Marching Eagles: Marengo

[Asid]

Marching Eagles: Marengo

Official page


Manual: PDF / Printed - Color
Editor: Yes
Period: Napoleonic
Turns: Turn-Based IGOUGO
Unit Scale: Grand Tactical. regiment, brigade and division level
AI: Yes
Players: 1-2
PBEM: Yes
Hotseat: Yes

'This battle is lost, but there is time to win another!'
   -General Louis Desaix to Napoleon (attributed)

At the end of March 1796, Bonaparte took command of the Army of Italy. Bonaparte's army lacked sufficient cavalry and artillery and was chronically under paid, short of food, clothing, weapons and equipment. Internally, France was bankrupt and the only way the French Directory (Government) saw to address these problems was to attack the enemy territory, plunder the land and win a military victory. Bonaparte moved the army forward in early April and so began the 'First Italian Campaign'.
 
The battle of Castiglione (Aug 1796) demonstrated Bonaparte's tactical brilliance and an early attempt to out-maneuver his opponent. The battle of Caldiero (Nov 1796) was Napoleon's first defeat and a battle under severe winter conditions. The battle of Marengo (Jun 1800), a narrow victory, brought the War of the Second Coalition to an end and solidified Napoleon's hold on power. Together, these actions gave the world a good first look at the relentless combination of luck and skill that they would face in Napoleon for the next 15 years
 
But it also displayed the arrogance and overconfidence that would ultimately bring him, and France, crashing to the ground.


Win the Battle

Marengo is the second game in the Marching Eagles series, which is based on a simple to understand and easy to learn system, but that yet manages to afford a deep and historical experience.
 
Covering major actions of the First Italian Campaign, the game includes the battles of Castiglione (which Napoleon won) and Caldeiro (which he lost), as well as the campaign around Marengo from May-Jun 1800. The first two battles, only months apart, are very different in both terrain conditions and numbers of men. They challenge the player to develop different tactics to win a victory. While the final battles around Marengo show just how lucky Napoleon was




Come Up If You Still Can!    

In Marching Eagles: Marengo, Players command units at the regiment, brigade and division level. Maps are broken up into irregular-shaped areas, based on the local terrain, and recreate the effects and restrictions faced by the actaul troops on the field. Combat occurs at the end of each orders phase, and players are limited in the number of actions they can take during their turn to reflect historical command limitations.
 
The game also includes optional Event Cards, leadership, Command and Control, Fog of War, artillery, and special units such as the French Guard and dismounted cavalry. It also affords players a Tactical Play option, which allows players to select the tactics used on the attack/defense for a given encounter.
 
Add to this a unique troop quality and order system, and players can expect to be tested. Morale and effectiveness determine unit reactions under combat conditions, and as a unit is ultimately worn down by combat and maneuver the unit's order deteriorates and the unit may rout from the battlefield.




Forwards!

The game includes the following scenarios, which span multiple campaigns, terrain, and weather. In addition to historical battles a number of hypothetical 'what-if' scenarios are also included:

•   Castiglione (1796)
•   Casteggio/Montebello
•   Marengo (8 am)
•   Marengo (10 am)
•   Marengo (6 pm)
•   Caldiero (1796)
•   Caldiero (What If: No Snow Storm)
•   Caldiero (What If: Faster Austrian Response)
•   Castiglione (What If: No Fiorella?)
•   ...and more!




A Toast To the Guns!

The Marching Eagles system is innovative, easy to play, and historically enlightening. The action moves quickly, and there is almost nothing more satisfying as watching a nail-biting cavalry charge clear the enemy out of a defending position. But special features such as Fog of War, Battlefield Smoke and Local Initiative also work to immerse players in the real-life command difficulties of the Napoleonic Wars. Vision and influence over the battlefield is limited, and frustration can be the order of the day in getting units where they are wanted, as quickly as they are wanted.
 
When coupled with the scenario/OOB editor and effects of fate, the system will offer players something new each time, while allowing them to test their mettle again and again over almost endless possibilities.
 
Yes, the basics are simple, but execution can get complicated and messy. It's easy to make mistakes, but hard to know it until it's too late. It's challenging, but exciting. Just like it was in real life.




Features       

•   Play single-player against the AI.
•   Play two-player Hotseat or PBEM.
•   Detailed unit readouts.
•   Historical unit formation types and effects.
•   Multiple Fog Of War options.
•   Command and Control limitations.
•   Unit morale effects including effectiveness, routing and recovery.
•   Ammunition on-hand limits and resupply.
•   Random events.
•   Snow terrain (shown at right).
•   Full Scenario and OOB editor.
•   And More....       

[Asid]

Update V2.04
14 Dec 2020

Download (14.8MB)


Changelog

2.02

1 For Line Infantry brigades of Strength 5 or more, the unit may create a skirmisher screen - one new unit Strength 1 from the parent unit. This is a Light Infantry unit useful for scouting and help a player when using the Tactical Play option. New unit counter created for this skirmisher unit.Access command via menu - Units - Form Skirmisher Screen

2 French Hussars given higher Quality rating in OOBsFrench Grenadiers & Chasseurs a Cheval given higher Quality rating in Marengo scenarios

3 New unit counters created -- French Chasseur a Cheval- French Veteran Line Infantry- French Veteran Light Infantry- French Line Voltiguers

4 Computer AI player improved

5 If playing by e-mail and reinforcements arrive (or militia called up by Event Card) and the player does not move those units and on the following turn the same player receives further reinforcements in the same area then the first set of reinforcements are lost. Fault corrected.

6 Army Morale <10% now results in game end


2.03

7 In PBEM mode, replenish Ammo function not working. Now corrected.

8 In PBEM mode, end Game status not seen by second player. Corrected.

9 In PBEM mode, moving routed unit fault corrected.

10 Guard Cavalry not included in Point Loss calculation. Now corrected.

11 Russian units do not require a morale test when attacked

12 Routed unit suffers strength loss of 2 when attacked

13 Routed unit can not recover cohesion if enemy units in the same area at the end of a game turn

14 Cuirassiers breast plate defense against attacking cavalry with sword only= Attack Factor reduced by 1

15 Retreating and routing units are permitted to move into areas containing enemy units

16 Only one army losses are given in the Victory Dialog box 'Allied Losses'. Now all losses of Allied armies are added.

17 Maximum strength of Light Infantry unit now moved from 5 battalions to 9 battalions

18 Play by E-Mail mode, replay movement when 3 units are in the same area and unit 2 moves out. Unit 3 is required to move into unit 2 position but this does not happen. This results in a loss of focus on the unit - Unit Information Box does not appear. Fault corrected.

19 New Rule - Medium & Heavy Artillery are not permitted to move into the same area as enemy units. Normal tactic is to bombard from a distance.Light Artillery (typically supporting infantry formations) and Horse Artillery can move into the same area and fire at close range

20 New Rule - to more accurately reflect Napoleonic Warfare - Units can not move from one area containing enemy units directly to another area containing enemy units. Units now have to move to a non-contested area, usually the rear, before moving round to strike another enemy group. Armies can now prevent a penetration of the Front Line by placing a second line of defense immediately to the rear of the Front Line.


2.04

21 Number of pop-up boxes reduced to improve play

22 Menu - Display - Highlight - Light Infantry option provided to menu

23 New Rule - Routed units always have at least 1 Action Point to facilitate extraction from the combat area

24 Routing unit at end of each game turn attempt to rally. If that rally fails and the unit Order Value is at zero the unit is eliminated. This occurs even if the unit is of high strength. Modified rule now limits the Strength loss to 2 Strength Points

25 The map no longer scrolls up if the cursor moves to the top map edge below the toolbar buttons. The map scrolls at the top map edge where no toolbar buttons are located above the map edge.

26 The scenario file name is given at the top right hand side of the screen. This will be replaced by the saved file name once the battle is saved

27 AI modified to respond when enemy enter their exit area and move to attack those units

28 New background music on load up of the game

29 Units with Order value at zero now loose maximum of 2 Strength Points at the end of a turn30Rallying a routed unit is now successful if no enemy in the area

31 Play-By-EMail mode - where two Allied armies exist - on French turn seeing the previous Allied turn replay, French player can now see movement and combat for both Allied Armies instead of just one Allied army. For the Allied player, combat at the end of the first army to move does not occur, now all combat for both army units occurs after movement of the second army.

32 If a unit is fixed when selecting the unit, only the map area the unit is located in is highlighted as the unit can not move that turn

33 New Rule - Artillery can not fire in the Combat Phase of the same turn that the unit conducts ammo resupply


Marching_Eagles_Marengo Editor (Editor exe)Version No.

2.04

1 Version number is changed to correspond with the Battle version.

[Asid]

Update V2.05.01
13 Feb 2021

Download (14.8MB)


Changelog

2.05

34 Event Cards restricted on small scenarios to those appropriate for the scenario

35 Recent New Rule - Artillery can not fire in the Combat Phase of the same turn that the unit conducts ammo resupply

36 Morale Test boosted by presence of friendly leader

37 Morale test added to defender when attacker conducts bayonet charge