France has had fifty years of military and administrative excellence under Louis XIV, the Sun King and his servants. They achieved this in spite of a backdrop of strife and rebellion sparked by France’s involvement in the Thirty Years War. Louis and his able ministers, Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin, were able to steer France away from the feudal struggles that hampered growth, and they created a centralised government where the King’s power is absolute.

In 1700, France is the pre-eminent power in Western Europe, with an unrivalled army, vast colonies and a King who is respected and feared by all, both at home and abroad. Few nations pose any real threat to his well-equipped armies and heavily fortified borders.

The French Bourbon dynasty is strong, even though Louis XIV is aging. There are sons and relations aplenty, with legitimate claims to many titles. To the south, the lack of a Hapsburg heir in Spain – and the feeble-mindedness of Charles II – means that a Bourbon could one day rule in Madrid. A course of action that brings this about has much to recommend it. Of course, not all offshoots of the Hapsburg line are weak as their Spanish cousins. The Austrian Habsburgs, and other European nations, may not be entirely willing to see a Frenchman or French nominee as King of Spain. No matter.

France is surrounded by possibilities, and beyond Europe there are other continents to conquer and colonise: New France in North America, and the riches of India. The untrustworthy British may have to be swept aside or crushed, but what is wrong with that?

Grenadiers are large, strong men, armed with muskets and carrying bags of bombs to hurl at the enemy’s ranks.

Explosive grenades are one of the oldest types of gunpowder weapon, and one of the most dangerous to use. Grenades are a simple cast iron ball, with a fuse sticking out of the top. Fuses are notoriously unreliable, and grenadiers can die as their own bombs explode prematurely. Yet no matter how terrifying grenades are for the throwers, they are infinitely worse for the targets! Grenadiers see themselves as elite, and occupy the place of honour at the right of the line on parade. They have good reason: only large, brave men become grenadiers, because it takes a big chap to throw one properly. Even their uniform makes them look bigger thanks to the pointed grenadier’s cap; a tricorne gets in the way of a good throw.

Historically, grenadier regiments and battalions began as ad hoc assault forces. All line infantry regiments had grenadier companies; collecting these sub-units gave commanders a useful group of heavily armed, aggressive and skilful soldiers. Grenadier companies remained in line infantry regiments after the creation of grenadier regiments, but they abandoned grenades. Instead, each grenadier company became a “heavy mob” of the biggest and strongest soldiers in a regiment.

A sloop of war is usually ketch-rigged with two masts. These small vessels handle well in restricted waters.

The ability to navigate in exceptionally shallow or dangerous waters makes sloops very useful in such seas as the reef-strewn waters of the Caribbean. They can also operate without the need for extensive onshore naval facilities nearby. They are also extremely useful as fleet auxiliaries, carrying out communications tasks and vital inshore scouting work, and can hunt down smaller prey such as privateers and small enemy cargo vessels. A sloop-of-war (sometimes a corvette in French service) is a different vessel from a civilian, merchant sloop, having a flush deck, two square-rigged masts, guns, and a larger crew.

Historically, a post captain would rarely command a ship this small. The commanding officer was the “master and commander” (this is the origin of the modern naval rank of commander), and held the formal rank of lieutenant. Captain Cook RN commanded HMS Resolution, a sloop converted from a collier (coal ship), on his epic Pacific voyages and was highly satisfied with its performance. Sloop captains could be aggressive: before his promotion to post captain, Thomas Cochrane commanded the 14-gun HMS Speedy and managed to capture “El Gamo”, a Spanish xebec of 32 guns with a crew six times larger than his own!

Hi there,

My name is Jamie Ferguson. I’m a senior game designer on the Total War series. Some of you may know me from the official forums where I show up, from time to time. In this two-part diary I’m going to be talking about both the historical background of war in the 18th century and its game implementation and impact on the Land battles of Empire: Total War.

Well, where do you start? Drinking a soldier’s 2-pint ration of grog (an 18th Century concoction of water, rum, sugar and limejuice) might get you in the mood but won’t help with keeping a clear understanding of things. We could just talk about the various features of battle in Empire Total War, but that wouldn’t really give anyone an insight as to why they are there. So bear with me as I’m going to include some background to the why and wherefores of Empire: Total War.

The first myth we have to destroy, as a developer of Empire, is the common and preconceived idea that 18th century warfare was “slow”, “plodding”, and just involved “blokes standing in a line and then blasting away at each other. Warfare in any period can be stripped to it’s most basic form. In previous Total War games – Shogun, Rome and Medieval, we’ve explored a wide variety of historical warfare and unlocked an enormous amount of fun through the strategic possibilities presented by each period. This is certainly the case with Empire – the land battles in this game will be the most spectacular and strategically varied we’ve ever created.

The reality of 18th century warfare was far from simplistic. It was based around a rapidly changing world, full of new and developing technologies, both in warfare and society. This was the era of the Enlightenment, the Agricultural Revolution and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The “old way” of doing things was being shaken to its foundations by new thinking, new writing, new weapons and anything else that seemed new. Battles in the Empire period were just as likely to become free flowing, and sometimes, chaotic affairs, as they were in any period before or since. Just as in history, a player in Empire will have to consider the formations and positioning of units at the beginning and during a battle. These will be important because manoeuvre, counter manoeuvre and tactical planning of well-timed attacks are a vital element of successful combat. Denying the enemy space for manoeuvre is, as a result, also essential. The principles then, are easy to grasp.

"All that is advantageous to the enemy is disadvantageous to you, and all that is useful to you damages the enemy" Vegetius

What is often forgotten is that the fast, dispersed and mobile warfare of the modern age is only possible because of electronic communications and modern weaponry. In the Empire period troops had to be within telescope range of the commanding general and musket armed troops needed to be used en-masse and at close range. After all smooth bore muskets were very unreliable and inaccurate, especially at the beginning of this period. Many a battle was lost for the want of a competent officer in the right place at the right time or the infantry lines becoming too raged and dispersed. To reflect this in Empire, your armies’ performance will be affected by your general’s proximity to his troops. Spread your forces too far and you might have problems on your flanks. Leave your forces to thinly spread and their fire becomes ineffective. All of this will require a successful player to think on their feet and be aware of the ebb and flow of the battle. The player is going to have to be aware of the use of combined arms (Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry and their formations) in order to get good results on the battlefield. Just lining up your troops and firing away at the enemy isn’t going to win unless the enemy are seriously outnumbered or you are protected by the walls of a fort against an enemy devoid of artillery.

"No man is to be employed in the field who is not trained and tested in discipline" - Vegetius

“Is that’s all that’s different?” You ask. Well, as many of our fans know, Total War games follow a Revolution/Evolution cycle. Empire is our revolution and appropriately enough revolutions were taking place on the battlefield, as well as in the streets and fashion houses of cities in the 18th Century.

So although, in 1700, there were still some, old style, 17th Century levy troops of pike-armed men and armoured heavy cavalry, their time was coming to an end. Even if the threat of being stabbed by a foot or two of sharp metal was still a good way of making the enemy blink, a massed volley of lead musket balls was an even more effective method of removing your opponents. Increasingly so, as musket weaponry was now beginning to be mass-produced and allowed standing armies of relatively cheap but combat effective troops. As a result new and, sometimes experimental, unit types were becoming common. For example Dragoons, Musket-armed Grenadiers, light infantry and line infantry and mobile artillery were becoming a permanent feature of standing armies. A far cry from the previous melee based armies of Total War. The armies the player starts with at the beginning of Empire will reflect this transitional phase. And it will up to the player to modernise, improve and build up their army. Failing to invest in research or improving your military infrastructure might result in your army being outclassed by its opponents.

"Let him who desires peace prepare for war." Vegetius

Unlike previous Total War games troops won’t only be a result of the buildings you construct. We wanted to create that feeling of revolution, change and innovation that was such a strong feature of the period throughout the game. For example; the soldiers that fought in this period were often a reflection of the government that they fought for. As a result unit availability won’t just be based on a faction or culture. They will also reflect your nation’s government type as well as its scientific and technological research. Revolutionary or Republican units aren’t going to be available to an Absolute monarchy and Imperial Household Guards aren’t going to be available to a Republic. The same also goes for technological advancement. A rifled musket unit isn’t going to be available unless you research all the right elements that make mass produced rifled barrels (as opposed to smooth bore muskets) possible.

In previous Total War games when you got something new you had to hire completely new units to take advantage of that new item. Although there are still cases where this is true, we now also have improvements that automatically get rolled out across your nation’s armies and navies. For example bayonet improvements starting with the “Plug” bayonet and moving through to the final “Socket” version that improve your musket troop’s melee ability and also gradually become less of a hindrance to your units’ ability to fire. There will be researchable innovations in military drills, such as the Prussian firing drills, that increase your units’ rate of fire. Or improvements in construction like the copper bottoming of ships, that make them less prone to fouling and thus faster moving. All of these will be rolled out to existing units, automatically.

Blimey! So much to talk about and so little time and space to tell you all about it. I guess I’m going to have to leave us there, waiting for the next part of this diary where I shall talk more about the actual units and the ways that the player can effect changes to the battlefield itself. Speak to you soon. http://www.totalwar.com