Introduction by Fred Schachter, Assistant Designer & Editor: As lamented within previous InsideGMT articles, the amount of Congress of Vienna material the Team generated for the game is too copious for inclusion within the to-be-published Playbook.  Hence, that content is being provided through InsideGMT pieces.

The Congress of Vienna Playbook contains all needed direction, in a list narrative form, for setting up each of the game’s five scenarios.  There are no concerns there! However, some gamers prefer a graphic approach in the form of Scenario Set Up Maps.  This article provides those Set-Up Maps.

For those interested in learning the historical background regarding each map, please access the link to their associated InsideGMT “Game as History” articles.  The following link provides a background, in terms of the Congress of Vienna game, for Turns 1 (March-April 1813) through 3 (June 1813):  A Historical Introduction to the Congress of Vienna Period Part 2 of 4: Napoleon Resurgent (Spring 1813) | Inside GMT blog. Once you’ve accessed this article, others of the series will become available through this GMT Game Site’s table of contents.

Hopefully, this material is informative to all readers interested in this fascinating historical period, the 1813-1814 resurgence and downfall of Napoleon and his French Empire and will complement the Congress of Vienna list narrative Scenario Set Ups provided with the published game.  Playbook Section cross-references are provided for each Scenario.

17.2 Napoleon Resurgent: Spring Campaign of 1813 – Introductory/Short Scenario

This scenario begins with Turn 2 (May 1813) and ends at the conclusion of the first turn in which the Armistice occurs or at the end of the turn in which France is overtaken in VPs by some other player (this is admittedly a difficult task for the Allies to accomplish without using optional rules which enhance their chances). Normal game length is two to four turns.

DESIGN NOTE: With an estimated playing time of 90–180 minutes, diplomacy is not complex and military operations not excessively massive: which makes this set-up ideal to get acquainted with the game’s mechanics and design concepts. This scenario commences with the game’s first turn for replacements and reinforcements. This should result in the contending armies gaining a significant number of new units from which they begin the scenario and thereby provide players with immediate and interesting choices.

17.3 The Clash of Armies – The Summer & Fall Struggle of 1813

Through this Congress of Vienna Scenario, players can recreate the titanic struggle of the Summer–Fall of 1813 encompassing the major battles of Dresden, Grossberen, Dennewitz, and Leipzig.  This scenario begins with Turn 5 (August 1813) and ends at the completion of Turn 8 (November–December 1813) with a game length of four turns.

The winner is the player with the highest VPs at the end of the game. Independent of VP scoring, France automatically wins if it controls Gascony, Bavaria, and Holland at the end of the game.  Britain is provided an additional scenario VP reward for making War of 1812 progress.  When looking at the seemingly huge French VP lead at this scenario’s beginning, it should be noted that whenever France loses a major battle and/or one of its VP map spaces, their VP track marker declines while those of the involved Allies increase.  Successful Allied offensives will see their VP markers meet and surpass that of France… IF they’re successful!

DESIGN NOTE: With an estimated playing time of 150–210 minutes, this scenario’s diplomacy is relatively simple, but the military operations in this scenario can be extraordinarily massive and involve many intriguing player decisions (particularly for France and Britain in deciding priorities). This scenario begins with Turn 5. Although the Armistice is in effect, there is really no prospect of peace. British pressure (subsidies and diplomatic counterparts) should push Austria to break its initial neutrality and join the Allies… if only for its own self-interests.

17.4 The Liberation War for Germany and 17.6 Full Campaign Game

This scenario begins with Turn 1 (March–April 1813) and ends at the completion of Turn 8 (November–December 1813). The game length is eight turns.  The French Grande Armée is but a shell of its former self after its disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia (the pursuing Russians and Prussians are themselves exhausted).

Turn One opens with a special rule allowing two space French displacements on Tracks A and/or B if their French Armies choose to withdraw or are defeated in battle and compelled to retreat.  How does this work?  To learn more, please reference this InsideGMT game replay article: Congress of Vienna (with Wargame Flavor Rules) After Action Report Turns 1-5: “Austria’s Neutrality” | Inside GMT blog   “Wargame Flavor Rules” are now called “Optional Historical Rules” (OHR).  It should be noted this replay uses an early version of Congress of Vienna’s rules: some of which were modified through additional playtest experiences.

Again, please recall that when looking at the seemingly huge French VP lead (60VP!) at this scenario’s beginning, it should be noted that whenever France loses a major battle and/or one of its VP map spaces, their VP track marker declines while those of the involved Allies increase.  The preceding referenced game turns 1-5 After Action Report clearly shows how this VP relationship works.  Successful Allied offensives will see their VP track markers meet and surpass that of France… IF they’re successful!

DESIGN NOTE: This scenario covers the war depicted by the game from its beginning (March–April 1813) to November–December 1813; that is, the epic period of major battles in Central Europe (Lützen, Bautzen, Dresden, Leipzig) together with the brilliant Iberian campaign of Wellington, which culminated with his army’s entrance into France (Vitoria, Bidasoa, Nivelle, and Nive). The estimated playing time for experienced players who do not fall prey to “analysis paralysis” or excessive table talk (which is admittedly enjoyable and a wonderful facet of our hobby!) is a 3–4 hour affair that almost always delivers a tight competitive game. This is a game during which military aspects take great relevance. However, diplomacy cannot be neglected since the behavior and entry of Austria into the war is usually decisive. Most of CoV’s playtesting to develop game’s mechanics and Major Power strategies was done using this scenario.

17.5 Desperate Times: The Campaign of France 1814

This scenario begins with Turn 8 (November–December 1813) and ends at the completion of Turn 10 (March–April 1814). The Game length is three turns. However, if all players agree before starting the scenario, there is an option to have the game extend though Turn 11 (May 1814) with OHR 15.4.

This scenario does not permit latitude to either the French or their Allied adversaries in achieving their goals due to its short duration. If France can maintain their Armies’ at start positions on Fronts A & B, Paris will be saved! It is up to each Allied Army to utilize its superior numbers (which mean positive battle DRM) and military cards (more advantageous battle DRM) to overwhelm the “scarce on the ground” French who are still capable of occasional militarily potency, but to do it quickly and as “misstep free” as possible. Also, don’t forget the Peace Congress —particularly if playing OHR 15.6 found at Congress of Vienna’s Optional Rule 15.6 for the Congress of Peace Issue | Inside GMT blog. Finally, in this scenario, two other Optional Historical Rules can be applied to achieve greater historical rigor -although they add more complexity-. The first refers to the Denmark Box (15.2 OHR) simulating the fighting between Danish forces (allies of France) along with the powerful French garrison of Hamburg commanded by Marshal Davout against Allied forces that besieged this fortress and tried to drive Denmark out of the war. The second OHR is “Landing in Holland” (15.3 OHR) that presents the possibility for amphibious landings by the British Army of Scheldt in Holland, as actually happened in the last year of the war. The setup of these OHRs is indicated surrounded by yellow and orange lines in the figure of this scenario below.

DESIGN NOTE: The France Campaign 1814 scenario covers the end of the war using the game’s last three turns. Try it if you’ve limited time to play and want diplomatic aspects prevailing over military ones. The estimated playing time for experienced players should be 90–120 minutes. This game set-up covers the desperate efforts made by Napoleon to defend France against huge invading Russian, Prussian, Austrian and British armies. This led to fierce battles such as La Rothière, Champaubert, Montmirail, Château-Thierry, and Vauchamps, which were all French victories against superior armies by the still brilliant, yet increasingly exhausted, Napoleon. Nevertheless, the victory of Blücher at Laon and the cumulative attritional effects of superior Allied numbers resulted in the occupation of Paris by the Allies and subsequent abdication (surrender) of Napoleon. However, during the entire period of the game, there were numerous agreements and disagreements between the Allies and, through diplomatic efforts mainly sponsored by Metternich, between them and a stubborn Napoleon. Perhaps your gaming experience will generate a different-than-historical result?

17.6 The Full Campaign Game

This scenario begins with Turn 1 (March–April 1813) and ends at the completion of Turn 10 (March–April 1814). This scenario could end early—before the final turn of the scenario—through the Surrender of Napoleon [13.6.6] due to the lack of French units in Paris or a successful Peace Congress [12.4.1.1] providing a player with sufficient VPs to claim an Early Triumph Victory.  With a reconstituted Grande Armée it is possible for France to achieve an Early Triumph Victory! This full game length is ten turns, with potential for an 11-turn game [OHR 15.4]. If you want to experience the entire spectrum and gaming grandeur of situations and conundrums that Congress of Vienna offers, this is the scenario for you!

The Full Campaign Game extends through additional turns the “Liberation War for Germany” turn 1 scenario. Therefore, please reference the preceding 17.4 Set-Up illustration which includes 17.6 instructions. As with that 17.4 scenario, on the first turn only, a French voluntary withdrawal or retreat after a battle defeat on the A and/or B Fronts requires a two-space retreat, e.g., the Track A French Grande Armée block would be moved from Poland to Saxony instead of Silesia, and the attacking Russian Army of Silesia in Polesia would advance an extra space to Silesia.

The Full Campaign Game’s challenge for the Allies is to win battles and advance as quickly as possible towards Paris.  The Central Front (Track A) and Northern Front (Track B) are one of its keys. The Allies, with ten turns, must advance five map spaces on each Front to reach Paris.  Albeit dated for referencing an early version of Congress of Vienna (e.g. lacking Terry Leeds’ beautiful graphics and there’ve been some rule modifications) here’s a link to one of InsideGMT’s “CoV Strategies” articles… in this instance for Russia: Strategies for Russian in Congress of Vienna: “We are Russians… God is with us!![1]” | Inside GMT blog This article provides links to articles addressing Austrian, British, and French Congress of Vienna game strategies.

Final Thoughts

The reason for Congress of Vienna’s shorter scenarios is for players to gain experience with the system and control the pace and facets of the war to their best advantages. Furthermore, each scenario offers its own perspective and narrative.  Each can be well suited for players not wishing to invest the hours a Full Campaign game can entail.  Besides, as CoV’s play testers’ attest: “they’re all fun to play!”.

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