kzucker
09-28-2004, 03:18 PM
SEVEN DAYS OF 1809 PRODUCTION UPDATE
We started shipping on September 21st and as of today have shipped through last initial "M." We expect to ship all the pre-orders by October 1st (or thereabouts). Enjoy the game...
LETTERS
From: Jack Gill
Just got the 1809 game today -- many congratulations! Have not had time to read through all of the rules, but the physical appearance is simply superb. The counters and map are VERY well done! Congratulations again and hearty good wishes! The portraits on the counters are the best that I have ever seen -- these are usually disappointing, but these came out very well indeed.
[Editor sez, We tried to make the portraits as large as possible, that may have helped.]
The rules look good -- sensible changes from "1806." One erratum I would suggest is that the French "ad hoc" commanders should be able to command German units as well, such as Bessieres commanding Wrede's division in the pursuit of Hiller. Lannes did not command any Germans in this campaign, but no reason to think that he might not have done so, had N so wished.
[Ed sez, I wanted to show that the Bavarians were not quite the same as the French, something to distinguish their nationality.]
Generally the German officer corps as a group spoke French with varying degrees of facility -- in those days this was a sign of erudition, like the ability to use the symbology of Greek and Latin classics in everyday conversation. All of the correspondence (and there is a lot of it) between the German generals and their French superiors was in French. Thus Lefebvre, though he spoke German after a fashion (evidently with a dramatic Alsatian accent), received all the reports from his Bavarian division commanders in French; all of Wrede's voluminous correspondence with his neighboring French commanders in the early days of the campaign (Pajol, St. Hilaire, Davout, etc.) was likewise in French. For some Germans, of course, the requirements to communicate in French was an irritation and a proto-nationalist objection to service under Napoleon, for others it seems to have been a matter of little consequence (after all, there was still a polyglot body of what we might call "Euro- officers" in the early 19th century for whom French would have been the lingua franca).Napoleon did take pains to find German speakers to command German forces (Lefebvre, Rouyer, Vandamme, Kister, for example) whenever possible as a practical matter (among other things, this allowed the French commander to communicate with the German NCOs and men at reviews and other public affairs), but language did not hinder attachment and cross attachment to satisfy operational requirements. A few examples just from this war:
* Wrede under Bessieres in the pursuit after 21 April
* Minucci (commanding Wrede's division) under Marmont after Wagram
* the Baden brigade under Lauriston in Hungary
* Hessians under Lasalle and Davout in Hungary
[Regarding Bessieres and the pursuit, that did not go remarkably well, and Wrede got into some trouble, which may have been caused in part by a failure to communicate.]
Just a clarification on Wrede and the pursuit after Landshut:
* Bessieres commanded Molitor, Marulaz (four of his five regiments),
Wrede, and Jaquinot (three regiments).
* They followed Hiller/Ludwig/Kienmayer at a respectful distance (Bessieres did not press the Austrians too very hard, granting his men a rest day on the 23rd).
* Bessieres uncautiously placed Wrede and Jaquinot across the unfordable Rott River at Neumarkt when Hiller surprised everyone by turning around and attacking on 24 April.
* Tough battle south of the Rott: Bavarians performed well against bad odds, French chasseurs got caught at a disadvantage in the town, Molitor arrived on the north bank to cover the Bavarian withdrawal. An interesting engagement, not least because of the initiative shown by Hiller.
A question: I presume that the 1 MP to stack does not apply if units begin a movement phase stacked together. That is, if Molitor and Boudet begin the turn stacked together, they can still move five hexes (rather than each moving four and then spending 1 MP to stack.
[Ed sez, MPs are only expended in the Movement Phase, and if they begin that phase stacked together, there is no cost for that. I see what you are thinking though (and it might make sense).]
From: Dave Demko (WDM Managing Editor)
Seven Days of 1809 just arrived. Though I've spent only a couple minutes pawing through the components, I have already formed a first impression: The components feel good. The weight of the various set-up and reference cards, and the weight and texture of the paper for the rules book and magazine all say quality. The type is clear and readable. The map and counters prove, once again, that beauty doesn't have to come at the expense of clarity and usability. Even a non-English-speaker could tell at a glance that this is a quality product.
ORDER IT NOW - http://www.napoleongames.com/store.html
We started shipping on September 21st and as of today have shipped through last initial "M." We expect to ship all the pre-orders by October 1st (or thereabouts). Enjoy the game...
LETTERS
From: Jack Gill
Just got the 1809 game today -- many congratulations! Have not had time to read through all of the rules, but the physical appearance is simply superb. The counters and map are VERY well done! Congratulations again and hearty good wishes! The portraits on the counters are the best that I have ever seen -- these are usually disappointing, but these came out very well indeed.
[Editor sez, We tried to make the portraits as large as possible, that may have helped.]
The rules look good -- sensible changes from "1806." One erratum I would suggest is that the French "ad hoc" commanders should be able to command German units as well, such as Bessieres commanding Wrede's division in the pursuit of Hiller. Lannes did not command any Germans in this campaign, but no reason to think that he might not have done so, had N so wished.
[Ed sez, I wanted to show that the Bavarians were not quite the same as the French, something to distinguish their nationality.]
Generally the German officer corps as a group spoke French with varying degrees of facility -- in those days this was a sign of erudition, like the ability to use the symbology of Greek and Latin classics in everyday conversation. All of the correspondence (and there is a lot of it) between the German generals and their French superiors was in French. Thus Lefebvre, though he spoke German after a fashion (evidently with a dramatic Alsatian accent), received all the reports from his Bavarian division commanders in French; all of Wrede's voluminous correspondence with his neighboring French commanders in the early days of the campaign (Pajol, St. Hilaire, Davout, etc.) was likewise in French. For some Germans, of course, the requirements to communicate in French was an irritation and a proto-nationalist objection to service under Napoleon, for others it seems to have been a matter of little consequence (after all, there was still a polyglot body of what we might call "Euro- officers" in the early 19th century for whom French would have been the lingua franca).Napoleon did take pains to find German speakers to command German forces (Lefebvre, Rouyer, Vandamme, Kister, for example) whenever possible as a practical matter (among other things, this allowed the French commander to communicate with the German NCOs and men at reviews and other public affairs), but language did not hinder attachment and cross attachment to satisfy operational requirements. A few examples just from this war:
* Wrede under Bessieres in the pursuit after 21 April
* Minucci (commanding Wrede's division) under Marmont after Wagram
* the Baden brigade under Lauriston in Hungary
* Hessians under Lasalle and Davout in Hungary
[Regarding Bessieres and the pursuit, that did not go remarkably well, and Wrede got into some trouble, which may have been caused in part by a failure to communicate.]
Just a clarification on Wrede and the pursuit after Landshut:
* Bessieres commanded Molitor, Marulaz (four of his five regiments),
Wrede, and Jaquinot (three regiments).
* They followed Hiller/Ludwig/Kienmayer at a respectful distance (Bessieres did not press the Austrians too very hard, granting his men a rest day on the 23rd).
* Bessieres uncautiously placed Wrede and Jaquinot across the unfordable Rott River at Neumarkt when Hiller surprised everyone by turning around and attacking on 24 April.
* Tough battle south of the Rott: Bavarians performed well against bad odds, French chasseurs got caught at a disadvantage in the town, Molitor arrived on the north bank to cover the Bavarian withdrawal. An interesting engagement, not least because of the initiative shown by Hiller.
A question: I presume that the 1 MP to stack does not apply if units begin a movement phase stacked together. That is, if Molitor and Boudet begin the turn stacked together, they can still move five hexes (rather than each moving four and then spending 1 MP to stack.
[Ed sez, MPs are only expended in the Movement Phase, and if they begin that phase stacked together, there is no cost for that. I see what you are thinking though (and it might make sense).]
From: Dave Demko (WDM Managing Editor)
Seven Days of 1809 just arrived. Though I've spent only a couple minutes pawing through the components, I have already formed a first impression: The components feel good. The weight of the various set-up and reference cards, and the weight and texture of the paper for the rules book and magazine all say quality. The type is clear and readable. The map and counters prove, once again, that beauty doesn't have to come at the expense of clarity and usability. Even a non-English-speaker could tell at a glance that this is a quality product.
ORDER IT NOW - http://www.napoleongames.com/store.html