Strategy in ‘Soldier Emperor’
Summer 1803
By Doug McNair
August 2006

Welcome to the second episode of As the Emperor Turns — a.k.a. my second strategy article on Soldier Emperor, our multiplayer game of the Napoleonic wars.

The first article dealt with the basic challenges and opportunities facing Soldier Emperor players, and began the saga of the wars with the initial spring offensive in 1803. France’s armies marched east into Germany and south into Italy, but encountered strong resistance from local garrisons and only conquered Hannover. Russia and Prussia fought each other to a standstill with great losses on both sides, not the least of which was the death of General Kutusov. This dashed Austria’s hopes for a quick Prussian defeat followed by Austrian conquests in Germany.

Turkey lost the poor border province of Moldavia to the Russian General Bagration. But she fought off a land/sea invasion of her eastern province of Amasia and then blockaded the Russian Black Sea Fleet there. She also took advantage of Austrian inaction to conquer neutral Dubrovnik on the southern Austrian border.

Britain’s attempted invasions of French Bretagne and Gascoigne were repelled, as was an attempt to relieve her new Swedish allies in their defense against a Russian invasion of Finland. Finally, Spain’s new Armada met the same fate as the old one, with Admiral Jervis intercepting it in the Eastern Atlantic and sending it back to Galicia with heavy losses.

As our story continues, the battered and bloody warriors make ready for another campaign season. . . .

Summer 1803

In the Purchase Phase, everybody repairs their reduced units. Britain builds her only remaining army, a 3/2. Austria’s lack of action last turn puts her relatively high on the Money list, so she builds another army, this time drawing a good 3/2 one. Everyone else needs their Money for attacks and maintenance, so nobody builds.

France once again reduces her initiative roll by 2 so she can go as late in the turn as possible, and the initiative order comes up: Russia, Austria, Prussia, Turkey, Britain, Spain, France.

Bagration of Russia wants to get to Berlin before Napoleon does, so he pulls every trick he’s got from his bag. Leaving a 3/2 army to guard Moldavia, he takes three armies north through Podolia and west through Austrian Galicia to hit the Prussian south flank in Posen. Russian armies funnel into Galicia behind him, and he invites the Austrian army in Galicia to march to the sound of the guns (they do).

He then pays 3 Money for an Assault and plays two Surprise Attack cards, bringing in two of the armies that followed him into Galicia. They attack at double strength, so the total strength of the attack is 21 dice to 13. A Prussian retreat before battle would give the Russians one-quarter of Prussia and would give the Austrians the freedom of movement they’re looking for, so they stay and fight. Not a good idea: The Russian attack scores seven hits to two, destroying one Prussian army and damaging the other three, forcing them to retreat (they go to Berlin).

This is the only attack Russia can afford — she has only 10 Money left and must save that for maintenance. So she moves forces back into Finland to besiege it for free while moving her two armies back east from Amasia to Georgia, and waiting for the Turks to lift the blockade at Amasia so the Black Sea fleet can escape. The siege of Finland scores thee hits and takes it for Russia, with one Russian step loss inflicted in return. But Bagration’s siege of Posen scores only one hit and takes a hit from the Garrison, sending another Russian army back to Galicia.

Charles of Austria’s northeast flank is now secure due to the Russian advance into Posen, so he goes on the offensive against the hated Turks to get rid of the other impediment to action against France and conquest of Germany. The armies in Wien and Hungary attack the Turks in Bosnia, while Charles himself leaves Venezia to assist the army of Croatia attacking the Turks to the southeast in Dubrovnik. Both attacks go in as Assaults, with the northern attack on Bosnia at seven dice to eight and the southern attack on Dubrovnik at seven dice to seven.

The attack on Bosnia scores three hits to one on the first round, ejecting both Turkish armies and sending them retreating to Serbia (one Austrian army takes a step loss and retreats to Wien). But Charles’ attack scores no hits on the first round to one for the Turks, and the second round scores only one Austrian hit which is not enough to hurt the 3/2 and 2/2 Turkish army and fleet. Charles retreats to Croatia, leaving the Turks in firm control of Dubrovnik. But the 1 Money the Austrians spend to besiege Bosnia for two rounds is well spent, as they score exactly two hits and take Bosnia for Austria.

Hohenlohe of Prussia is now almost surrounded by Russians in East Prussia and will be cut off if they move to Berlin in his rear. Also, Napoleon is barking at his back door in Hanover. The Russians and Austrians have already moved so he doesn’t have to worry as much about them as the Corsican Ogre, but he can’t take on Napoleon in the field with his depleted western forces.

So, he sends his western armies to conquer neutral Mecklenburg (which has no armies) and form a buffer zone for Berlin against Napoleon, while himself coming down hard from the north on Bagration in Posen. He spends 3 Money for an Assault on Bagration and the one Austrian army in Posen at 14 dice to 12, but Bagration pulls yet another trick out of his bag and plays La Gloire, giving the Austro-Russian army a hit on every roll of 5 or 6 the first round! Hohenlohe’s attack scores only two hits but takes four in return, sending one Russian 3/2 army to Galicia but sending two of his own armies back to East Prussia.

The second round is at nine dice to nine with no bonuses, and this time Hohenlohe does much better, scoring three hits to one. A Russian and an Austrian army both take step losses, with the Russians retreating to Galicia and the Austrians south to Hungary. Bagration also retreats to Galicia with the bulk of his forces, but he leaves a 3/2 army in Posen to maintain the siege there. The siege of Mecklenburg fails miserably, with one Prussian army destroyed by one hit on two dice on the first round, and another destroyed by two hits on two dice on the second.

Turkey would love to send her 3/2 and 2/2 army from Wallachia to attack Austrian Transylvania, but that requires crossing a mountain route, which wouldn’t let her retreat if she was attacked by Bagration, and would also give the Austrians a hit on every 5 or 6. She has to leave her eastern army and the Black Sea Fleet in place to keep the Russian eastern armies in check, and her only other non-mountain land routes of attack are to hit the retreating Prince Charles in Croatia, or the Russian 3/2 army which Bagration left behind in Moldavia. But Charles is too well defended, and the Turkish forces in Wallachia aren’t strong enough to have a decent chance of inflicing two hits in any combat round. So the Turks stay put, conserving their money and waiting for the reinforcements which will arrive next turn.

Admiral Jervis of Britain really wants to make landfall this turn, so he pulls the rebuffed invasion fleet out of Gascoigne to guard his rear against another sortie by the Spanish Armada. The French fleet in Normandie doesn’t intercept, but the Spanish do and naval battle commences. The Spanish get the Wind Gauge and do one hit, sending the 2/1 British fleet back to the Gascoigne coast.

The British 3/2 fleet with an army aboard returns fire but misses, and since they’re outgunned seven dice to three they also go back to Gascoigne. This changes Jervis’ calculus — he wanted to invade Holland but if he leaves the Eastern Atlantic, the Spanish will blockade his other two fleets in Gascoigne. He plays Naval Mutiny on the 3/2 Spanish fleet (the strongest in the Armada) and rolls a 5, doing two step losses to it and causing the Spaniards to take their British booty and go a-pirating on the Spanish Main.

Then Jervis goes to intercept the remaining Spanish fleets and does so, getting the wind gauge of the Spanish and inflicting two hits on the first pass. This flips the Spanish 2/2 fleet and sends it back to Galicia, and the remaining Spanish 2/1 fleet takes a parting shot at Jervis (one hit, not enough to damage him) and follows its comrades back to Galicia.

The Brits still want to invade Holland, so they leave Finland to the Russians (telling the Swedes they’ll come back later) and throw all they’ve got left into an amphibious Dutch invasion. The French fleet supporting Napoleon in Hanover fails to intercept either the Anglo-Swedish fleet coming from the east, or the British fleet that picked up a 3/2 army in London and came in for the attack.

The fleets go in to attack the French fleet plus shore batteries at eight dice to seven (Jervis wanted to use Naval Mutiny on this French fleet to avoid the shore battery fire, but oh well), but the British score only one hit while the French do the same and eject a 2/1 British fleet from the fight. The second round gives the British no hits while the French get another, ejecting another 2/1 British fleet. That puts paid to the invasion of Holland, with the British and Swedish invasion forces retreating to the North Sea. Napoleon gives ribbons to several coastal defense commanders guarding his rear in Holland.

Spain really wants to put the British out of her misery, and needs to get the British out of Gibraltar so her fleets can freely move in and out of the Med. She plays False Orders and Bad Intelligence and sends the British Gibraltar Fleet east through the Bosporus, to Abkhazia on the eastern Black Sea coast. Then General Castaños and all Spanish armies within range head south and attack the remaining British 2/2 army at Gibraltar. Just to keep with the theme of besieging impregnable fortresses, the Spanish 2/2 fleet and 3/2 army leave Etruria (telling the French to keep it safe for them) and sail east to besiege Constantinople. The Turkish fleet in Dubrovnik fails to intercept them, and they go in.

Castañes spends 5 Money for an all-out Invasion at Gibraltar, and the first round goes off at 14 dice to nine. But the British play Trap! which lets them fire first and hit on every 5 and 6 rolled. They roll three fives and no sixes (whew), doing three hits to the Spanish and ejecting two of their armies to Estremadura. The Spanish roll only one hit on their remaining nine dice, so the British survive the first round unscathed.

The second round is a straight nine dice to nine, and once again the Brits score the only step loss. The third round is seven dice to nine, and Spanish luck gets no better, but this time the British score no hits either.

The Siege of Gibraltar goes on and on and on, with neither side able to score more than one hit on the remaining, battle-hardened armies. But eventually, one of the 3/2 Spanish armies takes a step loss and retreats, leaving General Castaños alone with a final 3/2 army. He fights on for the honor of Spain, and after several more rounds the gunners at Gibraltar finally get his range and score four hits on nine dice, wiping out his last 3/2 army and capturing him!

Not to let Spain suffer such a horrible, ignominious defeat unanswered, the Spanish player spends 3 Money for unlimited siege rounds at Constantinople (if Castañes isn’t running the siege it’s got to work, right?).

It starts on a much more promising note, inflicting two hits to none. There are two close calls on the second and third rounds (with the Turks rolling a 5 and a 6 each time, not enough to hurt a 3/2 or 2/2 Spanish unit), but on the fourth round the Spanish roll two more sixes and conquer Constantinople for Christendom (and netting Spain a nice territory worth 4 Money). This also bottles up the British Mediterranean fleet in the Black Sea, since the Spanish fleet at Constantinople can intercept her automatically, just like the Brits could back at Gibraltar. This irony, plus the Royal Navy’s Wild Pasha Chase, causes laugher in Spanish taverns and helps to salve the wounds to Spanish pride.

Napoleon needs to hit Prussia while she’s weak, but he also has to neutralize the Austrian threat to his southern flank. Plus, he has to conquer more German territory to make the march eastward worthwhile. And of course, he has to conquer the Papal States so he can create the Kingdom of Italy.

He sends an army east from Lorraine to Bayern to reinforce the siege there, while sending another from Lorraine and one more from Kleves to protect the southern French coast at Piedmonte. Then the two armies in Piedmonte march southeast to attack Austrian Venezia, with support from a French army marching northeast over the mountains from Spanish Etruria. Finally, Napoleon leaves a fleet and army behind to guard his rear in Hanover, and marches southeast from Hanover to hit the Prussian and Hanoverian armies at Magdeburg.

Napoleon spends 3 Money for a two-round Assault on Magdeburg, and the attack goes off at 10 dice to nine, with Napoleon hitting on all fives and sixes the first round. He rolls three fives for three hits, while the Prussians score two hits. The Hanover army does its duty as cannon fodder and is eliminated, and a Prussian 2/1 army flips and retreats to Berlin. One of Napoleon’s 3/2 armies flips and retreats to Hanover, and on the second round he only scores one hit on the Prussians while they do none. That leaves him alone with one army in Prussian-held Magdeburg, so he retreats back to Hanover to rejoin his main army. The Prussians save Magdeburg for their king!

Then the French play Troop Revolt on the 3/2 Austrian army in Venezia, causing it to immediately retreat to Croatia and take a step loss due to desertion on the way. This leaves only an Austrian 2/1 army in Venezia, and the French pay 3 Money for an Assault on it. Their seven-to-five attack scores one hit on the first round and ejects the Austrian army, whose only retreat route is southeast to Croatia (all other routes out of Venezia are mountain routes and thus ineligible for retreat). The Austrians score one hit and send a French army back to Piedmonte.

Then the sieges begin. The French do one hit to the fortifications in Kleves, conquer Baden, spend 3 Money for an unlimited siege of Austrian Venezia and take it, and finally take the Papal States. This is enough of Italy for Napoleon, who plays the Kingdom of Italy card to create the Kingdom, bringing in both Italian armies at Venezia to oppose the now very worried Prince Charles of Austria.

But as if that weren’t bad enough, Prussia surrenders to France in the peace phase! She offers Napoleon the use of her 4/2 and 2/2 armies in Mecklenburg and Magdeburg for the conquest of Hessen, Bayern, and finally Austria to the south. Napoleon sees no reason to refuse the offer. It will enrich his coffers dramatically before winter, allow him to leave forces on the north coast to deter British invasion, and do nothing to prevent him from invading and conquering neutral Magdeburg (thus keeping Prussia on a tight leash). Napoleon accepts the surrender terms, and the Prussians rejoice mightily when they roll a 5, meaning Talleyrand agrees to keep the peace with Prussia for five turns! This brilliant diplomatic move has saved Prussia’s Kuchen.

But that’s a story for another day. At the end of summer 1803, Napoleon has once again repelled all British invasion attempts and has conquered territory worth 16 Money and significant Manpower. Spain has suffered an ignominious defeat at Gibraltar and lost her only general (whom she has not deigned to ransom due to his incompetence . . . let him rot in a cold British tower). But she pulled off a brilliant ruse de guerre and bottled up the British Gibraltar Squadron in the Black Sea with her conquest of Constantinople (worth 4 Money and splitting Turkey in half).

Turkey held her gains in Dubrovnik but did not take back Moldavia and will now have to pull back and abandon the blockade of the Russian Black Sea fleet to retake Constantinople. Russia has taken Finland (2 more Money) and scored a major victory over the Prussians at Posen, but failed to finish the siege there.

Austria is at a net loss of 3 Money for having taken Turkish Bosnia but losing Venezia to the new French-backed Kingdom of Italy. She is very happy that her reinforcements will be arriving next turn, for without them she’d be in deep trouble from Napoleon and his new Prussian and Italian vassals. Prussia has pacified her western front with the stroke of a pen, and can now focus on rebuilding her armies to hold back the Russian menace to the east (Austria will have all she can handle just keeping Napoleon out). And while the British garrison at Gibraltar mounted a defense for the ages, Admiral Jervis has still failed to make a dent anywhere in Napoleon’s Fortress France.

What will the Fall campaign bring? Can Charles hold off the French? Will the Turks take their capital back? Is Monica leaving Alan for good? Who will end the year 1803 as Champion of Europe against the French juggernaut? Tune in next time!

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