THE GAME AND THE HISTORY.



This game – that I have chosen to call TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE – is about the Campaign in 1815, normally refered to as the Waterloo Campaign or The Hundred Days. It is a so called ”mod” based on Wasteland Interactive’s WWII game STORM OVER THE PACIFIC and ownership of that game is necessary to be able to play TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE. To learn more of Wasteland Interactive and their games, see the links at the bottom of this page.

So why did I make a mod, changing a game of the Pacific War into a game covering the last phase of the Napoleonic era? There’s three main reasons for doing this. The first was that there’s not many good games of Napoleonic campaigns out there, so I decided to make my own in order to play this marvellous period of history. The second reason was that I liked to demonstrate how ”modable” Wastland Interactive’s STORM OVER THE PACIFIC are and maybe give other modders incentive to make their own creations. Thirdly, with the game finished, I also like other players, as fascinated by the Napoleonic period as I am, to have a chance at playing TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE.

This mod is not for the ”start-up-and-shoot-player. It’s not a fast-played WWII game where you can ”Rommel about” like som horny anjovis, smashing everything in sight and easily repair your misstakes with instant production. This game is won or lost outside the battlefield, in the HQ’s, where the supreme commanders make their plans for the campaign. The battles will be mere resolutions, a measurement of the quality of the commander’s prevoius choices.

TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE is thus most suitable for gamers that prefer planning before action; players who take more pride in seeing a well planned offensive take effect long after its consumation, than reaping the fruits of quick opportune decisions, made up in the blink of the moment. In fact, the most glorious victory must be seeing your opponent in headlong flight backwards, placed into this position not by feat of arms, but as a result of plans forcing him into retreat without you having to fire a single shot!

TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE can be played by anyone with a basic understanding of the original game. It is, however, much easier for a person with also a basic understanding of the Napoleonic period, to comprehend the special rules for this mod and understand why I have designed them as I have.

Something that must be pointed out, is that THIS GAME IS NOT PLAYABLE AGAINST THE AI – it can only be played as a PBEM-game. Nor can the game be played with some allied countries set to AI. Each country (and each Phase) must be controlled by a player. I would therefore like to see it as an electronic boardgame, with the combat and movement regulated by the computer and a set of rules that governs the way the players play the game.

Unlike many games we know, where Combat Units can be moved freely, one of the major objectives with this one is to find ways to move the armies. In the 19th century moving armies wasn't anywhere as easy at it is today or was in the 20th century. There were no vehicles or trains; no radios or telephone lines. If armies were wanted somewhere they had to march there and their officers had to guide them, verbally or with written orders distributed by despatch riders. The game tries to recreate some of the problems commanders faced in the Napoleonic era.

In TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE each country is played in two different phases. First there’s the Staff Phase and then there’s the Movement and Combat Phase. In the Staff Phase the player attend to administrative doings, skirmishes, intelligence gathering, supply issues and command set-ups for the coming Movement and Combat Phase. In the latter phase Combat Units move and fight. Since the Staff Phase preceeds the Movement and Combat Phase, it is impossible to move Staff Units once it’s over, just as no Combat Units can move in the Staff Phase.

The area where all operations will take place, is based on another map I made several years ago. Don’t try to travel in France or Belgium with this one as a reference. During my first work I hade to tweak towns and rivers to get everything into gaming condition. Now, with the first map as blueprint, it has happened again, and many villages have gone even further from their actual location.

To highlight the importance of ruses and intelligence gathering, I have removed all border lines and the ability to highlight ownership of hexes in colour code. This is so that moving units shouldn’t leave a trial for the opponent to pick up. If you want to know whether a hex is yours or belongs to the opponent, you have to click on it.







It is not possible to go too deep into the history immediately preceeding the 1815 Campaign. Suffice to say that in the wake of Napoleon’s demise in 1814, the four great powers of Europe – Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia – met in Vienna and immediately begun to squabble amongst themselves about the future map of Europe.

Russia wanted territory to the West, thinking that she earned it after being the ”real conqueror” of Napoleon. Prussia, foremost being the country to provide that territory for the benefit of the Czar and also being a small ally of Russia, wanted compensations in Saxony and the German States east of the Rhine, a claim that Russia supported. Austria, seeing her own territories threatened by both Russia and Prussia, naturally opposed the demands of the Czar and Prussian king, while Britain, wanting only Hanover and a general balance of power on the Continent, sided with Austria.

In order to gain a strong ally, Britain and Austria argued that France, now restored to the Bourbons, should also have a say on the matters of a future Europe, and brought her in on their side. The three countries signed a treaty to come to each other’s aid in case of war. Prussia was outraged and Russia hinted that she would back the Prussians. For a few days it seemed as a new war was to follow all those fought between 1803 and 1814, but the situation calmed down a bit at the news that the war between Britain and America was over. Prussia got cold feet and the tension lessened.

Then in March 1815, Napoleon landed in France. This not only made it clear in Vienna that France had to be defeated once more, it also deprived Britain and Austria of France as a counterweight to Prussia and Russia in the question of European territories. It was decided that the four great powers should each provide a large army to march in France, but it was nothing like a happy comradeship and the suspicions between the two fractions would have a considerate influence on the coming campaign.

For some months, the colaition forces gathered and begun to converge on France. In late spring the scene was set for another campaign. Here is where the game begins!






In TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE all countries start more or less unprepared. Napoleon’s France is going through several stages of mobilization. The first one is to gather the veterans and supply the divisions with weapons. This will take two to three weeks to accomplish and once done France is for at short time rather strong as opposed to its enemies. The second stage is to round up the about 20 divisions of the National Guard, which will take from two to five weeks to do. The third stage is to set up an additional dozen unseasoned line divisions and that will take from two to ten weeks. Lastly, the manufacture of arms and call up of additional volunteers will begin to give real effect in augusti, where France will see a substantial raise in PP allocation for the army. At this point she will be able to replenish losses much faster than her enemies, as long as not so large a part of the country has fallen into the latter’s hands. Generally, France have a good core army, and will eventually have large forces of National Guard units and fresh line divisions, but she is lacking in Cavalry.

Britain is one of the Coalition countries that will gather her forces fastest. Its army is a mixed blessing, with very good British units, but not so impressive Braunschweig, Hanoveran and Dutch-Belgian troops. The British player have to move his reinforcements from England (slightly misplaced on the map) and must also set up maritime supply convoys from Dover to the Belgian ports. Britain will get some extra, good units in July, arriving from America. Britain have to cover the Western part of Belgium.

Besides Britain, Prussia is reasonably fast to gather its forces in Belgium and the Western German provinces. Its troops are not as good as the British and is made up of a large contingent of low quality Landwehr units. It has some good units, however, and its army is almost as strong as the French field force at the end of June. Above supporting the British army in Belgium, Prussia have to cover the Ardennes and the Moselle Valley to the south, where the Russian army will march to attack France.

The Russians enter the game late. There’s only a token units in place initially and reinforcements will come in driblets all through late June to late July. The Russians are Cavalry heavy and the army is good in general. They have more veteran units than Prussia, but there's’also a number of unseasoned units as well as newly raised Polish troops of dubious value.

The Austrian army gathers on the Eastern side of the Rhine during June. Just as the Russians, the Austrians are Cavalry heavy, but the Austrian army is on average the worst of the five taking to the field in TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE. In manpower, however, Austria has a tremendous force and has, after the French, the second largest army in the game.




TERRAIN TYPES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS.


1. Plain terrain: This is just standard mixed terrain as often seen in Western Europe. Note that plain is heavier to move through than Road and Light Wood. This is not to suggest some particulary heavy ground, but that there’s no major roads traversing it.

2. Light Wood (Jungle): This is the best terrain to move and fight in except for road.

3. Forest: Heavily wooded terrain. Unlike many WWII-games, where woods are of a favourable nature for the defender, in TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE forests has the opposite effect, being somewhat less propitious to stand in.

4. Hill: Favour the defender.

5. Mountain: Just bad; favours no one.

6. City: Cities gives a sligth advantage to the defender.

7. Minor River (River): Minor rivers are a bit strange in TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE. Normally they would give a favourably effect to the defender, but this will lead to a situation where the defender can easily create unrealistic strongpoints. In the 19th century, weapons hadn’t anything near the range of later days and rivers therefore wasn’t always a good thing to stand at. Insted they often cut a battle line in half, making communication from one to the other side difficult. Therefore rivers actually benefit the attacker. Standing behind a river downgrades the defender!

8. Major River/Lake (Swamp): In order to distinguish minor and major rivers, swamps are used to portray the latter. It is prohibited for a unit to enter or deploy in a Major River hex. (Exception: see Engineers and Spies).

9. Bridge: Bridge is a hex that has one or two Minor River hex sides, and are also located in the gap between two Major River hexes. Sometimes Bridges can consist of more than one hex, all depending on whether the Major River curves or not. As for the rule regarding use of Siege Artillery, units located in a hex next to one or two Major River hexes –a hex that has also a Minor River hex side/sides connecting the Major River hexes – are eligible for artillery fire.

10. Road (Desert): Road are hexes that in the original game was used for deserts. Roads facilitates quick movements and are necessary to move an army from one side to the other unless the player plans to use an unproportional part of the scenario time for the enterprise. They are also an essential part of the in-game supply system. Players should study the laying of the road network carefully before the campaign.

11. Resource Hex: Resource hexes gives the French player his Productional Points (PP’s) for the army. (see ECONOMY for more information on French PP).

12. Fortification: There were a number of French fortresses blocking the advance of the Coalition armies into France. In doing this mod I found it unnecessary to investigate to much what fortresses were strong or weak, modern or obsolete, intact or damaged in the 1814 campaign, and so on. I have therefore created them vaguely from memory. Some are mere small fortifications; others, like Lille and Strasbourg, are heavier, with a girdle of smaller forts surrounding the city core. The latter can’t be besieged into automatic surrender as the 1-hex fortifications. They have to be dealt with in a harsh manner or by-passed. The Siege Artillery is used for this purpose, unless the player will go for a quick, but sometimes costly, all-out assault.

Level 1 to 3 Fortifications have a yellow rhomb in the lower end of their symbol; level 4-6 and 7-9 have green and red, respectively. I have tried to make the fortificated places different, each one presenting an unique ”tactical” problem for attacker and defender alike.




COMBAT UNITS AND THEIR USE.


Infantry: There are two types of Combat Units in the game. The first one is Infantry. For the average wargamer, there’s no need to explain this type in any way. In TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE Infantry range from the weak Landwehr units of Austria and Prussia and the likewise feeble French National Guard, to the qucik firing British line units and fearsome French Guard. Like Cavalry units, Infantry units may never be produced, only replenished. As long as the conditions explained below is fulfilled, Infantry can march and fight.

Placement: May not be produced, only replenished.

Cavalry: Cavalry are soldiers on horse. They comes in a number of varieties, from the fast, but weak Cossacks, to the slower, but more powerful Cuirassiers and heavy guard units. In general Cavalry is divided in Light and Heavy. Light units are best used to cover flanks of the army, strong enough to defend themselves from enemy patrols and fast enough to get out of the way if stronger enemy units are observed heading their way. Heavy Cavalry is stronger, but slower. Often not as powerful as the Infantry, but faster than foot soldiers and still capable of delivering attacks on enemy Infantry, especially if combined with friendly units. Like Infantry units, Cavalry units may never be produced, only replenished. As long as the conditions explained below is fulfilled, Cavalry can march and fight.

Placement: May not be produced, only replenished.

Movement of Combat Units: Unlike the Staff Units explained in the next section, Combat Units MAY ONLY MOVE AS LONG AS THEY ARE UNDER ORDER (exception: see Battlefield Leader below). These orders can come in one of five different ways:

1. They are within the Command Range of an Operational Leader in a Field Staff.
2. They are within 3 hexes of a Movement Order at the beginning of their move.
3. There’s a Concentration Order somewhere on the map and the Combat Unit ends its move closer to the Order than it began it.
4. There’s a Retreat Order no longer than 25 hexes from the Combat Unit’s position at the beginning of its move and the Combat Unit ends its move closer to the Order than it began it.
5. The unit is in the ZoC of an enemy Combat Unit and makes an emergency retreat of no more than 2 hexes.

In addition to this, Combat Units MAY ONLY INITIATE COMBAT if they:

1. Are within the Command Range of an Operational Leader in a Field Staff at the moment of combat (not at the beginning of the move as in case of moving).
2. Are outside the Command Range of an Operational Leader in a Field Staff at the moment of combat, but are marching under a Movement Order and the enemy facing the Combat Unit is a Staff Unit.

A moving Combat Unit may only enter the ZoC of an enemy Combat Unit if it started the move within the Command Range of an Operational Leader in a Field Staff (enemy Staff Units are not Combat Units in this regard).

Cavalry speed superiority: HOUSE RULE OR EXPLANATION OF CAV VS INF. Note: in regard of this rule, Hussars and Dragoons are not Cavalry Units.

Battlefield Leader: A Battlefield Leader is a Combat Unit in so far as it moves during the Movement and Combat Phase. Apart from this, it function more like a Staff Unit and there’s no need for any orders to have it move. The Battlefield Leader have only one purpose – to place itself in a way, so that its inherent combat bonus is transformed to the fighting Combat Units. It has a range of 4 hexes and the closer it is to the units to affect, the greater its influense on them.

It is important, though, that the players are careful with these units. They do block hexes and if placed too close to a Combat Unit that is later forced to retreat, it may result in the elimination of the latter.

A Battlefield Leader can’t be recycled. If the unit carrying the ”commander” is eliminated for any reason, the Leader is supposed to have been killed, wounded or captured. It may not re-enter the game under any circumstances.

Note on Battlefield Leader. Up to version 1.03 of Storm over the Pacific, the Commander’s bonus doesn’t seem to transfer from him to adjacent units. The function is therefore not to be until this issue is patched. I have chosen to include the Leaders in the original scenario, however, so that any group of players playing a PBEM-game shall not be forced to start over again after the new patch. It is also so that I shall not need to upgrade this version of the game on this issue alone. Once the game is patch to a version post 1.03, hopefully the Commanders shall again function.

Placement: Present at start, but may be frozen for some time.




STAFF UNITS AND THEIR USE.


Operational Leaders: Operational Leaders are not visible units, but the commanders inherent in the original game that is available in the Staff Phase. They may either be at the General Staff (game commander pool), in an HQ or in a Field Staff. They may never be attached to any other unit.

Operational Leaders have two kinds of qualifications. The first one is its Command Range (CR); the second one its Administrative Rating (AR). The CR is used when the Operational Leader is in a Field Staff, and gives the number of hexes from the Staff that the Leader may trigger movement and combat. The AR has to do with activities performed while with an HQ and is basically the amount of Administrative Points the Operational leader may spend to do activities each turn. Some activities cost more than some Leaders has Administrative Points to spend. This is intentional and those particular Leaders are thus prohibited from performing those activities.

Operational Leaders always act in the Staff Phase of the game; they can not be moved or perform any activities during the Movement and Combat Phase of the game.

Operational Leaders may be moved between the General Staff, an HQ or Field Staff at any point possible by the game engine, except that THEY MAY NOT BE PLACED IN AN HQ OR FIELD STAFF THAT WAS CREATED THE SAME TURN. In other words, a unit receiving them must be at it’s full movement allowance.

Once an Operational Leader is in an HQ or a Field Staff, this HQ or Field Staff are considered operational. (Se Headquarters and Field Staff for their use).

Headquarters: Headquarters (HQ’s) are possibly, next to Field Staffs, the most important pieces in the game. HQ’s perform a variety of actions necessary to move armies, conduct intelligence operations, distribute supply and maintain communications with the rear areas.

An HQ may either be operational or idle. It is operational, and can thus perform activities, as long as the following criterias are true:

1. The HQ may not move this turn or have been placed this turn (it must thus show its full movement allowance).
2. The HQ must have a string of Supply Trains, no more than 10 hexes apart, trailing a line back to the country's capital or a map edge supply source.
3. The HQ must have an Operational Leader attached.

Unless this is true, the HQ is idle and can’t perform any activity, save moving. Note: it is convenient to place HQ’s in the City hex itself. This way the rules permit it to place new units in all surrounding hexes if need should arise.

If operational the HQ may perform the following actions (followed by the cost in AP to be payed by the Operational Leader within the HQ and the cost in PP's for the unit type in the original game):


Orders:

Issue Movement order = Cost 4 (creates counter on the map)

Issue Concentration order = Cost 3 (creates counter on the map - Mechanized Corps, level 4)

Issue General Retreat order = Cost 4 (creates counter on the map - Mechanized Corps, level 5)


Units:

Move Garrison = Cost 1

Replenish Garrison = Cost 1

Place another HQ = Cost 2 (creates counter on the map - Mechanized Corps, level 2)

Place Field Staff = Cost 2 (creates counter on the map - Mechanized Division, level 2)

Place Hussar Patrol = Cost 2 (creates counter on the map - Mechanized Division, level 4)

Place Engineer = Cost 3 (creates counter on the map - Mechanized Corps, level 3)

Place Garrison = Cost 3 (creates counter on the map, Infantry, level 1)

Disband Garrison = Cost 3

Place any number of Supply Trains = Cost 5 (creates counters on the map - Mechanized Corps, level 1)

Place Dragoon Patrol = Cost 4 (creates counter on the map - Mechanized Division, level 5)


Intelligence activities:

Place Spy = Cost 1 (creates counter on the map - Mechanized Division, level 1)

Place Collaborator = Cost 3 (creates counter on the map - Strategic Bomber, level 1)

Place Agent = Cost 7 (creates counter on the map - Paratrooper, level 1)


The costs above must be paid by the Operational Leader in the HQ. Investigate his Administrative Rating (AR) in order to see how many and which activities he can or is able to perform. For each activity, the player must mentally deduct the cost from the Leaders AR. If some activity is more expensive than the total AR of the Leader, he can’t perform this activity.

In order to place an HQ, there has to be another HQ operational with a Leader AR high enough to pay for it’s creation. The only exception is if there are no HQ’s of this particular country on the map at all. The player may then place one free HQ anywhere on the map, but this HQ can’t become operational until all normal critera has been fullfilled.

France may have a maximum of 7 HQ (operational or idle) present on the map at any time; the Coalition countries may have 4 each.

Placement: Anywhere on the map (but may be operational only if the above criteras are fulfilled)

Field Staff: Field Staffs represent the Staff of an army leader. The purpose with Field Staffs is to make all units within its Operational Leader’s Command Range capable of movement and combat. It is also necessary to have a Field Staff in order to fire Siege Artillery.

When armies converge for battle, it is necessary to have Field Staffs present, or those armies will only stand and watch each other. It is therefore important that players carefully judge when their main Commanders should be at an HQ and when they shall take to the Field.

A Field Staff may move freely in the Administrative Phase, but will of course be static in the upcoming Movement and Combat Phase. It is therefore extremely important that the owning player carefully decide where to keep it. Remember that it takes up the entire hex in which it is placed, so it do hamper movements of Combat Units in the area.

Just as HQ’s, Field Staffs are only operational if they have an Operational Leader attached.

Placement: Field Staffs must be placed adjacent to the HQ creating them.

Garrisons: Garrisons are created, replenished, disbanded or moved during the Staff phase of the players activities. They are therefore to be regarded as Staff Units. Every action regarding a Garrison takes Administrative Points from an Operational Leader in a HQ. Some, as creating and disbanding, cost more than merely move and replenisch. Garrisons are to be seen as local militia units and may only move on roads or into City or Fortification hexes.

Placement: Anywhere where the game mechanics permit except in Major Rivers.

Engineers: Engineers in TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE are basically to be seen as bridge train and allow Combat Units (and Staff for that matter) to cross Major Rivers. In order to do that the Engineer must move and place itself in a Major River (swamp) hex. Once an Engineer is in a Major River hex, other units may pass the river in the two hexes adjacent to the Engineer. Remember, though, that it is a time consuming activity to cross a Major River with a large number of units. Also remember that the game inherent supply system is still adversely affected by the ”river”; it doesn’t ”know” about the Engineer.

Placement: Next to the HQ creating it.

Siege Artillery: Siege Artillery are a little different from other units in the game. It is not a Combat Unit, but a Staff Unit, and it moves in short jumps over the map (it is really a tactical bomber). Siege units can only move on Road, Light Woods or City hexes (players must make sure of this). They may never enter any other hex. Normal field artillery are inherent in the Combat Units; Siege Artillery is therefore to be regarded as pure position pieces.

Siege Artillery may attack from a distance (3 hexes), and its purpose is to bombard fortifications, cities and units defending bridges over Major Rivers. Thus it may only bombard enemy units in such places. (For sake of clarity, bridges are considered to be the Minor River hexsides bordering on both sides by Major Hexes (swamps). It is no bridge if there’s a gap between the Major River hexes of more than one hex.)

In order to fire, a Field Staff with an Operational Leader must have the Siege Artillery within that Leaders Command Range.

Placement: As close as possible to Supply Source.

Hussar Patrols: This is supposed to portray smaller groups of cavalry patrols. They are used to scout enemy positions, cover own territory, hunt for Spies or Collaborators, move ahead of army units following a Consentration Order and cover an army suddenly forced to retreat after a lost battle. Hussars may move and attack freely without the need of orders or being within any CR.

Placement: Adjacent to the HQ creating it.

Dragoon Patrols: Same as Hussars, but more than twice as strong in combat. While Hussars hunt for Spies, Agents and Collaborators, Dragoons are there mainly to hunt for Hussars. They are also strong enough to dare attacking Supply Trains and Engineers; something the Hussars should avoid. Of course, Dragoons are just as fast as Hussars and can see as far as their smaller brothers, but they are also more costly and has a higher upkeep.

Placement: Adjacent to the HQ creating it.

Spy: A Spy is a small party of men, intending to sneak over to enemy territory for intelligence gathering. Once created, a Spy may move freely. Its sole purpose is to reveal enemy front line positions. A Spy is not a unit, but a mission, and once that has served any purpose, the Spy must be removed. Whenever a Spy finds itself 2 hexes or less away from an enemy Combat Unit (one intervening hex between Spy and unit), it must be disbanded before the ending of the current Staff turn. This is true even if the condition was set upon the Spy by enemy movements in the opponents turn. The Spy may, however, move its full movement allowance before being put to death, thus perhaps revealing other units as well.

Note that when the Spy is disbanded, the enemy will possibly never understand that it was there, unless it was spotted earlier by enemy Staff Units. Remember also that Staff Units are not Combat Units, and that only the proximity of Combat Units necessitate elimination of the Spy.

Special note: The Spy may cross Major Rivers and are the only unit capable of doing so without an Engineer. A Spy need never disband if the enemy unit normally causing it to do so is located on the opposite side of a Major River.

Placement: Anywhere possible, but nearer to the HQ creating it, than any other friendly HQ.

Collaborator: A unit whose purpose is basically the same as that of the Spy. Unlike the Spy, the Collaborator has a totally different movement capability, though, and are more subtle. The Collaborator rather simulates local informers, whose information is then gathered and analyzed in the owning country’s intelligence unit.

The same rules governs the use of a Collaborator as those that governs a Spy. There are some major differences, however. The Collaborator can move across the map in quick hops, just like the Siege Artillery (it is also an aircraft, game technically). When it gathers information, it is also doing that the same way as aircrafts in the normal game – by recon. Open the unit tableau and click on the icon that looks like ripples on the water. Then click on the hex on the map, from where the examination is to take place.

In addition, a Collaborator must also be adjacent to an enemy unit to be forced to disband. Properly placed, like in a forest where enemy units have problems to go, a Collaborator have the ability to observe roads and other points where enemy columns may pass. Since the Collaborator can see 3 hexes when it does its recon, whereas the enemy units can see only 2, it can remain hidden, collecting information for a considerate time.

Placement: Anywhere possible, but nearer to the HQ creating it, than any other friendly HQ.

Agent: An Agents is the third unit in the intelligence package. They should not be seen as front line spies or local informers, but more as well placed sympathizers within the enemy territory. Often these individuals could be of high position and even be known to the country they spied against. This is especially true for Paris, where numerous individuals were known to have strong ties with either the aristocracy or the liberals, without Napoleon or his police able to do much about it for political reasons.

The agent is a paratrooper. It is created, it prepares, and then it flies into enemy territory. When it lands it can survey the hexes immediately around it. The owning player should make a note of what it sees. In the upcoming turn it is likely to be gone, killed by some vigilant Hussar patrol. If the hex chosen for the landing is occupied, the mission is cancelled and the Agent can try to land somewhere else. Remember that the fact that there’s something in the hex can serve as information in itself.

An agents mission should not be regarded for what it seems; it’s just a way of using the game engine to produce some information from the inner circle of the enemy’s lair. Sometimes the result may give you nothing: a sleepy Hussar patrol and some Garrison troops, likely to be at the location anyway. Sometimes it can be more vital: a high commander at a place where his presence speaks of an impending offensive, some Guard units likely to be where an attack is planned, or maybe a Concentration Order, telling you that an army is marching towards this spot.

Placement: Adjacent to the HQ creating it.

Movement Order: A Movement Order is a temporary Staff Unit that will enable Combat Units to move (but not attack) in the upcoming Movement and Combat Phase. An HQ with a Opertional Leader who has at least 4 in AR, may issue a Movement Order. This is basically an officer riding off to guide units to a specific place. A Movement Order can move freely.

If within 3 hexes of a Movement Order, a Combat Unit may then move its full movement allowance in any direction desired in its upcoming Movement and Combat phase. It must stop, however, before it enters an enemy Combat Unit's ZoC. It may enter the ZoC of Staff Units, but may not attack unless within the range of a Field Staff.

It doesn't matter if the Movement Order has itself moved or not during the Staff Phase. As long as the Combat Unit is within the 3 hexes at the start of its move, it can march ist full Movement Allowance. It is therefore possible for an HQ to first issue an order to one of its surrounding hexes (placing it) and then have nearby Combat Units capable of movement.

When a Movement Order is issued, the player must check what current game turn it is and rename the unit "GT" followed by the number of the turn four days ahead. This is the disbandment turn and the order must be removed at the end of the Staff phase of that turn (i.e. the order will not be available to act upon on that turn).

Duration: 4 Days. Placement: Anywhere game technically possible, but must be closer to the HQ issuing it, than to other existing HQ:s, if any.

Concentration Order: A Concentration Order is something one issues to have far-off units move towards a certain destination. The most common use ought to be reinforcements entering from a friendly map edge, but it can also be used for major moves behind ones own lines.

A Combat Unit may follow a Concentration Order if that Combat Unit is at least 5 hexes away from an enemy Combat Unit (not Staff Unit). Thus, a unit moving under guidance of a Concentration Order, must stop immediately if its movement reveals an enemy Combat Unit within 5 hexes. If a unit desires to move under guidance of a Concentration Order, but finds itself within the said 5 hexes of an enemy unit at the start of its move, it must remain in place, unless the owning player has a retreat order placed or a Field Staff within range.

A Combat Unit following a Concentration Order may move adjacent to enemy Staff Units, however, but may not attack them. There are friendly Hussar and Dragoon patrols for such activities.

Like with the Movement Order, when a Concentration Order is issued, the player must check what current game turn it is and rename the unit "GT" followed by the number of the turn five days ahead (see Movement Order above for rules of disbandment).

Duration: 5 Days. Placement: Anywhere game technically possible.

Retreat Order: Retreat Orders works a little like Concentration Orders, but differs from the latters in so far as they also affects units within 5 hexes of enemy Combat Units.

A Retreat Order may be placed on the map no more than 25 hexes away from the HQ or Field Staff issuing it. Units may then move towards that location as long as they (A) stop their move closer to the order marker than they begun it, and (B) don't in any way move towards a known enemy Combat Unit (they must move away from enemy territory). If the move reveals an enemy Combat Unit, and thus negates case B, the retreating unit must stop immediately.

Like with the Movement- and Concentration Orders, when a Retreat Order is issued, the player must check what current game turn it is and rename the unit "GT" followed by the number of the turn two days ahead (see Movement Order above for rules of disbandment).

Note: This order may not only be issued by an HQ, but also by a Field Staff, as long as the Operational Leader in that Field Staff has the Administrative Rating to issue it.

Duration: 2 Days. Placement: Up to 25 hexes away from the HQ issuing it.

Supply Train: Supply Trains has two functions. The first one is the one outlined in the rules for HQ operations, that it must maintain a chain of Supply Trains, no longer than 10 hexes apart, in order for the HQ to function. The other use of the Supply Trains are described below:

Supply Trains and the Supply Turn:

In each turn there’s a 25 % chance that this will be a Supply Turn. If this happens, a message will inform the players of the fact. This message is in the reports section of the game, under Events, and it is important that each player starts his turn by checking this.

Supply Turns can occur at any turn, why there’s no way the players can calculate how to avoid their effects by watching out for certain dates.

The Supply Trains’ additional use has closely to do with the Supply Turns and the armies’ supply consumtion. In the 19th century, armies marched separated and fought concentrated whenever possible. The main reason for the former, was that it was very difficult to feed a large number of men concentrated within a rather small area. Once a Supply Turn occur, the player must therefore either make sure that his units are fed off the land or pay Supply Trains for the general happiness of the rank and file.

To reflect the difference between being separated and being concentrated, in TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE, there’s no need to feed a Combat Unit during a Supply Turn as long as it is at least 3 hexes away from any other Combat Unit (i.e. at least 2 hexes between the units) or if it is located in a City. As long as this critera is fulfilled, the player need not take any action in this matter, except for keeping constant track of the situation.

If there’s a Supply Turn and the above is not true, there can be any of the three conditions below:

A. At least 1 Combat Unit is closer than 3 hexes to another Combat Unit.
B. At least 4 or more Combat Units is closer than 3 hexes to some other Combat Unit.
C. More than 10 Combat Units are closer than 3 hexes to some other Combat Unit.

Remember that units in Cities doesn’t exist in regard to these three points.

1. If case A is true, the player should disband 1 Supply Train within 6 hexes of ANY Combat Unit affected. If case B is true, he should disband 2 Supply Trains within 4 hexes of ANY 2 Combat Units affected. If case C is true, naturally, the player should disband 3 Supply Trains within 4 hexes of any affected units. It doesn’t matter where the Supply Trains are, as long as they are within the stipulated 4 hexes of ANY affected unit on the map that is of the same nationality.

2. If the player for some reason is unable to comply with case 1. above, he must disband the determined number of Supply Trains, plus 1 extra, from ANYWHERE on the map.

3. If the player is unable to comply also with case 2., he must disband 1 Combat Unit of his choice in the upcoming Movement and Combat Phase. Since the player will chose a unit that is probably far from doing anything useful, and also of a lower combat value, this disbandment can be seen as general attrition due to the inability of the quartermasters to feed the army.

Note: Only seven Commanders in the game have the ability to create Supply Trains. These Commanders are Napoleon, Rapp and Lecourbe for the French and Wellington, Bluecher, Barclay de Tolly and Schwarzenberg for the Coalition. It is therefore important to have an ample excess number of Supply Trains at hand when an army concentrates for battle. Being in the thick of things, the army commanders may not have the chance to alliviate a problematic supply issue when occupied in the Field Staff.

Placement: Adjacent to the HQ issuing the order for its creation, or next to a friendly supply source.




ECONOMY.


TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE will not place so heavily a significance on the economical aspects as some of the normal Pacific scenarios do. There are some things to reflect upon, however.

Economy in the Staff Phase: The economy issues in the Staff Phase are somewhat more intricate than in the Movement and Combat Phase. Almost all Staff activities cost Production Points (PP’s). Each turn, the Coalition countries each get 30 PP’s, whereas France gets 80 PP. For these PP’s the owning player can buy units and activities. Note that although there’s an automatic allocation of these PP’s each turn, there’s also an automatic waste reduction if the PP level gets to high on account of little activity in the ”Quartermaster HQ”. Therefore, hanging around without doing anything useful for a fortnight, doesn’t add up to a surplus of time and energy for later use. If a Staff hasn’t anything urgent to do, let it do some work it won’t have time to attend to later.

In the Staff Phase, not only does it cost PP’s to issue Orders, buy Supply Trains and so on, there’s also an upkeep factor to reckon with. Each Staff Unit on the map has a certain cost for it being there. So, for an example, if one buys a lot of excess Hussars or Supply Trains, doing other things might suddenly become tricky. So one has to maintain a good balance.

Economy in the Movement and Combat Phase: Economy in the Movement and Combat Phase is more straitforward; at least the player don’t have to keep a vigilant eye on upkeep. It shouldn’t be neglected, though. Each turn all countries gets an allocation of PP’s to be used for replenishing Combat Units. Coalition countries gets 10 PP each turn; France gets 25 PP (see also Resource Hex for more info on French Resource PP’s). These PP’s are to be used for replenishing units (”reinforce” in normal SoP terminology). It is STRICTLY PROHIBITED TO BUY NEW COMBAT UNITS OR TO UPGRADE THEM.

Just as PP’s received in the Staff Phase, there’s a waste factor involved here. Unused PP’s will be lost after a number of turns. The reason for this is to make it almost impossible to buy stronger units.

In order to be able to replenish almost immediatley, all Combat Units start the game no stronger than 80 % of its full strength. There’s no micromanagement involved in replenishing. The player can do it whenever they like.

French Army Economy and Army Morale: The resource hexes gives the French player his Productional Points (PP’s) for the army. All but one are positive; added together the positive hexes give the French player 50 PP each turn. The last one (practically off-map) is negative and deducts 25 PP’s each day, giving the French a net result of 25 each turn. As long as the French player posses a major share of the positive Resource hexes everything is fine and he will gain a certain amount of points each turn. If they begin to get captured, however, he will gradually get nearer to a point where he will instead begin to lose PP’s. When this happens, he will quickly fall into negative PP-pool and can’t replenish any losses.

In addition to the inability to replenish the Army, a negative PP-level will eventually also have a detrimental influence on the French Army’s power to fight. When the level reaches –100, the army will lose 8 % effectivity, at –200, it will lose an additional 8 %, and so on, up till 40 % at –500. Needless to say, the French player should try to avoid this.

French Additional Manpower: Unlike the Coalition countries, which are unable to affect the daily PP allocation, the French player may try to conquer certain Cties in order to raise his. These cities are:

Brussels + 20 PP (controlled by Britain)
Maastricht + 5 PP (controlled by Prussia)
Bastogne + 5 PP (controlled by Prussia)
Luxembourg + 5 PP (controlled by Russia)
Coblenz + 5 PP (controlled by Russia)
Mainz + 5 PP (controlled by Russia)
Freiburg + 10 PP (controlled by Austria)

The above are to symbolize male population in these areas, liable to join the French colours if the situation permits. This is the main incentive for the French player to go for an early offensive, if he chose to do this. Remember, however, that it doesn’t suffice to just reach the city and then withdraw. If taken, there will be a steady trickle of PP’s in the French player’s favour, but once lost again, that is immediately cut short.

Note that the Cities must be taken with a French Combat Unit in order to give the right effect. If a Staff Unit makes the hex become French, the PP’s will go to French Staff instead and be far less beneficial.




MISCELLANIOUS SPECIAL RULES AND NOTES.


Besieged Garrisons: It is forbidden to replenish Garrison units that are cut off from other friendly cities (besieged) even if this is sometimes possible within the standard game engine.

Storming a fortified hex: Only one Combat Unit may assault a fortified hex in any Movement and Combat Phase. If it has AP to make multiplied attacks it may do so, but it must be alone. In addition, as soon as a fortified hex has been assaulted from a Combat Unit, no additional Combat Units may attack the same hex. Cavarly Units may not assault a fortified hex.

Napoleon and Paris: When Napoleon is in an active HQ that occupies the City of Paris hex, the emperor is given 2 additional Administrative Points to his normal 8 Points each turn.

Movement to and fro the HQ and Field Staffs: Technically, an Operational Leader can move from one HQ to another, or between HQ’s and Field Staffs, in mere two turns (after a one turn stop at the game General HQ). This means that Operational Leaders can move considerable distances in a very short time span. This is not so bad in case of the Coalition commanders, their operational areas being somewhat limited anyway, but that is not true when it comes to the French. In order not to create unnecessary bookeeping or more very complexed rules, I have decided to allow that. If players feel this to be too bad, they have to make house rules before the game starts.

The British and the Dutch-Belgians: These two countries are the same for all game purposes; i.e. they are British and use British supply. Making them two separate countries would have messed up the combat system too much.

British Cross-Channel Supply and Reinforcements: The Anglo-Allied troops comes from England and thus have to be ferried across. There’s no extra administrative rules for movement across the English Channel, though. If a Concentration Order is somewhere on the Continent, reinforcements can debark, ferry and disembark without further directives. The same is true when it comes to Retreat Orders, but in such a case, the Order must be placed in England.

The Anglo-Allied player must set up supply convoys from Dover to Ostend and Antwerp, both in the Staff and Movement and Combat Phases in turn 1 of the game. Otherwise the army will be unsuplied.

It is not allowed to set up supply or troop convoys to Haag. If – and only if – both Ostend and Antwerp is lost, then the Anglo-Allied player may set up a new convoy to Haag. He must, however, wait as long as 30 turns from the date the ports were lost before he can do this. It’s up to the player to consider the effects of an Anglo-Allied army stranded without ports!

Crossing Supply Lines: With the delicate situation between Britain and Austria on the one hand and Prussia and Russia on the other, the scenario is deliberately made in such a way as to create problems if different armies cross each others supply lines. Game technically, Prussia and Russia are at war with Britain and Austria. This doesn’t mean that they shall shoot at each other, but they suffer all ill-effects regarding ZoC and hex ownership issues as if they were at war. Prussia and Russia can freely pass each others lines, but Britain in the Northwest and Austria in the South, must make sure not to march over Prussian/Russian territory and vice versa. See also Border Lines below.

Border Lines: In order to make the game as interesting as possible when it comes to intelligence activities, border lines and coloured shading of territory is absent in TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE. Players have to rely on written notes, screenshots, in-game investigation by clicking ”hex information” or plain memory to recall where the boundaries are and where he last saw enemy movements.

Fog of War: The Fog of War should always be at 2 hexes.

The Downloadable Planning Map: There’s a map that can be downloaded below. It is only for the player’s convenience, helping them to plan their campaigns. I have made it from screenshots put together and have added some explanatory text and special hexes. I also placed roads on the map (the roads are not seen in the game, only the dots). In-game, it isn’t so easy to see where the roads go when the map is zoomed out. With the Planning Map, it is foremost my intention to aleviate that problem somewhat.

(One small note: when I put the screenies together, I made some misstake on the upper right part, making a certain disalignment of hexes. I saw this very late, when most of the work was done, and didn’t think it worth the effort to retrace my steps. The map is quite usable anyway.

Lone Infantry attacking Cavalry: No Infantry Combat Unit may attack a Cavalry Combat Unit in the same turn it enters that Cavalry Unit’s ZoC, unless the enemy Cavalry Units is also attacked by a friendly Cavalry Unit in the same combat resolution.

This rule is here because a Cavalry Unit in reality was in most cases able to withdraw before being attacked by Infantry in unfavourable conditions.

Considering this rule, Hussar or Dragoon Staff Units are NOT Cavalry. There should also be an in-game function that Infantry Units attacking Cavalry alone, should suffer a 50 % strength reduction. Regrettably, this function is missing in STORM OVER THE PACIFIC at present and is to be fixed only sometime after Patch 1.03. Meantime, the above rule will have to suffice.

Upgrading – No, No! It is absolutely forbidden to upgrade anything. Units must stay at the same tech level as the one in which they began or entered the game.

Deployment: A unit needs no order to deploy. Neither does it need any order for its first move. A unit on an Army Deployment hex, may therefore march its full Mvement Allowance out of that hex without the need of Orders or Leaders.

Placing and Naming Staff Units: When producing a Staff Unit it is recomendable that the player deploys it immediately instead of staying at the production tableau adding up more units before deployment. This is just for his own benefit and to avoid inadvertenly placing units in wrong places. When going to the deployment tableau, it will not state: ”Spy” (if that is what you bought), but ”Mechanized Division level 1”, which is the original gaming unit. With a lot of different units in the cue, it is easy to forget what was what and where one intended to place them.

Also, it is a good habit of renaming a freshly placed Staff Unit at once. This way it will be easier to spot it and know its purpose when scrolling through the OOB (Order of Battle). If the French player place a new Garrison in Ampilly, naming it ”Ampilly Garrison”, it will show up as such in the list. If he produce a Dragoon unit to move to the protection of the same town, naming it ”Go Ampilly” might come in handy among all units on the map, remaining the player of the unit’s purpose and that it should continue its march towards that objective. This is no rules, just suggestions.

Producing Units: You can only produce Units in the Staff Phase, never in the Movement and Combat Phase. In addition, you can only produce units that you can see have a symbol in the panel to the right in the Purchase Screen. Or blank units are forbidden.

Map Edge! Since there’s a rather sharp map edge on the eastern side of the map, and major Coalition armies may still be approaching when French units in theory could reach this edge, no French unit may ever pass the North-South 95th hexline. This is an abstract rule to prevent the French player from using the edge in an unfair way.

Words on Sincerity: It is absolutely essential that players can trust each other! The FoW should be at 2 hexes for the duration of the game. If any player sees the entire map, inadvertenly or not, the game is almost ruined, not only for his adversaries, but also for himself. Players who have psycological problems with losing games and contests should avoid playing TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE. It's a game to be PLAYED, not won or lost.

Winning or Losing: In view of what was just stated above, one might come to the conclusion that Victory conditions aren’t really necessary. Myabe not, but as a general guideline, I would say that the French player wins if both the French Staff and Combat ”countries is alive at game turn 150.

If France falls before game turn 150, the Coalition player who has a Combat Unit in Paris becomes the Major Victor, with the rest being Minor Winners. If no one has a Combat Unit in Paris all Coalition players become Minor Winners.




HOW TO INSTALL TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE.


In the TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE-package there should be four items:


1. The scenario folder called ”Twilight of the Empire”, which contains most of the files needed.
2. A graphics folder called ”[MapSkin]1815”.
3. A graphics folder called ”[UnitsSkin]Counters_1815”.
4. A folder called ”Extra Sound”, with a folder called ”1815_sound” in it.

First place ”Twilight of the Empire” in ”Matrix Games/Storm over the Pacific/data/scenarios” directory.

With this done, place both ”[MapSkin]1815” and ”[UnitsSkin]Counters_1815” in ”Matrix Games/Storm over the Pacific/data/gfx” directory.

The last phase is the sound. Here player´s can do as they see fit. There’s no easy way to switch between sound files, so I suggest doing the following only if you actually have decided to play TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE, not just have a look at it. First go to ”Matrix Games/Storm over the Pacific/data/sound” directory and rename that folder to ”original_sound”. With this done, put the ”1815_sound” folder into the ”Matrix Games/Storm over the Pacific/data” directory, thus placing it beside ”original_sound”. Then rename the ”1815_sound” to ”sound”. Whenever you like to change back, just rename the present ”sound” to ”1815_sound” and ”original_sound” to ”sound” in that order.

When all this is done, you’re almost ready to try the game. Start it up. When you see the choice ”Preferences”, enter that and change the Map to ”1815” and Units to ”counters 1815”. Exit Preferences and go to the scenarios where you can choose TWILIGHT OF THE EMPIRE. Then play!




LINKS TO THE SCENARIO AND OTHER THINGS.


Twilight of the Empire Scenario, Graphics and Sound (Download temporarily suspended because of pending corrections)

Twilight of the Empire Planning Map

The Modder's book about Waterloo (in Swedish)

Storm over the Pacific game Web Site

Wasteland Interactive Web Site

Storm over the Pacific Forum at Matrix

Some glossary.

AR = Administrative Rating, the second figure following the Operational Leader’s name. Shows the Operational Leader’s number of Administrative Points each turn.
AP = Administrative Points, the ”currency” of the Administrative Rating that can be spent to perform HQ activities. Gives out this Leader’s ability to perform Staff duties.
CR = Command Range, the range of a Field Staff. It’s the first figure following the Operational Leader’s name.
ZoC = Zone of Control: the six hexes surrounding a unit's hex, which influence the abilities of enemy units moving there.
PBEM = Play by Email, litterary meaning that the players play the game turn by turn, while sending the game forth and back between them via mail.

Many thanks to Bleck of Wasteland Interactive and John J. Curley (AHForever on Matrix Forum).


Have fun!

Michael Tamelander/Uxbridge