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The Strategic Map

Difficult mission here. In Mad Doc's take on history, Napoléon's Grand Army hadn't been destroyed by the Russian Winter, but by Prussia, or you in this case.

During the first part of the mission, you have to secretly build an army, gather as many resources as possible and possibly build the Brandenburg Gate. In the second part, you have to defeat the (huge) French Grand Army and liberate a total of six German Cities.

Unlike the Korean mission Overthrow, it is almost impossible here to build an army inside your territory. The French Grand Army retreating from Russia will travel all over your territory and spot your units sooner or later. The solution is to take a neutral territory and hire the biggest army possible there, far from the French patrols.

Once you have a secret base, you will have to produce units until the French eats the dust, which is harder said than done.

Mission information[edit]

Primary Objectives
  1. Liberate six towns
  2. Destroy Napoleon's Grand Army
Secondary Objectives
  1. Build the Brandenbourg Gate
  2. Hide from the Grand Army
Defeat Conditions
  1. France capture a Prussian territory
Factions
  1. Prussia - Red (Player)
  2. France - Blue
  3. Russia - Orange
  4. Austria - Yellow
  5. England - Teal
  6. German Town - Purple
Epochs Available
  1. IX - The Age of Enlightenment

Walkthrough[edit]

You don't have a minute to lose in this mission. The Grand Army is truly huge, and if you are not prepared when France betrays you, you will be properly trampled, crushed, slaughtered, etc. Quickly make sure you have enough peasants gathering resources. Six is the bare minimum, and you will probably want eight or even ten Citizens on some resources (Food, Wood and Gold). Garrison a few Citizens and Priests inside an University and a Temple. The more you have, the better: you will want to have a few Crowns by the time France attacks.

You have to build an army as early as possible. Once you have a working economy, make a couple Citizens in Breslau and send them to Austria. Take control of the territory by building a City Center, and start building a bunch of Barracks and Factories. There again, you will need a bunch: four or five of each is a start. Chain-produce units (Grenadiers, Regulars, Field Guns and Bombard Cannons) in all of them, but avoid using your other military buildings: if the French spots ten of your units, he will attack.

You need a lot of military buildings hidden in neutral territories. Note the Austrian reinforcements coming to your help

Make sure your army stays out of sight of French patrols. The French units will appear on the Eastern border of the map (in Poland) and will take a random road to Mainz. You can make a dozen spies and order them to patrol your roads to see what the French are doing.

If you're short on resources, try to get the Economic Crown and chose War Economy. This will reduce the cost of all your land units. If you get the other Crowns, take Firing Ranges (Imperial Crown) and either the Infantry or the Fire Support Doctrine. Obviously, the more you have the better: you will most likely be outnumbered (badly). Any bonus will help.

Lastly, if you have spare resources, you can build the Brandenbourg Gate. It's not going to be of much help, but it is the first and only Wonder you can build in this campaign.

You have a dozen minutes to build your army. When you receive a notification about the Grand Army being ready, start to produce units in all your military buildings, even the one in your starting Territories, and bring your army up north, at the border between Berlin and Bradenburg. That's where the Grand Army is going to strike first.

Keep producing units, gather them in one point, and wait for the French attack. When the French turns hostile, many things may happen:

  1. First, it is quite possible your army is quickly destroyed. Do not fear, as long as you killed a bunch of Frenchmen, you're not doomed yet. Make good use of your Bombard Cannons and Field Guns, and if you have a Military Leader, make sure to use his special ability to stun your opponents.
  2. Secondly, there will likely be French patrols in your cities when Blue becomes hostile. They're not much of a threat in the large scheme of things, but they can kill your peasants and destroy your buildings. Take care of them when you can (if possible, before the Big Clash in the middle).
Expect to have to defeat that many French units three or four times in a row

You're likely going to have to make another army to destroy the Grand Army (you have to kill 150 units). Hopefully, if you have a bunch of Barracks and Factories, you will be ready to stop the second wave of units Napoléon throws at you. It's quite possible your army gets trashed again, but as long as you kill most French units, don't lose hope: make good use of your constant flow of units, get rid of the remnants of the Grand Army. Once you have killed 150 units, the French attacks will lose their strength. But that's not a reason to waste time: the French AI, who was dormant, now starts to gather resources and to hire more units.

Take what's left of your own army and start taking out French Fortresses and City Centers in the neighbouring Territories. Ideally, you should need only a dozen guns to take care of the Fortresses, but be careful: even after you've defeated the Grand Army, you'll occasionally face big French attacks.

Kill any peasants you see (they rebuild), and build your own City Centers to take control of the German towns. Once your army is big enough, you can divide it and take two Territories at the same time, but there again, be wary of any French counterattack.

Tips[edit]

  • Britain, Russia and Austria will occasionally send small armies to help you. Saddly, they will more often than not run into a French Fortress and die. With some luck, they might be able to do some work for you, by hitting an unprotected German City.
  • The rule number one of this mission is to produce units. Lots of them. As soon as Napoléon turns hostile, make sure that the buildings you start with in your cities keep producing units too, as that will make quite a difference by the end of the mission.
  • Regulars and Grenaders will mostly be used as meatshields, while your artillery maul down the French units. Bombard Cannons are more effective than Fieldguns, but longer to produce.