Chapter 5: What's that sticking out of your back, France?
1814
Imagine my surprise when it turns out that GB will, indeed, accept a peace with me!
They wouldn't give me both, and Gibraltar seemed easier to defend. Still, I beat the British, which is more than France can say so far. I do need to prepare before going after France, though. First, I build a bunch of transports to extract my armies from Malta. In August, I take what could be a useful idea:
This will be the last screenshot for an idea in this update; too much else happens.
1815
I build up a bunch of militia brigades -- 29 to be exact. This will drain most of my manpower, probably, but I'm really looking for warm bodies at this point, and militia are almost as good as line infantry for Spain, with my ideas. (Infantry still have better initiative, and I can't set any flank tactics with them. Still, they're cheap and plentiful.) I take Coordinated Moves in May, with increases army evasion by 25%. Here's my best army, to show how I've organized it.
Here's the staging area in June.
What I'm waiting for is my truce with Piedmont to expire; I want all my ducks in a row. It does, so I take a moment to take down Piedmont.
This does put me at war with Russia again, but no navy in Europe (except the Royal Navy) can challenge me any more -- yes, that includes France. I butter up Prussia some more; if I can form a coalition against France, that would make my job that much easier. The British temporarily reattain Naval Dominance in September (I'm not sure how). France, the poor fool, tries to ask for my help.
Piedmont is annexed in October.
This news is most unwelcome in November.
Personally, I think since I beat GB and France didn't, that I should win the game right here. Sadly, March of the Eagles disagrees. Prussia forms a coalition against France in December. I try to join, but France still likes me too much. (I honestly don't know how Prussia, who is neither land or naval dominant, could form a coalition). I get Fast Move in December, which increases movement speed by 10%. Everything is set:
And the invasion commences! Circled in red are naval dominance targets; black are land dominance.
Pau falls in two weeks. I try to assault Bayonne, but I have too many troops there (thanks, March to the Sound of the Guns!) and I actually lose the battle.
1816
This is a nice event!
Montpellier falls in January; it's not a dominance target, but it will make reconquest slightly harder. At this point, France and I are tied for Land Dominance. I need to get them under 100% to win. Wouldn't you know it, most of them are in Italy. The army that took Montpellier marches east to start on that.
Naval dominant, baby!!!
In February, France proves how ungrateful they are.
I am appalled --
appalled, I say. What did I ever do to you?
...
Oh, yeah. Right.
The French doomstack, though, is no laughing matter.
My militia got eaten alive; I regret building them now. Toulouse falls anyway, though. One step closer, now all I need to do is kick France out of Italy. All of my armies are directed to hide whenever the French approach; I want them distracted so I can take their Italian objectives without too much hassle. In March, the landing is complete!
They did retake Pau, but as long as I keep them busy in France, I should wrap up in Italy before they can respond. To be on the safe size, I conclude a peace with Russia.
That is less than 1% of my total income, of course.
I assault and take Rome easily; I get reinforcements to hit Genova harder, and send the army from Rome into Firenze. The French sneakily take Vittoria, one of my core provinces, so I have to pull out of France (the army, thankfully, not the forts). Then, on April 6, 1816, Firenze falls.
I attack Toulouse, and strangely, the French abandon Vittoria. It is indeed Vittoria... for Spain!!! (Technically, the win comes in May.)
Thus concludes my first March of the Eagles AAR! I really enjoyed the experience, and I'll probably do more in the future. On the whole, I didn't screw up too badly -- misunderstanding frontage was unwelcome, and militia couldn't stand up to France. I'm not sure where I'll try next; maybe Prussia or Russia.
Before you ask, no, I'm not starting a new AAR at this time. I've gotten some really great news: I got a fellowship to go to Russia in July and do my archival research. I won't be back for quite a while (May 2014). That doesn't mean I won't be on the forums or writing AARs, necessarily: I'll have my laptop along. I don't, however, want to start anything new right now. After I'm settled in Russia and have established a regular internet connection of some kind, I should have a new AAR (probably HOD) up and running. For now, though, I'll drop down to merely two active AARs.
Thanks for reading!