against France, the price is dominance. Pure and simple.
Otherwise, your asking for altruism.

And w/o Russia, it will be very difficult to defeat France.
Especially if Russian troops are helping him.

But have it your way.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sardonic
I didnt say I would attack Prussia or Austria. In fact I doubt it is needed.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Murat


In the board game your corps sheets are public. How could anyone get fooled?