Introduction by Congress of Vienna (CoV)’s Editor, Fred Schachter – To familiarize the InsideGMT audience of what designer Frank Esparrago accomplished with his fun and exciting Congress of Vienna game, now a GMT P-500 offering which has “Made the Cut” and then some (thank you patrons, thank you so very much!) kindly reference previous InsideGMT articles covering a wide range of CoV topics. These can serve as useful background for appreciating this article. Use the following link to access this material: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-850-congress-of-vienna.aspx

The CoV play test team, now mostly using VASSAL due to being geographically disparate, have enjoyed many exciting Congress of Vienna games. I have become something of a “VASSAL Voyeur” observing a game from time to time with its fun, excitement, and often hilarious banter between the players (e.g. “that’s one heck of a maniacal chuckle, my friend… just what are you planning, you sly fox, you?!?”)

The team has held many an interesting debate considering how to best play each of Congress of Vienna’s Major Powers. This article wraps this “strategies” series up by reflecting on their most recent musings concerning Russia as described by game designer Frank Esparrago. It follows preceding InsideGMT articles for France, Austria, and Britain.

We have indicated in italics game Issue markers the players vie for. The terms “track” and “front” are synonymous. Game rules will unfortunately need to be implicit: a restriction an article format such as this compels which readers will hopefully appreciate. That said, take it away Frank (and readers, please appreciate Frank’s somewhat tongue in cheek humor within certain parts of this piece)!

Note: If you would like to view any of the below images in a larger size, you can click on the image and it will point you to the full image file.

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God be with us, but Napoleon must be the Antichrist: How to survive the renewed overwhelming Grande Armée and forge Russia into becoming master of Europe in a Congress of Vienna game?

The Russian player, representing the Tsar, has the widest range of cards (personages) which include those of his Prussian and Swedish satellites. This together with their National Characteristic will lead them on numerous occasions to conduct aggressive diplomacy.

This player’s cards are balanced between military, diplomats and statesmen. The Russian player is coming off his nation’s costly and traumatic triumph in repulsing Napoleon’s massive invasion of the previous year. The Tsar and his allies, members of the Coalition, are poised to finish the job of crushing France and imposing a new European order. Russia’s main problem is a lack of resources to achieving all its ambitious goals… so prioritization is required.

An Overview of Russia’s CoV Situation

Russia has powerful human potential, with excellent military leaders, diplomats, three replacements every pair turn (that’s every other turn), the unconditional support of Prussia and its army with its deeply, and in some cases fanatically, anti-French attitudes with highly professional military leaders. In addition, when Sweden at War occurs you will also have the small Swedish Army and its leader Bernadotte.

The Russian player’s problem is that until the Armistice occurs you will have to fight alone in Europe against Napoleon’s military genius and the powerful French Empire … and this is a tough task… a tough task indeed. France has very good military leaders (in addition to Napoleon), a high replacement rate (6-7 military units during even-numbered turns early in the game: before it hopefully begins losing troop-raising territories, see Figure 1), and many controlled Minor Countries capable of producing more troops when their Issues are Diplomacy Phase won that turn. These advantages make the extraordinarily weakened Grande Armée capable of recuperating after France’s catastrophic Russian 1812 Campaign.

With CoV, I don’t despair in face of all this potential French power! I am extraordinarily confident, capable, and comfortable playing Russia and you should too. There are good reasons for this: your military leaders are amazing, your statesmen are excellent and appropriate to Issues of greatest interest to Russia (with bonuses for these) and your Leader, the illustrious Tsar Alexander I, except for some Issues where he has a bit of “paranoia” (and for which you should practically never use him) is a 7 card of practically unbeatable value!

However, opportunistic Allied players who are Russia’s “supposed” partners, can beat you if you do not remain wary and ensure in addition to the military might affording Russia battlefield victories and their attendant VP; a proper collection of “Diplomatic”-sourced VP. So how to best proceed towards a Tsarist Congress of Vienna triumph?

At a turn one game start, Russia has defeated Imperial France’s 1812 Invasion and you begin weakened from the ordeal; but infinitely more powerful than the two weak skeletons of French armies acting as a screen between your borders and the heart of Europe. For this reason, Russia only has one sound main way to win in Congress of Vienna: advance fast and deeply as much as possible; especially in liberating Prussia as soon as possible and being in a powerful situation when the Armistice is established so that you can always look at opportunist Austria from a higher level of VP superiority.

 Always remember: “You are Russian … God is with you!” As your national motto! However, the Russian player has some severe limitations on manpower and above all Resource markers; when you compare it to her archenemy Imperial France! Yet a Russian victory is achievable through three possible strategies:

• The first is to force the surrender of Napoleon, as did your historical counterparts (this is accomplished by reducing the Grande Armée in Paris to the point his marshals compel the emperor’s abdication… less than four units);
• Second by ending the 10^th turn in a better victory point position than the rest of the Allies… and of course France,
• and finally, to be VP victorious through a successful Congress of Peace that usually occurs during the last turns of play… particularly if it appears Napoleon may hold Paris.

However, these last two strategies have clear implementation problems. The lack of tact, and sometimes mystical character of your leader, the Tsar Alexander I, goes against you. Furthermore, the superb group of Austrian diplomat cards can leave you “with the honey of victory on your lips” with either of these last two mentioned strategies and that’s not counting the treacherous last minute performances by the French and British players. Only when your armies have the upper hand (reflected by a huge number of VPs) will you be able to face these last two strategies potential obstacles with comfortable peace of mind!

Of course, to fulfill your motto “… God is with us!” you need to get to the end of the Absolutism track at its “Holy Alliance” space and try to make certain, as much as possible, that your hated “Liberalism / Democracy” rivals, France and Britain, have practically made no progress. In this way, in addition to the moral satisfaction achieved, both Russia and Austria will get a huge number of cumulative VP! Incidentally leaving Britain and France without a great harvest of their own VP from their Liberalism track. See Figure 6 for an image of these tracks.

Like other CoV players, you have Minor Countries in Europe that can provide you VP, specifically Poland and Saxony… who are quite inclined to you since Russia’s diplomatic cards have many positive modifiers for these Issues… or perhaps we should better say that the weight of your armies upon their territories places them under your orbit? When the appropriate situation arises; you can obtain more military units to make Russia’s armies surpass those of your French adversary. Possessing Minor Countries and winning their Issues during the game’s Diplomacy Phase gives you military units along with VPs (while denying them to France). Bavaria, Hanover and Norway can be the next countries coming under Russian-Prussian rule as the game proceeds! Finally, remember your National Advantage, that you are the “Imperial Staff” (see Figure 2). What does this mean? For the Initial Issues Selection a Russian or Neutral card played by Russia has its value increased by +1. Furthermore, if either of the Allies (Austria or Britain) wins the Initial Issue; the Russian player may substitute a higher value Russian national card (which includes its +1 Advantage) by replacing the previous bid card to win this initial Issue. The originally bid card is returned to the Russian hand… nothing different than what your historical Tsar Alexander usually did… be that as it may, “God is with us”; don’t you yet believe, oh budding Russian player getting into the game’s spirit?

This special advantage along with the large number of Issues that start on the Russian National Track in the early game turns easily allows you being in an excellent position to win the turn’s Diplomacy Phase and get another 2 VP.

Can you lose the game by achieving the preceding-described CoV triumphs? In theoretical principle no, but, and this is a “big but”… you have Napoleon and his still potent French Empire to oppose divine Russia’s designs. At game start, France has excellent generals, a large amount of manpower, and seemingly unlimited financial resources. Other than Britain confronting France in the turmoil of the “Spanish Ulcer”, with Austria neutral, you are alone contending against France in central and northern Europe (map tracks A & B). To successfully confront this powerful enemy; you must prioritize how to gain advances from these Russian map VP sources and how to most effectively each turn apply your set of politicians and generals, despite their limitations.

From the beginning you must be fully cognizant that to weaken your deadly French antagonist you must have the significant aid of Britain. Your lack of financial resources is an appalling impediment to carrying out fully effective military operations and diplomatic triumphs. Consequently, you should seek to “receive” British Financial Aid Issues by winning one or both of them during the Diplomacy Phase to put into practice the strategy of expelling the “Corsican Ogre” from his French throne. In the final part of this article we are going exam this key Issue for Russia.

Those are the paths to Russian-Prussian victory. We will now examine in greater detail how you can put these preceding-referenced factors into practice. As always happens in a multiplayer game such as Congress of Vienna; your decisions always are influenced by the idiosyncrasies, goals and collaboration of the other players. What fun! 

The War in Germany

Germany was the main military theater during the climatic 1813 campaign intended to combat, wear down, and decisively defeat Napoleon. Your Russian-Prussian army with its small Swedish contingent, when you win the Sweden at War Issue, combined with your excellent set of generals, should take you into the heart of Europe. During the first phase of the war Blücher’s card is devastating; but you also have Kutuzov (until he dies old and ailing after a long and illustrious career). Barclay is a magnificent leader when you don’t have his arch-rival Blücher in your hand. That is why it is essential that your allies trade these cards to you if they have them. Therefore, be generously reciprocal with each trade!

The amount of VP you can get is huge for capturing front A and B territory. In addition, track B (Northern Europe) can provide Russia with up to three more cards for a turn’s hand and if you conquer Prussia (the space where Berlin is) you stop losing 1 VP each turn. This eliminates real psychological torture to your gamer psyche!

These are the military track spaces that grant VP on your way to Paris… lair of the hated Corsican monster Napoleon! These drastically decrease French VP as those spaces are lost by France. You must prioritize conquering spaces. Russia has access to track A and track B. Most VP are on the Central Europe front A; but those VP will also be shared with your Austrian ally-rival. However, for front B, Northern Europe, only you receive them.

 In this Figure 3, we show a scheme to illustrate how the Russian player can brutally obtain VP for conquered territories. In a game, you can reach 28 VP, that is almost 50% more than Britain could get in successfully fighting its Peninsular War!

Furthermore, if Russian and Austian armies advance into France continue; there are an additional 20 VP for capturing Paris (10VP for Paris itself plus 5VP each for the Northern Army & Army of Silesia if they occupy the French capital!

As we pointed out in the “STRATEGIES FOR FRANCE IN CONGRESS OF VIENNA” InsideGMT article; a key track B space is the valuable space of Prussia, which must be conquered by Russia as soon as possible. A second vital space is track A’s Alsace; which is a strong French defensive position that can only be overcome through decisively defeating the Grande Armée.

Yes, Alsace is tough when compared to a battle in Bavaria or Saxony! You need to contend with an initial French +6 DRM advantage (French Home country and mountain space). Finally, when “a defending Army in mountain space”, the French Army may cancel a retreat by losing an additional unit when the difference in losses is one.

A failed Russian-Austrian Alsace attacker must retire to its starting space of Bavaria. Therefore, the French Grande Armée can lose units and maintain its presence in the Alsace space as long as the difference in losses remains one or less for each battle. In the long run, France cannot afford attritional battles turn after turn; but sometimes your opponent is buying time to prevent an allied advance on Paris. There are but ten turns to a Congress of Vienna game and your opponent can play for time.

Keep in mind your Allies’ success on other fronts in Spain, Naples, and Italy can contribute to weakening France’s ability to resist in Alsace by removing cards and military unit replacement/reinforcements available to Napoleon… thereby helping prise open the gates of Paris!

In addition to an isolated frontal attack against Alsace, the Russian player can utilize an indirect approach through Northern Europe Front B. Here, there is no mountain barrier facilitating a fierce French defense. It’s a sweet feeling to compel an automatic mandatory retreat of the Grande Armée from Alsace into Paris by the Russian Northern Army seizing the space of Belgium and forcing integration of the Army of Elbe with the main French Army due to CoV’s rule which forces the Grande Armée to fall back to defend the capital when it is endangered!

The main potential problems for an Allied advance in Germany are, apart from those already mentioned; four vicious cards that if in French possession are a mortal threat: Napoleon, Berthier, on front A and Eugene and Davout on front B. Then there’s the Murat and neutral cards N-7 and/or N-9: “Ally Dissensions” and “Allied Disputes”. To better illustrate this, see Figure 4 for both fronts’ potential French cards. All these, when used alone or much worse combined, can make a battle with Blücher in command of a mighty Army, seemingly destined for certain victory, turn into a shocking bloody Allied defeat. The French can be attritioned in terms of their military units… ah, but their magnificent leadership cannot be ignored!

I have seen battles in Alsace when the French player uses Napoleon with Berthier, Murat and one of those neutral cards; to garner a staggering differential of +16 DRM for cards (and choice between two dice rolls) along with a +6 DRM for terrain (Home country and mountain). Barring the most extreme dice rolling luck, this will surely result in at least a stalemate (or even worse) for the Allied players, even with Blücher, Barclay or Schwarzenberg in command! (See below Figure 5)

Fortunately, not all conceivably detrimental to Russia battle cards will be available in the French hand and furthermore, as the game progresses and the French hand size diminishes; this deadly nightmare of French cards shall become increasingly unlikely.

Absolutism, Other Diplomatic Issues, & Russia as the “Hammer of the Coalition”

A main goal for Russia is achieving military victory and control of VP spaces; but that in of itself is not enough. A Russian player cannot hope to win a Congress of Vienna game without paying methodical dedication to diplomatic and political affairs.

Like all players, Russia can win the Diplomacy Phase through gaining the most Diplomacy Issues during the Phase and then spending corresponding Resource markers during the Government Phase to activate those won Issues. Unlike Britain, Russia lacks sufficient Resource markers to completely carry out this task most turns! However, during the first game turns, the Initial Situation Card places two or three Issues on the Russian National Track; so it’s pretty easy for Russia to win the Diplomacy Phase and get the 2 VP reward that goes with it.

The other obvious route to VP is the Absolutism Issue, which has increasing VP yields for both Russia and Austria each time its green pawn is successfully advanced along its track (see Figure 6).

Russia has an advantage in achieving success here. Formidable Russian cards and especially their leader Tsar Alexander I… are dedicated to advancing the cause of Absolutism. You may also have the formidable help of Austrian Statesmen cards, especially the Leaders Metternich and Kaiser Franz I. Don’t forget that if at the end of the game the green pawn of Absolutism is in the “Holy Alliance” space and the British and French players have not gotten their red pawn of Liberalism to its last dark red track space of “Liberalism / Democracy”; the Russian and Austrian players will each reap an additional 5 VPs. This bonus could define the game’s final winner.

A second source for gaining VP through diplomacy is to focus on winning Minor Country Issues, as they can yield 1 VP per Issue. They also could provide you with an extra military unit if you, as Russia, currently hold the map space territory the Issue corresponds to. For example, Poland is a best Minor Country Issue for Russia since you will normally occupy it after the game’s first turn. When your armies advance to capture Saxony and Hannover; you will then have two other Minor Countries from which to obtain VPs and additional military units. Remember, you can get both Russian and Prussian units for Minor Countries; but to accomplish this you will need to obtain additional Resource markers to be able to activate them. The British Financial Aid Issue and Arkachev’s card (see Figure 9) will help you to get 4-5 Resource markers to finance your diplomacy and Military Operations.

Third, the Future Government of France Issue yields very high profit to Russia in comparison to other players: 3 VP, if the black pawn ends in the King Napoleon Bonaparte space, 1 VP more in the chaotic No Agreement central space; and finally 5 VP if your “puppet” Bernadotte as King Jean III of France is crowned! (See Figure 7)

Finally, for all players, there’s also the Sound Government rule which gives 1 VP in exchange for a single Resource. The problem is that on most turns Russia does not have any leftover Russian Resource markers available for exercising this option. Getting that Sound Government VP is often a luxury only the British and French players can comfortably afford gaining during a game; but don’t worry since when does an autocrat like the Tsar care about such trifles!

The Russian Great Strategies

The Russian player must be clear and focused about his strategy based on advancing different sources of Russian VP to their maximum: Military; VP obtained by controlled Central and Northern Front spaces, this includes VP gained through successful Military Operations (major victory… especially against Napoleon which reaps bonus VP, French withdrawal and eliminating all French military units within an Army); Absolutism VP and Diplomacy Issues (winner Diplomacy phase, VP by Minor Countries, Sound Government minus Recruitment VP losses).

Usually, you will not be able to advance all VP sources to maximum; since in this case, an overwhelming Russian victory would be obtained. You should find a reasonable balance between the two main paths to victory (Diplomacy & Politics in combination with Military success). In Figure 8 we indicate the different possibleVP progressionsby various arrows showing the corresponding VP achieved in each advance for these matters.

Milestones in Any Russian Strategy

The “Russian” Financial Aid Issues: Make it clear from the start to your Coalition partners; if you don’t have British money, the Coalition against France is doomed! You have adequate manpower, but lack the money to acquire military support markers and prepare offensive operations that take Russian and Prussian armies to the heart of Germany and beyond. Your scarce three Resource markers each turn gives you no chance to win the game. For when you use two of them to advance towards Paris (each Military Operation Issue costs one Resource to activate… and that’s just enough for an attack each on fronts A & B), you will not have enough Resources remaining to achieve your diplomatic objectives. Remember: both military and diplomatic objectives are essential to achieving your Congress of Vienna game victory.

As you have hopefully learned; the key to implementing a victorious strategy for Russia, as with the other Allied players, is to get additional Resource markers in order to meet funding your won Issues for their VPs. There are three ways to get them: the first is to get the British Financial Aid Issue onto the Russian National Track at the end of a Diplomacy Phase. You have great cards to accomplish this; although some of them are also excellent military leaders, so on numerous occasions you should reserve them for the War Phase and thus push your DRM to win battles and advance deep into Germany.

Of course, you must be a convincing beggar with Britain. If you don’t wear out and eventually defeat the French military machine in Europe; the small British army will have nothing to do except stay in Spain and Portugal fighting a grueling war of attrition with little impact on British VP. What better use for British money than to finance huge multinational European armies (Russians, Prussians, Austrians and Swedes) for liquidating French power in Europe? Therefore, do not neglect collaboration with the British player. You must obtain part of his sterling pound surplus and trade their good battle cards to them to fight France. If your battles succeed, all other Allied armies will have a more open route to Paris and for gaining their own military and political prestige (more VPs in this game).

The second way to gain a Resource is through the Arakachev card (see Figure 9); this is a medium 3-value card. Furthermore, the Russian player can receive an always needed additional Resource marker when this card is used for many Issues; but it is perfect for acquiring the seemingly perpetually required British Financial Aid Issue!

Finally, on some turns the Initial Situation card (especially from the pro-Allied deck B) (see Figure 10) places an additional Russian Resource for free. But remember, Arakachev’s card or an appropriate Initial Situation Card to Russia can happen … or not? However, the selection of a British Financial Aid Issue and the subsequent use of cards to secure it on the Russian National Track is entirely up to you!

The Armistice and Austria at War Issues from a Russian Perspective

 Let’s recall concepts relating to the Armistice. Normally, France seeks delaying its implementation as Russia and Britain strive to accelerate Austrian entry into War, which requires Armistice initiation as prerequisite for the Austria at War Issue to take place. When that occurs France must then face Russia and Austria’s powerful Central Europe track A Armies as well as Austria on a new track F battlefront threatening Italy.

However, the Austrian player may want to delay Armistice for whatever reason (e.g. Austria receives 2 VP each turn it remains at Peace and that also provides time for it to build up its armies). Do not try too hard to leave Armistice in the middle of the Negotiation Table, which is the unique way this Issue becomes activated, as you will spend good cards on that Issue and most times you will not get it to stay there (thanks to one or more of the other players).

However, you should not promote Armistice until track B’s Prussia space is controlled by Russia. The penalty in cards and -1 VP each turn that it is controlled by France is an onerous toll. Similarly, in the main Central Europe track A, you must occupy Poland and Silesia in order to have a Minor Country controlled by you (Prussian or Russian military units are always welcome when you win this Issue). Silesia, being a Home Prussian space, allows you to fight on many occasions with a +3 DRM if you have enough Prussian units, at least half, in the Army of Silesia. These accomplishments should prepare Russia to launch its offensive into Saxony and beyond.

Rather, the Austria at War Issue should be implemented as swiftly as possible and you should be thoroughly involved. You will always have the support of Britain, and in most cases of Austria, so you can without undue effort get Austria’s early entry into war. However, we have seen games when Austria’s entry into the Coalition is delayed by one turn or more through Napoleon’s twisted and unanticipated performance or some strange and suspicious Austrian delaying strategy. Such a delay can seriously undermine Russia’s chances for victory. Beware!

Why should you implement Austria at War quickly? There are four reasons:

First, we will gain the support of the Austrian Army of Bohemia, the Generalissimo HQ marker (+3 DRM) and Austrian Battle cards that can help you and your Austrian partner achieve overwhelming military superiority over Napoleon.

Second, once Austria is at war it stops receiving 2 VPs each turn for being at peace. Furthermore, as Austria starts spending her limited Resources on Military Operations, Recruitment and military support for battles; she has fewer Resources available for securing diplomatic Issues (which grant many VPs and with which she could dispute your final victory). You must remind your Austrian partner that the potential rewards for joining the struggle outweigh remaining on the sidelines.

Third, the French army will stop outgrowing the Russian. While the Armistice is in effect, 6 French military units, replacements, plus their reinforcements from the many Minor Countries they could secure, as well as the extra unit Napoleon produces when he is dedicated to recruiting are France’s best Armistice activity. Compare this to your Russian ability to only produce 4 military units (3 Russian and 1 Prussian) and perhaps more from the King Friedrich Wilhelm III card (see Figure 6) or the Poland Issue.

Last but not least – and most important of all – don’t take too long getting Austria into The War; for overly delaying that can make Paris a far too distant objective as you must be in Paris to completely defeat Napoleon before the end of the 10^th turn. Count the spaces that separate your armies from Paris to calculate if you will arrive on time. You must not forget that a defeat against Napoleon’s track A Grande Armée or track B’s French Northern Army will delay your objective one turn! This can likely ensure a French “survival” victory with Napoleon remaining on the board at game end!

The Russian/Prussian Battle Cards: We already described some Russian cards but want to now focus specifically on their Battle cards (see Figure 11). We divided them into three

groups: The first is named “The Allied High Commander cards” which include Blücher, Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly. Undoubtedly the best card is Blücher with a +6 DRM which can be further increased by any of the Neutral Battle cards (for his courage as an inspiring leader to his men). Furthermore, and this is very important, Blücher can act on either Front A or B.

The second remarkable Russian leader is Kutuzov; an excellent military leader who has a fearsome +5 DRM; with only two salient “buts” associated with him: the first one is that Kutuzov is old and could soon die (so use him to the fullest until he is removed from the game via a die roll). The second problem is that Kutuzov only works on track A.

Finally, Barclay can get +6 DRM (+3 Russian and -3 French DRM) but only for the Army of Silesia and provided Blücher is not in command (their personalities were poorly compatible and their grating upon one another approaching the legendary: Barclay was thoughtful and prudent – Blücher thoughtless and impulsive (but exceeding brave and inspiring to his troops).

The Wittgenstein and Benningsen cards have been called “reliable” Battle cards since they do not guarantee victory; but when you don’t have the previously noted cards available they can save the day, especially if they are combined with the remaining Russian battle cards (and Austrian cards when they go to war on the A Front). Three more cards have been labeled Prussian “stubborn” generals; Yorck, Büllow and Scharnhost (all with the aristocratic “von”). They allow you to achieve many victories as companions to Allied High Commander cards. These are generally much better than most Austrian battle cards and slightly better than their French counterparts.

To finish, we have two Russian cards considered “Evil cards”. The first is Bernadotte, a card that in your hand can get up to +4 DRM when in Coalition command with Swedish units and an inspired day (as occurred in the battle of Dennewitz – September 1813) or you are penalized with an annoying -3 DRM when this card is in French hands (perhaps to simulate his dilettante behavior at the Battle of Leipzig – October 1813).

The second is your leader, Tsar Alexander I. His behavior more than occasionally waivered between mystical and paranoid. His desire for military leadership hampered allied military efforts many times. When his card is used in some interesting Russian Military Issues that action results in a -2 DRM penalty on all battles with Russian military units. Our advice is that except for situations with overwhelming Allied superiority (as it usually happens during the last game turns) or for a vital matter for Russia (such as winning the Diplomacy Phase or gaining a disputed British Financial Aid Issue) NEVER, we repeat NEVER, should the Russian Alexander I Leader be used for these “damny” Issues (indicated on his card)!

Now that you’re in the fray; try to gain Russian control of the Generalissimo. In addition to the Allied military advantages the Generalissimo brings after the Armistice; you receive 1 VP each turn he’s under your control. But your rivals for that Issue are the mellifluous Austrian player and the hated Napoleon´s intrigues in the form of the French player. Beware!

Trading Cards to Improve your Russian Hand: During the Diplomacy Phase, when you obtain a Russian card in trade during the Diplomacy Phase; you can create an improved Russian hand with additional and necessary Battle cards and/or good diplomatic cards such as those already described.

This will require you offering something in return. If you have Wellington, 1^st Earl of Eldon, Duke of York, Schwarzenberg, or Stadion in your possession, do not hesitate to trade one or more of these. They allow their 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 could always hope for gratitude!

However, when the race for VPs is tighter (usually during the medium and late games) you can even trade with France, when you’re not forced to due to the French Player’s “Mandatory Trade” National Ability. What a master play it could be trading Andrew Jackson or the Soult card to France to lower the fumes on the British player in America and Spain and so he cannot threaten your overwhelming advance into the heart of Europe to earn more VP than the British Lion! (How Britain can prevail in the game is extensively explained in our InsideGMT article: STRATEGIES FOR BRITAIN IN CONGRESS OF VIENNA).

The same play approach can be applied with the Austrian player and his devious insidious diplomacy striving to surpass you in VP. You trade to France the Eugene card and deny trading to Austria his Bellegarde card to ensure the Italian Front (F) continues stalemating forever and ever in the mountains of Tyrol and canceling Austria gaining the Venice and Italy spaces’ possible VP and an additional card! (How the Austrian player could win a game is extensively explained in our InsideGMT article: STRATEGIES FOR AUSTRIA IN CONGRESS OF VIENNA.)

Final Features of Fine CoV Russia Play…

As this article has attempted to convey, achieving victory with Russia is a matter of careful perseverance with a number of viable paths to success. It is certainly possible to gain a seemingly elusive Russian Congress of Vienna game win.

You just have to advance in as many ways toward victory receiving its respective VP. You don’t have to thoroughly beat the rest of the players – including the French player- just go further than any of them on the VP record track by game end!

To achieve a Russian victory, you have excellent diplomacy cards and superb military leaders: foreground Blücher. But unlike other players, you have numerous cards that make up for their absence in the Russian hand quite well each turn.

Your main handicap is a lack of Recource markers, and for this, through diplomatic negotiation, you should seek winning British Financial Aid Issues. Always keep in mind that when you use the Arakachev card, you could get 2 additional, most welcomed, Resources!

Well, you have a great empire, decisive battles to win turn after turn, meritorious and charismatic generals, imposing statesmen, a pusillanimous and shy King of Prussia and a leader the Tsar with his messianic and paranoid shades…. what more can you ask for?

Footnote:

[1] This phrase is attributed to Marshal Suvorov at the end of 18^th century and is now a lyric of a very popular Russian Army song!

Previous Articles:

Strategies for France in Congress of Vienna (Game Opening Considerations)

Strategies for Austria in Congress of Vienna: “Bella Gerant Alii Tu Felix Austria Nube”

Strategies for Britain in Congress of Vienna: “Rule Britannia! Britannia, Rule the Waves!” [1]