Gregorio Dominates Final!

The Napoleonic Wars was a Coached event this year. Pat Duffy did both demos, bringing in several new players each night. Accordingly, there were a total of 61 players across the 3 Heats. Such numbers have not been seen in over two decades since the game first came out in 2003 (67 players) and 2004 (64 players).

Heats:

Heat 1 was very good for the French, with six wins: John Emery with 10 VP, David White 6 VP, Kip Braily & Tim Carnahan 4 VP. Patrick Duffy and Herbert Sparks took wins with France in the two coached games for 0 VP credit, second place claimed by Jeremy Rice as Prussia & Paul McCarthy as Britain respectively.

For the coalition there were two Austrian wins: Alex Gregorio with 8 VP and Jim Savarick 7 VP, one Russian win as Tsar Paul Toro won with 3 VP on the tiebreak over Emperor Eric Alexopoulos.

Heat 2 saw ten games, although two of them were 3-player games. Still a good time was had by France. The win counts were France five wins: Michael Dauer 7 VP, Nathan Wagner and Jay Boring 6 VP, Ed Rothenheber 5 VP, whilst one of the 3-player games included a spectacular 18-point win (including 5 Resources) by Alex Gregorio’s French — here is the writeup of this game:

Alex Gregorio’s French played Kip Brailey and Pat Duffy in a 3-Player game where nothing could go right for the Coalition. Austria was conquered on Turns 1 and 4. Prussia was pacted by the Russians only to immediately be Capitulated by the French on the same turn with the loss of most of her Associate Duchies. Despite France spending three Resources, Spain being conquered twice and a broken Danish pact, France ended the game with 5 Resources, aided by the 5 House of Rothschilds the Imperial Camp had over the course of the game. The game ended on Turn 5 when France successfully conquered Russia.

Britain was still shut out and unable to do better than two 2nd places in 3-player games, which doesn’t get credited as 2nd for standing purposes, and no better than 3rd anywhere else.

Russia had three wins, all the coached games weirdly (Jay Buckwalter with 9 VP in the game coached by Pete Morzinski, Peter Findlay with 2 VP in the game coached by Rich Shipley, Kevin Emery for 0 in the game he coached with Scott Pfeiffer 2nd with 5 VP as Austria.

Austria won once with Austin Haydon 5 VP and Prussia won once also with Ethan Shipley-Tang 4 VP.

Heat 3 saw France’s win percentage remain high. France won four with Kevin Emery 7 VP, Robert Frisby and David Harrod 6 VP, and Kip Braily 5 VP while Britain ( Aaron Birnbaum salvaging some British honor with 9 VP), Russia (John Emery 8 VP), and Prussia (Peter Morzinski 7 VP) each won one game.

Semifinal:

The semifinal got a bit tougher for France, with two French wins, two Russian wins, and one British win:

Kevin again had House of Rothschild on Turn 2, drawing into Emperor Commands, while Amelia lost repeated battles in the south but started whittling down the French. Kevin again had a large lead, but the Coalition continued to spend against him to prevent a roll.

Turn 3 saw the entry of Paul's Prussians into the Coalition camp, with Michael supporting his push towards Antwerp. David finally made some headway in Spain, as France was focused elsewhere. Late in the turn, Kevin pushed in the middle of the line, with Russia retreating to Munich. This gap allowed a French army to run up to Berlin and Capitulate Prussia. Austria meanwhile continued to chip away at the French in the south. By the end of the Turn, Michael held on to some of the previously-Prussian conquests in northern France, Munich, Zurich and a conquered Prussian key to gain the peace roll for Turn 3 but failing without anyone else spending.

Turn 4 had a resurgent France take back Britian's gains in Spain and even threaten a potential invasion of Britain. In central Europe, Napoleon kept forces pinned down in the Austrian associates, with Schwarzenberg and Bagration holding him in a standoff. Amelia took back her southern Austrian keys, then made headway into Milan and south France. Kevin made a valiant push at the end to retake some keys, but the attrition of four Turns kept him just short 4 French VP’s and 4 Russian VP’s meant Michael won on the tiebreaker.

Semifinal #2: John Emery’s French faced off against Ed Rothenheber’s British, Llew Bardecki’s Austrians, Tim Carnahan’s Russians, and Phil Rodrigues’ Prussians. The 1stt Turn was largely uneventful. Britain had to pay extra to pact the Swedes. France then used Crown Prince Bernadotte to break the Swedish pact. France had a couple of keys in southern Austria, and was winning at the end of the Turn, however the Coalition spent cards to prevent the Peace roll.

In Turn 2, the British picked up a couple of Foreign Wars courtesy of France. Napoleon was cut off in Eastern Europe and a lot of Keys changed hands as Napoleon led a merry chase. France had the roll but missed it.

In Turn 3, things were pretty even except the Prussians joined the Coalition. Napoleon got eliminated in eastern Austria. The British took Christiania from the Danes. A Royal Wedding brought Sweden to French pact. Russia had the Peace roll but missed it. Previous play of Duke d’Enghien meant Prussia could not join the Imperial camp, so she joined the Coalition instead.

On Turn 4, the British conquered both Sweden and Denmark and then Wellington joined the defense of Berlin in order to limit Napoleon’s gains in Prussia. The Coalition, especially Russia continued to push into France. At the end of Turn 4, Russia won.

Semifinal #3: Kip Brailey had France and started strong. Turn 1 saw a lot of cards drawn, starting with War Without End right off the bat. The cards went against France as they had Malet’s Conspiracy and Palace Intrigue played against them, but Nathan Wagner’s Russia played both Malet and also Spithead and Nore. The Danish chipped in with House of Rothschild, Pat Duffy’s Austria added Extended Campaign, and David White’s Britain played Council of Dresden.

While the cards didn’t work for France, the dice did, and they earned two Resources in routs against the Austrians to match the Coalition card counts. Crown Prince Bernadotte broke the Swedish pact, and Jay Buckwalter’s Prussians pacted the Turks. For all the extra card play, it was Russia’s surprise Drought, just as the two British armies in Spain were plotting their triumphal entry into Madrid, that ended the Turn early, setting Russia up for a Resource going into Turn 2. With the War Without End modifier, there was no Peace roll in Turn 1.

In Turn 2, France’s previously hot dice turned cold and Russia pushed deep into southern France while Napoleon was cleaning the British out of Spain. British play of both Dos de Mayo as well as Talleyrand eventually broke the Spanish pact and trapped Napoleon in Gibraltar. Russia built a large lead with a significant number of Keys taken, so Wellington landed in Antwerp. With the die modifiers for Talleyrand, a large Russian lead, and Prussia making noises of entering the war on the Imperial side, Wellington made a desperation dive into Paris with the last card of the Turn, hoping Soult would miss the intercept roll. Soult in fact made the roll, and Wellington faced an 8-13 battle, but emerged victorious, routing Soult 4-1. France was auto-conquered, and Russia had to give back most of her Keys. Britain rolled 3 Ceded Duchies, just enough to edge Russia out for the VP lead and send David to his first Napoleonic Wars Final.

Semifinal #4: Pete Morzinksi’s French had a rough go of things the first couple Turns. North of the Alps, Rich Shipley’s Russians pushed the French out of Munich and held onto it for two Turns. On the southern front, John MacCarthy’s Austrians vaporized Massena’s army around Venice in Turn 1 and again in Turn 2. The Russians had the lead at the end of Turn 1 and again after Turn 2 but France and the other Coalition nations spent enough cards to stop the Peace roll.

In Turn 3 the French finally got around to taking Rome and Naples. Talleyrand broke the Spanish pact because France was very short on cards and didn’t want to be out of cards before Austria and Russia. Russia with her 3 points was still ahead, and Peter Findlay’s Prussians were clearly thinking about joining the Coalition. Jim Savarick’s British encouraged the French to march on Munich to whittle the Russians down a bit, and the British even played Dysentery against their Russian and Austrian allies. The Coalition dice failed and France got the rout and the Resource. With Talleyrand and a French card spend, and with Britain and Prussia spending against, France needed to roll a 6 to win and did.

Semifinal #5: Alex Gregorio’s French faced Herb Sparks’ British, Eric Alexopoulos’ Austrians, Ethan Shipley-Tang’s Russians, and Robert Frisby’s Prussians. The French began by rushing Napoleon towards Austria and defeating Austria and Russia’s combined forces in Vienna. The coalition retreat left open a gap for Napoleon to scoop up Prague, Krakow, Lublin, and Koloszvar, almost guaranteeing a conquest. The Spanish fought Prussia diplomatically for control of Turkey. The British focused on clearing the French from the sea. Austria was conquered with a loss of 5 Duchies (2 Associate and 3 Ceded). Moore deployed to Spain, and Davout deployed to Galicia to counter him. France began the next Turn by marching Napoleon to Grodno to deny Holy Mother Russia. Crucially, Britain’s hunting of the French fleets left a gap in the Mid-Atlantic and North Atlantic. The Spanish dispatched a fleet to the North Atlantic, and a French preempt of Sweden allowed Davout to land in a nearly empty England. Before Britain’s 2nd Impulse, The Iron Marshal had flagged nearly every space in England, including London. At this point, the Coalition collectively conceded, as there was nothing that could be done to stop the French auto-victory at the end of the Turn.

Final:

Turn 1: Alex Gregorio’s French drew a mediocre hand with the only notable events being Council of Dresden and Capitulation. An early mobilization of the French Grande Armée to Austria was stunted by early play of Mud when Napoleon moved to Paris and completely dashed when Council of Dresden managed to randomly exchange Capitulation with the deck. Therefore, the French pivoted and were able to pact the Danes even with a British play of Age of Metternich. The Spanish did not let Dave White’s Prussians pact Turkey.

Neutral Turkey played Persian War, which Michael Dauer’s Russians eventually solved after spending many CPs. After pacting Sweden, Pete Morzinski’s British spent the entire rest of the Turn trying to find the very evasive French fleet in the South Atlantic. France marched two armies into Venice, routing Tim Carnahan’s generals Charles and Colloredo, and wound up keeping the city for the whole game. France built Murat to wait in Naples in hopes of someday being coronated King of Naples, but his wait was in vain. Castanos captured Lisbon. With the help of a Spanish squadron, France Descended from the Sea into Dublin. France had the lead but did not get to roll for Peace.

Turn 2:Spain and Sweden both mulliganed, there were rumors that Sweden did so in order to dump Europe Exhausted. After some threats or negotiations, depending on who you ask, Prussia pacted Turkey without further interference from Spain. The British finally found the Imperial fleet in the South Atlantic, but rolled no 6’s, winning the battle but losing one squadron. In Lisbon, Down with the Prince returned the fortress to the British, however this turned out to be a double-edged sword when the rapid fall of Gibraltar gave the French time to march back to Lisbon and capture it for France. France also captured Zagreb. A Spanish Peninsular Campaign resulted in a Russo-Turkish War, a major headache for the Russians as they had been holding their Reserve.

Fouche stole the Milan Decree from Russia, who was also holding Crown Prince Bernadotte at the time. Shortly thereafter, Prussia played Malet’s Conspiracy and stole Milan Decree from France, who was also holding Emigrees & Exiles and House of Rothschild at the time.

Near the end of the Turn, Davout and Lannes missed an interception, resulting in Bennigsen getting into Zurich and the Russians taking Munich near the end of the Turn. The Danish used their Reserve to draw a card, which turned out to be The Sultan’s Ear. The time for subtlety being over, France extracted a promise that Prussia would stay neutral in exchange for France not breaking the Turkish pact. France was ahead, but the Coalition spent cards to ensure the war would go on. Prussia stayed neutral.

Turn 3: Britain lost a few more squadrons while cleaning up the Imperial naval excursions. The Russo-Turkish war, with Foreign Aid from Denmark, cost Russia many CP’s to end. Spanish play of House of Rothschild caused Britain to get into an Anglo-American War. Austria retook Zagreb. Marmont took Zurich back from the Russians. A Swedish army landed in Oporto. France dithered on whether to play Drought, which would kill a Reserve and Russia’s last card. Ultimately, France did not because they needed more card plays to stabilize the eastern front, but the Coalition was tipped off that France was holding it. This was a mistake as Russia had been holding Turning Movement, which allowed them to sneak back into Zurich. France was ahead but did not get to roll for Peace. Prussia joined the Coalition.

Turn 4 France played Armistice to try to burn through Coalition cards, but it was a short-lived cease fire. The Russians were the first to get to Paris. In an 11-to-7 battle, the Russians rolled 5 hits but the French rolled 6 hits (on 7 dice) to hold their capital. Soon thereafter, the Prussians and Turks entered Paris when the French evaded to preserve their army, France was willing to chance that the Coalition did not have Capitulation. The Coalition slowly consolidated, with the only notable conflicts being the destruction of Schwarzenberg by Napoleon in Salzburg and Soult destroying some isolated Russian formations near Nassau.

The postponed Drought happened at just the right moment sending Palace Intrigue from the Swedish hand to the discard pile. A full Ferdinand attached 2 French units in Milan but got routed. With the Turn winding down, France played Sultan’s Ear and broke the Turkish pact, stripping the Turks from Blucher’s army in Paris. Wellington landed in Spain but was ineffective due to poor dice when sieging Badajoz. Moore landed directly in Brest and experienced similar difficulties. With the Coalition finally out of cards, the French struck back, playing Europe Exhausted. Soult recaptured Picardy. Napoleon marched from Dalmatia over two impulses and led a full army of his own and Ney’s into Paris and played the last card in the French hand: Great Redoubt to ensure that Paris would be liberated.

With Talleyrand and Europe Exhausted, the modifier to the Peace roll was +5. France was ahead with 5 VP’s, followed by Prussia with 2 VP’s. All players spent a card. Alex needed to roll a 4 or better to win and rolled a 6.

We would like to thank all involved, especially all those who coached games, the GM team (Pete, Phil, Michael, Rich, and also including Gareth who provided much tele-assistance), and Pat Duffy for running the demos.