While playing a little N:TW today I've remembered an AAR I did a few months ago when I got the game, I posted it on another forum and thought I could share it with you guys too, maybe it could show some of you what the total war series are all about, and get you to play them as well.
I wrote this as if I'm Napoleon himself, like a diary, so it might be a little weird. I've played on H\H, and this was my first campaign on the game, so it wasn't as good as I usually play.
WARNING: BIG PICTURES AHEAD.
Part 1: Napoleon enters northern Italy.
Spring, 1796, France is in a middle of a war against Austria due to it's expansion in Germany. It's been decided that a military force must be sent to northern Italy and pressure Austria to surrender by creating a new front, the force must also liberate Austrian possessions and spread democracy in the area. I, Napoleon Bonaparte, was chosen to lead this force, and defeat the Austrians. Now is my chance to prove my skill and acquire glory and fame!
The goals are clear:
[img]http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4046/53823187.jpg[/img]
I advance with my troops towards the Austrian general Eugene Mercy d'Argenteau. The Austrian army is stationed on a mountain, but I advance from behind, where the Austrians don't notice my troops:
[img]http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/7163/69583781.jpg[/img]
My troops station themselves on the top of the mountain, on a ridge defending them from the Austrian artillery, and at the same time providing them a good angle to fire at the Austrians:
[img]http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/6568/88657180.jpg[/img]
My artillery fire forces the Austrians to send their troops to certain death, or retreat:
[img]http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5384/94154526.jpg[/img]
Eugene is left without protection and my cavalry charges from the flank, kills him, and neutralizes the Austrian artillery, victory!
[img]http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/2230/94678145.jpg[/img]
After the battle my superiors ask of me to recruit more troops in Italy to secure our holdings, in return they would send some finer troops to help in the advance to the east.
My next task would be to capture the nearby city of Coni. My second-in-command, general Jon Serurier, will command the attacking army. I will have to decide wether to help him in the assault or advance east, to Genoa, an important city which will help our trade:
[img]http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2626/52588747.jpg[/img]
That's it for the first part, tell me if you like it and if so then I'll post the other parts as well, there are 6 parts for this AAR, but the rest are much longer with more pictures. Would you prefer if I use big-sized pictures or thumbnails?
Also, if this is the wrong sub-forum then please just move it, didn't know where this could fit but I saw an HoI3 AAR here not too long ago.
Oh come on 50 views and no comment?
[QUOTE=BurnEmDown;22261688]
Part 1: Napoleon enters northern Italy.
Spring, [B]1976[/B], France is in a middle of a war against Austria due to it's expansion in Germany. [/QUOTE]
haha
At one point there were about 5 HoI AARs, mine was one them.
Nice to see another, effectively a Let's Play.
While I prefer Paradox ones (Mostly because they work well as pictures), I'd read more, and would prefer large pictures because thumbnails are a hassle to click on all of to see what's going on.
If this is the wrong forum, which I don't think it is, then the correct place would be Games in Progress. There was an X-Com LP there a while ago anyway.
Ahhh the Italy campaign is too easy. Do an AAR of the Egyptian one on hard difficulty. That one can get tricky sometimes.
[QUOTE=Canesfan;22267576]Ahhh the Italy campaign is too easy. Do an AAR of the Egyptian one on hard difficulty. That one can get tricky sometimes.[/QUOTE]OP should do this, I can agree Egyptian campaign was really difficult. Damn Egyptians kept breaking into smaller armies.
Yeah I finished it on hard and it was very hard (lol this sounds stupid).
Will post the next part soon, maybe after I'm done I'll start a coalition AAR or something.
Part 2: The Battle For Turin.
I've decided to split the army, John was sent to conquer Coni, as I continue to Genoa. This way we will be able to capture two important cities, and the kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont will not be able to reinforce them both at once.
The Piedmontese army chose to fight John in defense of Coni, I received a message stating he has fallen back due to the enemy's superior numbers.
The following month I receive a new order from my superiors - Turin must be captured in order for Sardinia-Piedmont to surrender. In order to complete my mission I retreat from Genoa and move towards Coni, after capturing the city I will be able to directly attack Turin:
[img]http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4735/95509303.jpg[/img]
However, the Piedmontese army who forced John's retreat has left the city and has advanced towards my position, it is currently somewhere in the woods between me and Coni, hidden. I choose to take the longer path, concealing myself as well, at the price of arriving at Coni later than I had planned. In the meantime I receive a message from John that he was able to easily capture Coni since nearly all of it's forces have left to engage my army.
In the beginning of May I arrive at Turin and begin the siege, John and his troops arrive a few days later to reinforce our position:
[img]http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/483/15878525.jpg[/img]
The Piedmontese general, Giacomo Colombo, is a skilled leader, and I know he will not give up his capital so easily, and as I thought, he marches his army forward to meet the sieging force.
Our army is stationed on a mountain, and John will arrive soon with the reinforcements, for now my cannons will bombard the helpless Piedmontese troops:
[img]http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/445/80784978.jpg[/img]
As my cannons inflict losses upon the enemy, they split their forces trying to divert the cannon-fire, approaching from both sides of the mountain. Seruier has arrived just in time, he will defend one side of the mountain while my battalion will defend the other, the cannons are still bombarding the enemy:
[img]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/8484/41724814.jpg[/img]
The Piedmontese decide to focus only on one side, but it is well protected. The soldiers begin to fire:
[img]http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4628/49735944.jpg[/img]
The Piedmontese send their entire force against my soldiers, but with my leadership we will prevail:
[img]http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/5227/19243234.jpg[/img]
A few days later I woke up in my home in Paris, with a letter at my desk signed by Seruier, saying: "Sir Napoleon, during the battle of Turin your unit was struck by a direct hit from the enemy's cannon-fire, I saw this with my own eyes and couldn't believe it. Fortunately, god has saved you, and you were only slightly wounded by falling off of your shocked horse. As your second-in-command, I quickly took control of the situation and secured victory, here are the details of the battle:
The unfortunate announcement:
[img]http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/3033/73104667.jpg[/img]
I have immediately set out to command your troops, to assure them we can still win without you. My troops came to reinforce the right front. Only one unit remained on the left front, but it is well experienced. Your troops managed to rout the enemy:
[img]http://img694.imageshack.us/ifs/6002/img682/2/97496330.jpg[/img]
Victory was ours:
[img]http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/3161/57183578.jpg[/img]
Your superiors have decided that due to your wounds, the expansive action in Italy will have to stop, and more focus will be put on the German front.
I was then promoted to field general, and was sent to Germany to help relieve the pressure. Before leaving however, I have secured our army and ordered the siege to continue until you arrive."
At the beginning of June I recovered from my wounds and immediately arrived at the front lines, there is still no news from the sieging force and I hope everything is alright:
[img]http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/5505/81499513.jpg[/img]
Awesome, I love these. You should save all of your pictures in PNG instead of JPEG.
I have no clue but when I get an urge to play this, my dick breaks when I try to go through the tutorial.
What's so bad about the tutorial?
[editline]09:45PM[/editline]
Part 3: Protecting Turin and further Expansion.
In late June I return to the front to find that my troops have yet to capture the city, as I arrive I'm told the Piedmontese general Michelle Coli has initiated a pincer maneuver against our force, in an attempt to circle me and not let me escape:
[img]http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3498/42028545.jpg[/img]
The enemy is split, Coli tries to attack our cannons from the side but is caught by a unit I have so skillfully hid in the nearby woods:
[img]http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/1715/25917595.jpg[/img]
The enemy general is killed quickly:
[img]http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3504/28611804.jpg[/img]
The real battle begins and I need to reinforce my right flank and capitalize on the enemy's weakness on the left flank:
[img]http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8263/29845744.jpg[/img]
The Piedmontese flee on the left flank but charge on the right:
[img]http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/8991/78655635.jpg[/img]
The battle is a bloody one, but in the end the Piedmontese escape:
[img]http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/5633/58010548.jpg[/img]
And victory is mine:
[img]http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/9686/51424968.jpg[/img]
The morale of my troops rise to levels I haven't seen before, we storm the city and I let them loot and pillage. The Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont has offered us its unconditional surrender, and becomes a protectorate of France:
[img]http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/7043/51940511.jpg[/img]
News of this victory arrives at France, and my superiors promote me, and assign to me a new task: Liberating Milan. This mission will be easier than the last, now that I have a well established military base in North Italy I can reinforce my army better and march towards the city with full force.
In November I set out towards Milan, I will arrive by the end of the month:
[img]http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/25/60873694.jpg[/img]
Turin falls under siege from the Austrians, but Milan is defenseless:
[img]http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2619/42384962.jpg[/img]
And its residents celebrate the liberation shortly after the Austrians surrender:
[img]http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/5967/13523251.jpg[/img]
I advance with my army towards the city of Lodi, in the meantime I receive a message that the Austrian siege of Turin was successfully repelled:
[img]http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/1656/18813066.jpg[/img]
My next task will be liberating the city-fort of Mantua. Mantua is well fortified and guarded by a strong Austrian force, and liberating it will be an important step in the war against Austria. For now I continue my advance on Lodi, and liberate it after the Austrians flee from the city without a battle:
[img]http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/9986/41305041.jpg[/img]
I advance towards Mantua, but first arrive at Parma on my way, and will Liberate it soon:
[img]http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/7193/93290883.jpg[/img]
The game sounds so great, but when I played it for the first time. It was such a dissapointement. The world map is a lot worse then in the prequels. Fighting feels so wrong, well that's for Empire. I don't own Napoleon, is it any good?
Napoleon is much better than Empire, but I don't think it constitutes as a full game. I would've appreciated CA more if they had just let it be an expansion, without a full-game pricetag. I recommend buying it since it's definitely better than Empire, but it's not worth the full cost, you should buy it if it's on sale for 33% or more.
Burn, what Unit Size are you on?
I was on 80 per regular unit, but now I'm playing on 120.
You can easily see that from the last picture where most of the units have 80 men in them.
I have and love Empire, but never got Napoleon.
Is it a continuation of the regular campaign, or just a separate one?
[QUOTE=BurnEmDown;22286743]I was on 80 per regular unit, but now I'm playing on 120.
You can easily see that from the last picture where most of the units have 80 men in them.[/QUOTE]Ah just wondering, thanks.
[editline]04:00PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=DanRatherman;22287654]I have and love Empire, but never got Napoleon.
Is it a continuation of the regular campaign, or just a separate one?[/QUOTE]Napoleon? It's a entirely new game.
In Napoleon you've got 3 campaigns: Italy, Egypt and the Levant, and Europe.
You can also play as Britain, Russia, Austria or Prussia in the European campaign.
If you play the multiplayer campaign of Italy or Egypt you can also play as Austria or the Ottoman Empire, while the other guy will be France.
Part 4: Advancing on Austrian lands.
The short battle of Parma begins:
[img]http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9194/40996326.jpg[/img]
The Austrians try to attack my left flank with cavalry but I easily defend it:
[img]http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/1154/17273809.jpg[/img]
After the Austrians start to advance I send a small force to harass them:
[img]http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/8154/48485130.jpg[/img]
My right flank is strong and I move the troops so they could more easily fight the Austrian Army:
[img]http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1617/88873636.jpg[/img]
Meanwhile my cavalry advances from the side and takes care of the Austrian troops who remained behind:
[img]http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1617/88873636.jpg[/img]
Victory is quickly mine:
[img]http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8163/19294514.jpg[/img]
After two weeks of resting in Parma we advance yet again and arrive at Mantua. The Austrian army is rather small but the city is well fortified, still I am ready for battle and we attack:
[img]http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/5205/69239867.jpg[/img]
I order my army to hide behind a hill while the artillery will take care of the fortifications:
[img]http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9913/19480174.jpg[/img]
The fort's walls have fallen and the Austrians send a lone infantry unit to try and disarm my artillery:
[img]http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/182/83810767.jpg[/img]
(I will not write about the rest of the battle because some stupid bug caused the AI to just walk his units outside the city walls and I kept attacking them with cannons and easily won).
After conquering Mantua liberating north Italy from the Austrians seems possible once and for all, only 3 Austrian cities remain. The Austrians however are still holding Modena, a wealthy city south of Mantua, and my superiors decide it will be best to liberate it as well:
[img]http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/8339/70269316.jpg[/img]
At the end of January Venice declares war on France. My superiors inform me that Venice was pressured by Austria to declare war, they were bribed and lied to, they were told we would conquer them if they let us pass through Austria, but we have no desire to conquer a democratic country like us!
Nevertheless, we can also not let a weak country such as Venice declare war on the great country of France, we must make them pay!
[img]http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/7729/64870454.jpg[/img]
I arrive at Modena and the Austrian occupying force quickly surrenders due to the incredibly large force I arrive with, Modena is liberated:
[img]http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4074/88339402.jpg[/img]
Conquering Venice will be swift and afterwards my troops will be able to advance on Austrian lands, lands that enemy troops have not set foot upon for many years.
(A funny thing that happened to me, on the first battle in this part I have killed the enemy's general and his bodyguards, and one of them had his foot stuck in the saddle, as he died the horse fled with the poor man's body dragging behind him:
[img]http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8605/37270214.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/5656/58510426.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/5093/89777176.jpg[/img]
lol ^
Part 5: A Major Setback.
Even though the battle of Padua was not long ago and my men need reinforcements I must advance towards Venice herself. The Venitians could recruit a strong army very fast before my men resupply and reinforce and so we must begin the siege at once:
[img]http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/7917/13919060.jpg[/img]
The Venitian general orders his men for battle, my troops assemble on a hill near Venice:
[img]http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/4199/28993128.jpg[/img]
The artillery begins to bombard the advancing Venitian forces and luckily their general is killed by a direct hit:
[img]http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1872/33182686.jpg[/img]
The Venitians still advance and the battle begins, this will be the hardest battle I have fought so far:
[img]http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/5837/65580458.jpg[/img]
[IMG]http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/3240/30253264.jpg[/IMG]
If I can capture Venice I will gain a direct route towards Klagenfurt, north Italy will then be mine, and France will win the war.
The enemy's reinforcements have arrived:
[img]http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7039/76924711.jpg[/img]
A few enemy units rout but the battle is far from over:
[IMG]http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/7505/98228261.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/5496/42649297.jpg[/IMG]
Our left flank is holding up but the right is suffering from heavy losses:
[img]http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/8026/32385941.jpg[/img]
The situation seems hopeless and I am forced to retreat due to a combat wound:
[img]http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/3903/81236988.jpg[/img]
Soldiers who have run out of ammunition throw their lives at the advancing Venitians to give the cannons more time to arm themselves:
[IMG]http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8130/81511682.jpg[/IMG]
Even the cannon operators are not willing to die as cannons and make a final charge on the Venitian army:
[img]http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/7586/88670851.jpg[/img]
A terrible loss to the French, but at least we all know the heavy losses we have inflicted upon the Venitians:
[IMG]http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8052/61666559.jpg[/IMG]
Due to the combat wound I return home to convalesce, when I am healthy again I will come back and avenge all of my brave soldiers who have died at the hand of the Venitians:
[IMG]http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/3108/66771200.jpg[/IMG]
Luckily for me the wound is not as bad as my last injury and I am still conscious and can receive news directly from the front lines, for example the news of John-Andre Messana, who has won a battle against the Papal state but has payed with his life:
[IMG]http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/2725/85954547.jpg[/IMG]
My troops will now be commanded by the officers responsible for each region. My general order for them is to maintain control over the territories we now occupy as much as possible, but to not throw the lives of our troops away for the small chance of keeping our cities.
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