Prussia (Napoleon: Total War)

Prussia's flag under a Monarchy

Prussia's flag under a Republic.

Prussia is a major faction in Napoleon: Total War.

Description

Frederich Wilhelm III

Prussia has a proud military heritage: what else could be the case for the nation of Frederick the Great? The country has been at peace for ten years, the result of getting a free hand in northern Germany east of the Rhine in exchange for recognising French control west of the Rhine. Political realities have to be recognised. Napoleon, however, is not an easy neighbour to endure. His ambitions are seemingly limitless, his army is growing every day, and he is in need of new victories to add lustre and legitimacy to his crown. It may only be a matter of time before he once again looks to secure the borders of France through war. Perhaps, though, he can be persuaded to go south, against Austria, even if that only leaves a stronger France to face at a later date. There are allies available, if the Prussians can stomach them. The British are condescending and unwilling to fight on land, but they have the wealth needed to finance a war. The Russians and Austrians may be willing to help bring down the upstart empire of Napoleon, even as they will do their best to hamper Prussian ambitions. Neither the Austrians nor the Russians have any wish to see Germany or Poland dominated by Prussia, even as they prepare for war against France. Such then, is the situation facing Frederick William III. Danger and opportunity await.

General Information

Victory Conditions

Historical

Capture and hold 25 regions, including the regions shown. East Prussia, Hannover, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Silesia, Frisia, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg, Bohemia, Hessen-Kassel, Saxony & Thuringia

Complete by the end of your turn in: Late December 1813

World Domination

Capture and hold 60 regions, including the regions shown. Bavaria, Brandenburg

Complete by the end of your turn in: Late December 1813

Regions

Prussia's starting position

Berlin, Brandenburg

• Starting Buildings - Magistrate, Cantonment, Cannon Foundry, Theatre
• Infrastructure - Not developed
• Population - 1684771
• Wealth - 4300
• Religion - Protestant 95%, Catholic 5%
• Villages/Towns/Ports - Küstrin (Market), Magdeburg (College), Potsdam (Undeveloped Commercial Center), Prenzlau Farmlands (Farms), Pritzwalk Pasture (Stables), Wolfsburg Mines (Iron Mine)

Cleves, Cleves-Mark

• Starting Buildings - Cantonment
• Infrastructure - Not developed
• Population - 800000
• Wealth - 1150
• Religion - Protestant 75%, Catholic 25%
• Villages/Towns/Ports - Münster (Undeveloped Industrial Center), Siegen Mines (Undeveloped Iron Mine)

Königsberg, East Prussia

• Starting Buildings - Tax Office, Barracks
• Infrastructure - Not developed
• Population - 1298346
• Wealth - 2500
• Religion - Protestant 80%, Catholic 20%
• Villages/Towns/Ports - Gumbinnen (Undeveloped Industrial Center), Tilsit Farmlands (Farms)

Warsaw, Greater Poland

• Starting Buildings - Tax Office, Cantonment, Cannon Foundry
• Infrastructure - Not developed
• Population - 4233247
• Wealth - 2050
• Religion - Catholic 100%
• Villages/Towns/Ports - Krakow (Member's Club), Lodz (Manufactory), Mszczonow Forests (Undeveloped)

Stettin, Pommerania

• Starting Buildings - Tax Office
• Infrastructure - Not developed
• Population - 966225
• Wealth - 1500
• Religion - Protestant 55%, Catholic 45%
• Villages/Towns/Ports - Kolberg (Trading Port), Köslin Farmlands (Farms)

Breslau, Silesia

• Starting Buildings - Cantonment
• Infrastructure - Not developed
• Population - 389483
• Wealth - 1800
• Religion - Protestant 60%, Catholic 40%
• Villages/Towns/Ports - Brzeg Mines (Gold Mine), Glogau (Undeveloped Industrial Center)

Danzig, West Prussia

• Starting Buildings - Tax Office
• Infrastructure - Not developed
• Population - 2095757
• Wealth - 2200
• Religion - Protestant 55%, Catholic 45%
• Villages/Towns/Ports - Bromberg Farmlands (Farms), Thorn (Undeveloped Commercial Center)

Prussia has the unique situation of starting the Europe Campaign with no enemies or allies, and being neighbors with some small factions that are equally friendless. This leaves it free to grow at the expense of smaller neighboring factions without too much initial fear of reprisal from bigger threats. It also has the advantage of having all of its required regions for victory being very close to it, meaning Prussian armies don't have to wander too far from its power base to secure victory. Eventually, though, Prussia needs to make alliances with the major powers or risk a multi-front war. Allying with the French leaves Prussia's eastern and southern borders open to Russian and Austrian attack--a very long border to attack and defend from, indeed, though Russia and Austria's armies are initially smaller and weaker. Allying with Russia and Austria, on the other hand, means fighting France's superior armies on a smaller, more manageable western front. While most of Prussia's required lands are initially held by minor states or France (which inevitably declares war on Prussia in most circumstances anyway), Prussia also requires Bohemia, which means that, if allied with Austria, Prussia usually must either declare war or negotiate generous terms to convince Austria to cede this region; alternatively, if France or another enemy nation takes Bohemia, it can be taken back without doing either of these.

Prussia benefits from a pretty good cabinet, with an excellent minister of war and minister of treasury. However, its best ministers also come with traits that give penalties to public order, making most regions dangerously close to having negative public order. To counteract this, Prussia can sacrifice some of its better ministers in exchange for one of the generic ones, or make early investments in cultural and/or administrative buildings. In conjunction with the iron mine in its home region and its unique building, Prussian troops can be recruited for an extremely low cost. Default musketeers, for example, cost 590 gold; in the late game, the cost may be bought down as low as a mere 200 gold.

Prussia suffers from a relatively landlocked position, with just one port in Pommerania (although additional ports can be quickly gained by annexing Mecklenburg or the Batavian Republic). Its best trade options lie in the four nodes in the north-west corner of the map, which is rarely visited by other factions (though this is a much more dangerous undertaking if it has a hostile relationship with Great Britain).

Prussia's unique building, the Siegessäule, increases National Prestige and decreases land unit recruitment costs by 5%. As it costs 15,000 gold to build, this means that it pays for itself after 285,000 gold has been spent on training armies. As this can amount to literally hundreds of units, it means that building the Siegessäule is very rarely worth the expense.

Prussia's neutral status makes it a wild card, and a potential enemy or ally for any playable faction. It can make a useful short term ally, though nearly every other faction requires Prussian lands as a condition for their eventual victory. 

Diplomacy

Initial Diplomacy map

Prussia is initially neutral to friendly with all factions except France, the Kingdom of Italy, and Baden-Württemberg. When controlled by the player, most factions don't declare war on Prussia until the mid to late game; when controlled by the A.I, most factions simply leave Prussia alone unless convinced to declare war by the player or by alliances.

Below is a list of grievances/friendships other factions have with Prussia initially. This list is exhaustive; factions that are not listed do not have friendships or grievances (they are neutral).

Austria	France	Great Britain	Wurttemberg	Batavian Republic
+35	-40	+45	-55	+60
Hessen	Kingdom of Italy	Papal States	Sweden
+35	-55	-55	-40

Below is a list of grievances/friendships other factions have with Prussia if it emerges. This list is exhaustive; factions that are not listed do not have friendships or grievances (they are neutral).

Austria	France	Great Britain	Russia	Wurttemberg	Batavian Republic
+35	-40	+45	+30	-55	+60
Courland	Hessen	Kingdom of Italy	Papal States	Poland	Scotland
-25	+35	-55	-55	-30	-25

Military

Prussia benefits from a very balanced unit roster, with few weaknesses and a few very good strengths.

Its line infantry have the second best ranged capabilities in the game, behind only Great Britain. These advantages are also conveyed upon its militia and grenadiers. Prussian line infantry and militia are average at melee fighting, however.

Prussian light infantry are, by a considerable margin, the best among the major factions. Only Portuguese Cazadores are better, and even then they are still nearly tied in terms of ranged skill (Cazadores have better melee skills). Prussia's skirmishers are the second best in the game, with its Silesian Schuetzen rivaling (though somewhat inferior to) British Rifles and its Jägers being superior to anything the French, Austrians, or Russians can field. While Jägers are inferior to Rifles, they may be recruited in unlimited numbers.

Prussian elite troops are below average. They are inferior to French and British equivalents in nearly every category. They are tied with Russian guards in terms of reloading and accuracy, but aren't as good in melee fighting. They fare better than Austria, though, which has no guards at all. With the Imperial Eagle Pack DLC, Prussia gains access to the 8th Life Regiment, a regiment of somewhat inferior (but nonetheless very useful) guards.

Prussia's cavalry roster is average. It is rather lacking in heavy cavalry, with inferior Cuirassiers that have relatively poor defense. Its light cavalry, while benefiting significantly from the DLC, are superior to only Great Britain, tied with Russia, and inferior to Austria and France. Its lancer cavalry are serviceable (better than Russia and Great Britain, worse than Austria and France), and are very cheap.

Prussia has the standard roster of artillery, but all are somewhat inferior in terms of quality to the artillery of its rivals. Nevertheless Prussia has an advantage over Great Britain, which lacks 12-lbers, and Austria, which lacks horse artillery. Prussian artillery are also cheaper than their counterparts.

The Prussian navy roster is the standard roster, tied with Austria, very slightly inferior to Russia, and greatly inferior to Great Britain and France.

Overall, the Prussian roster has no glaring weaknesses to speak of and is probably the most balanced faction: it is the only playable faction to have at least one unit type in every major category aside from missile cavalry. Its cavalry is varied and can acquit themselves well, and while its cannons aren't the best, they still fulfill their roles ably. Prussia's line infantry's nondescript melee is more than made up for with their superior accuracy and reloading. Prussia's greatest asset is its strength with light infantry, making it a formidable faction to play as and against.

Prussia is the only faction to begin the campaign with horse artillery, of which it fields a decent number alongside its starting foot artillery. Its starting armies comprise mainly of musketeers, light infantry, skirmishers, and militia. Unusually, it also begins the campaign with several units that it cannot train for a long portion of the campaign, including cuirassiers, dragoons, and Silesian Schuetzen. 

Trivia

• The flag used by Prussia under Absolute Monarchy or Constitutional Monarchy is a mix of the 1750-1801 state flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (white background, floating crown) and the 1892–1918 state flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (eagle's shape, sceptre and the globus cruciger) with the chest letter absent.
• The flag used by Prussia under Republic is the flag of Germany which is historically anachronistic as this flag was adopted in its modern form in 1949 and its earliest historical appearance was in 1848.