renaud verlaque - 08:59am Nov 30, 2003 PST (#779 of 786) "The game looks great ... The mechanics are smooth and play quickly, but capture the feel of the period. For anyone looking for a great Napoleonic era game, this is a must have" Mark Herman re Age of Napoleon (Phalanx) Latest Q&A Compilation (LONG POST!) 2.1 Gameboard (RB p2) ERRATA: Areas bordering the Black Sea do NOT qualify as coastal areas for the purpose of sea reinforcements (see 9.5), movement (see 11.2) or retreats (see 11.3.2). 2.2.1 Corps Playing Pieces (RB p3) Q: Russian units marked "Invasion" -- are they available only while there are enemy units inside Russia itself, or do they remain available for the rest of the game (once an enemy invades Russia)? The French invaded Russia in 1812, and a few of the "Invasion" units were built. Now in 1813 the French have been pushed back to the Rhine -- can the Russians still build "Invasion" units, or not? A: All corps' special availability rules that are unrelated to country control are meant as triggers. Once the appropriate event takes place, the corps become available and remain available whether the triggering event is still ongoing or not. 3.2 Detachable Areas (RB p5) Q: I'm confused by the term "original ruler" in the second paragraph of 13.1. At what point do you judge the "original ruler"? Perhaps an example? A: Original ruler is Austria in the case of the detached Dalmatia and Tyrol; Prussia in the case of the detached Poland and Saxony. 6.2 Diplomatic Actions (RB p7) Q: It's the diplomacy phase. France decides to play first. The all powerful Napoleon occupies Moscow, Russia is an occupied neutral country. Napo plays a card to make an ally of the Czar. Then, the Coalition during its turn play English Gold and Russia becomes neutral. Napoleon is in Russia’s capital violating its neutrality. A: Actually, if the French player and the Coalition player played their diplomatic cards in the same phase, they cancel each other. Russia remains an occupied neutral and there is no neutrality violation. 6.3 Consequences (RB p7) Q: The Coalition plays Alexander I and decides to convert a French allied country into a neutral country. I chose Hannover, because its corps was deployed on the map. What happens to the French allied Hannoverian Corps that is deployed on the map? Does it disband (go back in reserve)? A: Indeed, the Hannoverian corps has to be returned to the reserve, as per Rule 6.3 which does mention the corps of minor countries becoming neutral (as you well know minor countries do not have "independent" corps, so the reference logically concerns those corps provided by minors that are under the command of a major country leader -- Bernadotte of France in this case). Q: Diplomacy Phase again. Pitt is played, and a neutral Spain becomes a coalition member. Following the rules, Spain deploys 2 corps. Can it deploy further corps during the following reinforcement phase. I think so but I just want to be sure. A: You are correct, in as much Spain's mobilization limit is not exceeded (which would typically not happen since the deployment limits are usually half the mobilization limits). 7.0 Insurrection Phase (RB pp7- Q: An insurgent country is determined to have a successful insurgency due to the withdrawal of all French forces. In the Insurgency phase, the country becomes a Coalition member per the usual rules. However, the country only deploys the usual additional units in the reinforcement phase and stays weak. Then, in the ensuing combat rounds, only the capital region has to be conquered and 1 more French unit must be pumped into the country to have it surrender again in the surrender phase. We feel this to be a cheesy way out of insurgency (you can freely leave the insurgent country, wait at its borders for the succesful insurgency and then fall upon the hapless victim (often Spain or Prussia))...did we overlook something? A: No, you did not. It is indeed good, if cheesy, strategy to abandon an insurgent country and then re-invade because it is easier to achieve the latter than the former in a major country. BUT easier does not necessarily mean easy because (1) the Coalition will get one more card to draw immediately in the phase following the insurrection and (2) the formerly insurgent country will get new corps to supplement those that fought in the insurection. In addition, suppose the French do retake the country and it becomes a French dominion again, there may another insurrection around the corner. I wanted to avoid too many special rules. The only alternative I considered was to make the surrender of formerly insurgent countries as difficult as terminating an insurrection (i.e., occupation of all areas), but I thought this would make it too difficult for the French player to achieve his victory marginal or decisive conditions. 7.3 New Insurrection (RB p8) Q: How many insurgent corps are mobilized as the country (...) rises up against its suppressor? A: Simply apply the standard reinforcement rules. The only difference between insurgent corps and non-insurgent corps is that the former can only fight to liberate their country and cannot move/withdraw/retreat more than one area away from their country. 8.0 Strategy Phase (RB p8) Q: Can the Coalition player recover the Britannia card from the discard pile after new cards are dealt provided the Britannia card is at the top of the discard pile? A: The answer is no. The Coalition player must act IMMEDIATELY after the French player discards the Britannia card. Q: Say the French discard Britannia at the start of the strategic phase, and England is empty-handed, can it take Britannia in its own following strategic phase ? A: No. The swap should be possible and made immediately. Q: Also, if the deck is reshuffled in the same strategy phase that Britannia is discarded, can the Coalition player draw her before she disappears back into the deck? A: The Coalition player could recover the card before the deck is shuffled, but since he can only use it the Reinforcement and Campaign Phases, it would do him no good and would have to discard it prior to the deck being reshuffled. 9.5 Britannia (RB p9) Q: During the reinforcement phase the example shows that if the Britannia event has been played the British can deploy one of their just built corps to a friendly area (Napoli in the example). If they are already at full mobilisation can they do this free deployment move anyway. I played that they could. I didn't see why they should be penalised for being at full strength. A: If they are truly fully mobilized, no, they cannot. That's a cardinal rule of the game. However, I would note that the British will always be able to deploy the Anglo-Neapolitan corps (Stuart) in Napoli if Napoli is Coalition-controlled (whether Britannia is in effect or not). 11.0 Campaign Phase – Movement (RB p10) Q: In paragraph-7 it says, "Every army move and interception with the exclusion of your first move or interception of the campaign phase required to play or discard one card". I read this two ways: A. In order to move one army, you must play a Major Campaign Card AND then a second card per army moved, or B. In order to move one army, you must play a Major Campaign Card, then play a second card for the third army moved. ERRATA: The rules in should only say "to discard", not “play or discard”. So if you play a Major Campaign card, you must in addition discard one card per army you move (freebie notwithstanding). Note that playing a Major Campaign card is not required to move an army; it is only necessary if you want to move two or three armies in the same round. Q: In paragraph-3 it says, "The moving player may normally move one army only per campaign round. However, by playing a Major Campaign Card, up to three armies may be moved per campaign round". This to me says that when a Major Campaign Card is played, an additional TWO armies may be moved, for a total of three as the rules state. Correct? A: Correct. Q: If a major campaign is played as the first action of the turn and one moves three armies, 3 cards must be used, right? The first would be the major campaign card, the first army moved would be free, and then one card each for the next two armies, giving a total of three right? A: That's correct in both cases. Note that's using the errata on the cost of moving armies ("discard" instead of "play or discard") at least until the publishr confirms that this is indeed errata and not a last-minute change I was not aware of. Q: Bennigsen (3-3-4) moves from Minsk to Volhynia and picks up Buxhowden (2-2-2). He then moves to Westgalzien where Kutuzov (4-3-6) is. Now, since Bennigsen has a Seniority of 4 and a Movement of 3, could he a) move the entire Russian army 1 more space to Bohmen or b) does his move stop when Kutuzov (the non-active army leader) and his 6 Seniority takes over the army. A: (b) is the correct answer, because an army can only move as long its leader remains the same (see p10, end of 1st/beginning of 2nd column). Q: Can a lower rated commander pick up a senior one during the army move and then continue moving ? A: No. 11.1.1 Special Cases (RB p10) Q: Sweden to Lithuania in Winter: Just one movement point to move between the two in Winter? A: No, 2 points. Consider the sea as an area just between Lithuania and Sweden. And because this move is possible only in winter, it requires a movement allowance of 3 and a march attrition die roll. 11.1.2 March Attrition (RB p11) Q: If an army with a move of 4 uses a Force March to move 5 areas, does it roll 1 or 2 dice? (In other words, does an army that moves 5 areas trigger the "moves 4 areas" roll? I assume it does, but it would be clearer if it said "moves at least 4 areas. ERRATA: The first two bullet points of 11.1.2 March Attrition (and corresponding text on the player aid card) should actually be combined as follows: "moves at least 4 areas or moves at least 3 areas and attacks". This means that an army that moves 4 or 5 areas and attacks, or moves 5 spaces even without attacking, can only do it thanks to a Forced March card and therefore must roll two dice. As a result, the Blucher example provided in the rules IS correct. Q: How is it handled if an army dropped some corps off during the move? Are the dropped corps counted when figuring which column to use on the table? And are the dropped corps spent? A: For simplicity's sake, the general concept of the rule as written is that march attrition is rolled for at the end of the move, taking into account all causes of attrition along the way (e.g., entering two different mountain areas would count as two causes), affecting only the corps present at the end of the move, both for the purpose of determining casualties and for ending the move spent. Q: If an army enters multiple areas with mountains, does it roll a die for each such area? (Again, I assume it does, but wanted to make sure.) A: Yes. ERRATA: Always remove attrition losses from the largest national contingent. Consider minor allied commands as forming ONE national contingent different from the major country that controls them. Your choice in the event of a tie. ERRATA: Corps that are dropped off after a cause for attrition occurred (e.g., after entering a mountain area), but before the end of the move, are spent. Note that this means that any corps dropped off during a winter move and/or a forced march is spent. 11.3 Withdrawal (RB p11) Q: Is it possible to withdraw a corps by sea (and send him from Naples to, say, Sweden)? A: A WITHDRAWAL by sea is NOT possible. Period. A RETREAT by sea would be only for the Swedish corps in this particular example. 11.4 Interception (RB pp11-12) Q: Can a withdrawal be intercepted? Can a retreat be intercepted? A: No to both questions. As the rules state, only army moves and interceptions can be intercepted. Interceptions, withdrawals and retreats are not army moves. Please note that only army moves and interceptions require you to burn cards; withdrawals and retreats do not. Q: How many interceptions can be made in a round per player? A: There is no limit per player, but there is a limit of one per (would be intercepting) army. 11.5 Neutrality Violation (RB p12) Q: When a minor neutral is violated, can any associated minor allied corps deployed? If so, do they have to conform to the relevant mobilization limit? A: Yes and yes. Q: Back to neutrals. Suppose Russia and Sweden are neutral. France violated Sweden so Russia's Charles-John can be deployed. Does this put Russia into the coalition camp as well? Similar possibilities in Bavaria with Wrede. A: Nope, because the use of a minor corps requires both the related major country and the minor country to be controlled by the same player. Declaring war on Sweden does not bring Russia in, so the Swedish corps is not available. This answer complements the one given above. Q: Now let's assume a situation where French troops are present in a French ally's capital and the Coalition plays a diplomatic card turning that country into a neutral. Is there a neutrality violation? A: The answer is no. Not immediately, at least, because neutrality violation results from moving into a neutral country's capital area or dropping corps off in a neutral country. See 11.5. So, until they move, troops already present in a now-neutral's capital do not violate its neutrality. And if their movement allowance is high enough that they can move once and leave the country, there will be no enutrality violation. However, if they move, but can't leave the country in one move, then, yes, they will violate the country's neutrality, it will join the other side and deploy corps immediately. If such a situation arises, consider that the play of the diplomatic card achieved more than normally is possible, i.e., it shifted a country's stance all the way instead of just turning it neutral. 12.3.1. Battle Losses (RB p13) Q: If you have two corps and suffer 3 losses, where half are temporary, but the last odd one is permanent (for the reasons given in the rules) do you lose both steps permanently or does the half temporary loss apply? A: Actually, there effectively is no 3rd loss since there are only 2 corps, so the first loss is permanent and the second loss is temporary (or vice versa, it does not matter). Q: Are corps that are present at a battle but unengaged (either by choice or because of leadership limitations) vulnerable to battle losses? A: Yes, they are (there's no mention in the rules that they aren't). The only deliberate reasons to keep corps unengaged are (1) to play (or fool the other player into thinking that you will play) the Pursuit card after the battle if you are victorious, and/or (2) to make sure that not all of your corps end up spent after the battle. Q: A question for you regarding the example on page 13... the French won the battle not using a tiebreaker, inflicting 3 (2 + 1) losses and taking one, still the example tells us that the French loss is a permanent one! I think the French loss should be a temporary one. Am I correct? ERRATA: Correct. Rule 12.3.1. stands true and the example is wrong as far as the French side is concerned; the French should suffer a temporary loss because they suffered just one loss (odd number) and won the battle w/o need for a tie-breaker. ERRATA: Always remove battle losses from the largest national contingent. Consider minor allied commands as forming ONE national contingent different from the major country that controls them. Your choice in the event of a tie. Q: After the battle my spent units need to become "more spent"...What happens to spent units to must become again spent? March Attrition + Battle = spent + spent = ? A: Only units that were fresh upon engaging in battle become spent after a battle, presuming they survive. Units that were already spent and survive just stay spent. (Now, because spent units are less powerful, their army is less likely to win the battle, therefore more likely to sustain additional losses.) Q: Situation: A spent unit is attacked but another army intercept into the battle area. The combined army wins the battle. The victor may discard a card to unspent is units after the battle. Are all units unspend or only those that were spent because of the battle ? A: The rules make no distinction; all victorious corps remaining in the battle space can be unspent if they were spent regardless of why they were spent. Q: I know that unengaged corps must retreat, but do they become spent? A: They do not become spent because they have not participated to the battle. They must retreat because their side is defeated and retreating. Q: And can a player unspend his army between the successive battles of the Interior Lines card ? A: I would rule "no" on this one because the army using Interior Lines would not have to the time to recover before facing the next enemy army. (it's really one big battle split in three) 12.3.2 Retreat (RB pp13-14) ERRATA: In order for one defeated Coalition corps to retreat by sea after a battle, Britannia must be in effect and the retreating corps must be placed in an enemy-free, friendly-controlled coastal home region. If Britannia is not in effect or if no such region is available, a retreat by sea is impossible. 13.0 Surrender Phase (RB p14) Q: Austria is conquered by France. It must become neutral. Coalition plays insurrection card on Austria. The French win a battle vs. 1 Austrian insurgent corps and are now the only military force in Austria. Does Austria go back to being neutral? I assume they do. A: Nope; it is now an insurgent country, so eliminating all Austrian insurrection corps is not sufficient; you've got to follow the rules on insurrection (i.e., occupy all Austrian regions during the next Insurrection phase). Insurrection is a tough cookie to swallow. 13.1 Surrender – Minor Countries (RB p14) Q: When the French Empire conquers a minor country, what does it become, a French Ally or a Dominion ? A: It becomes a French ally if it never was insurgent; a French dominion otherwise. See 13.1. 13.2 Surrender – Major Countries (RB p14) Q: What happens if one side (e.g., the French) occupies a neutral country's capital region (e.g.,, Austria), but then is forced by the other side (e.g., the Coalition) to abandon it? A: Generally speaking, when the capital region of a neutral country ceases to be occupied by its victor, said country immediately loses its "occupied neutral country" special status and it simply becomes a "neutral country". In addition, the neutrality violation rule is no longer suspended (since it applies only to occupied neutral countries). Therefore, if, and only if, the occupation of the neutral country's capital region ceases because of a successful invasion by the other side, a logical (and appropriate) application of the relevant rules results in the formerly occupied neutral country becoming an ally of its former occupant. The chain of events goes a follows: (1) as the country is no longer occupied by its victor, the country becomes neutral and the neutrality violation rule swings back into effect, (2) the presence in its capital region of foreign corps is therefore considered a neutrality violation, (3) resulting in the country therefore joins the side opposing the new occupant, i.e., the side of its former occupant. 15.1 French Victory Conditions (RB p15) Q: I know this is probably clear to most, but I was wondering about the French victory conditions. For the Marginal conditions, there is this phrase: "either Austria or Russia must be under French control or occupied by the French or their allies while the other must be neutral, under French control or occupied by the French or their allies...." Now, "under French control" seems clear -- the country in question is either a French Ally or French Dominion. But, what exactly does "occupied by" mean? It can't mean "Occupied Neutral", because it says "neutral... or occupied by the French or their allies" -- which implies that "occupied" means something different than neutral. Does it simply require that there be some French or French allied units in the country in question, but that the "occupied" question can still be a Coalition Member? Any clarification for this would be great. Thanks. A: The "or occupied by the French or their allies" phrase is unnecessary (since "neutral" covers that situation too), although not wrong. Note that the reverse in not true, i.e., "occupied" presents an additional requirement (the presence of troops) to simply "neutral". 14.0 Winter Attrition Phase (RB p15) Q: Are the rolls for the winter attrition simultaneous ? In other word, can a Napoleonica card be used to pick up a Depot card which has just been used by your enemy? A: I would allow the play of the Napoleonica card in this context, as from a gaming standpoint, the rolls are not simultaneous. ERRATA: Always remove attrition losses from the largest national contingent. Consider minor allied commands as forming ONE national contingent different from the major country that controls them. Your choice in the event of a tie. 18.0 Part of a Sample Game (SB pp4-6) Q: I tried playing along with the sample game last night, and discovered numerous problems. Obviously, it was never checked with the final version of the rules and components. None of the mistakes are that important, but could be confusing to someone trying to use the example to learn the game. Here are the problems I found: (i) 1805 4th campaign round Since the F army that marched to Tirol had to check for March Attrition, it should be spent, and only have a strength of 7 (which means that playing Combined Arms won't help it). (ii) 1806 Strategy It says that F has no cards to discard, but it still has Napoleonic Dynasty and Out of Favor. (iii) It says that C has 4 minors, but it only has 3 (Napoli, Pommern, and Sverige). This doesn't change the number of cards drawn, though. (iv) 1806 Reinforcement It says that Murat is removed from the prisoner box, but he was never placed there. (v) 1806 1st campaign round It says that Lannes moves to Italia via Bourgogne and Provence, but since he started in Flandres, he would actually move via Champagne and Bourgogne. (vi) 1806 2nd campaign round F plays Grand Battery as an attacker, but playing it requires the presence of Napoleon, who isn't there. (vii) 1806 3rd campaign round F discards Peace Talks, but he doesn't have it because he discarded it during the Reinforcement phase to unspend Napoleon. (viii) 1806 5th campaign round After Wellington's attack on the Spanish, it states that "both armies are spent". However, they were both already spent earlier in the turn, so there is no need to spend them again. ERRATA: (i) Correct. (ii) Correct. It means that F must discard those two remaining cards and draw an entirely new hand of 9 cards. Errata has no effect on the game as it unfolds. (iii) Correct. (iv) Correct. Murat was a temporary loss, but since the French won the battle, he was directly returned to the reserve as the play example first says. (v) Actually, he moves through Champagne, Bourgogne AND Provence before reaching Italy. Which is OK given his MR of 4, but would result in one cause of march attrition. (vi) Correct. (vii) Correct. (viii) This one is actually a question of semantics. Both armies are indeed spent after the battle; it makes no difference that one was spent before the battle. 19.0 Card Manifest (SB pp7-10) Q: How is the Out of Favor card used if there are no corps in the reserve? Can it still be played? A: No. Q: I was puzzled by the pursuit card. If the effect takes place before the winner's corps are flipped to their spent side, it's a terrible slaughter (more appropriate to an ancient period battle I'd have thought), while if played afterwards it won't have any effect. Are you meant to keep some corps out of the battle for use in pursuit? A: Absolutely. The Pursuit card is not a Battle card, but a Campaign card that must be played immediately after a battle and prevents the use of a discard to unspend a victorious army. Therefore the only way to use the card is to keep one or more fresh corps unengaged in the battle. These are the corps that lead the pursuit and cause a lot of damage (the inspiration is Jena-Auerstadt). Do note that all of the corps so eliminated go back to the reserve via the prisoners box (they are not dead). Q: Re Pursuit, the unengaged corps presumably have to be in the same province as the battle. What about the command control limit? If you use as many corps as the leader can command in the battle, can you then pursue with other corps which had to be held out of the battle for this reason? A: Yes to both questions. It is necessary and sufficient that the corps used for the pursuit be in the battle area. Q: Can Radetzky be played by the Coalition player even when Austria is French controlled? Same question for Stein and Prussia. A: Yes. Historically, one could say it was the case for Prussia. While Austria was neutral. Play Aid Card #1 Q: The Reinforcement chart: some Coalition nations have a "*" next to their mod/depl. numbers. It means "1 if under French control". I do not understand this. Can those countries deploy corps'even if under French control? Or is it the number of insurrection corps? A: It means that when allied to France, Austria, Russia and Prussia can each deploy/mobilize one corps to be controlled by the French player (think Schwarzenberg's and Yorck's corps during the Russian campaign). Q: The Strategy chart, it refers to Prussia and Ref. Prussia. On the reinforcement chart, there are Prussia/Ref. Prussia, and Austria/Ref. Austria. What are the differences, and when do you use each? A: Play of Stein to REForm Prussia and Radetzky to REForm Austria.