Voyages of Discovery

Hi Folks

I'm leading a bit of a nomadic existence at the moment, out of cardboard boxes, etc. As a result I don't have full access to guides.

I am certain that Richard has given some guidance on sending out exploratory expeditions but at the moment I can't seem to find it. Does anyone else recall it and, if so, where I could find it?

From personal experience, I set up an expedition with a Warship ( with marines for landing ashore) couple of liners & supplies, put a scientific mission on board, gave the expedition leader a name & sent him to discover what he could.

This worked for the Prussian navy, but not sure if I would entrust the current Russian navy in G7 with such a difficult task ( ie sail without sinking)

"Mounting an expedition. To explore
unknown or hardly known of the world
an expedition may be mounted. To do
this, name an explorer and have him lead
it. Typically he and his expedition will
need carrying on a ship (a liner or
cruiser would be appropriate), and you
could allocate say ten men (recruits) to
go with him, and a sum of money
(£5,000?) to pay for trinkets, porters,
guides and goodwill along the way.

Once done you can have the expedition
set sail for the lands or somewhere
nearby, from where they can be sent out
on their expedition into unknown
territory!"

Page 41. Glory & Argument

Thanks guys

Couldn't find the explanation in the guides no matter how much I looked

I once sent out an expedition into West Africa, in a game where I briefly played Savoy.

Sent the named explorer off, he landed at Africa, set out into the interior...and was never heard of again.

Lessons to learn from my mistake: one, send some people with the named character (in Game 10 I always accompany a named Rozwi character with a number of troops from a stood down / militia infantry regiment - or, if they're to get somewhere fast, an escort of light cavalry troopers from an active squadron), whether they are armed, or not, depends on preference of thought on possible consequences. Two, give the chap some money to use - I didn't, luckily for me, since he died rather quickly - as my time playing Swashbuckler has taught me that money is very useful for an adventuring character! Three don't be surprised if the chap gets killed by the "Naturals", i.e. the natives.

Anyway, I would have thought Scotland would have been well explored by now.

Go on, do a national census on the Clans. Compulsory participation and full transparency required. Follow it up with a national audit. Think of the wealth of knowledge to be gained. What could go wrong?! **Cough** Highland Clearances **Cough**

Well, there is this place called "Glasgow", many legends talk of it but no civilised man who has gone in search of it has returned...

Though, in all seriousness, I have considered sending an expedition to find Saint Brendan's Island as it was supposedly visited by a Scot in the early 18th Century.

Jason wrote:Well, there is this place called "Glasgow", many legends talk of it but no civilised man who has gone in search of it has returned...

Though, in all seriousness, I have considered sending an expedition to find Saint Brendan's Island as it was supposedly visited by a Scot in the early 18th Century.

I would have you know thatfollowing months of sailing and with the help of our improved magnetic charts and Pavia Sextants plus paying large sums of money for local guides the Spanish found the legandary city of "Glasgow" in G7.

Eldorado it was not! And some of the locals shot at us!! Plus the pubs were full of English & Russian's tourists all moaning about the water, the midges, the weather and how they were never going to use James Stuarts Scots Tours again.

Just be glad they didn't offer you deep fried salad

Ok, another question if someone can help. Stockades, how much do they cost to build and how long do they take? Again the details are in one of the guides I have packed away somewhere...

""Fort Stockade

A square wooden structure made from earthen banks and thick timbers with an entrance gate on one side only. Able to hold 2000 men and/or horses and mount in embrasures no more than four batteries of artillery (which may be wheeled field pieces). The structure has six wooden towers, one on each corner and two guarding the gate.

So, for example, a garrison may consist of six dragoon squadrons (900 men + 900 horses) and two batteries of guns (200 men). Colonial forts required to house larger garrisons should be built as a wooden fortress.

Takes 6 months to build. Cost £5,000


Wooden Fortress

A normal fortress but made primarily of earth and wood rather than having a considerable stone content. Wooden fortresses have a reduced cost of £30,000 but are otherwise the same as the more traditional versions.""

Page 7. Book of Revelations

Thanks

Can anyone remember the details for a wooden stockade-it was small, holding only an infantry battalion and a artillery battery? I've been sent details for the stone-built one.

"Stockades: £500 each. Intended location must be indicated. Takes 3 months to build. Each can hold up to 1 battalion and 1 battery of artillery.

Small guard posts, known as stockades, are permitted in an area. For example, the French can have 20 stockades in the province of Languedoc, but their main purpose is to provide small, defensible points in colonial areas. Imagine a wooden fort, that is what they look like."

pg23. La Gloire du Roi Fifth Edition

"Stone Stockades: £5,000 each. Same as wooden stockades but, of course, these are made of stone. Takes 3 months to build."

pg17. Defoe's Illuminations

Rozwi_Game10 wrote:"Stockades: £500 each. Intended location must be indicated. Takes 3 months to build. Each can hold up to 1 battalion and 1 battery of artillery.

Small guard posts, known as stockades, are permitted in an area. For example, the French can have 20 stockades in the province of Languedoc, but their main purpose is to provide small, defensible points in colonial areas. Imagine a wooden fort, that is what they look like."

pg23. La Gloire du Roi Fifth Edition

"Stone Stockades: £5,000 each. Same as wooden stockades but, of course, these are made of stone. Takes 3 months to build."

pg17. Defoe's Illuminations  

As well as the provision of defensible points in colonial areas (such as the Spanish "presidios" along their Northern Frontier in the America's) the building of timber and earth fortified camps and block houses to stop raiders was a feature of war in the East.

Russian, Polish & Ottoman field armies seem to "fort up" as a matter of course using a mix of field works, waggons and ready to assemble small timber forts (which were then re-inforced with earth) but they also built hundreds of timber block houses and hundreds of miles of lines to block the routes of Crimean Raiders and the like.  Do not think these had much hope of stopping light cavalry raiders but seem to have made it hard for them to drive stolen cattle and slaves back to the Khanate.

Think a lot of this digging and portable fortifications was partly due to the more fluid nature of eastern warfare dominated by Cavalry and the need for security against the raid.  The other reason was that while the Ottomans and Russians had masses of Artillery it rarely moved off certain well defined routes so huge areas of Eastern Europe was virtually free of the Artillery which would have made sort work of your timber stockade.

On the main routes like up the Danube to Vienna fortifications tended to be a lot more substantial.

In game have not really found benefit from building huge fortified lines with scores of block houses. Putting some Dragoons/LC on border patrol seems to have much the same effect. But I do like stockades and fortified lines as a way of making sure your siege is not broken. Also as a way of defending approaches to a city if your do not have 12 months to spare.

For the attacker in Glori such defences offer a interesting problem in that you either have a waste a to deploy artillery and launch a formal siege of a very minor position. Or you attack through the gaps and suffer a cross fire, if target is held by just a few men and their dog this is not a problem. But if you hit serious opposition while your troops are in the cross fire or being shot from behind by the bypassed stockade............I think the term you are looking for is ouch!!

I've only tried defensive lines once and like Stuart, was not convinced it was actually worth the effort.

Had been considering building the Russian defense lines that tried to seal off the Crimea, or maybe just simply march in & annex the lot, is a cheaper & easier version.

did one as Venice across the Corinth canal to stop teh turks,

Russia ha extended defensive lines in the southern borders, but it is more like the roman "limes" strategy. Much of the land was worthless to be protected, only cities and some estates were worth the effort. Such defensive lines were used to delay the advance of raiding parties.

On a different point stands the defensive approach against field units. Russian general made extent use of the attrition produced by marching in Russia. This is not recreated by TGOK if not for the difference in numbers of recruits (Russian and Turk's field tribal units should be cheaper) but was good to stand against the"ka pa" Swedish strategy. They were redoubts and field defences of temporary use.

Kingmaker wrote:did one as Venice across the Corinth canal to stop teh turks,

After laying siege to Vienna as the Turks. The covering Army used its light cavalry screen to lay waste to all of the approaches for a hundred miles to the Bavarian border while its engineers cut down trees, diverted streams and cleared fields of fire for artillery in order to build fortified lines which were in turn reinforced by artillery strong points.

Had over 300 zero'd in Cannon and 12,000 Arnauts defending the lines in a flexible manner. With my best close fighting Infantry & 18,000 Lancers (The Cream of the Rumelian Horse in G2) waiting to charge the head of the relief columns on nicely cleared land suitable for Cavalry as they broke through in what I hoped would be a somewhat disordered and tired state.

I though it was a really good battle planas.......pity no one came