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Andre:
I am going to step out of my club personae for a moment to offer some advice, assuming you are inclined to listen to the ramblings of a mid-level Allied officer. First, and foremost, welcome to the club! It is always good to see new faces, regardless of the army to which they belong. It has been a very long time since we have been introduced to any young, French officers at the forum. Let's face it; we need officers on both sides. Otherwise we end up fighting our own brothers in arms. I don't know about your perspective, but as an Allied officer, I much prefer to fight Frenchmen. That just feels right to me.
Clifton has implied that the Allied officers will not take the field in long games. This is simply not true. He has also implied that you should be wary of short games as they are setups for an easy, Allied victory. There is no basis of truth there either. I will explain.
Regarding the long games, I actively encourage my young officers to generally avoid them while they are learning their trade. There are several reasons for this. First, long games generally involve big battles with a large numbers of forces operating on huge maps. The sheer number of troops involved can be overwhelming for an inexperienced officer. Also, the options available within a huge playing area are much more numerous. There are other factors as well such as screening, deploying your army in the presence of the enemy, rear guard duties, night movements, etc., etc., etc. All of these factors combined give a significant advantage to a more experienced opponent. To increase your odds of winning, it is generally best to limit the number of decisions you have to make until you can perfect your skills in the more basic areas of play. For this reason, shorter battles are more suitable for beginners. Having said that, I will admit to this, all of those aspects of long battles are exactly the reason I love the HPS system so much. The big battles are certainly the ultimate goal, but a very poor place to start.
Regarding short battles that are setups for your defeat, you must realize that the negotiations at the beginning of any battle can be a setup for defeat. The choice of scenario, sides played and optional rules are very important. Every game should be a compromise from the outset. There are too many aspects to cover in this brief posting. I would counsel you to rely on your senior French officers and trainers in this regard. If they are properly doing their jobs, and I certainly have no reason to assume that they are not, they should be more than willing to honestly answer any questions you may ask. There are some very, very good officers in La Grande Armee who are experts in their trade. When just starting out, I find it a good practice for one officer to choose a scenario while allowing the second officer the choice of which side he would like to play. This gives the first officer every incentive to select a balanced scenario at the outset as the second officer is free to choose the side with the advantage. Also, playing shorter games allows you to make, and learn from, mistakes in a situation that will not drag out for all eternity. A short game will soon end. If you really screw up in the beginning, you will not be forced to endure the pain of a prolonged defeat that can drag on for months. If you have done well, you will be rewarded with a victory much sooner. Avoid placing yourself in a situation where the play will lose its fun, you will lose your interest and the NWC will needlessly lose a member. In the beginning of your career, short scenarios are definitely the way to go.
One last word here, if you really believe that your opponent enjoyed a significant advantage that was gained unfairly through the scenario selection or optional rules, politely ask him to play the exact scenario again with the sides reversed. This is called a mirror match. An honorable opponent will usually grant this request.
You may already know all of this. You may be a veteran warrior that will take the field and unmercifully dispatch every Allied officer who is foolish enough to draw his sword against you. On the off chance that you may be just learning the game, I wanted to take a moment to offer a bit of advice in the hope that something might help. Good luck in your battles, always strive to have fun and welcome to the club!
‘nuff said. Now I am going to go back to being my mean, old Hanoverian self.
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