Initial version:
Austerlitz by
Gilligan Austerlitz Map by
pamoa Guide by
Gilligan ,
gigi_b Click image to enlarge. Note about reading the guide : I'd advise you to keep two tabs opened on this guide, one with the map and the other as you read through the text of the guide. The text contains a lot of references to territories, so a visual representation would help better understanding.
Introduction "In December 1804, the Anglo-Swedish agreement led to the creation of the Third Coalition against France. By April 1805, Britain and Russia had signed a treaty of alliance. Austria joined the coalition a few months later. On December 2, 1805, the French army defeated the Russo-Austrian army at Austerlitz near Brno in Moravia. At about 9:00 AM Napoleon ordered the attack, adding 'One sharp blow, and the war is over'. The Battle of the Three Emperors, Napoleon's greatest victory, destroyed the Third Coalition."
show: Classification, Map Overview and Features
Size: SmallMap Overview Territories and attack ranges : infantry depicted as a 2 soldiers icon for basic infantry or as a coloured capital letter for the 3 generals, for both French and Allies, can attack adjacent territories villages depicted as white and black houses can attack adjacent territories cavalry depicted as a mounted soldier (horse) can attack two territories away in all directions (following the road); for example Margaron (chivalry in French Right Flank/bottom of the map) can attack its neighbouring territories which are: Skolnitz to the South and Oudinot to the North and also their respective neighbours, so for Skolnitz: Legrand, Prebyshevsky and Langeron and for Oudinot: Bessières and Napoléon Colours : Features Autodeploy - NapoléonStarting Neutrals - Napoléon, Alexandre and Lichtenstein always start as neutrals; this is important for beggining of gameplayVictory Condition - The Centre of the battlefield.Bonuses " details
show: List of Bonuses
From top to bottom:French Left Flank (+2 troops): Suchet, Kellerman, Caffarelli Allied Right Flank (+3 troops): Engelhardt, Voropaitzki , Hohenloe, Lichtenstein Napoléon : 1 autodeployFrench Centre (+9 troops): Drouet, D'Hauptoul, Walther, Napoléon, De La Raffinière, Nansouty, Oudinot, Bessières, Vandamme, Beaumont, Saint Hilaire Allied Centre (+5 troops): Von Essen, Kologrivov, Maliutin, Alexandre, Miloradovich , Kolowrat Allied commanders (+2 troops): Lichtenstein , Alexandre French Right Flank (+3 troops): Margaron, Legrand, Bourcier, Friant Alied Left Flank (+3 troops): Prebyshevsky, Langeron, Dokturov , Kienmayer Village bonus (+3 troops): Pratzen, Skolnitz, Telnitz special note
How to Play Austerlitz Make sure you know what the colors mean! The blue regions are
French , the green and red territories/soldiers are
Russo -
Austrian . The black and white territories are villages. Also know that
horses can attack two connecting territories away .
Another point on zones or bonuses. If it says "French Left Flank", you look at the brackets at the side of the map to see what each specific zone encompasses. After you see what territories/soldiers are encompassed, you see which terts are French regions (The blue territories represents the French). For a detailed list of territories for each bonus see the "
List of Bonuses " details in the above section.
show: Bonuses to look for
Obviously the easy ones at first. This would be a strategy that applies to the majority of standard/regional maps. The obvious choices would be: French Left Flank (3 territories for +2 troops each turn), French Righ Flank and Allied Left Flank (4 territories for +3 per turn) and Village bonus (3 territories for +3 troops). Allied Right Flank (top of the map, that faces French Left) would fit the category of small bonus, it has the disadvantage of starting with Lichtenstein as a neutral. Village Bonus is the most efficient bonus of the map (with a +3 for 3 territories) and it can be used quite efficiently with good initial deployment or fog of war, or simply by catching the opponent unaware. This happens mostly with new players of the map because the other bonuses have specific markers (the wide square brackets) and this bonus doesn't fit the pattern, so it could be disregarded by unaware opponents.Commander Bonuses (+1 autodeploy for Napoleon and +2 for holding Lichtenstein and Alexander) have the disadvantage of starting as neutrals, but later in game, if you could gain an edge, you can try go for either or both.
show: North versus South
As described above, this two regions will see the most important action of the game, as here are the bonuses it's worth fighting for. observation should be made of the fact that the regions are somewhat unbalanced, with the South being move valuable to hold as the North . And this breaks down to the following reasons:1. Accessibility 2. Bonuses These considerations make it that you should really pay attention to the South and not leave it for grabs, especially in trench games where it won't be reachable.
show: Key Territories
The extended attack range of cavalry and the intricate paths of attack makes them able to control many of the surrounding territories.especially in a trench game :In the North D'Hauptoul has access to both the northern bonuses; it is often used to attack the French Left Flank from both sides as it can attack Drouet (which is shadowed by the neutral Napoléon, if it is still neutral); used when trying to gain access to the North Voropoaitzki can attack all territories of the French Left Flank Bonus so it's a great stacking point when trying to expand there; it also can reach the 3 southern cavalry of D'Hauptoul, Hohenloe and Walther thus making it a good position to defend the access to the North In the Centre Kologrivov controls most of the centre territories and can attack D'Hauptoul towards the north and also Prazen when you have to break the Village bonus or try and take it for yourself.In the South Kienmayer and Margaron control all territories there. While Kienmayer is just limited to the south, Margaron can also reach outwards, basically neighbouring the North via Napoléon
Strategy and different types of settings Austerlitz is a small map, with only 32 starting territories. So to make use of different strategic options that the map offers, it would be best to have a maximum number of 4-6 players in a game. Making the number of players larger than that, transforms the game into a confined one, where special game play of hunting/staying alive applies.
Any type of spoils could be used as settings, with no particular one being more relevant. For a detailed description of types of spoils, check the
Spoils article by
Dako (it is missing "Zombie" which is rather similar to Nuclear).
show: Trench
This would be the most interesting setting (at least from my perspective), where the feature of cavalry range could be best used.Key Territories and Bonuses to look for sections above, would give a good hint at what to look for when playing trench.
show: Fog
The small size of the map and the reduced number of bonuses makes it that it is easy to keep track of enemy movement and bonuses even when not using a marking method such as the "snapshot" option from the Panel Interface.The center has 2 cavalry which are important to observe in a fog game.The South would be mostly hidden unless you control one of the cavalry or Skolnitz, that has many borders. However being in the South means there's an open challenge for that region so the element of surprise would be somewhat lower than in the other cases.
show: 1 vs 1
One good strategy is just assaulting the opponent at first in order to get due troops from 3 to 4. Forget about zones and all of that - Just keep assaulting and that works well. A troop deploy increase from 3 to 4 can be very advantageous.
show: Flat Rate, No Spoils
Getting a zone early on can be critical in this type, especially in No Spoils. Getting a Flank quickly puts you at a big advantage, and defend it as well as you can so no one will take the zone. You don't have to stay super spread out, since it is fairly easy to navigate the map quickly due to the Cavalry being able to assault two regions away, but don't be caught without having troops in any one area of the map, especially South. Getting Napoleon early on and reinforcing it can also be very beneficial, but only if you have no better use for troops except going for a neutral.
show: Team Games
The map is more suitable for doubles than for trips or quads. In doubles each player starts with 8 territories while in triples and quadruples, this goes as low as 5 and 4 respectively.triples or quads the strategy of quickly eliminating one of the opponents is the most advantageous .doubles or polymorphic-2 type games you'd usually want to get one of the bonuses with one of the players from the team to get an advantage. The zones to look for are the same as in standard gameplay. Try not to do a lot of territory swapping (where one player leaves a territory open for the other team mate to take), or if you do, make sure there's no danger of getting one of you eliminated. The best approach would be to try and use the initial deployment and decide where to focus on the map with both players supplying troops and hitting the opponent team.
show: Escalating
No special game play other than standard escalating tactics is advised. For a good reference on how to play Standard Escalating games, check Tacticus Escalatus , an article by Scorba .
show: Manual
This setting becomes a bit hectic. In a two player game, deploying all troops on a single cavalry and going first is a big advantage! You can then attack your opponent and avoid many neutrals, as you normally wouldn't be able to in most other maps since the cavalry gives you an attack range of two.
show: Additional Notes
2 player games -> 11 regions, 22 manual troops
