Tactics in 'Napoleonic
Battles: Austerlitz'
Part I: Opening Moves
By Doug McNair
March 2007

As promised in my recent Developer’s Preview, here begins my replay of our new Napoleonic Battles: Austerlitz game. Austerlitz offers players two scenarios:

1.The Historical Scenario, where the armies of Napoleon and the Russian-Austrian Allies begin the game deployed in their historical positions;

2.The Variable Setup scenario, where both players set up their armies as desired. The French set up west of the Goldbach Stream, and the Allies set up at least three areas to the east of it. To simulate the fact that both armies deployed under cover of darkness, players can choose to put a screen in the middle of the map and set up their armies simultaneously, with neither player knowing how the enemy is deployed until the game starts.

In this replay I’ll be running the Historical Scenario.

Opening Situation: December 2, 1805

At Austerlitz, the historical deployments of the Allied armies were arguably a colossal blunder. In November, Napoleon’s Grande Armee had successfully marched eastward into Vienna and beyond, but an unexpected Allied counteroffensive had cut through his forward lines while the gathering forces of archdukes Ferdinand, John and Charles began to threaten him from the north and south.

With winter approaching and Austrian partisans harassing his rear, Napoleon had to lure the Allies into a decisive battle before they could concentrate their superior numbers against him. He accepted Allied ambassadors to discuss peace terms, and feigning unspecified worries he pulled back from the defensible Pratzen Heights west of Austerlitz. The approaching armies of Tsar Alexander I and Emperor Franz II obligingly marched in and grabbed the high ground, but rather than wait for reinforcements the Allied emperors decided to take the fight to the Corsican upstart.

On the night of December 1, Allied infantry and artillery began to abandon their nicely-defensible positions, working their way southward toward Napoleon’s right flank. But poor organization and language barriers caused Russian and Austrian infantry divisions to become fouled with each other in the dark, and by dawn the southwestward stretching of the Allied line had dangerously thinned out the Allied center — something Napoleon exploited to deadly advantage that day.

Pratzen Heights on the left, Austerlitz on the right.

Victory Conditions

The game runs for 11 one-hour turns, starting at 0600 hours and ending at the conclusion of the 1600 turn. Due to the sub-optimal Allied deployments, we set the bar high for a Napoleonic victory.

Each player has three objectives, as follows:

French Objectives: At the end of the 1600 turn, the French player:

A) Has at least one French unit in the town of Austerlitz.

B) Has inflicted at least 25 unrecovered step losses on Allied units.

C) Has taken no more than 20 unrecovered French step losses.

Allied Objectives: At the end of the 1600 turn, the Allied player:

A) Has at least one Allied unit in the town of Austerlitz.

B) Has at least one Allied Infantry unit in any two adjacent Rise areas on the Pratzen Heights and/or the two rise areas to the north of it.

C) Has inflicted at least 25 unrecovered step losses on French units.

A player who achieves all three of his objectives scores a Decisive Victory. A player who achieves any two of his objectives scores a Minor Victory. If both or neither player scores a Minor Victory, the game is a draw.

French Tactics

Napoleon has to drive the Allies from the high ground and take Austerlitz, but not lose so many French troops in the process that his army can’t secure his claim to Austria. Even with the poor initial Allied deployments, Napoleon will have to approach with care due to the defensibility of the Pratzen Heights area. In addition, the substantial Allied artillery advantage means Napoleon can’t afford to sit back and let his gunners soften up the Allied lines (he’ll lose an artillery duel).

Historically, Napoleon struck at the weakened Allied center, grabbed a foothold on the Pratzen Heights and split their army in two, driving its left wing into the frozen lakes to the south. A bold move like that has its risks because Allied artillery will bombard the incoming French mercilessly. But, if a French Corps can indeed grab some of the high ground early, cavalry from Murat’s reserve can ride in to drive a breach all the way through the disorganized Allied line. That will cutting part of the Allied army off from the command radius of their Army Commander General Kutusov, and the relatively low initiative of the Allied formation leaders makes it unlikely that they’ll be able to mount an organized defense on their own.

On the other hand, if a quick strike at the Allied center doesn’t work, the French will need to pick one of the Allied flanks and use all their advantages of high morale, excellent leadership and combined arms to break it. Which flank to pick is a tough question. The Allies have stronger units on their right flank, but if Napoleon can break it then he’ll capture the road to Austerlitz and force the entire Allied army to pull back and retreat to the town. As for the left flank, it’s weaker because it’s extended, but fighting past it to Austerlitz will be a much longer slog.

But no matter where Napoleon strikes, the proper use of combined arms will be crucial to his chances for success. Any assault that includes cavalry, infantry and attached artillery gets a +1 bonus to every die rolled. That bonus, plus the extra dice the French get for higher morale and plentiful leaders, is Napoleon’s best weapon for dislodging the Allies from the high ground and sending them running for Austerlitz.

Allied Tactics

The Allies have several strong infantry divisions, a huge advantage in artillery, and an initial advantage in cavalry since Murat’s reserve won’t enter action until it’s doled out to the various French Corps. Unless the French get a lucky break early on, the Allies will have no trouble organizing an effective defensive line on the high ground.

But the infantry of the Allied Center is at a significant morale disadvantage relative to the French, and will crumble after just a few step losses. So, the Austrian Prince Johann von Liechtenstein’s Fifth Column cavalry has got to harass and screen Marshal Soult’s elite IV Corps on the French right, to keep them from lining up and hitting the Allied line full-bore.

And while that’s going on, the Allied artillery has got to reorganize on the high ground fast and inflict massive losses on the French infantry divisions before they push past the Allied cavalry screen. If they can hurt the French right flank badly enough before Marshal Davout’s III Corps arrives, they’ll have a shot at pulling off the original Allied battle plan of rolling up Napoleon’s lines from the south. If not, they’ll have to either hope Lieutenant General Bagration and Grand Duke Constantine can break the French left flank and send Napoleon running, or pull in their flanks and go for a slow fighting withdrawal toward Austerlitz.

Game Summary

Dawn breaks over the field at Austerlitz, and the battle begins.

Turn 1: 0600 Hours

a) Weather Phase: I’m running the scenario without the optional Fog rule, so there’s no need to roll for weather.

b) Reinforcement Phase: The Allies don’t get any reinforcements, but the French get to roll each turn to see if Marshal Davout arrives on the southwest board edge. The French player rolls a 9 on two dice. He needed a 10, so the game starts without Davout. Napoleon has the option of assigning some of Murat’s cavalry reserve to any formation each turn, but for now he decides to leave them in place and see how the battle develops.

c) Command Phase: On the first turn of any scenario, all units and leaders are In Command, so there’s no need to roll against any leader’s initiative (they got the battle plans the night before).

d) Order of Battle: Napoleon and General Kutusov both roll one die and add their Initiative ratings to the rolls to see who can try to activate their formations first. Both have the same Initiative Rating of 5, and Napoleon rolls a 5 + 5 = 10, while Kutusov rolls a 6 + 5 = 11.

The Allies go first.

e) Activation Phases:

The Allies: Kutusov rolls one die and subtracts the result from his Initiative to see how many formations he can activate before Napoleon. He rolls a 5, and since his initiative is 5 that leaves him with a result of zero. But a zero is treated as a 1 for activation purposes, so Kutusov can activate one formation. He’d like to start by having his left wing artillery wallop Soult’s IV Corps, but he’s got to reoccupy the high ground before Napoleon can charge in there. So, he activates his center under Field Marshal Kolowrath’s (nominal) command.

Kolowrath has no cavalry, so his one Russian artillery unit on the Pratzen Heights starts by bombarding the closest French infantry division, which is General Vandamme’s at the village of Puntowitz. They score no hits on two dice, so the Austrian horse artillery moves two areas north to area 105, to guard the rear of General Prebyshevsky’s division on the rise near Blasowitz (area 104). Then Major General Rottermund’s infantry division moves into Area 082 (the rise southeast of Blasowitz) to fill in the gap in the Allied center, and Kolowrath moves north with them while Major General Repninsky’s infantry division moves into area 061 behind them as a reserve.

Napoleon: The Corsican rolls a 3, and subtracting that from his initiative of 5 leaves a 2, so he can activate two of his formations. As the coiner of Toujours L’Audace!, he’s determined to grab a foothold on the high ground before the Allies can finish shoring up their center. The target of opportunity is General Prebyshevsky’s exposed right flank, which is currently hanging up in the air on the rise near Blasowitz (area 104).

Napoleon begins by ordering Marshal Lannes’ I Corps forward. After I Corps’ artillery score no hits on Prebyshevsky’s position, General Suchet’s and Caffarelli’s infantry divisions both move one area east (to areas 100 and 101) to hit Prebyshevsky from the west and northwest simultaneously. At the same time, General Walthier’s 2nd Dragoon Division fans out to screen the Russian cavalry on the Goldbach Heights while hitting Prebyshevsky in the northern flank.

The French infantry takes big penalties for attacking through a village and up a rise, but with bonuses for superior area morale and hitting the Russians in the flank the French attack with 11 dice, while the outflanked Russians defend with five dice. The French score two hits while the Russians score one. Prebyshevsky’s area morale is 6 so he can’t fail a one-die roll to stand his ground, and he holds onto the high ground and takes both hits as step losses (one from his infantry and one from the attached artillery). The Russians apply their hit to Caffarelli’s division to their front, since General Bagration can advance to Prebyshevsky’s right and deal with Suchet.

Having not grabbed Prebyshevsky’s particular patch of high ground, Napoleon decides to attack Liechtenstein’s Fifth Column cavalry on the Allied Left to keep them from screening an French advance on the Allied center. Marshal Soult’s IV Corps’ artillery opens fire on Liechtenstein’s position and scores one hit, doing a step loss to a Russian cavalry brigade.

Then St. Hilaire’s and Legrande’s divisions plus one of General Beaumont’s light cavalry brigades cross the Goldbach Stream. They form a line with Vandamme’s division up at Puntowitz, while the rest of Beaumont’s cavalry keep to the south to screen the French right flank. Then Legrande’s and St. Hilaire’s divisions assault Liechtenstein and Essen’s cavalry.
Essen’s Cossacks both try to retreat before combat, but only one of them succeeds (Essen goes with it). Liechtenstein has higher-morale units and some heavy cavalry, so he stays and fights. Legrand’s division hits the tarrying Cossacks on the slopes east of Kobelnitz, and despite their massive bonuses for superior morale the French do only one hit on nine dice. The Cossacks get a clue and retreat up the slope to join Essen and avoid damage, and Legrand doesn’t advance into their area since that would leave his flanks exposed to swarming Austrian cavalry.

Then Soult and Beaumont assault Liechtenstein at 13 dice to six, and score four hits (St. Hilaire’s division is Elite and hits on each roll of 5 or 6). Liechtenstein scores just one hit in return and retreats west to avoid two out of the four step losses (both of the Russian cavalry brigades he’s with take a step loss). St. Hilaire’s division takes a step loss and advances into the area Liechtenstein vacated, since Beaumont and Legrand are in a position to protect his flanks. Overall it’s a decent advance, which gives Vandamme’s division the flank support it needs to hit the Allied center next turn.

The Allies: Kutusov rolls a 1, which subtracted from his initiative of 5 means he can activate four formations! This is a huge break, since knowing that he can activate so many formations in succession will let him act much more aggressively. He starts by activating his greatly-extended left wing, and Lt. General Buxhowden has his artillery pound the advancing French infantry.

The heavy artillery with Prebyshevsky inflict one step loss on Caffarelli’s division to their front, the heavy artillery on the Pratzen Heights scores one step loss on Van Damme’s division advancing on the French center, and the light artillery in the area Liechtenstein retreated into scores one step loss on St. Hilaire’s elite division. A very good performance!

Then an artillery unit attaches to General Dokhuturov’s infantry division southwest of the village of Hostieradek, and the two of them move one area northwest to oppose St. Hilaire’s division. Kienmayer’s Austrian infantry does the same, while Austrian and Russian cavalry screen Kienmayer’s left flank on the Goldbach Stream. General Buxhowden has to stay where he is to keep Prebyshevsky’s division within his command radius (it got separated from the rest of the left wing in the night), but he sends two more artillery units southwest behind Kienmayer to hit any French units that try to attack the Allied left flank.

Prebyshevsky holds the line and doesn’t attack (he can’t afford to take more damage), but Dokhuturov and Kienmayer attack St. Hilaire’s Elite division (with Marshal Soult in command) at 13 dice to six. Unfortunately, the Allies score only one hit while the elite French troops hit back hard with three. Soult withdraws west to avoid the step loss, but Dokhuturov and his attached artillery both take step losses before retreating southwest to avoid the third.

For his next formation, Kutusov activates Liechtenstein’s 5th Column Cavalry, and they cut back east over the Pratzen heights and then ride downhill to the west to screen the Allied center against IV Corps’ advance. Essen’s Cossacks and Hohenlohe’s Austrians hit Beaumont’s IV Corps cavalry brigade, attempting to drive a wedge between St. Hilaire’s and Vandamme’s divisions. Their attack scores one hit to none for the French. Beaumont can’t let Vandamme’s flank get swarmed by Cossacks, so he holds the line and takes the step loss.

Then Kutusov activates Major General Bagration’s right wing. Bagration sends General Voropaitzki’s two cavalry brigades up over the Goldbach Heights and down to the west to attack Walthier’s one flanking cavalry brigade, while Bagration’s infantry division attacks Walthier’s other two cavalry brigades down the road to the west. Walthier sees no reason to oppose such an overwhelming attack and orders a withdrawal before combat.

Unfortunately, the northern flanking units don’t get the message and are attacked at five dice to one. Remarkably, neither side scores any hits, and the Allied cavalry attack is stymied by a single French brigade. But Bagration advances his division westward down the road to Klug, leaving Chaplitz’ two Cossack brigades behind in Holubitz to guard his rear.
Finally, the Allied HQ activates, with General Kutusov moving west across the Littawa stream to join Repninsky’s division and keep General Buxhowden and Prince von Liechtenstein within his command radius. The HQ itself stays on the road west of Austerlitz with the two emperors, from where it can keep the right wing in command.

Napoleon: The Corsican rolls a 4, meaning he can activate 5 – 4 = 1 formation, so he sends Marshal Bernadotte’s three I Corps divisions east across the Goldbach Stream to oppose Bagration’s counterattack.

The Allies: Kutusov rolls a 3, so that lets him activate his last formation, the Russian Imperial Guard of Grand Duke Constantine. He keeps his infantry and half his cavalry in reserve for now, but sends one cavalry brigade west across the Littawa Stream and up onto the rise to reinforce Prebyshevsky. He also sends the Imperial Guard Artillery up onto the rise with Rottermund’s division, so they can start pounding the French next turn.

Napoloeon rolls a 5, so he can activate one formation. He activates his HQ, sending the HQ unit two areas south to keep Marshal Soult within its command radius. Then the Grand Artillery Park takes a long-range shot at Essen’s Cossacks in Pratzen and scores a hit! All Allied formations have activated, and Napoleon has activated all available French formations except the Imperial Guard, so he holds position for now and makes ready to start assigning Murat’s cavalry to support the drive on the Allied center.

f) Recovery Phase

No damaged unit is far enough away from the enemy to recover, and no leaders have been killed, so the first turn of battle ends.

Overall, it’s been a good one for the Allies. The left-wing artillery damaged all three of Soult’s advancing divisions, Liechtenstein’s cavalry followed that up with more damage and a solid screen against further French advances, and Bagration pulled Prebyshevsky’s fat out of the fire and shored up the Allied right flank. And with more Allied artillery deployed on the high ground, the French will be in trouble if they can’t turn one of the Allied flanks soon or get past Liechtenstein’s screen to the Allied center.

Marshal Soult on the Allied Left probably has the best shot at a breakthrough, having scored a solid blow against Dokhuturov’s division and forcing it to retreat. All that stands in the way of his elite troops is the Austrian Prince Hohenlohe’s cavalry under General Caramelli, so if the French infantry can cut through them, Beaumont’s cavalry can ride through the breach and cut off the Austrian infantry and cavalry to the southwest. That would put Soult, any cavalry Napoleon sends him from the reserve, and Marshal Davout (should he be so good as to arrive soon) in a position to sweep south of the Pratzen Heights and into the Allied rear.

Will they make it happen? Tune in next time and find out!

Order Austerlitz now!