The Austerlitz Variation

Austerlitz, that amazing Napoleonic victory, is a fraught endeavor to simulate in a game because the whole battle is predicated on a deception, without which the battle would never have occurred. Napoleon needed to convince the Coalition forces that he was weaker than he was so they would leave their secure position on the Pratzen and attack, wherein he could descend with his actual force at hand and defeat them.

As the Coalition forces player, you know the truth of the matter, and you are not going to be fooled this time. The trick as a game designer is how to simulate this deception. As a soloist, this is an even trickier problem. The simplest solution is to play as if the coalition thought they were facing a much smaller force, until the jig is up, and then you have them scramble to react to the full strength force. This is actually entirely satisfactory, and fun. But it leaves out the feel of the historical battle, and Pub Battles is all about the feel of the battle. How did it feel to be the Coalition command staff, and not know what you were facing?

The Published version of Austerlitz works well for 2 players and teams, what I am suggesting here is for solo play specifically, but it works for 2 player games as well.

I came up with a solution for myself playing solo, but in the process I came up with a solution for competitive play as well. Here’s how:

Neither side knows Napoleon’s real strength until it’s too late. In order to win, Napoleon must play as if he has his full strength, and the Coalition must play as if he does not! This is done by not determining if Napoleon’s full strength is present until the optional troops are within LOS of coalition forces. In that moment a die is rolled, and on a 3 or less his full strength is present, otherwise only Lannes and Soult are there.

As per the Published scenario rules, if Napoleon has his full strength, the Coalition wins a draw. Conversely, if the French only have Soult and Lannes’ Corps present, the French win a draw. In either event, one side must win, or they lose, there is no final draw result. From the very beginning, both sides are in it to win it.

The Fog of Austerlitz — One of the reasons that this works as well as it does is that a thick fog covered the battlefield all morning reducing visibility to one third of a foot move. This allows the French forces to hid their true strength much more easily. In fact, it is an interesting problem for the French. Do they reveal their strength early so they know what kind of battle they are fighting, or hold off until the last moment and get maximum advantage from the reveal, whatever may be?

With the Orders Rules — I’m playing with the Beta orders rules. The essential thing you need to know for this battle is that to change orders requires a successful command roll. That means you roll equal to or less than your command rating. For the French it is 4, and for the Coalition it is 2. A 4 command rating means that you’ll succeed two thirds of the time, and a 2 command rating means you’ll fail two thirds of the time.

This means that it is harder for the Coalition to change their orders, and much easier for the French. This means the French can issue orders that might need to be changed with little concern, whilst the Coalition army is going to have problems deviating from the initial plan.

You can imagine how these two armies feel very different to command at Austerlitz!