Not long to wait now.
I hope this will wet our players' appetite:


NTW:3 V4
New MP features.

New rating system for all factions.
This is to aid in creating balanced battles with uneven numbers of players, or teams with different skill levels.

Basically each faction now has an Effectiveness Rating. This varies from 20 for the Major powers (France, Russia, Prussia, Austria & Britain) to as low as 10 for some of the new, restricted, minor factions.
This rating is a guide only. It is calculated from the troop quality, price penalties & types of troops available to a faction.
For example:
Poland has a wide range of high quality troops available & they pay almost no price penalty for them. ER=19.
Hesse – Darmstadt has a small selection of elite troops available. With the Pricing penalties they cannot fill more than 10-12 slots in a MP battle. ER=12.
Naples has a large roster of poor troops (except for some cavalry & couple of Guard Infantry). ER =15.

To use the ratings:
Each team in a battle is given a total Effectiveness Rating. These can be the same for a balanced battle. One side may receive less because they have a defensive advantage, or more experienced players who want a challenge.
The value of the combined ERs of the selected factions may not be greater than the agreed amount.
For example:
5 players wish to have a battle. To make it balanced it is decided that each team may have a total ER of 40.
The team with 2 players picks 2 majors (ER 20 each).
The side with 3 players picks 2 restricted minors, Sardinia (ER10) & Hesse (ER12) plus one strong minor Bavaria (ER18). A total of 40
So both sides are, in theory, balanced.
Although one side has an extra player, two on their team have restricted minors that will only be able to fill 10 to 12 slots. So the numbers will comparable & the greater quality of the major’s troops will compensate for any deficiency here.

The flag of each faction in the multiplayer lobby with show the Effectiveness Rating. By looking at this it will be easy to see if the 2 teams are matched appropriately.

New Command point (CP) unit.
A slow moving objective, that can be positioned almost anywhere on the map.
The High commander & his staff have no ranged attack & are virtually immune to musketry & cannon fire.
They will defend themselves like grenadiers if close assaulted.
This is the only honourable way to claim your opponent's Command Point.
The Command Point will inspire near-by units.

Use this unit to create different scenarios in your NTW:3 multi-player battles, such as:

Defend a position.
Timed battle (suggest 30 minutes for two players, 45 for four, 60 for six & above)
The defending side purchases one or more CPs.
In the deployment part of the battle the defender positions his CP(s).
To win the Attacker must take the defenders CP(s) before the timer runs out.
The rules may specify that once placed a CP cannot be moved, or positioned in a building.

Cover your Train.
Each side purchases a CP.
The winner is the first side to eliminate the opponent's Command Point.

Variant Line of Communication (LoC)
When using one of the LoC maps the Command point can act as an extra VP, worth an agreed value. Rules for placement could be as ‘Defend a position’ above.

Handicap a team.
Outside the in-built Effectiveness Ratings of a faction you can further weaken it by buying a CP & spending extra points by boosting its experience.
Experience level 7 doubles the cost, 8 triples it & 9 increases it to five times the basic cost.
A CP bought to experience level 7 would reduce the Effectiveness rating of a faction by one, level 9 by two.

Morale:
All values are 5x higher than previous versions, so a morale of 5 (in V3) is now a morale of 25.
The new system should produce more stable morale in smaller battles (2 to 4 players) As well as more predictable results all-round.

Fatigue:
Greater fatigue costs for infantry running, shooting & melee.
Higher negitive effect to shooting for being fatigued.

Infantry
New Drill system.
Infantry are now divided into 2 classes, conscripts & below (generally morale 4, or 20 in the new system) have poor drill. Better troops will form up & fire after movement quickly (a second or two). The lower grade troops will take 4-5 seconds.

Revised accuracy ratings: less difference between good & bad troops, slightly improved mid-range accuracy.
More fatigue for firing & greater decrease in firing effect from being fatigued.
Movement speed of large units increased.
Russian infantry marching speed further improved.
Musketry of Russian troops improved.
Musketry of Austrian troops improved.
Spanish Elite troops made more expensive & some with tighter caps.

Revamped Skirmishers: Their fire is less effective, but they are now cheaper & have the ability to ‘form-up’ & fight as part of the line. They will be very vulnerable to charges & cannot form square.
Most militia class units can now form close column (pike square).

Cavalry
Better acceleration when moving.
Improved combat stat’s for medium & heavy cavalry.
Slightly decreased pricing for medium & heavy cavalry.
Slightly faster movement for medium (dragoons generally) cavalry
Light cavalry made slightly weaker (lower morale) for average units, or slightly more expensive for ‘battle cavalry’ (more capable elite units).
Lancers made less effective in sustained melee, but still strong in the charge.
Cossacks adjusted to be better at ‘hit & run’ tactics.

Cannon
Solid shot more effective.
More effective canister for heavy guns.
Howitzers scatter increased. They inflict losses at about 2/3 the rate of an equivalent, 2 gun, 6pdr battery. But damage buildings about 1.5 times as fast.
Movement of all foot guns slightly increased, heavy guns getting a greater increase.
Cheaper 3/4pdr cannon.