Battle of Austerlitz 1805 (Scenario)

2019 has been a good year for wargaming, even if I didn’t play or paint as much as I would have liked. Still, since the last update I’ve paint some more Prussian 1813-1815 Dragoons, French Dragoons, Russian infantry and a few others, and I’m currently working on Russian Jagers (from RedBox), Austrian Grenzer (from HaT) and Russian Guard Infantry (from Zvezda).

After playing Saguntum, I decided to work on a bigger battle that would be a bit more interesting. Given my (still) limited unit availability, I chose Austerlitz (more on this later).

Finally, even if miniature wargaming on the Risorgimento is a bit on hold for now, for Christmas I received the excellent Custoza: Fields of Doom from Europa Simulazioni. I’ve played one introductory scenario so far and it looks like a really good game!

Battle of Austerlitz (1805) - Scenario

This is the scenario I'd like to play next with my revised Grande Armee rules. Why Austerlitz? It’s a big but not huge battle with both Russians and Austrians (this helps with miniature painting), an interesting terrain and more challenges than the historical result may lead us to believe.

I based my scenario on the Grande Armee scenario found here. I reduced the scale from 1 unit = 1 brigade to 1 unit = 1 division, more or less. While not all proportions remain equal, I feel the overall strength ratio is maintaned. I’d like to playtest this so I’m going to play it several times.

Some notes on the OoB: SPs represent effectiveness too, and not just manpower. Overall, the French have an advantage in infantry SPs, a very small deficit in cavalry SPs and have 50% less artillery (rest being included into the infantry units SP numbers). Even if manpower-wise this may not be totally correct, I feel the effectiveness ratio is ok. Of course, coupled with the superior command system, this means that it’s likely the French will win again, but I hope it will still provide a fun game. Also, playtesting will be useful exactly to evaluate balance.

Scenario General Info:
1. Basic Length: 7 turns
2. Weather is Normal, with no variation. Ground is Hard.
3. Both armies set up simultaneously, as indicated on the scenario map.
4. Morale of the French Army is Confident. Its Break Point is 7.
5. Morale of the Allied Army is Shaky. Its Break Point is 5.

Battle of Austerlitz opposing armies (source: The Art of Battle)

French Army
Napoleonic Army of 6 Forces
Napoleon (Great)
Break Point = 7 (Confident)
Imperial Guard (G)			Bessieres (V) 2/6"
OG/G	Old Guard		9SP Sk2	Guard
GN/G	Grenadiers		9SP Sk1	Elite
GC/G	Guard Cavalry		8SP HC	Guard
A/G	6-pdr Horse Arty
I Corps (I)			Bernadotte 4/6" Cautious
1/I	Rivaud		7SP Sk2	Veterans
2/I	Drouet		7SP Sk2	Veterans
III Corps (III)			Davout 1/6"
2/III	Friant		7SP Sk2	Veterans
C/III	Bourcier		5SP LC	Trained
A/III	8-pdr Foot Arty
IV Corps (IV)			Soult 2/8"
1/IV	St.Hilaire		7SP Sk2	Veterans
2/IV	Vandamme		7SP Sk2	Veterans
1/3/IV	Legrand 1		6SP Sk2	Veterans
2/3/IV	Legrand 2		6SP Sk2	Veterans
A/IV	12-pdr Foot Arty
V Corps (V)			Lannes (V) 1/6"
1/V	Caffarelli		7SP Sk2	Veterans
3/V	Suchet		7SP Sk2	Veterans
C/V	Walther		4SP LC	Trained
Cavalry Reserve (CR)			Murat (V) 4/6" Aggressive
HC/CR	Cuirassiers		7SP HC	Veterans
LC/CR	Dragoons		6SP LC	Veterans
A/CR	6-pdr Horse Arty
Allied Army
Traditional Army of 5 Forces
Kutusov (Poor/Average)
Break Point = 5 (Skaky)
Buxhowden Left Wing (B)			Buxhowden 5/10" Aggressive
AG/B	Kienmayer		6SP Sk2 MX	Trained
1/B	Doctorov		6SP	Trained
2/B	Langeron		7SP Sk1	Trained
3/B	Przibitchevsky		6SP	Trained
1A/B	Austrian 6-pdr Horse Arty
2A/B	Russian 12-pdr Foot Arty
Fourth Column (4)			Kollowrath 2/6" Aggressive
1/4	Miloradovitch		6SP	Veterans
2/4	Rottermund		6SP	Trained
3/4	Jurczik		5SP	Conscript
A/4	Austrian 6-pdr Horse Arty
Fifth Column (5)			Liechtenstein (V) 4/4" Aggressive
HC/5	Austrian Kuirassiers		7SP HC	Elite
LC/5	Russian Light Cav		6SP LC	Veterans
CK/5	Cossacks		4SP Sk2	Raw
A/5	Austrian 6-pdr Horse Arty
Advance Guard (AG)			Bagration (V) 2/6"
1/AG	Russian Jagers		5SP Sk1	Trained
2/AG	Russian Line		6SP	Trained
C/AG	Russian Light Cav		6SP LC	Veterans
A/AG	Russian 6-pdr Horse Arty
Russian Imperial Guard			Constantine 4/3"
I/C	Russian Guard Inf		9SP Sk1	Elite
C/G	Russian Guard Cav		8SP HC	Elite
A/G	Russian 12-pdr Foot Arty

Special Rules
1. Kutusov quality: Kutusov was the nominal Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Army but the command situation was confused and the presence of Emperor Francis I and Tzar Alexander didn't help. In theory, Kutusov should be rated as "Poor", but in order to make the scenario a bit more balanced, roll 1d6 at the start of each turn. 1-3: command confusion. Kutusov is rated as "Poor" for this turn. 4-6: the Emperors let Kutusov run the battle without interference for a while. Kutusov is rated as "Average" for this turn.

Scenario Options
1. Historical Allied command situation. Rate Kutusov as "Poor" for the whole battle. Keep in mind this will make it even harder for the Allies to win.
2. Better Allied command situation. Rate Kutusov as "Average" for the whole battle. This will help the Allies.
3. Better Allied Morale. Rate the morale of the Allied Army as "Fair". Its Break Point becomes 6. This will help the Allies.
4. Davout is late. Do not set up Davout's force on the board. At the end of Turn 1, roll a die. On a 4+, Davout enters on the first pulse of the next turn. Add 1 to the die roll at the end of each turn until he arrives. This will help the Allies.
5. No Lannes and Bagration. Lannes and Bagration faced each other for most of the battle and effectively cancelled each other. This will be a likely result most of the times, even if there's a slight chance that one of them will overpower the other soon enough to then turn towards the rest of the battle. As an option, players wishing to use less units or needing a more limited play space can eliminate both Lannes' and Bagration's commands and reduce the terrain accordingly. If this option is chosen, French Army BP becomes 6, Allied Army BP becomes 4. 

Battle report
See this post for a battle report of the scenario and some post-battle considerations.