2.52 Alternate Historical Set-up
4.213 British Overseas Economy
4.214 The Continental Blockade
4.215 Effect of Loss of Capital on Tax Collection
4.6 Alternate Turn Start Phase.
4.731 Poland (Grand Duchy of Warsaw)
5.125 Surrender Terms Increased
5.128 Optional Freely Negotiated Surrender
5.561 Offensive Option Explanations
5.59 Pursuit Step
5.54 Overrun
6.1 Increase in Cost to Build Troops
Guerrillas, and ...

SPIES (Advanced Option)
Here is the complete text of the Spies rule (vers. 0.5) It is very likely to be simplified ...
Each PC has a number of "Agents." Agents enter the game according to the rules for new Leaders. To enter an Agent into Play, the Player expends six Gold during his Land Phase and places him on the map. EXCEPTION: Russian Agents cost 10 Gold to enter.

Once placed on the map, Agents have 5 Action Points to expend each Land Phase. An Agent may move to any other location which is either occupied by troops of the same nationality or its allies, or any unoccupied minor country province, provided the Agent can trace a "LOC" to the desired province which does not cross (a) home provinces of nations at war with the PC or (b) provinces occupied by troops at war with the Player to whom the Agent belongs. Each province moved into costs one-half Action Point (round fractions up).

Infiltration
An Agent may attempt to infiltrate into (a) or (b). To do this he rolls one d10 and checks the result. Infiltration requires no Action Points beyond the normal cost of movement.

Infiltration Results
1-3 Agent Turned Back (removed from map, but may re-enter play as above)
4-10 Agent Infiltrates (Enters province; control retained by owner)

Infiltration Modifiers:
Infiltrating into (a), add one (+1) if any friendly agents are already there.
Infiltrating into (b), add four (+4) to die roll.
French, Austrian and British Agents: add one (+1).

After the Infiltration die roll, the Agent's movement is ended for that turn. On subsequent turns the Agent may continue to move and freely depart (a) or (b); or move freely anywhere within (a). If he infiltrates (b) and the Enemy Army subsequently moves out of the province, the spy may attempt to take a free ride with the enemy Army but must roll a successful infiltration result to do so.

Travel by sea
Agents may travel by sea from any port to any other port within range. (This journey takes place during the Land Phase.) Agents are considered to travel via regular passenger vessels available in every port. To hire such a vessel costs one Action Point. The Agent must begin the sea journey in a port and arrive during the same Land Phase in a destination port. Each sea area traversed costs one Action Point. Enemy fleets at sea are ignored. Agents may not land at ports blockaded by enemy fleets, or at ports containing Enemy fleets. Upon arrival in the destination port the Agent may attempt to infiltrate.

INFORMATION AGENTS CAN DISCOVER
Agents can discover any information that is confidential, if they are present in the right province. They can reveal this information to the Player who controls the Agent or his Ally.

Present at Enemy Army HQ
If an Agent is present at Enemy Army HQ (having infiltrated into a province containing an enemy army that then becomes involved in combat), an Agent can find out the strength of the enemy army and/or the two defender battle type cards selected by the enemy player-in any one round of battle only-prior to selecting his offensive option; or the deployment of the enemy army may be revealed before the player who controls the Agent (or his Ally) deploys. Also, in the same circumstances, the Agent can reveal the combat options available to the enemy player.

Present in PC Capital
If present in the capital of a PC, an Agent can find out the value of the Player's treasury, the distribution of units on the player mat, or even the secret terms and conditions of any alliance entered into by that Player with one other specified Player.

Resolving Discovery Attempts
Each discovery attempt costs a certain number of Action Points. Each attempt may also cost some Gold. Finally, each attempt requires a roll of one d10 and is successful if the result lies within the range specified for that Discovery type. (The Action Points and Gold most be expended regardless of success or failure.)

All discovery is resolved during the Friendly Land Phase. EXCEPTION: Discovery during battle may occur regardless of whose Player-Turn is in progress. The Action Points for such discovery are deducted from the 5 Points available to the Agent during his following Land Phase

On a roll of 1 or 2 on the Discovery Table, the Agent is Doubled (flips over to enemy control); on a 3 he is Turned Back (removed from play-may return in a following turn at a cost of 6 Gold).

Discovery Table

Discovery Type

Cost in: Gold Die Roll Action Pts
Value of Player's Treasury 0G 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

Forces on Player Mat 1G 6 7 8 9 0 1

Secret Alliance Terms 1G 8 9 0 2

Strength of Enemy Army 0G 6 7 8 9 0 2

Enemy Combat Options 0G 6 7 8 9 0 2

Battle Type Cards Selected 2G 8 9 0 4

Enemy Army Deployment 4G 0 5

Die Roll Modifier:
French, Austrian and British Agents: add one (+1).

Double Agents
An Agent who becomes doubled switches allegiance. Control of the doubled Agent is transferred to the Player whose Home Country or Army HQ the Agent occupied or attempted to infiltrate.

Multiple Cancel Declaration Attempts
If an Agent is present in either capital of the nations involved, the owning player may attempt a second cancel declaration attempt at a cost of only 2G (provided the player first made an unsuccessful attempt at the regular cost). A roll of 10-29 on the cancel declaration table results in the Agent being doubled; on a 30-39 he is Turned Back.


Historical Notes: Straits in La Guerre
Gibraltar: Gibraltar controlled access to and from the Med. Since both France and Britain had fleets in the Med and Altantic, free passage from one area to the other was very important. Whoever held Gibraltar could freely move naval vessels between the Atlantic and Med to reinforce either position. Conversely the other side had to either make the passage at night or force the passage. This also applies to supply vessels and troopships. Much of Britain's policy during the 18th and 19th centuries involved using the Royal Navy to transport British troops to some coast where they made punitive raids, then the navy evacuated them. The RN also supported full scale invasions and supplied the troops engaged. Gibraltar was also a safe supply base for both a naval force and any troops operating in southern Spain.

Malta: The guns were purely defensive. They were intended to protect Malta from invasion, not to attack ships in passage (although they would do so if any captain was foolish enough to get too close). Malta's importance was as a base. it could be used as both a naval base to interdict enemy shipping in the western Med and threaten the coasts of France, Italy and Africa. It could also be used as a supply base to support a ground offensive in any of these areas. (Note that the threat of such an invasion is almost as important as the actuality of it).

Constantinople: In many ways the least important of the three, because it has only one major purpose - to isolate the Russians. Whoever holds Constantinople can bottle up the Russian Black Sea fleet, forcing it to fight its way out into the Med to help any Russian allies, or to fight its way back into the Black Sea. If Turkey is opposed to Russia, the Russian Black Sea fleet dare not leave the Black Sea while Constantinople is held by the Turks, since it might not be able to return to counter any moves by the Turkish fleet. Constantinople also hinders Russia's allies from sending support (men or materials) to southern Russia. Any aid needs to come down through Russia from the north

To sum up, for all three straits, the primary importance was to curtail the enemy's movements. Enemy movement was not prevented, but it was made more difficult and/or hazardous. Gibraltar and Malta also served as supply centres for land-based military operations. Much of their importance lies in their rugged terrain, which made them so difficult to invade. The "impregnability" of these bases made then secure havens for the navy and allowed them to be held with fairly small garrisons. Their impregnability was, of course, illusory, since both were captured, but any such attempt could be very costly.

-Paul Dallas


Pacific Fleet

The first informal playtest was held today. Ed Green and Ken Miller led the Japanese, while Steve Carey helmed the USA. We only palyed the first 3 months of the war (Turn 1), but much tabletalk and feedback proved valuable. The game starts immediately after the Pearl Harbor raid. Here's a brief summary:
Japan opts to leave her Carrier Strike Force in the North Pacific to hunt for randomly deployed USA carriers. Imperial forces are disappointed when no enemy flattops turn up.
Imperial forces move on the undefended Solomons, with only an Allied submarine in their path. Unfortunately, Allied search fails to find the Japanese units (normally, the Transports would always be located, but not on the first turn due to "surprise"). Imperial forces land ground troops and an engineer (for a base next turn) unopposed at Guadalcanal. Large Japanese Air Groups stage raids in Malaya/Sumatra, damaging theBritish heavies Prince of Wales and the Repulse.
Further Nippon air raids over Singapore and adjacent areas failed to knock out Allied air forces. A lurking IJN sub however does send the already damaged Repulse to the ocean bottom.
Large battle in the Phillipines. With light IJN carriers providing cover, the entire Allied air strength in Manlla is decimated. Bold Imperial admirals run the guns at Corregidor to bombard Manilla, but two IJN battlecruisers and a light task force are damaged in return by the mighty shore battteries. Large amounts of Japanese troops swarm upon the Phillipine mainland, and the defending Allied Colonial troops suffer heavy casualties, but hold their ground. Light IJN forces move in and easily overwhelm the Borneo/Celebes area, with both bases quickly captured.
The turn ends with the USA still holding Wake Island (Japan made no effort there), but Japan threatening to build a base at Guadalcanal. Allied forces have been softened in the Phillipines and Malaya/Sumatra. Britain sent some surface forces to reinforce Sinagpore, but with the Prince of Wales damaged, and the Repulse sunk, things look gloomy for the Allies in that region. Japan has extended the tentacles of her empire, and is ready to asaulth the East Indies and perhaps move closer to cutting off Australia. But the USA has 4 intact carriers, plus the Hornet as a reinforcment, and has some plans of his own....
Overall, I was pleased with this mini-session. Many areas are in need of refinement, and A LOT of work remains ahead. Rules cnsolidation and further abstraction will be required to avoid a micro-management problem. In all honesty, the New Years dealine I foolishly set is going to have to be pushed back a month at least. I will continue to keep you appraised of progress or setbacks (hopefully few) that occur.

-Steve Carey


Massena in Portugal

Sieges

Each fortress has a "break" rating and an "advance" rating printed on the map. The break rating would be the number you need to roll to cause surrender, and the advance rating would lower the break rating.

For instance, a rating of 12 (break)/10 (advance) would tell you the fortress surrenders on a 12 (using 2 six-sided dice) and the surrender number would be reduced by one each time you rolled a 10 or higher. However, you could only roll on the Siege Table if you had a siege train present in the hex with ammunition, and you'd also need sappers (a combat unit) with their tools & equipment (a baggage train unit). Furthermore, you'd have to have the fortress surrounded with units and/or ZOCs.

The French siege train was 46 guns (3 SPs). Therefore it would consume 3 Ammo Pts. per roll on the Siege Table. We could track this quantity with an Ammo Marker. We could figure out how many Ammo Pts. at start by looking at how long the first siege took (in Game-Turns) - from the time the guns started firing until the surrender - and multiplying by three.

Obviously this doesn't go into any detail; i.e., we don't make them dig saps and parallels, undermine the blockhouse, roll for "breach" or any of that ...

We can combine this with the rudimentary rules on siege in Struggle of Nations ...

-Kevin Zucker


Napoleon's Eagles

Napoleon's Eagles as it stands now has the following components:

152 cards
1 rule book (12pp)
1 set up card
1 reference card
Beginner's Game/Tactics (2pp; could be added to the rule book)

Rather than having players provide their own generic decks of cards, we'd like to print up cards that are specific to the game. This would mean an additional 112 Cards.

For a variety of reasons, I'm thinking that the 1815 campaign is not the one we should begin with (although the componant list above represents a good "working" list). We haven't talked much about marketing approaches for NE, particularly the concept of expansion sets, but I believe it's an important factor in how we decide to package the game.

Whether or not we want to commit to expansion sets at this stage, the first game should probably feature the French and ONE major opponant (either Austria, Russia or Prussia), rather than the polyglot forces involved in the 1815 battles. Expansions could then add in the other major opponants. For example, if the initial game featured France and Austria, it would include battles from 1809, 1805 (minus Austerlitz), assorted smaller engagements from 1813-15, and the Italian Campaigns. The first expansion set, featuring the Russians, might follow, including Austerlitz, the 1812 campaign, and assorted battles from 1807-14 (which included Russian and Austrian contingents).

We'd have to look into the cost benefits... but if expansions seem like a good idea, it might be smart to hold the initial game back until I've painted enough cards to permit the simultaneous printing of the initial game PLUS the first expansion set. We could then release the initial game, wait a few months, and release the first expansion.

-Christopher Moeller