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Originally Posted by Astromancer
I like you. You are dangerous.:-)
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Thank you.
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Originally Posted by Ransom
If it were my game, I'd want to see the players pulling strings to bring about this coalition, only to have Napoleon try to pull a last minute betrayal to surprise his foes when their guard is down. There will be dire quantum-reality consequences if this is not averted or managed...
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You can do what you want but … Napoleon wasn’t noted for betraying his allies or even leaving them in the lurch. Second, the Ottomans are an existential threat, so neither Napoleon nor the Sixth Coalition have a lot of incentive to betray each other until
after the Ottomans are dealt with. Third, Napoleon needs a really big incentive to even think about betraying the Coalition. At this point, he wants to be left in peace to rule France as its emperor. Allying with the Sixth Coalition is his best shot at getting that. Even if he can crush all the armies of the Sixth Coalition, and history says he can’t, (The Sixth Coalition, which already existed in the winter of 1812, defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig, Saxony (Battle of Nations) 16-19 October, 1813.), all that means is that the Sixth Coalition raises another set of armies and, if he’s betrayed them before crushing them, he’ll probably be sent to St. Helena, instead of Elba, if they don’t execute him. France will probably be occupied by the Sixth Coalition to ensure there no revolts against the Bourbon Restoration. The occupation might last an entire generation (twenty years).
Aside from that, although Napoleon was an effective leader, his rise to power and his ability to keep that power came in large measure because the values he represented aligned closely with the values of the French people themselves, particularly during the Revolution. Just because it’s Napoleon betraying the Coalition, it doesn’t follow that his troops will go along with him, at least not if it’s clear to them that he is betraying the Coalition
and France. and betraying the Coalition before the Ottomans are defeated will be viewed as betraying France.
Having the Coalition with Napoleon stopping the Ottomans at Vienna, moves the Battle of Nations (as the largest and bloodiest battle in Europe prior to WWI) to Vienna (where the Ottoman Turks were defeated on 12 Sep, 1683) and may move the date of the battle up a bit. It could be fun to have your PCs negotiating the alliance with Napoleon (but the really tricky negotiation would be getting the Spanish to trust Joseph).
In terms of betrayal, the Sixth Coalition is the likelier of the two to betray Napoleon. They are unlikely to betray Napoleon before the Turks are defeated (for the same reasons Napoleon is unlikely to) and might even keep the alliance going long enough to liberate the European possessions of the Ottoman Empire (OTL [date of independence/liberation]: Wallachia and Moldavia [Romania] [13 July, 1878], Bulgaria [3 Mar, 1878], Serbia [14 Sep, 1829], Montenegro [13 July, 1878], Macedonia, Greece [3 Feb, 1830], Albania [28 Nov, 1912], Bosnia and Herzegovina [26 Feb, 1909]). The primary reason for such a betrayal would be a distrust of Napoleon’s (and France’s) territorial ambitions coupled with a distrust of the idea of the revolutionary democracy.