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Moshe Callen
Israel
Jerusalem
I like to exchange ideas but I have no interest in a pissing contest.
If you want me to review your game, just GM me and send me a copy. Abstracts, wargames and euros equally welcome. No party or dexterity games please.
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This blog post continues in detail the game described first here and most recently here.
Austrian turn
Austria only gets his three armies for existing. He places them in Autiche where he has four armies and a general. Then he brings his fleet to the Mediterranean.
The 7 armies in Autriche now attack the seven armies in Baviere. Both have a general.
Rolls: 6-3-1 vs. 6-5
No hope of any VPs if he stops.
Rolls: 6-6-5 vs. 6-3
So again.
Rolls: 6-5-4 vs. 3-3
This take it to 4 armies each.
Rolls: 6-1-1 vs. 6-6
Austrian has only 2 armies left in Autriche and calls off the attack. He rolls a 4 to allow his general to escape.
Frustratingly Austria will earn no VPs this phase.
English turn
England builds another fleet and sends all three fleets it now has to try to break the French blockade of Portugal.
This naval combat is three English fleets against 3 Spanish fleets and 1 French fleet. France uses its Napoleon card.
Rolls: 5-4-2 vs. 3-3 which becomes now 5-3
An English and Spanish fleet are destroyed. 2 VPs for England.
Rolls: 6-1 vs. 6-3 which becomes 8-3
England cannot land in Portugal because France has a complete blockade.
Wrap-up of the phase and scoring
After captured generals are returned, France ends the rounds with 45 armies, 4 generals and 1 French and 2 Spanish fleets.
Austria ends the phase with 9 armies, 3 generals and 1 fleet.
England ends the phase with 9 armies, 1 general and no fleets but 1 fortress in Sud Angleterre.
Scores in VPs:
France: 21
Austria: 0
Prussia: 0
Russia: 0
England: 12
Austria got smacked; there's just no other way to put it. It lost more than three quarters of its armies and got nothing to show for it. A defensive strategy of waiting till the scoring round to attack simply failed miserably.
England lost all of its fleet but only a single net army. It also gained 12 VPs which is not a bad showing.
France lost a good deal of armies, with a net 15 armies lost. Still France gained 21 VPs-- more than one VP per army lost.
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Moshe Callen
Israel
Jerusalem
I like to exchange ideas but I have no interest in a pissing contest.
If you want me to review your game, just GM me and send me a copy. Abstracts, wargames and euros equally welcome. No party or dexterity games please.
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This blog post continues in detail the game described first here and most recently here.
1. Aims of the turn
This turn will be the last of the phase after which territories held are scored. The trick is to hold onto them.
At the same time, England will try to land armies in Portugal. Beyond blockading the attempt, the VPs at stake are not worth diverting from gaining and holding territory for which France can score.
2. Builds
France occupies 15 territories, including all of France. This earns 9 build points. Additionally, France has a set of three cards with cannons worth 8 build points-- plus 2 bonus points for Normandie et Bretagne.
France builds one Spanish and one French fleet.
Of the remaining 11 build points to be used, three armies are placed on Tyrol. 2 armies are placed on Etats de l'Eglise and three each are placed on Wurtemberg and on Belgique.
3. Naval movement
France moves all four fleets onto the passage to Portugal from Sud Angleterre. The Austrians choose not to contest this positioning.
4. Land combat
The general and 9 armies of Belgique attack the 3 armies of Hollande.
Rolls: 6-3-1 vs. 3-2
Obviously France attacks again.
Rolls: 2-2-2 vs. 3
France tries again.
Rolls: 5-3-2 vs. 3
The general and 7 armies move up to take Holland.
They promptly attack Hanovre. It's 7 against 3 defenders.
Rolls: 5-5-4 vs. 4-1
No reason to stop now.
Rolls: 1-1-1 vs. 5
Do that again.
Rolls: 3-3-3 vs. 1
Now France moves up five armies and a general into Hanovre leaving a single army behnd in Hollande.
Now the general and 11 armies of Wurtemberg attack the 3 defenders of Baviere.
Rolls: 5-3-3 vs. 5-2
Attack again.
Rolls: 4-2-1 vs. 6-4
Losses happen in combat. Onward.
Rolls: 4-3-1 vs. 3-2
France takes Baviere with a general and 7 armies there.
Finally France redeploys 4 armies from Piemont to Venetie.
Finally France draws two cards: a cannon with Lorraine et Bourgogne and an infantrie legere with the Confederation Helvetique.
5. Remarks
France is in just about as good a position as it could be. Frankly that shouldn't be surprising. France normally does well in the early rounds of the game.
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Moshe Callen
Israel
Jerusalem
I like to exchange ideas but I have no interest in a pissing contest.
If you want me to review your game, just GM me and send me a copy. Abstracts, wargames and euros equally welcome. No party or dexterity games please.
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This blog post continues in detail the game described first here and most recently here.
Austrian turn
The Austrian defensive strategy is not paying off. Austria has been reduced to gaining only three build points so that three armies are placed in the Provinces Illyriennes.
Austria attacks with 7 against 9 trying to retake Tyrol.
Rolls: 6-2-1 vs. 2-1
So far, so good.
Rolls: 5-4-4 vs. 4-1
Now it's 7 Austrians against 5 French.
Rolls: 6-5-1 vs. 6-2
That makes it 6 against 4.
Rolls: 6-2-2 vs. 6-2
The French are mounting a defense finally. The count stands at 4 each, but Austria thinks it worth continuing.
Rolls: 5-1-1 vs. 6-1
Austria took the gamble and lost. There's no point continuing now, and Austria also rolls for the general. It's a 3 so that France captures another Austrian general.
Austria redeploys 3 armies and a general to Autriche.
English turn
England is in much better shape than its ally Austria. The English player does not have to chase the French fleets; they will come. England has six build points-- 3 for the empire and 3 for existing. The chief danger at this point is an invasion of Sud Angleterre.
So England builds a fortress there which limits France to two dice if the defenders are six or less and also brings the number of defenders up to six.
The two fleets from the Mediterranean land on the coast of Sud Angleterre.
finally the English general comes south to Sud Angleterre as well.
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Moshe Callen
Israel
Jerusalem
I like to exchange ideas but I have no interest in a pissing contest.
If you want me to review your game, just GM me and send me a copy. Abstracts, wargames and euros equally welcome. No party or dexterity games please.
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This blog post continues in detail the game described first here and most recently here.
1. Aims of the turn
France can't earn any VPs this round. The best he can do is deny armies and VPs to the English and Austrians. Building ships would just give the English something more to attack and defensive fortresses on the borders of France just bleed off valuable armies.
Yet taking Tyrol wll deny Austria a sizable amount of armies and potentially earn France VPs next round.
2. Builds
France places eight armies-- four for territories and 4 for France-- all in Etats de l'Eglise.
No naval movement or naval combat occurs.
3. Land combat
The 12 French armies of Etats de l'Eglise and their general attack the 3 Austrian armies of Venetie. Of course, armies will need to stay behind to defend from attacks from the south.
Rolls: 3-2-1 vs. 5-1
This is not a great start but I'm not reaching for the Napoleon card yet. France attacks again.
Rolls: 6-4-1 vs. 4-1
Now it's 10 French against 1 Austrian.
Rolls: 6-6-2 vs. 5
France takes Venetie. Planning to move four armies south from Piemont at the end of the turn, France moves the general and 9 armies into Venetie.
These 9 armies now attack the 6 armies and general of Tyrol.
Rolls: 6-2-2 vs. 6-2
The numbers are now fairly even, but France decides to hazard another attack.
Rolls: 6-5-2 vs. 6-3
At this rate, France will likely take the Tyrol, but potentially he could be vulnerable to Austrian counter-attack. France decides it's worth the danger.
Rolls: 3-3-1 vs. 3-1
The advantage still lies with France but only at 5 to 4.
Rolls: 4-4-3 vs. 2-2
Again France continues.
Rolls: 4-3-1 vs. 6-1
No point stopping now.
Rolls: 6-6-2 vs. 4
Three armies and a general have to move into Tyrol. This costly attack just cost Austria five armies at the start of the next turn. France also might kill or capture the general. A 2 is rolled and so now the French capture an Austrian general.
France redeploys 6 armies from Nord et Picardie to Tyrol.
For cards, France draws two more cannon-- Autriche and Normandie et Bretagne. Thus he has a set worth 8 armies plus a bonus two he'll be able to place in France.
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Moshe Callen
Israel
Jerusalem
I like to exchange ideas but I have no interest in a pissing contest.
If you want me to review your game, just GM me and send me a copy. Abstracts, wargames and euros equally welcome. No party or dexterity games please.
-
This blog post continues in detail the game described first here and most recently here.
First Austrian turn
Austria has a total of 9 points with which to build-- 5 for controlling all of Austria and 4 for having 12 territories. The Austrian player's strategy is to wait and attack France all out on the third turn. So long as Austria survives in force to do so, each territory taken on that third turn will mean VPs. On the other hand, each territory France has increases the number of armies it receives and Austria needs to cause France to lose more armies than France can afford. In the end, Austria places three armies in each of Boheme, Autriche and Provinces Illyriennes, each of which has a general.
Austria moves its fleet to the connection between Sud Angleterre and Portugal.
Austria does not attack but does move a general and three armies into Tyrol from Autriche.
Admittedly, Austria won't get a risk card this way, but its odds of getting a set during this phase are relatively small. Instead Austria trying to defend its borders while preparing for a later offensive. To disarm Austria, France would have to waste armies on territoris for which it can earn no VPs and which at the end of the phase it cannot keep.
First English turn
England only gets its three build points for existing; it does not even have all of the British empire and yet the Irish coast is thoroughly blockaded. Since the English get VPs for French ship destroyed, the English player builds only one ship which he places in Sud Angleterre.
Then the three English fleets attack the French and Spanish combined fleet in Irlande.
Rolls: 6-4-1 vs. 5-3
France loses the Spanish fleet and one French fleet. Thus, England gains 4 VPs.
Now it's three against three.
Rolls: 6-5-1 vs. 5-2
The French are reduced to a single fleet in Irlande. Anther 4 VPs for England.
Rolls: 5-1-1 vs. 6
At last, the French navy is fighting back. Now it's 2 against 1.
Rolls: 4-2 vs. 5
Since the English have nothing to lose except a fleet and they have VPs to gain, the English make a last throw.
Rolls: 5 vs. 5.
The last English fleet is gone.
The question then becomes whether or not to try to retake Irlande. Each army would have to roll to cross over but the odds are good and controlling all of the British empire would mean another three armies next turn-- especially since France has no reason to try to take Irlande back now.
The problem is that Sud Angleterre has only four armies. France could well decide to take it just to block the landing in Portgual. If England cannot attempt that landing, it will lose 2 VPs from the 8 it now has and won't gain any more this phase possibly.
England decides to chance it but only to send two armies to Irlande. With one fleet, only a roll of five or more blocks passage. The Fench player roll a 3 and a 4 for the two English armies. They can then attack.
Rolls: 5-4 vs. 4.
The two English armies take Irlande. France loses its fleet there. That's another 2 VPs for England.
The English player redeploys only only army back from Irlande to Sud Angleterre. If he brought his general south, he might just make it vulnerable but would gain nothing from it.
England draws one card and receives Andalousie showing an infantrie de ligne.
End of first round-- current scores in VPs:
France: 5
Austria: 0
Prussia: 0
Russia: 0
England: 10
Of course, only England and France have had the opportunity to score yet.
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Moshe Callen
Israel
Jerusalem
I like to exchange ideas but I have no interest in a pissing contest.
If you want me to review your game, just GM me and send me a copy. Abstracts, wargames and euros equally welcome. No party or dexterity games please.
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NB: This blog post continues the discussion in detail of the game started in the previous blog post.
France -- turn 1
1. Thinking it out
Since France occupies nine territories, it has three points for territories and four points for controlling all of France with which to build. The idea of building two fleets is tempting but better to place one army on each of the territories bordering Austrian held territories. Building a fortress serves no purpose right now. In the end, France builds a third Spanish fleet which it places on Galice. The remaining army is placed on Ile de France.
Since England can't land its armies in Portugal until the third turn, I mightn't bother moving the French or Spanish fleets yet if considering only purely defensive reasons at least. Thus no naval movement or naval combat would occur unless one wants to try to land units in Irlande straightaway. Those are good offensive reasons. The catch is that fleet builds are limited and one does not want to have not enough fleets to blockade Portugal in the last turn of this phase. I still think not building a fleet till the second turn is better because hopefully the number of territories will be markedly increased.
In the end, I decide to fight on two fronts. First perhaps all seven fleets will converge on Irlande, then assuming even moderate success, the landing there can be attempted. Then the armies in Nord et Picardie ought take Belgique and Hollande, possible Hanovre as well. The armies of Lorriane et Bourgogne ought take Wurtemberg et Westphalie, Baviere and possibly Tyrol. Then the armies of Languedoc et Provence ought take Italy apart from its southernmost territory.
2. Naval movement
In the end, two Spanish fleets come up to protect the French coast from Sud Angleterre and so one each occupies Normandie et Bretagne and Nord et Picardie. The four properly French fleets and one Spanish fleet attack the three fleet in Irlande at 5:3.
3. Naval combat
Rolls: 3-2-1 for France vs. 2-1 for England.
England has only a single fleet left in the territory but cannot retreat.
France opts for another round of naval combat.
Rolls: 6-6-3 for France vs. 3 for England.
So France is free on this turn to attempt to march an army into irlande without rolling for passage.
4. Land combat
The ten armies of Normandie et Bretagne attacking the four armies of Irlande; they can do so (i.e., using more than six) due to the presence of a general.
Rolls: 6-2-2 for France vs. 6-4 for England.
Now it's 8 vs. 4. France tries again.
Rolls: 5-2-2 vs. 3-3.
Now it's 7 vs. 3. Again France attacks.
Rolls: 5-4-1 vs. 2-1
Now France has 7 armies versus England's 1. Try again.
Rolls: 4-3-2 vs. 4
This makes it 6 vs. 1. At this point, France is going to have some costly VPs but it's unlikely France won't get those VPs.
Rolls: 3-2-1 vs. 2.
France takes Irlande and so earns its 5 VPs but it cost four armies to do so. That's probably well worth it. France has to move over the gneral and at least three armies. I'd only move the minimum, leaving three armies still in Normandie et Bretagne.
Next, the general and 15 total armies of Nord et Picardie and going to attack the 5 armies of Belgique with hopes of moving then up along the coast.
Rolls: 5-4-2 vs. 4-4
The French are off to a bad start and now it's 13 French armies versus 5 Austrian armies. Still, numbers favor France.
Rolls: 6-1-1 vs. 6-4
Another bad roll for France. He's unlikely to move to a second territory, assuming Belgique is taken. 11 French armies vs. 5 Austrian armies.
Rolls: 5-1-1 vs. 5-2.
Now it's 9 French vs. 5 Austrian armies. Give it one last try.
Rolls: 6-6-5 vs. 5-4
Finally statistics are catching up, and so it's 9 French against 3 Austrians.
Rolls: 5-3-1 vs. 6-5
7 armies for France vs. 3 for Austria. So France calls the attack off, but he has to roll for the general. A 3 is rolled; the French general is captured by the Austrians. This was a thoroughly bad run for France.
Now the 15 armies of Lorraine et Bourgogne will attack the 5 armies of Wurtemberg et Westphalie.
Rolls: 5-2-2 vs. 6-1
So now it's 14 French vs. 4 Austrians.
Rolls: 6-6-4 vs. 3-3
The French are doing well this time. It's now 14 French against 2 Austrians.
Rolls: 5-4-3 vs. 6-1
This reduces it to 13 French versus 1 Austrian.
Rolls: 6-3-2 vs. 4
The French take Wurtemberg et Westphalie and move in their general and 12 armies leaving only 1 army in Lorraine et Bourgogne. That's a risk but with moderate success in the last stage of attacks should be safe enough.
France again attacks Belgique which has only 3 armies.
Rolls: 6-4-3 vs. 4-2
Now it's 12 vs. 1. The Austrian position is not looking so good.
Rolls: 6-3-3 vs. 2.
Six of the French armies stay in Wurtemberg et Westphalie while the general and the other 6 armies go to Belgique.
Finally the general and 15 armies of Languedoc et Provence attack the 5 armies Piemont (etc.).
Rolls: 5-4-1 vs. 6-6
Not a good start but it's still 13 against 5.
Rolls: 4-4-1 vs. 3-1
Now it's 13 against 3.
Rolls: 4-3-3 vs. 6-2
So far, the losses are even, but France has more to lose. France has now 12 armies against Austria's 2.
Rolls: 6-5-1 vs. 4-2
France takes Piemont and moves in a general and 12 armies. Austriathereby also loses its fleet in Piemont.
The key question now is whether to continue or not. If France can hold the territory it has, it will have earned now a total of 11 VPs at the cost of 14 armies. Only 5 VPs are secure though.
France decides to attack Etats de l'Eglise. It's 12 French against 3 Austrians.
Rolls: 6-5-2 vs. 6-4
Now it's 11 against 2.
Rolls: 6-4-1 vs. 6-5
That wasn't good for France but France continues at 9 against 2.
Rolls: 6-3-3 vs. 4-2
France takes Etats de l'Eglise and stops there. 5 armies are left in Piemont and 4 armies and the general move to Etats de l'Eglise.
During its redeployment phase, France moves two armies and a general from Irlande back to Wurtemberg et Westphalie.
France, as per its prerogative in this game, draws two cards. The cards drawn are an infantrie de ligne showing Pomeranie and a cannon showing Portugal.
Remarks
While not everything went France's way, overall this was a good turn. The landing in Irlande was gotten out of the way and a number of British fleets were destroyed in the process without loss of a single French or Spanish fleet. Admittedly one general was captured but it must be returned to France at the end of this phase; it's not out of the game or anything-- just unavailable for a few more turns.
Only England can immediately attack France but the French coastal territories the English can reach are relatively well defended. While France did lose a number of armies, Austria has at this point lost nearly half its starting armies as has England.
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Moshe Callen
Israel
Jerusalem
I like to exchange ideas but I have no interest in a pissing contest.
If you want me to review your game, just GM me and send me a copy. Abstracts, wargames and euros equally welcome. No party or dexterity games please.
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Note on this blog
What follows is in essence a session report but I intend in this blog to go into far more detail than any single session report could. Not only do I intend to discuss in copious detail exactly what happens in a game but also how and why and alternate possibilities. Since I intend to do this for all sides, of necessity the games will be soloed.
1. Introduction
a. The game as a whole
Note: I'm using the French territory names throughout.
The first game I intend to play and discuss in this format is Risk: Édition Napoléon, specifically its Historical Campaign. The game is divided into a series of 16 phases representing each of the wars comprising the Napoleonic Wars. As per the title, the first such phase is the Italian Campaign. The rules as written neglect a number of key points and so I am using my rules supplement.
Nations at peace do not collect armies, and at the end of the phase armies can be redistributed freely among the territories each nation then controls. Neutrality cannot be violated. Scandinavian territories are not used.
b. La campagne d'Italie (1796-1797)
In this initial phase, Prussia and Russia are at peace. Thus, the order of play for this phase is France, Austria and then England. The phase lasts 3 game turns for each country.
La Confederation Helvetique is neutral as well as hence treated as impassable.
France
France starts with 60 armies and controls all of France; France also has 4 generals. Two fleets are also in both of Languedoc et Provence and Normandie et Bretagne.
Spain is allied with France and so one and only one army (taken from the 60) is placed on each of the three Spanish territories apart from Portugal. The French player cannot invade Spain until specified in a later phase of the game. France starts in control of two Spanish fleets, one in Galice and the other along the Mediterranean coast of Andalousie.
France earns 5 VPs for landing an army in Irlande (which for the French player only is linked across water to Normandie et Bretagne) at any point in this phase of the game.
At the end of this phase, France earns 2 VPs for each territory of the Confederation of the Rhine (Germany) and Italy it controls except for Saxe which starts as part of Prussia, Republique Helvetique which starts neutral and also except for Hanovre and l'Etats de l'Eglise which each earn only 1 VP and Royaume de deux Siciles which earns no VPs. If France control Tyrol at the end of the phase, it also earns 2 VPs.
Austria
Austria starts with 40 armies, 3 generals and 2 fleets. One fleet is in Piemont and the other in Provinces Illyriennes. Austria starts in control of its own territories, all of Italy and all of the Confederation of the Rhine except for Royaume de Saxe and Republique helvetique.
Austria at the end of the phase earns 3 VPs for each territory in the Confederation of the Rhine it controls and 5 VPs for each territory in France.
England
England starts with only 10 armies and 1 general but 7 fleets. Two of the fleets start in the Mediterranean and the other five on the coasts of its own territories.
England earns 3 VPs if it lands an army in Portugal during the last turn of the phase when the English player is obliged to make the attempt. (The French player can blockade but cannot have any armies in Portugal.) Additionally 2 VPs are earned for each French or Spanish fleet destroyed.
2. Set-up
a. France
The temptation here is to waste armies against England, arming up to overrun the country. France clearly does want to take Irlande, and an argument can be made for taking Sud Angleterre to try to deny the English player VPs. The bulk of forces should be used against Austria. So I'd place 14 armies on each of Nord et Picardie, Lorraine et Bourgogne and Languedoc et Provence. Ten would then go on Normandie et Bretagne with three each on Ile de France and on Aquitaine. I'd place one general on each of the four territories bordering another region (apart from Spain).
b. Austria
Austria can leave only a single army in each of its own provinces apart from Tyrol and Royaume des deux Siciles. Even if France takes these territories, it can't keep them and they don't earn VPs. I'd recommend placing 5 armies on each territory bordering France and 3 on all the others which would earn France VPs.
Frankly in this phase, Austria is going to get hit hard. The Austrian player wants to make France lose as many armies as possible and to have to take and retake the same territories. Its real push should bein the final turn though. I'd place its 3 generals initially away from the action but where they can be moved into position for use possibly as early as the second turn if France is doing really well and otherwise the third turn.
c. England
England needs to defend Irlande and to have armies in Sud Angleterre during the third turn to try to move to Portugal. I'd place three fleets on Irlande and two on Sud Angleterre. Then I'd place 4 armies each on Irlande and on Sud Angleterre with only 1 army each on Ecosse and Nord Angleterre. At first, I'd place the general on Nord Angleterre-- waiting to move him south for the third turn.
England is playing mostly defensively here but the Risk combat system generally favors the attacker.
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