In another thread, BrianNewbie mentioned Empire in Arms, an Avalon Hill wargame. I was so surprised someone else knows this game! Any other warmongers here know about EIA?
Being relatively new to EU, I would have to conclude that the developers of EU were inspired by this boardgame. It's too much similarities to be a coincidence.
That was the boardgame that is THE single closest thing to EU.
The only exception is that Empire in Arms was strictly limited to the European theatre.
From (parts of) Scandinavia in the north down to Turkey and North Africa in the south, from England in the west to the Ukraine in the east, but nothing else beyond those borders.
What an awesome game it was. I still have a boxed copy too, and the huge game map (that you play on) is sooooo gorgeous. I still love staring at that map of Europe, each city has its "seige rating", etc.
Oh yes, my favorite nation to play in EIA was Spain...prolly because I enjoyed being slapped silly by an incredibly invincible French player who had legendary commanders like Napoleon, Ney and Davout. The English had it good too, they got awesome commanders like the Duke of Wellington and of course Admiral Nelson.
What I never understood is WHY all the Russian generals had non-Slavic names like Bennigson, Witingstein, Barclay and Bagration. They had one commander who was Kutusov Prince of Smolensk, however.
The Ottomans in EIA were a lot like the EU Turks. One main difference: in the Napoleonic era of EIA, the Turks had access to an almost unlimited supply of cheap cavalry (in addition to cheap infantry), called "feudal cavalry".
In EIA, the Spain player had very realistic victory conditions. If you were alive at the end of the game (unconquered), you basically won.
One quick look back at EIA, and I have to conclude that the guys who created EU most definitely have played this game. I'd like to be corrected if I'm wrong.
Being relatively new to EU, I would have to conclude that the developers of EU were inspired by this boardgame. It's too much similarities to be a coincidence.
That was the boardgame that is THE single closest thing to EU.
The only exception is that Empire in Arms was strictly limited to the European theatre. From (parts of) Scandinavia in the north down to Turkey and North Africa in the south, from England in the west to the Ukraine in the east, but nothing else beyond those borders.
What an awesome game it was. I still have a boxed copy too, and the huge game map (that you play on) is sooooo gorgeous. I still love staring at that map of Europe, each city has its "seige rating", etc.
Oh yes, my favorite nation to play in EIA was Spain...prolly because I enjoyed being slapped silly by an incredibly invincible French player who had legendary commanders like Napoleon, Ney and Davout. The English had it good too, they got awesome commanders like the Duke of Wellington and of course Admiral Nelson.
What I never understood is WHY all the Russian generals had non-Slavic names like Bennigson, Witingstein, Barclay and Bagration. They had one commander who was Kutusov Prince of Smolensk, however.
The Ottomans in EIA were a lot like the EU Turks. One main difference: in the Napoleonic era of EIA, the Turks had access to an almost unlimited supply of cheap cavalry (in addition to cheap infantry), called "feudal cavalry".
In EIA, the Spain player had very realistic victory conditions. If you were alive at the end of the game (unconquered), you basically won.
One quick look back at EIA, and I have to conclude that the guys who created EU most definitely have played this game. I'd like to be corrected if I'm wrong.
