Combatant 1: Sweden:

Sweden’s national ideas

Russian National Ideas

Hey everyone and welcome to the 18th developer diary for March of the Eagles!Today we take a look at two rather different combatants – Sweden vs. Russia. These are two great Northern powers. Not a fair fight, you say? What do you mean? Sweden is the grandest nation of them all!Wait, that's not very Jante now, is it? Forget I said that(What's Jante? We'll explain that in a moment.)Once feared as the Lion of the North, when Sweden roared the Baltic trembled. Then the loss of the Great Northern War saw the Lion caged, doomed to pace inside its small prison, its roar now but a whimper. Sweden still holds a tiny part of piece of its once impressive German empire, but, at best, Sweden is a first-rate second-rate power. A colder Portugal, maybe.The revolution in France has changed all that. Our jailers' eyes have turned to Paris and the bars of our cage are the brittlest they have ever been. Now is our chance, now is our time to come roaring back onto the world stage! If Sweden times its interventions wisely, it can use the French distraction to hassle a harried Prussia or Russia - and its once great armies could again be that extra weight one coalition needs to tip the scales in its favor.The Swedish practicality enables our military leader to extract theory from battlefield encounters and then turn that into practice. Swedish troops gain experience 10% faster.At least we still have the draft. A strong bureaucracy and history of professionalism means Sweden gets bonuses to manpower and recruitment speed: one third more men than normal and a brigade build time that is one third shorter.Jante is the Swedish idea that individual success is to be doubted, and that boasting of what you've achieved on your own is unseemly, and worse, un-Swedish. 'Don't convince yourself that you're better than us'.National Revolt Risk: -2.00The government and the control of foreign affairs has been placed in the hands of the monarch, centralizing this delicate sphere of operations.Monthly Diplomats: +1.00The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences promotes the sciences, primarily natural science and mathematics. Some of these ideas will prove useful in war.Monthly Idea Points: +10.00Since the reign of Peter the Great, Russia has been transformed from a large but backward state on the fringes of Europe into a Great Power ruling vast expanses of territory, expanding in all directions. The strategic position Russia has is unenviable - with major powers Prussia and Austria able to jointly press her on the west, but with large amounts of land to trade for time, Russia is virtually unconquerable. It can be beaten and bloodied, but size and hordes of young men to be sent to war mean it is never out for long.There is a new expansionist power on the block that is as hungry as we are and with an equally vast army at its disposal - and it's better trained, too. Do we oppose this upstart and maintain the status quo or take advantage of the upsetting of the traditional balance of power to achieve our own goals in the Balkans and Baltic?The Cossacks are cavalry units, excellent for scouting and reconnaissance duties, as well as undertaking ambushes. Despite a proud history of independence, these strike troops of the army have proven loyal to the Tsar and can be mobilised very quickly.Cavalry Cost: -33.00%St. Petersburg and Moscow share the importance of being the capitals of Russia, St. Petersburg as the residence of the Tsar and official capital, and Moscow being the secondary capital.Monthly War Exhaustion: -0.05The Russian serfs serve the landowners and can be forcibly recruited as soldiers for the Russian army.National Manpower Modifier: +33.00%To hinder the enemy's troops from capturing anything that might be useful, a Russian army on the move may destroy anything that even looks important - farms, fields, orchards.Can use scorch earth tacticsGeneral Winter has foiled so many military invasions and is Russia's secret weapon. Only Russian soldiers will not have supply issues tied to the seasons. Let the snows come - Russia's fighting men will still eat.We are closing in on the release of March of the Eagles, so it might be good to know the facts too. The game is set for release the 18th of February and will cost 19,99 USD.And here is the developer diary archive, so you can read up on what the game will offer you:Here's some screenshots:Cheers,SolSara[video=youtube;hUi0eoCzcwY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUi0eoCzcwY[/video]