Like his Prussian/Spanish player foe, the British/Piedmont player has a multi-faceted and sometimes schizophrenic role in COS. But unlike the Prussian/Spanish, the British player has growing roles and goals through the campaign. Unfortunately, the same similarities can’t be said for the Prus and Brit armies 🙂 ; the British and “Pieds†vie for having the weakest armies (by numbers) throughout the entire game. Much of the time, the British are holding on and serving as the high quality lion’s share of mixed Pragmatic armies in Flanders. The Piedmontese are usually only a secondary ally to the Austrians in the battle for Italy. Yet in late game, both these forces can make incisive gains on a weakened Bourbon foe. The British player may be nipping at the edges on map, but looms gargantuanly large in overall Pragmatic alliance success.
As the British, you have that small (but worthy!) army and mostly indifferent leaders, yet a huge purse, and a powerful backdoor economic cudgel – the British Fleet. You end up playing a peripheral role on the map for half the game, but your end game performance in the Empire and Austrian Netherlands is crucial to both your own and Austrian success.
You must be the banker and diplomatic broker of the Pragmatic alliance. You must get all the treaties in place, get all the subsidies and grants played, and woo the Russians as necessary to get them allied, or, at least, keep them out of the French camp! You have to play all your Naval improvement events, and attempt Intercept of the French Treasure Fleet every year. You have A LOT of Events you can play – and need to PLAY a lot of them! Every card that strengthens the Austrians or Pieds, or hurts France/Prussia, increases your chances of getting a few crucial late game VPs vs. a weakened French army in Flanders/Empire.
And are the Austrians going to repay your generosity and selfless (monetary) sacrifice? Who knows? 🙂 But beyond your obvious economic influence, you have a few other instruments to play in your Austrian dealings.
COS Hit Men (Event Cards) – JEALOUSY, PRIDE, and DEBAUCHE!
You have two event cards that are golden to the Austrians and the Pragmatic cause in general. Get French Belle Isle out of the game with Fleury’s Jealousy and/or Court Politics; do not discard this as a low value card. If the French can have Belle Isle, De Saxe, and Maillebois all in play at the time, they are going to be hard to stop. Similarly, in Late War, Gallic Pride – Falling Out, which can rip another good French commander off the board for good, is another potent weapon, and bargaining chip with your Austrian ally! And, given all our previous discussion about DeSaxe as the French Whirling Dervish of Doom versus the Pragmatics, if you don’t play Debauche as an Event when it shows up, well, you probably need medical attention! :-0
Nevertheless, your modest army size notwithstanding, there are VP opportunities nearby in the Empire, and occasionally in France, if the French overextend themselves in the Austrian Netherlands. The British player must craft Mixed Force armies carefully, using Dutch troops and sometimes Austrian contingents, to achieve enough weight to counter French second army threats. Even early on, opportunities exist as well for Brit leader Legonier to break off with a small corps to raid/siege a VP fort. You also have the luxury of enough funds (cards) to buy Depots as periodically needed for Empire campaigning.
When You’ve Got Lemons, Make Lemonade…
Yes, you’re usually heading up a small British/Allied army, and have poor initiative leaders and ap allowances to boot. So you won’t start each year envisioning British red in Paris! 🙂 But given all the Event cards you have to play, the Brits may sometimes play an additional Event card in their campaign seasons. No shame in this; there are a lot of Brit events that are way more beneficial to play versus having your army slog and attempt to grab one single VP Empire fort. Britain as Banker and Reinforcement Sugar Daddy is not a shameful role; it’s imperative!
As the Piedmont player, you play an unusual niche role. You have a small, non-descript army, but solid leaders, and the most formidable defensive position in Europe. But your mountains won’t shield you from France forever, and you are dependent on Britain (subsidy) and Austria (manpower) to keep from being worn down from the west and back-doored from the Spanish in the south.
Make no mistake – those mountain and alpine passes impose severe penalties on French attackers, and will often be a life-saver. Do not yield or abandon pass-blocking positions without good reason! Once the Bourbons are over, your small army size will preclude pushing them back without heavy Austrian help, which may not be forthcoming.
Clash of Sovereigns Design Thoughts #1: Some “Big Picture†Canister Shots
Enemies North, West, and South: Playing Maria Theresa in Clash of Sovereigns
Author: Bob Kalinowski
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