Introduction by Congress of Vienna Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter: Game Designer Frank Esparrago here concludes his four parts “How to Play” treatise, one for each Congress of Vienna Major Power: France, Austria, Russia, and now Britain which readers and prospective players of the game will hopefully find edifying and enjoyable.

The goal of these expositions is to give CoV players, particularly “newbies”, insights as to how to exploit the advantages and defend against the weaknesses of each Major Power.  These articles are provided in recognition that our beloved hobby has so many titles to choose from that there’s little time to repeatedly play a given game to learn all the nuances not revealed by a rulebook.

When Frank or I host a Congress of Vienna game at a club meeting or convention, we’ll sometimes warn an inexperienced player not to do something which could impede an opportunity for success or result in potential grievous damage to that player’s pursuit of victory.  Well, Frank and I can’t be at your Congress of Vienna gaming table to provide that kind of advisory help… therefore, these articles are intended to be “the next best thing”.

For more regarding Congress of Vienna, with the referenced “Strategies” articles as well as pieces conveying Scenario Set-Ups, Optional Rules (such as the Tactical Battle Resolution Matrix and those not provided with the published game), after action reports, a compendium exploring all the game’s cards, designers notes for the Solitaire and Two Player games, as well as presentations of this fascinating Napoleonic era history in terms of the game, etc., see: GMT Games – Congress of Vienna

Incidentally, please note these “Strategies for” articles are based on a Congress of Vienna Standard Rules Full Campaign Game of potentially ten turns duration.

With that, take it away Frank!

Strategies for Britain

The Mechanics of Earning Congress of Vienna VP: How to Make Britain “Great”?

It’s convenient to realize that in CoV, diplomatic and political successes and failures are at least as important as military matters as all are synthesized in terms of Victory Points (VPs). With this article I now focus on Britain’s perspective in gaining and preserving them for (hopefully) ultimately winning the game.

As Congress of Vienna’s designer, I preferred naming this Major Power solely Britain; deliberately omitting the word “Great” in its title, which could traditionally go before the name of this nation. In this game, as the British player, it is you who have many opportunities available to truly rule Britain[1] and make her “Great”! It is an appellation to be earned!

The Union Flag, created 1800, remains the flag of the United Kingdom. It combines the flags of St George’s Cross (which was deemed to include Wales) and the St Andrew’s Saltire of Scotland with the St Patrick’s Saltire to represent Ireland.

The 1800 Acts of Union were parallel acts of Britain’s Parliament and the Parliament of Ireland which united both Kingdoms to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 22 January 1801. However, it de facto meant the total subordination of Ireland to Great Britain at a time Catholics could not be elected to parliament. For this reason, we considered keeping the Old name of Britain that already grouped the old kingdoms of Scotland and England.

The opening of this article consists of an overview of factors influencing British Congress of Vienna play. We’ll then proceed to examine in a bit more detail:

• The Peninsular War
• The North American War of 1812
• Liberalism, other Diplomatic Issues, and Britain as “The Arsenal of the Coalition”
• Sound Government & The Pax Britannica Track
• British Strategies including their Military/Battle Cards and Card Trading

First, you have the possibility of victoriously ending the “Peninsular War” in Spain once and for all, expelling the hated French from its soil and even going deep into France with an invasion of your own. Many VPs await the victorious British Armies as a reward for a successful and aggressive campaign. Of course, to accomplish this feat, you have the grateful support of Spanish and Portuguese military units, ubiquitous guerrillas to help liberate Spain, and, when in your card hand, the highly effective leadership of Wellington, perhaps the most complete of Congress of Vienna’s Allied generals.

Another important concern, and this one with the possibility of impeding Britain’s march to victory, are the insufferable American colonists engaged in the War of 1812. They really are a nuisance with their absurd claims and attempts to expel you from Canada. To dissuade them from this you have the faithful, loyal, and efficient Canadian militia; unruly allied Indians tribes; your omnipresent powerful Royal Navy, and the resources of your great nation and its imperium.

Furthermore, if you crush the insidious and tenacious Americans (supported by the perfidious French); you will have the possibility of recovering Maine and perhaps other territory for the Crown and doing great moral damage to the United States (through burning their coastal cities, reducing their commerce to nothing, making them sign a humiliating peace …). This, in a great strategy game like CoV, translates into VP. Do it! But do not forget that if you leave the Americans free to wield their will, you shall experience a great War of 1812 headache: they can conquer Canada thereby sinking your prestige (losing VP) and threaten your colonial and maritime empire; don’t neglect The War of 1812 Box!

In addition to these two huge sources of basic VP to cement British victory; you have other ways to get even more. One is the Liberalism Track and the other, unique to Britain, is the Pax Britannica Track that allows you to flood Europe with your manufactures and with the products of India and your Caribbean colonies to get another good handful of VPs.

Like other players, you have Minor Countries in Europe which will provide you VP, specifically Naples and Holland who are quite inclined towards you. When the military situation arises, you can try an amphibious landing in Naples from your base in Sicily. If you are successful, as the main French armies are absorbing resources for defending other places, this landing can bring Britain more VP and helpful unis from Naples (through winning its Minor Country Issue).

Finally, remember you are the “Arsenal of the Coalition”. What does this mean? In many tiebreak situations, the British win if directly involved. Should Britain not be directly involved, the British player determines which of the engaged players wins any tie. This special ability can allow you to win the Diplomacy Phase many times with 2 VP each or decide which tied player will obtain them. Of course, you will generally decide on the Major Power with the lowest VP Record Track score and thus you will have set aside another potential rival in the race to Britain’s final victory… nothing different than what your historical counterparts did, don’t you think?

Can you lose the Congress of Vienna game as Britain by achieving the preceding-described CoV triumphs? In theory no, but… you do have Napoleon and the French Empire to oppose Britain’s designs.  France is a Major Power with excellent generals, a large amount of manpower and at game start seemingly unlimited financial resources. To successfully confront this powerful enemy, you must prioritize how you are going to gain advances in each of Britain’s VP sources and how to each turn effectively use your limited card set of politicians and generals.

From the game’s beginning you must be fully cognizant that to weaken your deadly French antagonist you have the significant aid of Austria and Russia, two powerful empires, but with seeming feet of clay. Their lack of financial resources to carry out fully effective European military operations is appalling; so, you should help them with part of Britain’s wealth through Financial Aid and put into practice the strategy of weakening, defeating and eventually expelling the “Corsican Ogre” from his French throne.

They are beggars, of course, but what better use of your money than to finance a huge multinational European army of Russians, Prussians, Austrians, and Swedes for liquidating French power in Europe? Therefore, do not neglect collaboration with them; “grease” the Russian and Austrian players with part of your sterling pound surplus and trade their good battle cards to them to fight Napoleon. If their battles succeed, your British Army of Portugal will have a more open route from Spain and could reach Paris to gain enormous military and political prestige (more VPs in this game).

These are the paths to British victory, now I examine them in more detail. However, as always happens in a multiplayer game; your decisions will be influenced by the clever competence, idiosyncrasies, hopes and collaboration of other players. By the way, for a comprehensive review of the character cards at your potential disposal each turn, see: Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna – The British Contingent, 2024 Edition (Part 1 of 4) | Inside GMT blog.

The Peninsular War

This was the main European military theater chosen by the British Government to combat and wear down Napoleon (see Figure 1). The excellent British army, though small, with its Spanish and Portuguese allies, under Wellington and his generals’ talented leadership drove the French out of Spain and allowed it to be the first Allied army to enter France. Can you emulate that feat in CoV!?!

Regardless of the Major Battle victories you achieve with the British Army of Portugal (and their corresponding VP bonuses for gaining Track C map spaces); in the Track D Mediterranean Front you have two spaces that award 2 VP each. In addition, the possession of Central Spain (Track C’s Castile space) grants 2 VP each turn to the British. The British player can obtain from Spain in a game +20 VP! Furthermore, if a British advance into France continues; there are an additional 7 VP for Gascony and Toulouse with another 5 VP if your Army of Portugal arrives in Paris!

As I pointed out in “Strategies for France” (How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: France (2024 Edition) Part 2 of 2, Emphasis on War | Inside GMT blog); a vital Track C space is Gascony; which is a very strong French defensive position to be wary of. Do remember the prerequisite to attack Gascony is to first conquer Track D’s Valencia space.

Furthermore, the battle DRM difference between Castile and Gascony is a staggering +9 DRM to the French player. In Castile, the British player gets a +3 DRM for guerillas; a modifier lost in attacking the Gascony space. Here the French receive +3 DRM for Homeland, and the British suffer -3 DRM by attacking a mountain space.

Finally, as “a defending Army in mountain space”, the French player may cancel a retreat by losing an additional unit (presuming it has an extra unit to spare).

The main potential problems for an Allied advance in Spain are, apart from those already mentioned; four vicious cards that if in the French player’s possession are a mortal threat: this includes the “dynamic duo” of Soult and Suchet along with the neutral battle (military) cards #63 or #66’s AllIED Lack of Coordination (see Figure 2). All of them when used alone, or much worse in a combination of two or more, can make a battle that seemed a certain victory, turn into a bloody British defeat, even with Wellington in command!

The Allied Lack of Coordination penalty of  -2DRM for each nationality can be particularly punishing to your Army of Portugal if all three of its nationalities are present for a given battle: British, Spanish, and Portuguese.  Please note the asterisk for Battle Cards 63 & 66 indicates both cards cannot be played together by France for a single Track/Front battle no matter where. 

The War of 1812

I will be brutal with you prospective Congress of Vienna players of Britain; if you lose in America, you will have likely lost a chance to win the game!  

This is not only because you will not get the VPs that a North American theater of War of 1812 victory generates; it is because France will be rewarded with all the VPs the North Americans, their stalwart USA allies, obtain!

The War of 1812 Status Track tabulates British and US victories. At the end of each turn Britain obtains the VPs indicated by the Track’s red tinted boxes. A British battle victory moves the War of 1812 Status marker one space right and a USA/French player victory moves the marker one space left.  Battles are resolved as those in Europe save there are no Major Battles and neither side may declare a Withdrawal.

When a side has the Status marker in its +2 box at the beginning of a turn, it can seek ending the war through Diplomacy Phase winning and activating the Treaty of Ghent (Britain) or Canada Annexed (France) Issue. Should such a victorious end to the war occur, potential variable turn-by-turn scoring ceases for the game’s duration and the British or French player (whomever attains victory) receives 3 VP each turn with one additional card added to their hand (see Figure 3).

Even if you don’t get to get the Treaty of Ghent’s definitive end of the North American War in Britain’s favor, should you maintain a high War of 1812 Status; for example, +1 during each of 7 turns; Britain cumulatively gets +7 VP.

However, if the Americans, performing for the benefit of their French masters, win the war with the Canada Annexed Issue relatively early during a game; the French player could receive 18-20 VP “from heaven”.  This French VP windfall could be somewhat mitigated by either yourself or your Austrian or Russian ally playing the Sherbrooke card to deny France its War of 1812 VP for a turn (see Figure 4 card image).

Britain should therefore never neglect the War of 1812. When there’s a Military Operation, it must prioritize placing military support markers there; send British reinforcements to North America and save applicable battle cards to ensure victory each turn. Which cards are these? You have Sherbrooke, Tecumseh, and some excellent military neutral cards for this task.  

Additionally, there’s Gambier, who if not played for another purpose, can be used to place a War of 1812 USA Military Operation (at no Resource cost to you!).  This frees you from the need to place a one of your two British Military Operation Issue markers there (see Figure 4 for these three British cards).

Two last tips:

1. British Fleet Demobilization: At the beginning of a turn, immediately after obtaining an Initial Environment Table result, the British player has the option of demobilizing fleets from anywhere on the map (see Figure 5). For every two fleets removed into Britain’s Force Pool, either one Resource or, and this could be critical in a tightly contested Congress of Vienna game, one Victory Point (VP). This is a one-way transaction… that is, Britain can’t trade a VP to obtain two fleets.
   
   Fleets are only useful in Track G’s War of 1812 Box or with the British Army of Sicily to amphibiously invade Track E’s Naples.  Should either or both be shut down, particularly the War of 1812, Britain should seriously consider the “Peace Dividend” Fleet Demobilization offers.  Whether to take a Resource or VP for two fleets is situational… but this is certainly a nice British player option to have, is it not?
   
2. If Andrew Jackson’s card, with his +4 Battle DRM, does not become visible during a Diplomacy Phase, prepare yourself for the worst; for surely a cunning French player will be reserving it to use against you. Andrew Jackson is also powerful in that, instead of using him for battle, the French, Austrian, or Russian player can use him to deny The War of 1812 Box’s British VP for a turn… even if you’ve successfully ended the conflict! Nasty, eh? (see Figure 6).

Liberalism, Future Government of France, other Diplomatic Issues, and Britain as the “Arsenal of the Coalition”

Another way Britain can get VPs is by winning a turn’s Diplomacy Phase through gaining the most Issues on its Track at the end of this Phase! You get 2 VP, which on many occasions will be an easy to achieve reward, very easy indeed, since Britain determines the winner of ties through her National Advantage: “Arsenal of the Coalition”. If Britain is involved in a tie, Britain wins.  Should Britain not be involved in the tie, it still gets to designate the Diplomacy Phase winner VP to the tied player of its choosing. It’s “nice to be King” in this respect, eh?

Another obvious route to VP is the Liberalism Issue, which has increasing VP yields each time its red pawn is successfully advanced on its Track. Alas, Britain has two main obstacles to contend with in achieving Liberalism’s progress. The first is the formidable Absolutist Russian and Austrian Statesmen and especially their leader TSAR ALEXANDER… all dedicated to the opposing cause of Absolutism. To confound them you have two-character cards who possess bonuses if played for Liberalism: Eldon and Huskisson.  There’s also your Leader, Castlereagh, who is worth an impressive value of seven (7) regarding this Issue. Then there’s France, who has a single card to assist with Liberalism; GAUDIN. 

Also remember that once the Liberalism Issue is won and activated through a Resource’s expenditure, it still requires a final single die roll result of four or more to advance its pawn on the Track. Huskisson provides a +1 drm to that die roll, as does a British and/or French Resource.  It’s good having a cumulative +3 drm so that a four or higher die roll result is guaranteed and those Liberalism VP assured!

There is a danger regarding Liberalism’s advance as during the game’s early stages, France can come close to automatically winning the game with an Early Triumph Victory of 80 or more VP, so beware this double-edged sword since each time Britain earns Liberalism’s VP France also receives the same number of VP. Your premature victories with this Issue may contribute to your arch-enemy’s sudden death victory! Don’t forget this since in punishment you could bear an extreme penance!

Normally, during CoV’s later game turns, France will not have reached 80 VP at the end of a turn and will miss the opportunity to achieve an Early Triumph Victory. Consequently, both players (French & British) could collaborate in advancing the red pawn of Liberalism (see Figure 7).

The Future Government of France Issue can only be played after the Armistice has been signed. But it’s an Issue that normally takes VP away from the French player and grants them to the Allies. Especially if you get the future government headed by the fat, grateful, pro-British King Louis XVIII (see Figure 8).

A final source of VP through diplomacy is to focus on gaining Minor Country Issues, as they yield 1 VP each per won and activated Issue. Perhaps Holland is a best Minor Country Issue for you to seek since it is a French-British Issue and your Leader Castlereagh is a 7-value card for winning it. Take consolation that while you may not be able to gain a Minor Country’s military unit; you’re certainly depriving its related Major Power, very often France, from obtaining it and that can have indirect value to achieving Britain’s ultimate ambitions.

Sound Government and the “Pax Britannica” Track

Then, for all players, there’s Sound Government which gives 1 VP in exchange for a single Resource. The problem is that sometimes you won’t have any leftover British Resource markers after your subjects are relieved of taxes (patriotically, of course!) and your empire’s revenues collected (ungrudgingly, of course!). Getting that Sound Government VP is often a luxury only the French player can comfortably afford during the early game… particularly during Armistice!

However, unlike the game’s other players, you uniquely have the Pax Britannica Track which allows Britain to obtain a magnificent harvest of VP; up to a cumulative 15 VP if you get to the Track’s end!

Its operation is simple: “Each turn at the end of Government Phase, the British player rolls a six-sided die to determine this track’s results. With a 1d6 result of 4-6, the Pax Britannica pawn advances; immediately gaining for Britain the VPs indicated for each space. This die roll may be modified by spending Resource markers and/or British fleets, at a rate of +1 drm for each Resource or fleet spent”. Expending a fleet can pose something of a dilemma until other demands upon them diminish but think of the possible VP reward!

If things are going well for Britain, you can allocate a Resource or leftover fleet for this task and easily get the corresponding VPs. You can afford to miss a turn since there are but five advances for the game’s 10 turns! There’s just one major difficulty: “However, to advance in some spaces the pawn must meet certain prerequisites”. These are increasingly difficult to achieve and reference the fact that you must favorably resolve the annoying War of 1812 through a victorious position and gain progress on the Liberalism Track and the Future Government of France Track.

If you employ additional Character & Event cards to aid this effort, you have among Britain’s cards the excellent HUSKISSON +1 drm for either the Liberalism or Pax Britannica die roll.  There’s also Liverpool and BEXLEY  which, if played by Britain, provides a Pax Britannica +1 drm.  I’ve observed many an “I win on anything but a die roll result of one: arghhh!!!” lament.  Ah, the fickleness of fate!

Britain’s Great Strategies

The British player must be clear about a strategy based on accruing maximum results from different sources of VP: The Peninsular War with its battle victories; The War of 1812; Diplomacy Issues including Liberalism and winning other Issues during the Diplomacy Phase; and finally, the Pax Britannica and Future Government of France Tracks.

Normally, you will not be able to advance all VP sources to their maximum: since a crushing British victory would result (nice as that would be!) and, as that becomes an evident possibility, all three of the game’s other players will turn unwelcome attentions upon you. You must therefore find a reasonably unobtrusive balance between the paths to Britain’s victory.  Keep a low profile until it’s too late for your opponents to foil you!

Milestones in Any British Strategy

The British Financial Aid Issues: I have seen some British players jealously seek to retain their Resources and therefore fight for Britain’s Financial Aid markers to stay on their National Track or the Negotiation Table. Of course, this is a legitimate decision; but you should recognize that usually these Financial Aid markers will serve to help “kill” French, win battles against the French empire, and cause the loss of former imperial territories which subtract VPs from the French player.

This deletion of VPs causes France to move from the possibility of an Early Triumph Victory and makes it easier for you to achieve victories and advances in Spain and the War of 1812 (with its corresponding British VP harvest). Only when the French player gains a Financial Aid Issue (damned French corsairs!) should you make the effort to debate it immediately. Also, as the end of the game approaches, you must divine if the player who tries to get a Financial Aid Issue is a direct rival for your achieving British victory.

As you hopefully learned, the key to implementing a victorious strategy for Britain, as with the other Allied players, is to get additional Resource markers to fund won Issue sources of VPs. Unlike other players, you do not receive a Resource for a British Financial Aid Issue… but you do avoid paying one out! 

Furthermore,  you have “The Two Barons” medium-low value cards to help. With them, the British player could receive an always welcome additional Resource when these cards are appropriately used. Many will be the times you receive them from other players in trade or they’ll simply be dealt into your hand.

“The Two Barons” are the 1st Baron Eldon, jocularly nicknamed “The Wig” by our play testers, and Baron Bexley (see Figure 11). Use them whenever you can! Although “The Wig” with its value of two apparently seems the worse card, it’s better that you receive an additional Resource with 100% assurance.

The Armistice and Austria at War Issues from a British Perspective: Let’s recall ideas regarding the Allies’ powerful Central Europe Track A Armies… which cannot be fully wielded against France without implementing Armistice followed by Austria at War.

When you realize Austria and/or Russia may want to delay the Armistice for whatever reason (e.g., as Austria receives 2 VP each turn it remains at Peace); do not try overly hard to leave Armistice in the middle of the Negotiation Table as you will spend good cards on that Issue and most of the time not get it to stay there in face of determined opposition: which could very well include France.  Be persuasive and offer British support to Russia and Austria so all three of you can bring down the hated “ogre” of Corsica. 

Once Armistice has been implemented, the Austria at War Issue should be accomplished as quickly as possible, and Britain should be thoroughly and visibly involved in that effort. At this point, you should have the support of Russia, and in most cases of Austria, so you can without undue effort get Austria’s entry into the fray. However, I have seen games which saw Austria’s entry into the Coalition delayed by a turn or more due to Napoleon’s twisted and unanticipated performance (e.g., through France winning the Austria at War Issue during the Diplomacy Phase); or via some strange delaying machination that only the Austrian player can fathom.

Why should you strive getting the Austria at War Issue quickly implemented? It impacts the flow of French military units, military support markers, and French Battle cards to Central and Northern Europe as well as Italy to engage the Russians, Prussians, and Austrians… easing the way for your British armies! As a military proverb says: “That it is a good thing to make a bridge of gold to a flying enemy…”

Consequently, don’t take too long getting Austria into The War, as overly delaying that can make Paris a far too distant objective. This can ensure a French “survival” victory with Napoleon remaining on the board, unabdicated, at game end!

British Battle Cards: I already described many British cards but want to focus briefly on their eight Battle cards (one of which is French!). I divide them into three groups: The first is named “Top British Battle cards”: there are only two, but they’re the superlative Wellington, who can only be used for Tracks C or D in Spain, and Sherbrooke, who can only be used for The War of 1812 Box. You already know the French cards that can ruin your anticipated victory, so keep those enemy cards in mind!

I name the second group Standard British Battle cards. All have in common that they grant medium DRM in battle; the French Joseph Bonaparte card produces a -4 French DRM until implementation of Austria at War (to the French player’s woe). This modifier reflects the doubts and lack of military acumen of this historical personality. Interestingly, once Austria enters the war JOSEPH BONAPARTE becomes militarily useless to both sides. The “Daddy” Hill card equally gets +2 British DRM, or -3 French DRM as the British player chooses! Morillo, is a more single-minded “butcher” character as demonstrated by his brutal Venezuela campaign of 1814-1816 to pacify colonial uprisings against the Spanish monarchy in South America (see Figure 12).

Finally, I name Castaños and Graham as “Evil” British battle cards. First, because of their limited military talents. Second, that both cards modify another player moving an Issue positioned on your British National Track with a positive modifier. Argh! These two characters can empower your opposition! When this happens it’s something which can leave you a bit peeved (or is “miffed” the better term?)!

Trading Cards to Improve your British Hand’s Quality: When you get a British card in trade during the Diplomacy Phase; you obtain an improved quality British hand with additional and necessary military cards and/or good diplomatic cards such as those previously described.  Do note that the best time to seek trades is during the early Rounds of a Diplomacy Phase since, if you wait for the later Rounds, a potential trading partner may not have any British cards remaining in hand for trade.

Should you have Blücher, Wittgenstein, Schwarzenberg and/or Barclay in your possession, do not hesitate to trade one or more of these. They allow Allied players to fight with better odds against France. Such generosity also provides consequent future advantages and the gratitude of your Coalition partner(s). Well, you can always hope for gratitude!

Final Features…

As this piece has attempted to convey, achieving victory with Britain is a matter of perseverance with many viable paths to success and it is certainly possible to gain a seemingly elusive CoV game win.

You must advance with as many of Britain’s goals as practical for receiving VPs. You don’t have to thoroughly beat the rest of the players, just get further than any of them on the VP Record Track!

To achieve this as Britain, you have good diplomacy cards, including those for generating Resources, and your magnificent Wellington general who will aid your cause a great deal as has been previously described. You have British money and the Royal Navy’s fleets to finance and help achieve your goals. You also have Russian/Prussian and Austrian armies to aid in defeating Napoleon on various European Fronts (Tracks A, B, and F) who can advance to the capture of Paris and force Napoleon’s abdication.

What more fun, then, do you want?

Concluding Series’ Remarks by Congress of Vienna Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter: As many readers already know, GMT’s November 2024 Monthly Update conveyed the very welcome news that Congress of Vienna’s charging and shipping to those who P-500 ordered it should occur sometime during January 2025. That means folks should have this long-awaited game on their tables early next year (hooray!). What a milestone to achieve in a journey the Congress of Vienna Team and those who shared it with us through InsideGMT posts and participation in various play test convention/club meetings over the years. Thanks to you all!

The conclusion of this “Strategies for” series fulfills Frank’s goal of hopefully accelerating new Congress of Vienna players to best appreciate the game system’s nuances and to be in a better competitive position when one or more opponents have experience with the game’s rules and cards than an opponent’s.  This applies whether playing Napoleonic France or one of its Sixth Coalition nemesis of Russia, Austria, or Britain.

For an experienced CoV player has an advantage versus a “newbie”.  These articles are intended to “level the playing field”.  So please accept this series in the fun and joyful spirit it is offered oh fellow gamers! 

Remember, Congress of Vienna, as was the fascinating historical period it reflects, involves fate or in game terms, “luck with the cards and luck with the dice”. So, in closing here’s an appropriate quote from the emperor Napoleon himself: “The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos.  The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies’.”

Enjoy Congress of Vienna!

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Footnotes:

[1] “Rule Britannia! Britannia, Rule the Waves!” This is a British patriotic song originating from the poem “Rule, Britannia” by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740. It is strongly associated with the Royal Navy, but also used by the British Army.

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Previous Articles:

How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: France (2024 Edition) Part 1 of 2, Emphasis on Diplomacy

How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: France (2024 Edition) Part 2 of 2, Emphasis on War

How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: Austria (2024 Edition)

How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: Russia (2024 Edition)