1813-1814 Start

[Canadian_95_RTS]

I decided a while back that I would try an 1813 (post invasion of Russia) start as Revolutionary France to try and beat back the coalition hordes. I don't see myself as a particularly good player of EU3, but I was able to do so, and I was thinking, this is too easy.

So, I decided to do some testing. I played five games as Switzerland, who starts out at war with Russia, but is not an ally of France not bringing any troops of mine to the front, and all five ended up with France pushing back into Russia, taking back Spain, and in general, crushing all the Coalition forces.

Then, just to make sure, I loaded up a couple 1814 starts (as Holstein, because Switzerland was too hot and heavy), and , even with Austria, Bavaria, Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain against him, Napoleon was still able to put up a good fight, and, in one of them, was able to push into Bavaria, Austria, and Prussia as well.

I don't know if this is a problem in game mechanics or starting positions, but I'm fairly sure that that isn't what should be happening. If any of you have a better idea why, please tell me.

I suppose that March of the Eagles will probably help make this better, but I don't know. I don't have it, and don't really plan on getting it.

P.S. If there is popular demand for it, I can post screenshots, but Steam at the moment is being uncooperative.

 

[unmerged(625280)]

I think that it's such a rare start date most people don't frankly care much. Mind you if you start in 1814 there is only 7 years before the game ends.

 

[Tufto]

Nobody else will ever start at that date if we aren't playing at the beginning, we tend to gravitate towards bookmarks, or much earlier random starts. I really don't think that the 7 years near the end are too much of a problem.

Though, what is annoying is that starting just before the Battle of Vienna has no Ottoman troops in Vienna .

 

[Canadian_95_RTS]

I know it's a late start date, but it's an interesting few years, and it doesn't require hours upon hours of time investment.

 

[Icendoan]

The problem is how the game distributes troops - it does so with a general method as opposed to campaign specific movements - for example, just after the battle of Borodino, you don't see huge French forces in Moscow - they're all still distributed around France, with a few areas of Russia captured.

Because of this, even though you start at a point where France should be almost broken from 20 years of near constant warfare and blockades, you're still fighting fit.

 

[RobRoy3]

The problem is how the game distributes troops - it does so with a general method as opposed to campaign specific movements - for example, just after the battle of Borodino, you don't see huge French forces in Moscow - they're all still distributed around France, with a few areas of Russia captured.

Because of this, even though you start at a point where France should be almost broken from 20 years of near constant warfare and blockades, you're still fighting fit.

This.

The game system allows you to start on any date. But it can do little to assure that the situation on that start date will reflect historical realities. Never expect any operational details to be reflected in a later start, particularly in the middle of an ongoing conflict. The bookmarks are a better bet, but they'll just approximate a general strategic situation at the beginning of a specific period, and even they haven't received the same attention as the strategic situation of the 1399 start. And, frankly, the later starts are far less satisfying than the earlier starts.

 

[NoobRage]

This.

The game system allows you to start on any date. But it can do little to assure that the situation on that start date will reflect historical realities. Never expect any operational details to be reflected in a later start, particularly in the middle of an ongoing conflict. The bookmarks are a better bet, but they'll just approximate a general strategic situation at the beginning of a specific period, and even they haven't received the same attention as the strategic situation of the 1399 start. And, frankly, the later starts are far less satisfying than the earlier starts.

The game simply isnt supposed to start after 1399. Later bookmarks are usually extremely unbalanced and army positioning is extremely weird. It simply isnt feasible to add all detail possible for every year and every nation for over 400 years. Its too much work, and barely anyone starts after 1399.

 

[Shiranui]

In MOTE if you play as France and everyone gangs up on you, no matter where your troops are you're basically dead xD

 

[ZomgK3tchup]

I love doing post-1399 start dates. The only problem is that the later ones (1600 onward) give you huge empires to fight against, and there isn't any mechanic for redrawing borders on that large of a scale. Especially with the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, there's no "Our coalition won, so this is how we're going to redraw Europe!" feature. Instead, you demand a few provinces and release a couple states.

If you want start dates before things get too crazy, 1453 is a good one, as well as 1492. Both feature Austria, France, and the Ottomans in much better positions.

 

[KeoniPhoenix]

I love doing post-1399 start dates. The only problem is that the later ones (1600 onward) give you huge empires to fight against, and there isn't any mechanic for redrawing borders on that large of a scale. Especially with the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, there's no "Our coalition won, so this is how we're going to redraw Europe!" feature. Instead, you demand a few provinces and release a couple states.

If you want start dates before things get too crazy, 1453 is a good one, as well as 1492. Both feature Austria, France, and the Ottomans in much better positions.

This is why the game ends when it does, the aspects of warfare had changed so much by 1821 that the wars that were fight over essentially European politics involving "small" territorial changes in Europe were replaced with massive coalition warfare against a massive empire that in its aftermath required large numbers of diplomats to redraw Europe to bring a new concept of balance of power.

 

[Char1es]

Starting as France around 1813, I was able to win the Peninsular War, bulldoze Austria and seize a large chunk of South America while I was at it. The Napoleonic Era makes for some very interesting, highly playable start-dates.

 

[Ashantai]

Because there is no way to code the position of armies, the later games often end up very...odd.

I tried 1805 as Austria once and got bulldozed by France.