L'Empereur

L'Empereur (ランペルール) is a turn-based strategy game which revolves around Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power in 18th century Europe. It uses much of the same concepts found in Koei's other strategy titles while adding its own distinct style.

Kou Shibusawa is the producer and Noriyoshi Ourai illustrated the game's cover. The music tracks were composed by Akira Ishiguro.

Gameplay
As France, the player must conquer cities from neighboring nations and manage their officers effectively to build a lasting empire. The game ends if Napoleon is captured, dies from old age, or loses all of his territory. Four different scenarios are available from the start, each one based on Napoleon's military career. After choosing a scenario, an option to view other wars will appear; players can decide whether or not this feature should be used for the entire game.


 * 1) Napoleon's Beginning (1796) - Focuses on Napoleon as a mere commander in Marseilles. While actions outside of battle are limited to regional tasks, it allows beginners to feel more accustomed to the game's mechanics. Players must conquer 9 cities to clear this scenario. Hostile nations include Venice, Naples, Austria, and England.
 * 2) Desire for Power (1798) - Stationed at St. Malo, Napoleon is promoted to commander-in-chief and wields more power as a result. Players must conquer 12 cities to clear this scenario. Hostile nations include England.
 * 3) End of Revolution (1802) - Napoleon becomes First Consul of France, allowing him to oversee France and micro-manage its regions. Players must conquer 18 cities to clear this scenario.
 * 4) Glorious Empire (1806) - With Napoleon as Emperor, France is now a major power in Europe. At this point, Napoleon's family members can be controlled to better manage distant cities and coordinate attacks from there. Players must conquer the entire map to clear this scenario. Hostile nations include Sweden, Prussia, Russia, and England.
 * 5) Escape from Elba Island (1815) - A hidden scenario exclusive to the PC version, it is unlocked by fulfilling certain conditions in other campaigns. Taking place after Napoleon's return from exile, it is by far the most challenging due to France's territorial loses. Players must conquer the entire map to clear this scenario.

The continent is divided into several nations vying for power. None of them aside from France can be controlled. Each one has its own pros and cons derived from historical facts. It is wise to target weaker nations first while reserving the stronger ones for last.

Strategy System
The game's strategy phase allows the player to make decisions that affect their troops, economy, and international standing. It takes one month for cities to act, giving them a total of 12 turns per year. Although the year itself changes starting in January, annual events like taxation and conscription only occur on March. Resources such as gold, food, and materials are required in order to make commands and instigate wars. The amount of resources required increases each time a nation's total population grows as the years pass.

Officer Commands
Commanders within each city are given power to achieve civic orders, but only Napoleon and his relatives can be directed manually.


 * Invade - Attacks adjacent cities controlled by hostile nations. Invading by sea requires the targeted city and attacking army to share the same shoreline.
 * Army - Military-related commands used for managing own army.
 * Recruit - Recruits soldiers from a city's population to join a unit. One soldier is worth 5 food points and up to 5% of a city's population is available for recruitment.
 * Horse - Purchases horses for reserves. One horse is worth 5 food points.
 * Arrange - Arranges troops into active duty. Allows the player to decide what type of unit an officer should lead.
 * Speech - Raises morale by giving a speech.
 * Reward - Raises an officer's loyalty by rewarding them with gold.
 * Training - Trains all soldiers within a city, raising their accuracy in battle.
 * Invest - Commands used for investing gold on different ventures.
 * Industry - Raises production of heavy materials.
 * Commerce - Raises commercial worth to further increase tax revenues.
 * Agriculture - Develops agriculture to yield more harvest.
 * Medical - Raises the quality of hospitals to improve health. More effective when done by officers with high building level.
 * Supply - Adjusts the population's consumption of food and materials.
 * Send - Logistics-related command used for managing the flow of products or people.
 * Officers - Relocates officers and their respective goods to another area.
 * Goods - Transfers gold, food, and materials.
 * Treasury - Deposits gold, food, and materials to the national treasury.
 * Give - Appeases the population by giving them food and materials.
 * Tax - Gathers food and material from the population in addition to regular taxes. May do more harm than good on agriculture and trading if used too much.
 * Request - Requests for government aid. Has a chance of failing if not approved.
 * Funds/Food/Material - Sends supplies taken from the national treasury.
 * Exempt - Asks for a tax exemption.
 * Officer/Artillery/Warship - Provides military support for officers.
 * Rest - Ends the player's turn.
 * View - Views pertinent data on any nation, city, and officer. It also shows which nation has control over the sea. Will cost an entire turn during city strategy when used on other territories besides France.
 * Summary - Displays data on foreign relations with other nations. Will cost an entire turn during city strategy when used on other territories besides France.
 * Map - Displays a map of Europe.

Government Commands
Outside of regional orders, nations can exert domestic and foreign policies to suit their needs every season (3 months to be exact). As Napoleon gains more approval and promotions, the player will be able to take part in government actions. They are carried out in 2 levels: national strategies and city strategies.

National Strategies= Highlighted in blue, national strategies focus more on diplomatic relations. The higher a nation's hostility is towards the player, the lower the likelihood of them agreeing to an alliance. Diplomacy should be carefully engaged to prevent neighboring factions from turning on France. Regulates own officers in other cities. A rolled flag on the map indicates that a city has received the following orders listed below.
 * Foreign - Political-related commands used for negotiating with other nations.
 * Alliance - Forms a 3-year alliance with a friendly nation. Benefits include ally reinforcements in battle and trading for resources. When used on a hostile nation, the offerer will be forced to pay for a 1-year cease-fire agreement.
 * Friendship - Establish a friendship with a neutral nation. Opens up the possibility of trade.
 * Stop Trade - Stops trade with a friendly nations. Also allows players to ask other nations to join a trade blockade, though doing so increases hostilities for all parties involved.
 * Declare War - Instigates war against neutral nations, raising their hostility level towards the offending party. Causes officer loyalty and soldier morale to plummet.
 * Exchange Prisoners - Proposes an exchange of prisoners. Can use gold to raise command's success rate.
 * Army - Military-related commands used for supporting own army.
 * War Expenditures - Set up war expenditures proportionate to the amount of arms factories supported. Cannons are worth 50 gold each and can only be manufactured within 3 months.
 * Recruit POWs - Recruits prisoners of war and places them in reserve.
 * Give - Takes food or materials from the national treasury and distributes them to the population. Good for placating unsatisfied cities.
 * Trade - Proposes trade with allied or friendly nations. Useful when there is not enough food or materials. Lower hostility means better price proposals and more profit.
 * -|City Strategies=
 * Send - Logistics-related command used for managing the flow of products or people on a national level.
 * Officers - Relocates officers to a different city. Similar to its officer command counterpart.
 * Goods - Transports gold, food, and materials to another city. Works the same as its officer command counterpart.
 * Treasury - Takes gold, food, and materials from the national treasury to a city. The opposite of its officer command counterpart.
 * Fleet - Places ships from one city to another sharing the same shoreline.
 * Deploy - Construction-related commands involving artillery and warships.
 * Artillery - Positions cannons within a city's artillery reserves.
 * Shipbuilding - Constructs warships in coastal cities. Each ship costs 100 gold taken from the national treasury. The higher a city's industrial level is, the more ships a nation can build.
 * Scrap Ships - Scraps own warships.
 * Personnel - Commands involving the appointment of own officers.
 * Appoint - Replaces a city's commander with a different one.
 * Dispatch - Sends reserve officers to active duty by dispatching them to chosen city.
 * Reserves - Put active officers into national reserves, causing them to leave behind their soldiers, horses, and artillery.
 * Command - Forces cities to pay more to fund the national treasury with either gold or food and materials.
 * Rest - Ends the player's turn.

At times, Napoleon's officers and his current spouse may provide requests that can be helpful if heeded. This usually occurs if the player has neglected to manage one or more important matters. Note that the game cannot be saved while making government commands.

Events
Events in this game happen periodically and will usually have an impact on any scenario. Historical events like the discovery of the Rosetta Stone are portrayed in the game during specific time frames. Some of them, like the overthrowing of Barras, can be altered depending on the player's actions. Uncommon events, on the other hand, occur randomly and either benefit (bountiful harvests) or hinder (strikes, plague outbreaks, natural disasters) affected cities.

Battle System
Battle is conducted within a hexagon-shaped grid (rectangular in certain ports) where up to 10 units for each side face each other. The player must arrange their troops within designated spots and move them accordingly using mobility points. Defenders are tasked with keeping invaders out of city hexes whereas invaders must take them or defeat the opposing army before their food supply runs out (100 soldiers consume 2 cases of food per day). A battle can also end if there is no decisive victor after 30 days of fighting. After winning, food provisions from the opponent will be taken by the city and officers captured will be made prisoners of war.

As hostile units fight each other directly, one of them has a chance of being put in disarray, leaving them immobile and helpless for several turns. When this happens, the player can use the recovery command to bring them back to order. If an officer is low on soldiers, they can opt to send out reserves or withdraw from battle entirely. Third party reinforcements may also arrive if they have an alliance with one side; this may prove beneficial or detrimental depending on the player's own foreign relations.

Units
There are 3 types of units used specifically for combat: infantry, cavalry, and artillery. The key to victory is to understand how these troops function.

Infantry units are the most commonly used in any army. They have the ability to build bridges or destroy them, making them perfect for luring enemies to their deaths. Their potency can be increased by raising building levels and overall troop count.

Cavalry units are the fastest and specialize in charge attacks, enabling them to hit more than once per turn. This makes them effective at targeting confused units and harassing stronger ones. Horses are needed to replenish their numbers.

Artillery units bombard foes from a distance so long as the player aims them correctly. They should be used for weakening approaching foes and putting them in disarray. However, these units are unable to attack during a blizzard and will turn into infantry if forced to abandon their cannons. Also, their slow mobility makes them a burden in disadvantageous terrain.

All units are affected by strength (which represents manpower), training (which affects accuracy), and morale (which determines defense and resistance to falling into disarray). These traits also help increase overall mobility. Additionally, an officer's leadership has an impact on their unit's overall strength.

Weather & Terrain
Topography and climate change have a dramatic effect on battles. Bad weather conditions (rain, snow, etc.) not only exhaust mobility points, but may also prevent units from using their abilities. The winter season in particular causes water hexes to freeze and greatly hinders advancing units. However, it is of no consequence in the southern regions. The table below lists the required mobility points, defense rating, and features of each terrain.

Image Song

 * BELIEVE IN YOUR LOVE
 * Performed by Kumiko Midorikawa