England

[Drake001]

Would Not Like To See Too Many English Troops Ready To Invade Caen At The Drop Of The hat such as in scenario in old nap game. The English had to rent troop transports for periods of 3 to 6 months, particularly colliers which the hurt the coal industry as well...revenue and tax revenue lost. That meant they had to do a lot of advance planning and really could only move small numbers of troops at a time.

Also, as an aside, England cancelled landings in pomerania due to captains refusing the Baltic after mid October (also why Russians wanted malta so bad and a sore point between Russia and britain...they wanted warm water ports in winter and britain held on to malta.

[RickInVA]

I'd like to read more about either of these items. Can anyone recommend a source?

[Drake001]

Sure. One excellent source for nearly all things British is "British Strategy in the Napoleonic War 1803-15" by Christopher Hill, 1992 Manchester Press. It is extremely well researched and contains facts and full figures for nearly all aspects of the war: troop size, strengths and locations (including the heavy defense of colonies and siezures) economics, etc.

It also describes a point of contention, perceived and sometimes true, of Britain seizing colonies and territory (strengthening itself) rather than helping out on the continent....Russia and Prussian documents on this are especially pervasive....troops to sieze cape of good hope but not help out in Italy? Troops to invade Alexandria but not help in northern germany? Could go on.