Who’s in the Hot Seat in COS? Without a doubt, it’s Austria! Maria Theresa and the Austrians face daunting tasks the entire game – for most of it, you’re fighting a three front war – a distressingly focused, but intermittent Prussia to the north, a consistently powerful France to the west, and a lesser but occasionally highly menacing effort by France/Spain down in Italy. The Austrian player probably has the most exciting role in the game – hanging on in Austria up to ’43, counter-offensives west in ‘44-48, repeated tantalizing opportunities in Italy, balanced by yet more large doses of hanging on in the Austrian Netherlands from ‘44-48! The Austrian role is very similar to that of the Prussians in Clash of Monarchs; beset on all sides by foes throughout the game (Austrian, Russian, French/Imperial), but never out of it, thanks to their worthy army and leaders.
The Austrian Army — An All-Around Worthy Weapon:
The Austrians have a lot of solid leaders, including Khevenhuller, Browne, and Leichtenstein, and an ace in Marshal Traun. Unfortunately, on at least one front, they will be hampered by the lackluster Charles as Commander in Chief (CIC) of one army .
The history, matched in the game, means that the Austrians will have to use Charles as CIC in crucial theaters, so live with it. The Able Advisor card is a big help, and should be a no brainer to play when you draw it. You may back Charles with Traun, Browne, or Khevenhuller if available. In general, Traun can stymie Frederick, or France’s Belle Isle; for the threat Traun can’t face, employ Croat/Hussar (CH) markers with a vengeance.
Campaigning OOMPH – You have it (by mid-game, anyway!):
The Austrians have Mounting Power in more ways than army size; they get nine 4+ CP cards, that can generally activate at least two and sometimes three army forces in a given campaign season. This includes the whopping Maria Macht Krieg! 7 CP Event in Wider War; this monster will let you activate a sluggard Charles, and a Khevenhuller, and a Leichtenstein (3 init + 2 + 2) all in one season, or Charles, Traun, Max Browne and two 15 SP Admin marches (3+1+1+1+1), enabling the Austrians to go all out on three campaign fronts, while following up with major backfield reinforcements, or radically shift support emphasis from one theater to another. Good stuff!
Regarding Army leader composition – you have a lot of good subordinates (Browne in particular until he’s promoted). In Wider War, you will want those Regaining the Crown cards to get back the Holy Roman Empire crown (and VPs); but they also provide a benefit as Able Subordinate Tac cards to boost your Commander’s limited ability, and even things up vs.the French. Remember, it only takes one Able Subordinate card to make Traun, Browne, or Khevenhuller the equal or better of an enemy army headed by a De Saxe or Frederick at their peak! So take heart!
The Austrians also get a respectable tally of other operational / Tac cards to blunt or foil enemy intentions. You may need to expend these for other reasons (read: Prussian Pillage cards – ouch!, or Army Sustain, et al), but keep your hands on Counter-Move if at all possible when you’ve got Traun or Max Browne facing off an enemy army — it can ruin their day, and make yours! 🙂
Croats and Hussars: Your Loyal Tribesmen!
The Austrians have a unique, potent weapon in their CH troops; you don’t win battles with them; they help you avoid battles you don’t want to fight, by adding to Withdraw rolls, and eating up enemy Aps. I adjure you – learn how to use them! The more you examine their capabilities and employ them, the more you will appreciate the ways you can bog down your enemies. In Austrian territory, they can literally pop up from nowhere, behind enemy main forces, and on top of (in reality, in vicinity of) enemy fortresses, cutting supply.
In mid-late war, a few CH units in the western Empire can serve well as a subtle psychological deterrent against the French launching any late, nostalgic stabs eastward for Bavarian or Empire VP spaces. CH units eat up an extra Ap every time the enemy enters their space, can Withdraw safely most of the time, and make the enemy spend two more Ap again entering the next space. Two or three CH units can effectively screen lightly-held western Austria/Bavaria VP spaces to release SP for more crucial campaign areas.
Obvious (and Less So) Good Things to Know for an Austrian:
Early War:
- Piedmont is Your Friend – Play those Events!
If you don’t see a lot of attraction in playing the Convention of Turin event, look again; it lets you and the Pieds make larger armies together, which usually helps against increasingly large Fr/Span armies as the game goes on, and and oh yeah, it gains you a VP if you successfully enact it; so what do I have to do, throw a brick at you? 🙂 Same goes for the Brit Treaty of Worms Event, though you don’t even have to squint on that one, with all the VPs stuck on it. Aus+Pieds in Italy = even or better capability than the French/Spanish. Aus alone, Pieds alone = less than aware (dumb) Austrian player.
- Show me the Bodies!
Make no mistake, you must get every Reinforcement card played that you can, as early as you can, or you risk having the Austrians wither and die on one front or another. That may even mean passing on a campaign round’s activations to ensure you get that Mounting Power booster shot played and those 20,000 men on the board. There is plenty of time in the campaign game to regain lost ground. And yeah, MOST of these cards are in the British deck, so make sure you Play Nice with your Brit/Pied ally!
- You can’t stop Frederick on the Map; he can’t stop Kaunitz at the Green Table…
Study the Breathing Room: Kleinschellendorf, Treaty of Berlin, and Treaty of Dresden Events carefully. Note the dates. Play them as soon as you are eligible to play them. Do I have to load up on another brick?
Mid War:
- Italy; One if By Antibes, Two if By Naples…
There are pros and cons to facing a single Spanish/French army in Italy (east from Antibes) and a two force, all-or-mostly French western army and a smaller (up from Naples) Spanish army. You have to guard both south and west when they’re separated, but you are generally facing smaller enemy armies on each wing. When combined, they become more formidable for sustained campaigning and battles – but in all likelihood, that south wing and the door to Naples will open up. If it’s Summer season, and you have stockpiled 3-4 depots, and can spare 10 sp and a decent leader, go for it! (have some fun, beleaguered Maria!)
- Regain that Crown…by ’44-45, Gott mitt uns, the Austrians should have pulled in enough Reinforcement SP that they can switch to equal offense from largely defense. With the French usually busy plundering your other VP areas in Flanders (oy veh! J), and having a hard time affording Depot units to sustain themselves in Bavaria, you should have been, or should be assiduouslyl applying cards to the Regaining the Crown political track.
Late War:
From ‘45-48, once Prussia is off your back, a counter-offensive through Bavaria into eastern France is entirely achievable, as well as pushing the French or Spanish back in Italy. But one certainty you will be dealing with in late game is De Saxe and his French juggernaut in Flanders and (Gott in Himmel!) Holland.
How to counter the De Saxe Gorilla in Flanders?
To reconfirm the obvious, Marshal Traun may be the best answer to slowing De Saxe (if there is any answer!). The Price you pay is that Traun can’t then grab French VP forts further up the Rhine, or push into Italy. But you will still have Max Browne, if you’ve been wise enough to play that Maria Corrects Her Misstep event.
- Play Louis Must Lead as often as you get it; even if the French have Able Advisor, their AP count has plummeted, and every battle becomes a VP risk to them. That means even a decent-sized Cumberland-led Pragmatic army, with dice luck, is a valid threat. It can cool Louis’ martial ador considerably!
- Debauche – a hung over, pensive or melancholy ) DeSaxe doesn’t move as much… 🙂 (take your pick – the card is a symbolic catch-all for the brilliant but troubled man’s periods of low activity)
- Counter – offensives; if you can’t
stop De Saxe up north, then…
- Take VPs in Italy; you have a huge advantage in central position vs.the French/Spanish, and the Pieds in that central position offer more support as an ally than the Spanish do the French.
- Grab VPs in Eastern France; IF your Brit ally has bought you all those great Reinforcements, you will have enough troops to go for French VP forts in Strasbourg-Metz. The advantage is YOU can reach them with your generous Depot resources; the French have a very hard time mounting any effective threats to Bavaria/Austria from about 1743-4 on. With hopes the Brits/Dutch can somewhat contest vs.De Saxe, sustain offensives to take VPs behind him. Force the Fr to divert resources to the Empire border instead of Flanders.
- In concert with this, Go for Paris! Once you crack the hard shell of France’s border Fortresses, any one can be a launch point for a drive on Paris. Getting close or into Paris, regardless of whether you are driven out, is a threat that can’t be ignored by the French; do it in Fall, and you will halve Fr reinf for next year; it’s a big scot free 3 VP bonus for that stab. Even if you don’t get it, your main goal is to get De Saxe to turn around
Get those Saxons – For Cannon Fodder!
Get them and use them if you can. In mid-late game, the Saxons can be an asset; they are best used as the slightly smaller part of a mixed Aus-Sax force, of say 10 Aus sp led by a Browne, and 8-9 Sax to swell the ranks. Such an economically formed tertiary army, operating out of Prag, can be a real threat to Magdeburg and Berlin, or take a stab at regaining Silesian VP spaces, forcing the Prussians to allocate a blocking army to protect these places. The less SP Fred has to threaten Vienna or Prag, the better! You’ll note that the Prussian Revenge! Card allows the Prussians to storm into Saxony and gain VPs one way or the other, so you might as well try to get some counter-advantage out of the Saxon army.
Speaking of Prag – it’s a tough nut to crack, if you take respectable measures to defend it. A 4 SP garrison is the first safeguard; ANY leader along with it makes it almost bullet-proof, so you can dump one of your duds in there for that worthy purpose. Of course, given leader SP limits, you are going to have to use some of your Arenbergs and Lobkowitzes to help carry along SP in large armies, but you should be able to spare one here. But, EVEN BETTER – how about in mid game, if those 4 SP and that leader were Saxon? Think about it…
There’s more to say for the Austrians, about defending Vienna, working with the Pieds, and back dooring on the French, but…the AT&T robo voice is saying my time’s up, and I’ve run out of quarters to put in the phone! (whew, really dating myself there!)
Other Clash of Sovereigns Articles:
Clash of Sovereigns Design Thoughts #1: Some “Big Picture” Canister Shots
Author: Bob Kalinowski
I really enjoyed reading this article. I found it quite entertaining. The more I read about this game, the more it appears to be beefing up to be a real Auseinandersetzung. Du Liebe!!