Playing Prussia in Soldier Kings
By Doug McNair
November 2005

Prussophiles get equal time today! After my last article on how to win as Austria in Soldier Kings, it’s only fair that I follow with an analysis of how to win as Prussia.

Prussia: Patience is Not a Virtue!

Prussia’s greatest flute player.

Frederick the Great started the Seven Years War because he was tired of being poor. His father, Frederick Wilhelm, had spent his entire life trying to acquire rich European territories for Prussia through claims of succession and diplomacy. He got nowhere, and died with nothing more than he started with. Frederick II had a much more direct approach, and it worked. He took the rich Austrian province of Silesia during the War of the Austrian Succession, and kept it by treaty thereafter. Then in 1756, while everyone’s attention was focused on Britain’s new war with France, Prussia successfully invaded Saxony. The rest of the war was a nail biter for him, but such Prussian aggression is the model which any player of Prussia in Soldier Kings needs to follow. Prussia’s best bet is to win quickly, before her Continental neighbors can unite their forces against her. If Prussia’s initial advance bogs down, then she needs to strike deals with intercontinental powers, offering Prussia’s armies as juggernauts to overwhelm colonial garrisons.

Major Power Alliances

Friends can be hard to come by for Prussia. Most major powers will be wary of helping the 800-pound gorilla. Also, her obvious primary target is Austria, the power who has the most to gain by forging multiple alliances from the get-go. So there may not be many allies left for Prussia to choose from once Empress Maria Theresa is done entertaining at court.

Luckily, Prussia doesn’t need a lot of allies. She needs money. With a nice, full bank account, her own armies can do the rest. To get such money, Prussia must make one or two crucial alliances during the initial Diplomacy Phase before the 1756 turn. Fortunately, Prussia has few restrictions on who she can ally with, so if her primary alliance prospects beg off, she can always try elsewhere. In addition, understandings and non-aggression pacts can also be very useful to Prussia, so even if she can’t make lots of alliances, she can still get others to see things her way . . .

• Britain: Good King George should be Frederick’s #1 alliance priority. Britain is loaded down with money, most of which comes from overseas. All of those rich overseas colonies are in constant danger from France, Spain and Holland, so Britain must focus on sending forces around the world to keep her coffers full. This presents a fundamental problem, since only the English Channel separates her home islands from the armies of France.

Prussian bargaining chip.

This is where Prussia comes in. Prussia should start by offering Britain an alliance against France, Holland and Austria. Prussia should propose that Britain let her move two armies through Hanover and attack Holland with British naval support. Crushing Holland rids Britain of a small but insidious overseas threat right away, and opens Dutch colonies to easy British expansion later. It also gives Prussia a direct road to the Austrian Netherlands, and then Ile de France.

It will take at least two Invasions for Prussia to take Holland and the Austrian Netherlands, and her armies will take losses in the process. So, she should ask Britain for at least 15 Resources to finance this operation (this gives her haggling room — two invasions and repairing two armies only costs 10). She should offer to split the territories 50/50, with Britain taking Holland and Prussia getting the Netherlands. Prussia can reinforce the Netherlands after crushing Saxony and Hesse, while Holland could be cut off from Prussia if Britain breaks the alliance later.

• Russia: Attacking Russia is just as stupid for Frederick as it would later be for Napoleon and Hitler. Russia is just as poor as Prussia, and has hordes of troops with which to defend all that poverty. Russia is also in the best position to kill any Prussian hopes for a quick victory, simply by allying with Austria and creating a Russian front.

Prussia can’t afford to spend time fighting Russia with rich Austrian territory to take, but she can’t offer Russia much incentive to ally with her (Berlin and Silesia are too tempting for Russia to ignore). However, she does have what it takes to get Russia to leave her alone. East Prussia is indefensible. Prussia is going to lose it to Russia anyway, and it’s only worth 2 VP, so Prussia should offer it to Russia in exchange for a non-aggression pact. Prussia should point out that taking the deal gets Russia 2 VP (and 2 Resources) for free, gets her out of fighting Prussia’s massive armies, and frees her up for a quick, easy invasion of Poland that will get her 3 more VP and put her halfway to victory. Turkey then lies wide open to Russian invasion.

Turkey is isolated geographically, so it will be hard for any Major Power ally to reinforce her (Austria is prohibited from allying with Turkey). Turkey’s army is huge but weak, so if Russia has nobody else to fight, she should have no problem steamrolling the Turks and taking Moldavia, Bulgaria and Rumelia. That would get Russia 10 VP, and the game. This is a smart deal for Russia, and Prussia should pursue it vigorously (and be prepared to backstab Russia later if she’s as successful as Prussia says she’ll be . . .).

• Turkey: Prussia must crush Austria fast, and Prussia and Turkey form the perfect vice. Like Russia, Turkey needs only 10 VP to win, so she can achieve a quick victory by simply ferrying armies to Naples and then marching up the Italian boot (Naples + Papal States + Tuscany + Lombardy = 11 VP). Turkey can only do this if Austria doesn’t have enough troops to defend Lombardy, and the easiest way to assure that is to have all of Austria’s armies pinned down in the Austrian heartland.

Prussia and Turkey don’t need to have a formal alliance (though there’s nothing wrong with that for either party). Prussia simply needs to threaten Wien with a few armies while crushing Saxony and the Austrian Netherlands. This means Turkey can snatch cheap, easy pickings in Transylvania and Croatia while her fleet is sending bashi-bazouks to Naples. Then, once Prussia is done with her western ventures, she can zip back eastward, smash Bohemia and Wien, and be on Venetia’s doorstep quickly. This puts her within striking distance of victory, even with East Prussia ceded to the Russians. A backstab of Turkey may be necessary to prevent her from reaching the finish line first, but all’s fair. . . .

• Spain: If Prussia can’t form an alliance with Britain for some reason, or if Prusso-British relations sour later on, then Spain is her next-best ally. Spain is also loaded down with money, and she’s even weaker in the army department than Britain. Prussia can offer armies to Spain to protect her interests overseas and take British territory, in exchange for the Resources necessary to build the extra armies and finance the campaigns. Since Prussia has no fleets, this will either require a Prussian Minor Country alliance with a seagoing country like Sweden, or it will require Prussia to strike southward through Wien to Croatia, where Spanish fleets can embark Prussian armies and take them to points west (with a siege of Gibraltar on the way if absolutely necessary).

Drauf, Seydlitz!

Minor Country Alliances

Prussia doesn’t have any money to devote to alliance die rolls, so she needs to focus on minor country allies that have automatic die roll bonuses. Poland and Sweden are the only two with such bonuses, and Sweden is the better choice.

For starters, Sweden is right in Prussia’s back yard, so her armies can quickly stack with Prussia’s to attack Austria. Also, Sweden has fleets, which can pick up Swedish or Prussian armies and invade the coast of France, making Prussia’s British or Spanish allies very happy. Such fleets can also take Prussian troops overseas to fulfill alliance deals with Britain or Spain, or can take Prussian troops to the Mediterranean to “Assist the Turks” on the boot of Italy.

Poland is a good choice only if the non-aggression pact with Russia doesn’t work out. Hostilities with Russia spell disaster for quick Prussian gains against Austria. In such a situation, bogging Russia down in a fight against Poland (with an extra Prussian army to help) is the only way to avoid a full-fledged Prussian commitment on the Eastern Front.

Continental Strategy

Prussia’s best chance for victory is a blitzkrieg against Austria. In the first game year, Prussia shouldn’t initiate hostilities against any other major power, except Holland (and not even that if she allies with Spain instead of Britain). Prussia can get 3 VP quick from Saxony, and if she’s allied with Britain she can get another 4 VP quick from the defenseless Austrian Netherlands.

After that, Prussia will have to make threatening noises at France, but she doesn’t want to make a major commitment there, since France is very capable of defending her homeland. She should just do enough to keep the British happy and defend the Austrian Netherlands, while refocusing her efforts on Austria.

If she’s not allied with Britain, she should focus all her efforts southward (with hopefully Sweden guarding her back and Turkey squeezing Austria from the south). After the 3 VP from Saxony, Bohemia and Wien get her another 6 VP, and put her at the front gate of the North Italian gold mine. Taking Venetia and Lombardy will win her the game, even after ceding East Prussia to the Russians.

If the Austrians and the Venetians prove too tough for Prussia to take on at once, Prussia can ask Spain to giver her amphibious support against Venetia. If she has to give Venetia to Spain in exchange for the assistance, Prussia can immediately move against Lombardy, and then march down the boot to victory.

Overseas Strategy

If Russia refuses to make a non-aggression pact, then Prussia’s hopes for a quick victory are slim. In that case, she should count on a war of attrition on the Continent, and focus on acquiring rich overseas holdings through an alliance with Britain or Spain. Once she knows that Russia isn’t going to play ball, Prussia should make it known quite publicly that her armies are available to the highest bidder for overseas service. She should point out that, if stacked with British or Spanish provincial troops, two or three Prussian armies on the American mainland can mount a march of destruction, smashing whatever France and (Spain or Britain, whoever doesn’t make the alliance) can throw at them.

Prussia should offer to split whatever territory its armies take 50/50 with its overseas ally (a very good deal for them, since they get the territory at minimal risk), and should make them supply the fleets for the transport there. At the same time, Prussia should ally with Sweden so that she will have a fleet of her own. She should place that fleet just offshore wherever the Prussians are, so that Prussia can quickly embark an army and sail it out to the Leeward Islands, getting an easy 7 VP and almost certainly the game. If Prussia’s overseas ally spots this move and sinks the Swedish fleet . . . well, those Prussian armies on the mainland would be quite angry, and just like the Belligerent Mahatma, you wouldn’t like them when they’re angry . . .

Event Card Strategy

Prussia does not have the money to pay other players for event cards, so she should trade for whatever cards get her maximum benefit in maneuver and combat. “Winter Campaign,” “False Orders and Bad Intelligence,” “Force March,” “Local Assistance” and “Surprise Attack” are prime trade targets.

To make Austria’s life as difficult as possible, “Hungarian Revolt” is an excellent choice. To bolster Prussia’s own forces, “Freikorps,” “Freibattalions,” “Illegal Recruitment” and even “Debase Currency” (in anticipation of a decisive spring offensive) are good choices.

On the diplomatic front, Prussia should acquire and use cards that give her extra negotiating leverage with Britain and Spain. If attempting an alliance with Britain, “East India Company Troops,” “Jesuit Plot” and “Pitt Takes Power” are excellent deal-sweeteners. If trying to ally with Spain, “Spanish Provincial Armies,” “India Revolt,” “Loudoun’s Embargo” and “They Boiled and Ate Him All Up” are good alliance incentives. Finally, Prussia needs to make an alliance with either Sweden or Poland, so a “Minor Country Alliance” card is a required acquisition.

Conclusion

Prussia has a great shot at a quick victory, but only if Russia can be made to see reason. If not, Prussia must ally with Poland and hope a combined Prusso-Polish force can block the Russians long enough for Prussia to get to Lombardy. But if Empress Catherine remains implacable and takes out the Poles, then Prussia must get into the mercenary business. She must play Britain and Spain off each other to secure the sweetest deal, and get free passage to The Land of Opportunity and the Sunny Caribbean.