Introduction by Fred Schachter, Assistant Designer & Editor: What you have here is an excerpt from Congress of Vienna’s Playbook, it’s Section 16, which provides a detailed example of a turn’s play. It features Terry Leeds’ beautiful graphics for this upcoming P-500 game’s components.
Since readers don’t have the game’s related Playbook content as background, a description of the overall scenario is provided below. It should explain players respective motivations in the ensuing piece…
Clash of Armies -The Summer & Fall Struggle of 1813
DESIGN NOTE: with an estimated playing time of 150-210 min; the diplomacy is relatively simple, but the military operations can be extraordinarily massive and complex in this scenario.
For players now can recreate the titanic struggle of summer-fall of 1813 and the major battles of Dresden, Grossberen, Dennewitz, and Leipzig.
This scenario begins with turn 5. Although the Armistice is in effect, really there is no prospect of peace. British pressure (subsidies and diplomatic counterparts) should push Austria to break its initial neutrality and join the Allies.
Length
This scenario begins with turn 5 August 1813 and ends at the End of turn 8 (November-December of 1813). The length is four turns.
Victory Points
Britain begins with 15 VPs, Austria with 20 VPs, Russia with 25 VPs, and France begins with 55 VPs. The four national VP markers are placed at these spaces on the VP Track.
Final scoring and determination of the winner
1. The winner is the player with the highest VPs at the end of the game.
2. Independently of VP scoring, France automatically wins if it controls Gascony, Bavaria, and Hanover at the end of the game.
In addition to the VP achievable in the rulebook:
- Britain obtains 2 VP more if the American VP marker is placed in the +1 BR VP space or higher in the War of 1812 Record Track at the end of game.
- France receives 2 additional VP for each space French controlled at the end of Game: Bavaria, Gascony, and Hanover; (maximum of 4VP since holding all three will be an automatic French win).
With that, here’s the Congress of Vienna Playbook’s Detailed Example of Play, Part 1 of 2: The Initial through Diplomacy Phase…
This game was played by Vassal in January 2023; the players are:
Russia: David Schoellhamer, an experienced CoV playtester currently living in Portland (OR), and a designer of the solitaire module for this game. He is a prudent and collaborative Ally.
Britain: Mirek Makajev, a terrible Czech CoV player, living in Bohemia (now Czech Republic), who has the most impressive list of CoV wins with any Major Power.
Austria: Christopher Leary, an experienced CoV player living in Kentucky, who helped review and profoundly improve both the Rulebook and the Quick Start Summary. He also helped to define and improve many rules during the long playtest process. As a CoV player he has a sixth sense for choosing the best chit among the possible Tactical Matrix Table (Optional Historical Rules).
France: Frank Esparrago, the game’s designer, is Spanish and is living in southwestern Spain. He designed the Vassal module with which the games between members of the Saturday Sessions Team (Europe-United States) are played.
The observer and narrator of this Example of Play is Fred Schachter, CoV Assistant Designer & Editor, who currently lives in North Carolina.
[The bracketed paragraphs accompanying are Fred’s explanations of certain actions of players, or they are literal transcription of a key rule that significantly affects the game.]
Special thanks to Joseph Feller who reviewed this section as a first-time player of the game and suggested many deep changes which were used to make this example more readable and useful for new players with limited knowledge of the rules.
Initial Phase
Each turn begins by placing the Initial Situation Card and executing its instructions from top to bottom. In this example the players have decided to use the Historic rules for Initial Situation, so they choose the A-5 card (see Figure 1) corresponding to August 1813, which is when this scenario begins. If they had decided to use the Random rules, they would have drawn either card A-5, B-5, or C-5 at random.
The specified game cards are in the Event Deck and placed in the relevant player’s hand which to this point, was made up only of a Leader card (Napoleon, Alexander I, Castlereagh, or Metternich). The indicated Issues are placed on the appropriate National Tracks or the Negotiating Table (see below). The Sweden (SW) at War Issue is not placed on the board, as in this scenario this Issue has already occurred and been removed from the game.
Next, the Initial Environment Table step is performed. Two die rolls are made, and each modified with +1 (due to the two +1 drm markers indicated on the Initial Situation Card). The result is looked up on the table as shown in Figure 2 below. The first modified die roll “4” indicates the column to be used in the Table. Working from the top, first “Austria” appears, so the Austrian player must choose (an Austrian) character national card from the game card deck, and he adds it to his hand. The next row is “4”, indicating that 4 units of US Militia (light blue cubes available from the French force pool box) are placed in the War of 1812 box. In the next row, the ending “No” means that the US Military Operation marker is not placed in the War of 1812 box this turn. Note that military operations can still occur there if both the British and the French player (who decides for the US government) place one of their Military Operation markers there!
The second modified die roll is “3”, which indicates which intersecting row of the table we look at. In this case, the result is “No Effect“, and in the Maritime Struggle between France and Britain nothing happens … this turn. Things can change in successive game turns!
Finally, we finish the Initial Phase with the British Fleet Demobilization step. However, since the British player chooses to save all available fleets (to dedicate to fighting in America), the conversion of 2 Fleets into 1 Resource or 1 VP does not occur, and so the Initial Phase ends!
The Diplomacy Phase
This phase starts with the Shuffle the Deck and Deal Cards step, where game cards that have not been previously removed from the game (or assigned to a player’s hand) are shuffled, and the Card Hand Size Track (Figure 3) shows how many cards each player is dealt. The cards received are in addition to any cards held from the Initial Phase.
Austrian Hand, August 1813
Chris’ Thoughts on the Opening Draw: A very strong hand for Austria (Figure 4). After winning the additional card from the Environment Table (and selecting the best Austrian 5-rank card, Kaiser Franz), Austria also draws eleven cards. Three 5-rank cards like Davout, Talleyrand and Wellington, as well as both 4-rank Austrian cards (Bellegarde and Trauttmansdorff). Chris had preferred to go to war this turn, but with the strength of this hand he can let the Diplomacy Phase unfold and see where best to make some VP headway.
Russian Hand, August 1813
David’s Thoughts on the Opening Draw: A bad hand for Russia (Figure 5)! Fortunately, the two neutral #63 and #66 cards are very good and can help fight Napoleon if the war resumes and Austria goes to war!
[Fred Notes: A proper trade with Austria could greatly improve this hand.]
British Hand, August 1813
Mirek’s thoughts on the Opening Draw: A balanced hand for Britain (Figure 6)! A clear majority of British national cards, balanced between Military and Diplomatic. In addition, among the rest there is a majority of 4/5-value cards (for example the 5-rank Blücher card), which makes it extraordinarily powerful in the Diplomacy Phase or for trading with other Allied players!
French Hand, August 1813
Frank’s Thoughts on the Opening Draw: “A complex hand for France (Figure 7)!” No 4 or 5 value cards are present in this hand. (While the Stadion card is a 4-value card, it has a penalty of -1 if played by the French player!) Some military cards such as Berthier, Murat, and Battle event card #65 can help Napoleon defend the key Saxony space of the Central Europe Front (A). However, if Austria goes to the War this turn, overwhelming Allied numbers will nullify the higher quality French cards! Fortunately, Gaudin and Friedrich August of Saxony cards can bring the Italy and Saxony Issues to the French side, along with their additional units and VPs.
[Fred Notes: A beginner should not be frightened by the hands of cards and the fact that there are so many of them! In fact, as we explain below, it is more an advantage than a problem!
A common problem in a CDG is either players not knowing the possible card uses, or worse when there is a real difference in knowledge between players. In CoV, these problems are mitigated in three ways.
First, for most cards you need only consider the value located in the circle upon the upper left corner. Modifiers to this basic value usually only occur on your own nation’s cards: France (blue), Britain (red), Russia (green), and Austria (white). All card modifiers for the Diplomacy Phase are located on a label with the national color and two capital letters inside a black diamond. (When a diamond with a white feather appears, it indicates that this modifier applies to all players for the issues inside the label). If the label is preceded by a black circle, it indicates that a bonus for the Government Phase can be received (these bonuses happen on fewer cards). Finally, bonuses labeled with a black hex apply to the War Phase. (These cards are also indicated with a Crossed Sword’s symbol). See Figure 8 for card examples.
Second, the large hand sizes in CoV means there are many opportunities to view, compare, and use a wide variety of cards and so get to know them properly through a rapid learning process.
Third, the optional Handicap Card Deck can be used to balance the advantages that more experienced players have in this type of game (see again Figure 8 for a card example).]
The Wager:
The next step in the Diplomacy Phase is the Issue Selection step, starting with The Wager to determine player order.
Austrian hidden card: Davout. The penalty for playing Davout in the rest of the Diplomacy Phase (-2 modifier if played by any Allied player) makes using this 5-rank value card here in the wager a bit of a foregone conclusion. We’re likely to win the wager to boot, as the only probable play that can beat Davout here would be Blucher by the English (if they drew him and opted to burn the Russians by playing him here).
[Fred Notes: British National Advantage: In any tiebreak situation involving Britain, the British player determines which of the tied Major Powers wins.]
“French hidden card: Stadion. Thinks Frank: “I have no illusions; I know it is practically impossible for me to win the diplomacy wager. I’m sure if there’s a tie the British player will choose to award it to any player except France. However, I hope “to die killing”, playing a high value card to make sure that the player who wins the Wager must place the won Issue very close to the Negotiation table … making it easily “attackable” diplomatically! In addition, Stadion is for all purposes a 3-value card for France, except at this moment, it is worth a 4-card since the card modifier is not considered just now.
The Wager winner: The slight gamble pays off, and Austria wins the wager by 1, the difference between the highest value card (Davout, a 5 value card) and the lowest one… a 4. This becomes a triple tie between the French, Russian and British players (see Figure 9).
The Austrian player comment: I strongly suspect everyone will be in on playing into the Liberalism/ Absolutism Issue in an attempt to gain an early VP push, and therefore I place it to Austria- 1.
The French player comment: The goal of ensuring that the won Issue was played close to the Negotiation Table was achieved; however, my being the first to play [the player to the left of the player who won the Wager begins.], means that the rest of the players will go behind me and can debate better than I. Likewise, in the sixth and final Round, this allows the rest of the players to be in a better position than me to win the final Issues, and most likely the Diplomacy Phase!
Issue Selection (see Figure 10 below):
French player: As French Recruitment is already firmly placed on the French Track, considering that France needs troops and VPs, the Minor Countries Issues are an excellent choice. Saxony is obvious because Friedrich August has a 6-value for this country, the only other good card is Gaudin with a 5-value (with modifiers) for Italy and Holland. I choose Italy because Austria already has many issues to negotiate and few Resources to activate them, unlike Britain, which has many and can use them to dispute the Netherlands. I hope not to get confused and to make a good choice!
Russian Player: If Austria at War happens, at least one Russian military operation must be on the board to try to advance to the Saxony space, so this Issue is an almost certain choice. Since Austria selected the Absolutism Issue, I select Poland, the only minor country controlled by the Allies, which if won by Russia will grant 1 VP and 1 unit. In addition, the Poniatowski card is in the Russian hand (see Figure 5), and it has a positive modifier for this Issue (applicable all players).
British player: I want to have at least one British military operation to use either in America or Spain by using the military cards from my hand (see Figure 6), and any others that I could receive through trading during the Diplomatic Rounds. I choose the British Recruitment Issue as the second Issue, since Liberalism has already been placed by Austria [Absolutism/ Liberalism is a dual Issue, that is flipped when won by France or Britain to its Liberalism side, while Austria and Russia flip it to its Absolutism side.]
Austrian player: Peace Congress is almost always a good choice for Austria, as playing Metternich to secure the Issue earns VP. I could select an Austrian Military Operation here, in the event we do end up at war… but as we are Resource-poor (with only three Resources in-hand), I decide instead to hedge that war bet and select Future Government of France. This is a bit of a hand grenade for Napoleon, as it bumps Allied players to the disadvantage of France.
Round 1 (see Figure 12 below):
1. France leads off with a trade request to Austria and swaps (hidden the 3-rank Austrian Reuss-Plauen card. The Austrian player has one remaining French card in-hand, Andrew Jackson, which Austria is more than happy to pass over (again hidden) to France. Hopefully, Napoleon is persuaded to burn resources in America with Jackson’s advantage, in the event we end up at war.
The French player is happy with the trade since this military card can possibly help to resist a British attack in America. Likewise, the Austrian player is relatively happy with the received card sinceany Austrian card is +1 in debating, and Reuss is of some use should we end up at war, thanks to his combat DRM (see Figure 11).
2. Russia then plays on Poland with Poniatowski (and its positive modifier for this Issue), and Austria debates: not wanting to let that Issue (and the potential VP) slide, the Austrian player debates with the 3- rank debating card, worth 5 to Austria, to shift it back to the center.
3. Britain wants to trade with Austria … and sends over 2-rank Von Klenau (hidden). Simultaneously, Austria accepts to trade and passes over the 3-rank British Sherbrooke card (also hidden!). See again Figure 11.
Austrian player comment: Again, I consider von Klenau useful in debating, but its battle DRM may prove useful on Front A if we land at war with France. Also, I happen to have a British War of 1812 card in-hand (3-rank Sherbrooke) and am happy to send in Britain’s direction.
4. Austria plays Trauttmansdorff on Austria at War, to move the issue to Austria-6. The unanticipated trade acquisitions of two Austrian military cards have shifted the Austrian thinking, and Austrian strategy is now leaning towards war. Plus, Trauttmansdorff grants 1VP for Austria when played on this Issue, and Chris will gladly take the free VP. France not surprisingly debates this back to Austria-2, to keep it within striking distance.
After this first Round, Austria increases the number of Issues on its National track; it is still too early to proclaim an “Austrian Diplomatic Victory”, but the Austrian card trades, which will improve her debating capacity combined with the Austrian National Advantage, and the fantastic initial hand, can help achieve this goal!
Round 2 (see Figure 14 below):
1st player:France must start the 2nd Round and plays Fredrick August of Saxony card to negotiate the Saxony Issue [this specific card’s modifiers for Saxony and France convert a 2-rank low card to 6-rank card for Saxony in the French hand!]. No player wants to debate this Issue which is now deeply placed at the 6-space on the French Track.
2nd player: Russia requests a trade. Austria is happy to oblige, sending the 2-rank Bernadotte in exchange for the 3-rank Count of Merveldt (see Figure 13).
3rd player: Britain plays on Liberalism-Absolutism, with his excellent Huskisson card [in addition to being a 5-rank card for this Issue, it gives a +1 drm for the roll on the Pax Britannica or Liberalism Track during the Government Phase], but Austria debates with the 5-rank Kaiser, to move it back to Austria-3, since the +1 modifier for this Issue and the additional +1 for Austrian cards in debate (the Austrian National Advantage).
Austrian player comment: Chris wants to win this Issue and keep it out of the France-Britain sphere.
4th player: Austria ends the 2nd Round and plays Talleyrand on Liberalism- Absolutism, securing the issue. This Issue is moved 7 spaces from 2-Austrian Track to theoretically “9-space off-shore”, if any player wanted to debate it would start from there. As no player debates, the marker is placed in the Austrian seat (7-space) and remains secured throughout this turn.
[Fred Notes: Neither France nor Britain wants to burn good cards on this Issue, in view of the overwhelming Austrian response using two cards that had a 7-rank for this Issue.
Austria’s diplomatic victory in this round swept away all other players!]
Round 3:
France plays Gaudin on Italy and carries it to the 5-French space. As a bonus, when this card is used for Italy, it gives France an additional Resource marker. During the Government phase this will serve to activate Issues won, to acquire Military Support markers, or to get “Sound Government” VP (see Figure 15)!
Russia plays on Poland the mediocre Oudinot card. With diplomacy cards to burn, Austria debates the
Issue to move it to Austria-1 with Kollowrat card. Poland always seems to be a primary hot potato between Russia and Austria, both for the VP and the free reinforcement if won. And, to me, it always feels historically accurate for Metternich to debate Alexander over the Issue of Poland.
Britain plays Baron Eldon on British Military Operation to move it to Britain-4. This card called “The Wig” has a very interesting bonus for Britain because if it is used on many issues (including this one!) it gives an additional Resource marker in a similar way as Gaudin card did for France (see Figure 15).
Austria plays Nesselrode on Future Government of France. Calling France’s bluff here, but Napoleon opts to let the Issue go. Really the French player is short of diplomatic cards, as he prefers to save the maximum number of Military cards for the War Phase.
Round 4 (see Figures 16 & 17):
1. France plays York on the Austria at War Issue moving it to the Negotiation Table, Russia debates it with von Humboldt card, a low Russian-2 but with a +3 for this precise Issue. That way he places it at the Russian-5 space.
[Fred notes: Really, this was a bad move for the French player, since if he had used any of his 3-value cards like Arakachev or von Bullow it would have been placed in the French-1 with the added difficulty of a -1 for all issues placed on the French National Track due to one of the French National Advantages]
2. David (Russia) gives a blow of authority to the game and plays his leader Tsar Alexander card. For this he must discard one of the worst cards of his hand (von Gentz 2-rank card!) and moves the Russian Military Operation Issue to his leader seat (7-Russian space). No other leader debates him, and this Issue is now secured during this turn.
3. Britain plays the Baron Bexley on the British Recruitment Issue. His goal seems clear: to be able to recruit to have sufficient units and fleets in America to be able to defeat the US Army, and to take advantage of the bonus of this card, which grants a welcome additional Resource if, on a die roll, he gets 1 to 3. However, Mirek rolls a “5” and fails to get it! Another bonus for this card allows is a +1 drm on the Pax Britannica die-roll.
France decides to debate this Issue with Graham, a 3-rank, but with +1 modifier for issues located on the British National Track. Frank places this Issue in the French-1 space.
[Fred notes: This was a surprising move since the French player has a limited amount of game cards available- he wants to save many military cards for the War Phase- and Britain has many cards at his disposal, including his leader. Although Napoleon will surely be saved for the upcoming War phase!]
4. Austria plays Metternich on Generalissimo. Austria opts to take the lead role and secures Generalissimo and discard von Klenau [the player using his Leader must discard another card of choice from his hand].
[Fred notes: A few thoughts went into this decision. First, Russia just countered a French play on Austria at War, to move it to Russia-5. It appears likely that we’re almost certainly marching to war this turn. Second, Austria currently has five issues on the Austrian track, and will likely win the Diplomacy Phase. Therefore, using Metternich to secure the Peace Congress Issue is now a risky proposition, as the VP bump from Metternich could be offset by the VP penalty from winning the Diplomacy Phase if the Peace Congress is implemented. Third, Russia has played Alexander, which almost certainly secures Generalissimo for Austria with this play, the VP that go with it, and the DRM bonus for the inevitable showdown with the Grande Armée in Saxony on Front A]
Round 5:
1. France (Frank) plays on Poland with von Büllow, a3-rank card [Fred Notes: It is another “puzzling” move as Poland is not an Issue that allows France to obtain VP or units. It is possible France just wanted to burn this card to win the Diplomacy Phase since he just has 5 Issues in the French National Track now or wanted to deny Austria gaining 1 VP and a unit from Poland!].
Surprisingly Russia (David) does not debate. [Fred notes: France does not know it, but all the cards in the Russian hand are going to be saved for the upcoming War Phase]. However, Britain (Mirek) debates it, as Britain has “leftover” cards in hand and cannot tolerate France winning the Diplomacy phase [Fred notes: Remember with more issues on the French National Track than other player at the end of the 6th Round, France will receive 4 VP!]. So Mirek uses 4-rank von Hardenberg and moves Poland to British-1.
2. Now it’s Russia‘s turn, and David makes one of his favorite moves which is to move a key French Issue on to his track in order to force France to pre-emptively debate (see Figure 18.a) with some French national card. In addition to wearing down the French hand, he hopes that some French Military cards will be burned in Diplomacy instead of being available in the War Phase!
To do this, he plays on French Recruitment Issue with Marmont. Not surprisingly France pre-emptively debates and burns the Ney card, then brings French Recruitment to its National Track, and finally advances the marker on the French Pre-Emptive Debate Track (see Figure 18.b) [We didn’t see David’s evil smile since we were playing on Skype, but all the participants imagined it clearly].
3. Britain plays on French Recruitment with the powerful Blücher 5-rank card, Austria debates itwith Merveldt, since Chris wants to win the Diplomacy and prevent France from getting it at all costs! [Fred Notes:With France burning Military cards and with no more Diplomacy French national cards to make his last pre-emptive debate, France does not perform his 2nd pre-emptive debate, and Austria moves the French Recruitment to Austria-3 and backs France into a corner. With war looming, keeping French troops off the map is a strategic imperative].
4. Austria passes. With war now likely, the Allies will try to preserve as many Austrian military cards as possible.
[Fred Notes:When a player chooses to debate an Issue, he creates the option of passing on his next Round rather than negotiating an Issue or initiating a card trade. Each player has a reminder marker to indicate this option’s availability on his Diplomacy Round Track. When his turn of play comes, he can pass, or not, if considers it convenient, and then he removes his debate marker, so that it can be used if he debates again]
Round 6:
France plays Stein on British Financial Aid and moves it on French-1 from Austrian-2. Russia debates it with Neutral #61 card, moving to Russian-3.
Britain plays Castlereagh leader on British Recruitment [Mirek wants to have enough units for upcoming combat on the War of 1812 box]. As Metternich and Alexander leaders have been used previously, only Napoleon leader could debate but France prudently saves it for the next War Phase.
1. France plays Stein on British Financial Aid and moves it to French-1 box from Austrian-2 box [Fred notes: he moves three spaces with a 3-value card]. Russia debates it with Neutral #61 card, moving to Russian-3.
2. Russia passes. The previous debate was very favorable for Russia, who now holds both British Financial Aids.His goal is to keep the situation as it is now!
3. Britain plays Castlereagh leader on British Recruitment. [Mirek wants to have enough units in the War of 1812 box for the upcoming combat]. As Metternich and Alexander leaders have been used previously, only Napoleon leader could debate, but France prudently saves it for the next War Phase.
4. Austria offers a trade to Britain (see Figure 19). With the final play in the Diplomacy Phase, the Austrian options are limited by the ability of the other three Major Powers to debate any issue. After a bit of self-deliberation, Chris decides to send Wellington to the British, for their use in the Iberian Peninsula.
Chris thinks: I could try and pull an issue from a different track, and we are still sitting on the 5-rank Wellington, and we definitely do not want to burn our remaining military cards, as the war is now a certainty.
Hopefully, sending Wellington to the British will influence Britain to place their military operation marker in either Front C or Front D, which would keep them out of a possible amphibious landing in Naples (keeping the associated VP in play for Austria) and also keep some of Napoleon’s attention occupied in Spain. This also indirectly secured the Diplomacy Phase victory for Austria and2 VP which are immediately tracked on the VP Record Track [Austria, Russia, or Britain is awarded 2 VP and France 4 VP for winning the Diplomacy Phase]. Because a “grateful” British player decides the Victory in case of a tie between other players with equal Issues in their National Tracks (in this case France, Russia and Austria were tied with four Issues each).
[Fred Notes:Players are not always as “grateful” as our Austrian player hoped that Britain would be. In CoV, each player (even the Allies) seeks their own Victory! So, this is a bit of a rare play, but with the strategic options available, it seemed like the best of multiple mediocre results for the Austrians.]
Conclusion for this Part 1 of 2: What a dramatic turn it’s been thus far! What will happen next? To find out, this article’s Part 2 of 2 shall reveal the Government, War Phase, and End of Turn conclusion to this detailed example of a turn of Congress of Vienna play.
Feedback from the InsideGMT community would be appreciated.
Previous Congress of Vienna InsideGMT Articles
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.