Neither side, in the opening days of the war, had been idle diplomatically. One of Napoleon's fears was realised in a British landing on 16 October on the North Sea coast - in the absence of an actual British landing force in 1806 we are using the order of battle for the Copenhagen expedition of a year later - the actual landing was an (unlikely) random event.
The Swedes historically played only a small part in the war, defending Stralsund against attacks first by Mortier and later by Brun. There was also a small contingent at the Battle of Lübeck. A fuller participation was certainly possible, though, and the Coalition players activated to the hilt, spending victory points not only to allow the garrison of Swedish Pomerania, under Hans-Henrik von Essen, to operate outside its borders, but to call for a reinforcing expedition from Sweden, under Field Marshal Klingspor. These landed at Anclam, at the western end of the Stettin Lagoon, on 18 October and set off after Essen, who was already on his way to Berlin.
In addition to all of these, of course, the Russian armies were approaching from the east. Historically they met the French on the Vistula in December, but what progress will they make in the game? And to what end?
The French were not idle diplomatically, either. They set to work at once activating the German states of the west, in the newly-formed Confederation of the Rhine to send contingents, starting with the Bavarians. Louis, in Holland, had been ordered in advance to send troops to intercept the British if there were a landing, and on news of there being one that force set off for Münster. The removal of any threat of a landing on the French coast also released the Paris reserve, under old Marshal Kellerman, to move to Germany.
The Invasion of Prussia
By 20 October French scouts had reached the fortresses of Magdeburg and Dresden, both of which had started the campaign in a rather shabby state of repair. Resources had been poured into getting them back into shape, though, and by the time enemy troops appeared before them their walls were in a fit state to withstand attack (the ones that the French could see, anyway - the masons were still working furiously on some parts of the defences).
Prussian scouts were spotted across the Elbe near Dessau, but otherwise the river seemed to be undefended. The Prussians had made the decision not to defend the line of the Elbe upstream of Magdeburg, but had concentrated their army toward Brandenburg, hoping to draw the French into a battle on unfavourable terrain.
Napoleon did not take the bait. Bypassing Magdeburg, the bulk of the army crossed the river between Dessau and Pretsch and headed straight for Berlin, with the Havel on their left. The Coalition scrambled to re-position itself, marching via Brandenburg, Potsdam and Spandau, and asking the Swedes to hasten south so as to cover Berlin in the absence of Prussians and to reinforce the main army as it flung itself into the path of the French juggernaut. As the armies converged on Berlin it was clear that the main axis of the French advance was along the highway running from Wittenberg, on the Elbe, to Potsdam on the Havel. Ney's VI corps was leading the column, with Soult's IV corps following. The Prussians (now joined by Essen's Swedes) judged that they would be able to crush Ney before help could arrive, and on 3 November they intercepted him at Belitz, where the first field battle of the war would be fought.
The Fall of Saxony
Belitz was not the first major engagement of the war, though. Marshal Lannes, you will recall, had been sent east to Dresden with Augereau and Mortier in support. On 20 October he secured the city of Chemnitz and established a base of operations there to support his movement on Dresden. Two days later he reached that city and began digging siege works. The city was well supplied for its small garrison, and its governor was confident that they had enough to hold out for several weeks, as long as the French were not able to achieve a breach and storm the place.
The digging of trenches and emplacements took some days of preparation before the French artillery could begin pounding the walls in relative safety. The bombardment commenced on 30 October, and was rewarded with an immediate breach in the south-western wall. The flanking bastions were still intact and the attackers did not know the strength of the garrison, but the Emperor's orders were clear: to take the city at the first opportunity and knock the Saxons out of the war. Lannes duly ordered an assault on 1 November, and was able to overwhelm the defences with little loss. A peace agreement was made, but the news did not reach the Saxon army before the Battle of Berlitz was fought. After that date the Saxon army returned to its barracks and Saxon cities declared open. The fortifications of Dresden were reduced, and the artillery re-purposed by the French.
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