I am now waist-deep into the Syrian Campaign, the climactic and penultimate segment of Napoleon’s Egyptian Expedition, which takes up all of Act 3 of Shadow of the Eagles.

Here, Napoleon’s megalomania reaches its (for now) height, as he begins to consider himself a master of the world in his own right. Two decades later, in exile on Saint Helena, he admitted that at this point, he was thinking of building an empire to rival Alexander the Great’s, and leading a vast army of Frenchmen, Egyptian Copts, Arabs, Druze, and Black Sudanese troops across the Himalayas to attack the British East India Company’s holdings in Bengal.

He might have gotten a little carried away.

Syria is where his ambitions smash headlong into reality. It’s where he overconfidently leads an outnumbered, undersupplied, and unsupported force deep into the heart of the Ottoman Empire, against a British Royal Navy which controls the sea, and a ruthless and highly experienced Ottoman governor who opposes him on land. It will culminate in the spectacular – but pointless – victory at Mount Tabor, and the grinding failure of the Siege of Acre, the first time Napoleon is handed a real strategic defeat.

It’s a lot to handle, and it will be a hell of a job to do it anywhere close to justice. It’s an ugly, terrible episode in the history of what is now half a dozen countries, filled with exchanges of atrocity and counter-atrocity, with primitive horrors and innovative new ways to make humans suffer, with moments of incredible daring and points of immense moral cowardice.

But it’ll be finished this month – probably at about the same time Shadow of the Eagles as a whole hits the 500 000 word mark.

If you want to support the project – and get access to the development Discord and the playtest versions, take a look at the separate Patreon for Shadow of the Eagles here.

In the meantime, my first Patreon is still going. This month’s Soldier’s Guide to the Infinite Sea and Creator’s Guide to Writing and Worldbuilding, are now also up.