HistWar: Concepts

HistWar: Napoleon

The HistWar video game puts you in command of an army from the Napoleonic era: France of course, but also Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, and some of the many nations featured in HistWar.

In real time, in a highly realistic environment where each soldier is represented by a figurine, this new wargame allows you to visit the theaters of operations and European battlefields of the 19th century and invites you to rewrite history.

A major evolution of HistWar: Napoleon, the campaign editor, projects you into a theater of operations where winning a battle is not enough to win the war.

Act at the right time, know when your opponent is in trouble, and turn your retreat into a complete rout... HistWar, a wargame where time is important without becoming an arcade game.

HistWar can be played against the PC (Solo), in Multiplayer via a local network or Internet (TCP/IP) up to 16 players (only 8 for HW:LG) divided into 2 camps with players controlling all or part of the Army. Play by e-mail (PBEM) with 20 or 30 minutes per game sequence (turn by turn) is also supported.

Tens, hundreds of thousands of soldiers deployed in battalions (1/1 and 1/2 Miniature Scale where each miniature represents 1 or 2 soldiers (only 1/2, 1/10 for HW:LG), are organized into Regiments, Brigades, Divisions and Army Corps awaiting your orders and ready to execute them.

Observe actions and plan your strategy using 4 display modes:

a 2D staff map for a global view,
a symbolic 3D map to contemplate the battlefield,
a subjective 3D view attached to a unit for total immersion
a total 3D vision simulating an observation by "hot air balloon"

Each type of infantry unit is displayed with a unique level of detail; the uniforms of colonel, battalion commander, flag bearer, drummer complement those of the infantrymen: grenadier, voltigeur, fusilier, with the ranks of sergeant or corporal.

Each artillery piece is accompanied by 5 or 6 gunners in addition to the 2 to 6 horses and the front end of the gun. Cavalry uniforms are also widely represented: Cuirassiers, French Carabiniers, Hussars, Chasseurs à cheval, Lancers, Cossacks in their elite or regular model to integrate the elite company often present in one of the squadrons.

Furthermore, the colored distinctives allow the regiments to be precisely identified.

Different parameters can influence the conditions of the engagements: seasons, weather with the presence of fog, rain or snow.

Several options modify the rules of the game according to your wishes.

The basic concept of HistWar is to place you in the role of an Army Commander, leading you to define, in a few mouse clicks, a precise battle plan that the AIs managing the hierarchy will execute on the field by controlling your units as best as possible.

You can also interact directly with hierarchical entities placed in the Corps for finer control of operations, slipping into the role of divisional general, brigadier general or even a simple colonel.

To this end, this Napoleonic video game integrates 5 levels of AI (only 3 for HW:LG) to simulate the levels of Corps, Division, Brigade or Regiment. The fifth AI, in charge of managing the Army, is only activated in Solo mode to simulate the opponent.

A particular effort has been made on combat management to enable losses during engagements to be simulated as best as possible: the algorithm takes into account the geometry of the entities engaged (formation, distance, protection zone, etc.), their skill and typology (guard, elite, lineman, etc.), their fatigue and morale, etc.

The morale of the units itself is carefully modeled in order to take into account important factors: presence of the hierarchy and support units with a significant weight for elite units, fatigue, losses suffered, control of lines of operation, etc.

The difficulty of the HistWar video game is determined by several options:

Fog of War: There are several levels of FoW that apply to both adversaries and one's own troops. In a difficult mode, the fog of war takes into account the transmission time between the unit in reconnaissance and the Army Commander. The FoW of friendly units allows, while positioning them all on the staff map, to induce doubt about their precise location. The simulation introduces the concept of "friction" that Von Clausewitz theorized in his work "On War"
Order Delay: Although it is possible to play without implementing this mechanism, the order transmission delay introduces the inertia that is encountered in a system. The order delay takes into account the distance between the transmitter and the receiver, the composition of the group (number of units in the corps, division or brigade), the language barrier, the competence of the Commander... You will therefore have to anticipate your orders to ensure the proper execution of your tactical plan.
Messenger Interception: What an opportunity to intercept an enemy message and see their tactical plan emerge. Then take advantage of this interception and maneuver to counter the opponent.
Loss of Corps Commanders: This option allows you to validate the loss of a Corps Commander when the latter is in a difficult position. This is one of the rare cases where a random generator is used in this simulation. The loss of a corps commander will significantly affect the behavior of the corps... but how?
Ammunition: Unlimited or historical, this option modifies the behavior of your units, especially for artillery, which may have to leave the battlefield. Infantrymen placed in defense could be affected by a historical option.

There are five levels of hierarchical AIs to simulate the chain of command:

Army (AI-GT): In single-player mode, this AI creates an initial tactical plan at the start of each battle. It takes into account the particularities of the geographical space to define maneuvers. Faced with an opponent camping on obviously overly defensive positions, this AI may refuse to fight.

Corps: This AI receives orders from the player or the AI-GT. These orders are at the tactical level: deploy or create a diversion in a sector, defend an area, march to quickly occupy an area, link up with another corps to execute one of the orders mentioned by forming an army. Each order has a few parameters defining the execution time, organization and training, and reserve level.

Division or Brigade: These two intermediate AIs allow for complex movements; they must be used with caution.

Regiment: This AI processes the orders received. Unit morale is crucial to determine the execution of orders. Each unit has its own characteristics (value, initiative, level of flight and retreat, etc.) and attributes (morale, fatigue, cohesion, etc.) that define its behavior. A unit may flee despite low losses because it will have seen an elite unit from its side routed. This AI in charge of an infantry regiment will order the formation of square in the event of a cavalry threat... resulting in the latter requesting artillery support to fire grapeshot on the formed square. This AI is active to ensure the best efficiency of each regiment, it is possible to deactivate it for certain entities to ensure micro-management.

Corps / Division / Brigade: Upon receipt of the order, the AI organizes the group and sends orders to the regiments,

execute the order at the indicated time, taking charge of managing the whole thing: replacement of fleeing and rallying units, support of regiments, stopping for bombardment of the enemy if necessary, etc.
report on the progress of the mission.
Various options allow you to define the transit time of orders and reports, as well as the inertia of the command (for example, moving a large body can take time, sometimes up to 2 hours). Also note that messages can be intercepted.

The doctrine editor is also a remarkable tool for indicating to the regimental AI how units should behave depending on a given situation.

Lines of Operation: Each side has two lines of operation through which ammunition arrives and are the natural axes of withdrawal, or even the sectors where reinforcements arrive. Defending them is a major objective. To this end, it would be wise to detach a few chasseur or hussar units to guard them. In the event of the loss of one or even both lines of operation, your army is in danger and could be routed following a minor event, thus reproducing the much-feared domino effect.

Reinforcements: Reinforcements play a major role in the game, and using them wisely is an art. Sometimes, patience is required, as they don't always arrive at the expected time, or even at the expected location.

Season and Weather: HistWar allows you to replay battles in different seasons and weather conditions, both historical and non-historical. Weather conditions significantly affect combat by changing the fluidity of movement, observation distances, and weapon effectiveness. The duration of combat is also modulated by the varying brightness of the season.

HistWar offers a 16-chapter tutorial that covers the entire HMI

Guide: At the start of the battle, at the player's request, a list of actions to take will be displayed to guide the player during the initial phase: setting up AIs, initiative levels for units, reconnaissance orders, detaching units to form a reserve.

Final version specifications.

Accurate modeling of Napoleonic battles from 1805 to 1814.

Five AI (Artificial Intelligence) to support each level of the hierarchy, at the Grand Tactical and Tactical level; two intermediate AIs take charge of managing Divisions and Brigades.
Realistic combat resolution by modeling a set of factors such as distance, orientation and density of units, but also their training, effectiveness, fatigue and morale.
A fine-grained procedure for calculating morale, taking into account a range of variables such as losses, fatigue, proximity to support units or to the Army or Corps Commander, security of operational lines, etc. The engine thus naturally simulates the domino effect where an army can disintegrate upon seeing a guard unit flee.
1/1 or 1/2 scale management, where each figurine represents one or two real-life fighters. Relive battles with more than 300,000 fighters: infantrymen, cavalrymen, artillerymen.
Comes with several battles from the 1805 campaign that ended at Austerlitz: Haslach, Durenstein, Elchingen, Hollabrun. New battles will be added when new update versions are released: Borodino, Eylau, Friedland, Hanau, Wagram...
Integration of almost thirty states with military power: France, Russia, Austria, Württemberg, Saxony, Poland, Italy, Naples, etc.
More than 1500 historical regiments, 5000 commanders sometimes directly associated with their regiment, a precision unknown in wargaming to date with a potential of several thousand uniforms.
Four editors (Map, Order of Battle, Doctrine and Campaign) allowing you to build your own battles and share them with the community.
Define your own battles or modify existing ones: battlefield, orders of battle of the two protagonists.
Army respecting historical organizations with individual control at different levels: Army, Corps or Columns, Division, Brigade, Regiments.
Single player mode against the Grand Tactics AI or multiplayer for up to 16 participants. PBEM email game mode for offline games.
Variable game speed between 1/10 and 1/1 for accelerated simulations or to achieve a high degree of realism. In email play, sequence durations vary between 20 and 30 minutes per turn.
A wide variety of troops including fusiliers, voltigeurs, grenadiers, chasseurs on foot and on horseback, cuirassiers, carabiniers, gendarmes, hussars, lancers, mamluks, dragoons on foot and on horseback, light cavalry and also old, middle or young imperial or royal guard...
About ten uniforms for each regiment: colonel, battalion commander, captain, sergeant, drummer, flag bearer, infantryman in their elite or normal company uniform.
Map of 27 km² to 150 km² to best reproduce battles such as that of Austerlitz.
Weather effects including rain, fog, smoke, and snow: Weather significantly affects movement speed and weapon effectiveness. Seasons affect viewing time.
Multiple 3D viewing modes (helicopter mode, subjective view), global display of the battlefield in symbolic 3D or 2D.