Vedette · Exploring Officer · Historical Battle

Austerlitz

2 December 1805

Slavkov u Brna · War of the Third Coalition · 5 engagements · first light 07:00, last light 16:20

Distances are in inches. The same numbers read as centimetres — change it with Distances at the top.

France attacking
Napoleon — fighting the battle he chose, on ground he gave away on purpose
You have invited the attack on your right. Hold there, take the plateau when the columns have left it, and close the pocket before dark.

Russia and Austria attacking
Kutuzov — nominally in command, executing a plan written by Weyrother and endorsed by two emperors over his objections
Weyrother's plan sends four columns round the French right. It is a good plan against the army you think is in front of you.

The Situation

Napoleon had been in Vienna since mid-November and could not stay there. His army was strung out across Moravia at the end of a long supply line, Prussia was mobilising behind him, and the allied army in front of him was about to be joined by more Russians. He needed the battle now, and he needed the allies to want it too — which meant convincing two emperors and their staff that he was weaker, shakier and more frightened than he was. He abandoned the Pratzen plateau, the best ground on the field, pulled his right back behind the Goldbach, and opened negotiations he had no intention of concluding.

It worked completely. Weyrother, the Austrian staff officer who wrote the allied plan, read the withdrawal as a French army trying to get away toward Vienna, and drew up a scheme to march four columns round the exposed French right, cut the Vienna road and roll the whole army up from the south. The plan was dictated in detail on the night of 1 December, read out to column commanders in the small hours in a language several of them did not follow well, and endorsed by the Tsar over the objections of Kutuzov, who commanded the army in name and thought the whole thing a mistake.

The plan's flaw is the one Napoleon had invited: to get four columns round the French right, the allies had to march them off the Pratzen plateau. For an hour or so in the middle of the morning, the ground in the centre of the battlefield — the ground that overlooks everything — would be empty, and there were two French divisions waiting in the fog below it.

France's problem: hold the southern crossings against most of the allied army for a few hours, then take the plateau in the gap and close the trap before the light goes.

The allies' problem: get the columns over the Goldbach and moving north before the French realise what is happening — and, when that fails, get an army out of the pocket it has marched into.

Deploying. Use your own rules if you prefer. Ours: the side that deploys first (see Deploying in each game) sets up anywhere in its own zones; the other side then sets up at least 12 inches from any enemy unit already placed, and where its zone runs closer, the zone gives way. Arrivals enter at their marked edge on their turn, whatever the distance.

How to play — the chain. Each engagement below is a complete scenario — its own table, its own map, its own victory conditions. Pick one, or fight them in order.

Table size. The forces are written at two sizes: a 14 ft list — close to the whole force actually engaged — and a 12 ft list, which is the same order of battle with the outer formations left off. Ten- and eight-foot tables play the 12 ft list cut down, and each engagement says by how much. This sheet is the 12 ft list.

The Whole Battle

the operational picture — you don’t need it to play

Austerlitz, 2 December 1805 — about 9 × 16 km of country. The five actions are boxed on it; each has its own table map below, and you do not need this one to play.

The whole-battle map shows the armies at the moment described: the boxed names are formations where they stood at that moment; a solid arrow is a movement under way; a dashed arrow is an attack as it was planned and not yet delivered — the design for the day, which the day may or may not have followed.

What the arrows show

Numbered on the map at each arrow's midpoint. A solid arrow is a movement under way; a dashed one, in italics here, is the attack as planned.

1→ THE FIRST THREE COLUMNS — OFF THE PRATZEN ONTO THE FRENCH RIGHT AT TELNITZ
2→ DAVOUT (III) — UP FROM GROSS-RAIGERN AFTER A FORCED MARCH, STRAIGHT INTO TELNITZ
3→ SOULT (IV) — ST-HILAIRE AND VANDAMME UP THE PRATZEN OUT OF THE FOG, ABOUT 09:00
4→ BERNADOTTE (I) — ONTO STARÉ VINOHRADY ON SOULT'S LEFT
5→ THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL GUARD — THE COUNTER-ATTACK ONTO STARÉ VINOHRADY · BROKEN BY THE FRENCH GUARD
6→ BAGRATION — DOWN THE OLMÜTZ ROAD AGAINST LANNES AND THE SANTON
7→ THE PRATZEN TAKEN — SOULT TURNS SOUTH ONTO THE BACK OF THE ALLIED LEFT
8→ THE SECOND AND THIRD COLUMNS — AWAY OVER THE CAUSEWAY AND THE FROZEN PONDS
9⇢ THE ALLIED PLAN — TURN THE FRENCH RIGHT AND CUT THE VIENNA ROAD · IT WAS THE PLAN NAPOLEON WANTED THEM TO HAVE

The Engagements

one table each · pick one or play the chain

Organisation. How each army on this table divides — corps, divisions, brigades, battalions, and where the guns sit.
France. Corps of two to four divisions, divisions of two or three brigades, and the regiment at two field battalions — thirty of the thirty-six regiments on this side. A French corps was two or three infantry divisions with a light cavalry brigade, divisional artillery and a corps artillery reserve; a division was two infantry brigades with a battery of its own. Before 1808 a line or light regiment put two or three field battalions in the field beside a depot battalion, each battalion a grenadier company and eight fusilier companies; the decree of 1808 rebuilt the regiment as four field battalions of six companies.
Russia and Austria. The Russian regiment is three battalions — thirteen of the twenty-four on this side — and the Austrian regiments run to four and six, which is why an allied brigade here can be larger than a French division's brigade on the same field.
The order of battle lists no batteries for either side, so it cannot say where the guns stood.

E1Telnitz and Sokolnitz07:00–11:30 · 16 turns of 20 minTABLE 12 × 6 ft

France defending · Russia and Austria attacking

France — Hold the Goldbach line long enough for the blow on the plateau to land. Ground given up here is acceptable; a broken line is not.

Russia and Austria — Force the Goldbach crossings and roll north up the French right — this is Weyrother's whole plan, and it needs to be done by mid-morning.

Arrivals

Arrival. A formation marked DICE is not certain to arrive on the turn printed. Before the game begins its owner rolls one die for it and notes the result: on a 1 or 2 it arrives on the turn printed; on a 3 or 4, one turn later; on a 5 or 6, one turn earlier. A formation due on turn 1 cannot come earlier: for it a 5 or 6 means turn 1. One roll, made once, at the start of the game.

C turn 3 (07:40) · dice — arrives in ZONE C · on that turn, no condition
2nd Column (Langeron)
2nd Column (Langeron) — Langeron's column followed Dokhturov down the same track and arrived behind him.
C turn 5 (08:20) · dice — arrives in ZONE C · on that turn, no condition
3rd Column (Przybyszewski)
3rd Column (Przybyszewski) — Przybyszewski's column was third in the order of march and reached Sokolnitz last.
B turn 5 (08:20) · dice — enters across ZONE B · on that turn, no condition
III Corps (Davout, detachment present)
III Corps (Davout, detachment present) — Friant's division came onto the field from Gross Raigern after a forced march, arriving piecemeal through the morning.

Your 12 ft table: France 19 battalions, 1 cavalry, 2 batteries · Russia and Austria 41 battalions, 5 cavalry, 2 batteries. The muster below is this force.

Command — who leads what, and how good he is

Every formation here is led by the man who led it, at the level he held. This battle names no grade for him, so each man is graded from his record, or by default, as his card says. Use the note where there is one, and your own judgement where the card says the grade is a default.

What a span of command means. Each card says how many formations a man has under him. His orders reach some of them each hour, not all: the more he holds, the less of it he moves at once, and what he does not reach that hour stands where it is.

Each commander is rated on five levels, best to worst — Decisive · Capable · Workmanlike · Laboured · Adrift. The rating says how much of his command he can get fresh orders to in an hour's fighting; whatever he does not reach carries on with its last orders. A grade from the sources rests on what the histories of this battle say of the man; one from the record on what he did here and on other fields, with the fact it rests on printed beside it; one by default is the middle of the scale, given because nothing consulted marks him out either way. The shape of his command — how many formations his orders must reach — is printed separately and is not his grade. If your rules grade generals, Workmanlike is the middle of that scale.

France

Maréchal Soult — IV Corps France

Workmanlike by default — nothing consulted marks him out either way

4 divisions (16 brigades). By that shape alone, about half his command can be turned to a new purpose within the hour. What he does not reach goes on doing what it was last told, competently, whether or not that is still the right thing.

commander unknown — 3 brigades
commander unknown — 5 brigades
commander unknown — 5 brigades
commander unknown — 3 brigades

2nd Division (Friant) — commander unknown France

Not rated nothing consulted names the man

5 brigades. By that shape alone, about half his command can be turned to a new purpose within the hour. What he does not reach goes on doing what it was last told, competently, whether or not that is still the right thing.

No divisional echelon: he handles all 5 brigades himself.

4th Dragoon Division (Bourcier, part) — commander unknown France

Not rated nothing consulted names the man

1 brigade — a small command — only 1 brigade, few enough that his orders reach all of them. By that shape alone, he can turn most of his command within the hour, and all of it within two. What he does not reach holds what it has and conforms to what is happening beside it — it does not blunder forward and it does not sit under fire doing nothing.

No divisional echelon: he handles his one brigade himself.

Général de division LegrandDivision

Maréchal DavoutCorps

Russia and Austria

Generallieutenant Dokhturov — his corps Russia and Austria

Capable from the record

Got his corps out of the lakes at Austerlitz when everything around him had broken.

Feldmarschall-leutnant Kienmayer — Kienmayer's Advance Guard Russia and Austria

Workmanlike from the record

Led the advance guard at Austerlitz into the Goldbach villages as ordered.

1 brigade — a small command — only 1 brigade, few enough that his orders reach all of them; a coalition command — his orders pass through a staff that is not his own. By that shape alone, about half his command can be turned to a new purpose within the hour. What he does not reach goes on doing what it was last told, competently, whether or not that is still the right thing.

No divisional echelon: he handles his one brigade himself.

Feldmarschall-leutnant KienmayerDivision

Generallieutenant DokhturovCorps

Order of battle — the real regiments, brigade by brigade

Not every unit that fought is on this table. Some are left off to keep the game manageable, and some were not in this part of the battle. The full list is under The historical record, below.

France19 battalions · 1 cavalry · 2 batteries

Legrand's 3rd Division, IV Corps

arrives turn 1

26e Légère (2 bns) — 2 bns · Veteran Standard
Tirailleurs du Pô (1 bn) — 1 bn · Veteran StandardThe Italian light battalion that held Telnitz village at the opening.
3e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard
18e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard
75e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard

Artillery arrives turn 1

IV Corps divisional battery — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large

Friant's 2nd Division, III Corps arrives turn 5

15e Légère (2 bns) — 2 bns · Veteran Standard
33e and 48e Ligne (4 bns) — 4 bns · Line StandardTwo regiments on one base. Friant's division had marched seventy miles in forty-eight hours and arrived in fragments.
108e and 111e Ligne (4 bns) — 4 bns · Line Standard

Bourcier's 4th Dragoon Division (part) arrives turn 5

Bourcier's dragoon brigade — Line · battle Standard

III Corps arrives turn 5Davout

Artillery

III Corps battery — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large

Russia and Austria41 battalions · 5 cavalry · 2 batteries

Russian 35 battalions · 2 cavalry · 2 batteries — Austrian 6 battalions · 3 cavalry

Kienmayer's Advance Guard Austrian

arrives turn 1

Grenz infantry — 7th and 14th Grenz (3 bns) — 3 bns · Veteran StandardHalf of a body of 3,440 men in six battalions from three Grenz regiments, about 573 a battalion.
Grenz infantry — 15th Grenz and the balance (3 bns) — 3 bns · Veteran StandardThe other half of the same Grenz body.
O'Reilly's and Merveldt's hussars — Line · battle LargeOne of three units of eight squadrons each, from 3,440 men in twenty-four squadrons of hussars and uhlans.
Schwarzenberg's and Hessen-Homburg's hussars — Line · battle Large
Székler hussars and uhlans — Line · battle Large

Dokhturov's 1st Column Russian

arrives turn 1

7th Jäger Regiment (2 bns) — 2 bns · Veteran Standard
New Ingermanland Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard
Yaroslav Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard
Vyatka and Moscow Regiments (4 bns) — 4 bns · Line Standard
Denisov Cossacks — Reservist · battle Small250 men in three sotnias.

Artillery arrives turn 1

1st Column battery — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large

Langeron's 2nd Column arrives turn 3 Russian

Ryazhsk Musketeer Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard
Phanagoria Grenadier Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Grenadier Standard
Vyborg and Perm Regiments (6 bns) — 6 bns · Line Standard
St Petersburg Dragoons (detachment) — Line · battle Standard300 men in two squadrons.

Przhybyshevsky's 3rd Column arrives turn 4 Russian

7th and 8th Jäger Regiments (4 bns) — 4 bns · Veteran Standard
Galicia Musketeer Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard
Butyrsk and Narva Regiments (4 bns) — 4 bns · Line Standard

Artillery

3rd Column battery — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large

Odds: Roughly three allied columns and an advance guard against one French division reinforced late — about 4:1 at the outset, which is why the French objective is time and not ground

Deployment — who sets up where, and from which turn

Deploying. First to deploy: France; then Russia and Austria.

The zones as lettered on the map:

A Legrand — holding the three Villages
B Davout (III) — up from gross-raigern (enters across this edge)
C Kienmayer and the First Three Columns — down off the plateau

How they stand. Each zone says how its formation stood at the moment the action opened, in the words of the histories, and that is how it is set up. The facing is the way the formation looks, by the map's north arrow. Nothing may be set up otherwise: the situation is the scenario.

France

A IV Corps · 3rd Division (Legrand) — at start faces south-east Villages garrisoned; the rest in reserve behind the Goldbach.

Russia and Austria

C Advance Guard (Austrian) (Kienmayer) — at start faces north-west Grenz leading, cavalry on the open southern flank.
C 1st Column (Dokhturov) — at start faces north-west Behind Kienmayer, aimed at Telnitz.

Victory

French DecisiveAt the end of the game the French hold both Telnitz and Sokolnitz, and no formed allied unit stands west of the Goldbach.
Allied DecisiveBoth villages are in allied hands and at least two allied formations stand formed on the west bank of the Goldbach.
MarginalOne village is held or both are contested, and the allied advance has not cleared the west bank.

Special rules

Fog in the Goldbach valley: Until the end of turn 3, no unit may fire at or charge a target more than 12in away, and units in the valley bottom are spotted only at 12in.
Weyrother's written orders: An allied formation arriving as a reinforcement must move toward the village named in its orders and may not be redirected to another objective until that village is taken, or the formation is broken, or turn 10 passes.
The Sokolnitz enclosures: The castle, granary and pheasantry count as hard cover and must be cleared building by building; formed units entering become disordered.
Road march: A unit moving along a road in column of companies or limbered adds 3in to its move. A unit that enters the road corridor in column of march adds 3in but is destroyed outright, without fighting, if charged by formed infantry or cavalry while still in that formation.

On the day, and how the result carries forward

marginal

French decisive	The columns are still queuing at the crossings at midday, and the whole allied left is a mass of stalled infantry with nowhere to go. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway France gains two units of veteran infantry.Legrand's division was free to join the pursuit once the crossings were secure. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway Russia and Austria need one fewer to win it.An allied left still west of the stream had further to go to get away.
Marginal	The villages have changed hands so often that neither headquarters is sure who holds them. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway BOTH has one more turn.A contested Goldbach delayed the French wheel south.
Allied decisive	Buxhöwden has his crossings and his columns are moving north — late, but moving. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway Russia and Austria deploy eight inches further west.An allied left across the stream had room to disengage rather than being pinned against the ponds. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway France fights without one unit of veteran infantry.Vandamme's leading brigade had to be turned back down the slope to face the threat.

The historical record — what is left off, what was changed, and how the strengths were reached

What is on the table, and what is not. The units here are. The allied columns are on the table at about a third of their weight and the French at nearly all of theirs, which is the engagement: Legrand has to hold long enough for Davout to arrive, and the allied player has more men than he can get into the villages at once. 30 units.

Left off the table

Bourcier's dragoon division beyond the brigade present — Only part of the division came up with Davout, and only that part is on the table.
The 4th and 5th Columns — On the plateau and on the allied right. They are in E2 and E3.

Where this game departs from the record

Friant's five regiments are three units — The division arrived in fragments after a march of seventy miles in forty-eight hours. Five separate units would give the French player more manoeuvre elements than Davout actually had.
Kienmayer's twenty-four squadrons are three units of eight — One recorded body of 3,440 men. Three units carry the weight; five named regiments on separate bases would be five units doing one thing.

Some units are named in the sources but never counted. Those go on the table at the standard strength for their army in that year — a standard battalion, squadron or battery. So there is nothing on this list you cannot field, and the scenario plays as written. Which strengths come from the sources, and which are the standard, is set out in the notes and sources at the end.

E2The Pratzen Heights08:45–12:05 · 10 turns of 20 minTABLE 12 × 6 ft

France attacking · Russia and Austria counter-attacking

France — Take the plateau while it is empty, then hold it against everything the allies turn round to throw back.

Russia and Austria — You are marching off the plateau when the fog lifts and there are French in it. Get back on the crests and stay there.

Arrivals

B turn 5 (10:05) · dice — enters across ZONE B · on that turn, no condition
1st Division (Rivaud)
1st Division (Rivaud) — Bernadotte's leading division came up on Vandamme's left as the plateau was taken.

Your 12 ft table: France 23 battalions, 1 cavalry, 1 batteries · Russia and Austria 22 battalions, 1 cavalry, 2 batteries. The muster below is this force.

Command — who leads what, and how good he is

Every formation here is led by the man who led it, at the level he held. Where anything is recorded of the man himself it is given — 1 of 6 here. This battle names no grade for him, so each man is graded from his record, or by default, as his card says. Use the note where there is one, and your own judgement where the card says the grade is a default.

France

Maréchal Soult — IV Corps France

Workmanlike by default — nothing consulted marks him out either way

commander unknown — 3 brigades
commander unknown — 5 brigades
commander unknown — 5 brigades
commander unknown — 3 brigades

Maréchal Bernadotte — I Corps France

Workmanlike from the record

I Corps at Austerlitz was on the field and did what it was asked, no more.

3 divisions (7 brigades) — a small command — only 3 formations, few enough that his orders reach all of them. By that shape alone, he can turn most of his command within the hour, and all of it within two. What he does not reach holds what it has and conforms to what is happening beside it — it does not blunder forward and it does not sit under fire doing nothing.

commander unknown — 3 brigades
commander unknown — 3 brigades
commander unknown — 1 brigade

Général de division Saint-HilaireDivision

Général de division VandammeDivision

Took Staré Vinohrady and then lost the 4e Ligne's Eagle holding it.

Maréchal SoultCorps

Maréchal BernadotteCorps

Russia and Austria

Feldmarschall-leutnant Kolowrat — his corps Russia and Austria

Laboured from the record

The centre column at Austerlitz, caught on the Pratzen still forming when Soult attacked.

Generallieutenant Miloradovich — his corps Russia and Austria

Workmanlike from the record

Brave and careless: held the heights at Krasny for three days and let Eugène, Davout and Ney get past him one after another.

Feldmarschall-leutnant KolowratCorps

Generallieutenant MiloradovichCorps

Order of battle — the real regiments, brigade by brigade

Not every unit that fought is on this table. Some are left off to keep the game manageable, and some were not in this part of the battle. The full list is under The historical record, below.

France23 battalions · 0 cavalry · 1 battery

Saint-Hilaire's 1st Division, IV Corps

arrives turn 1

10e Légère (3 bns) — 3 bns · Veteran Standard
14e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard
36e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard

Vandamme's 2nd Division, IV Corps

arrives turn 1

24e Légère (2 bns) — 2 bns · Veteran Standard
4e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line StandardThe regiment whose eagle the Russian Guard cavalry took — the one French colour lost on the day.
28e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard
46e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard
57e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard

Rivaud's 1st Division, I Corps arrives turn 5

8e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard
45e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard
54e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard

IV CorpsSoult

Artillery arrives turn 1

IV Corps battery on the Pratzen — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large

Russia and Austria22 battalions · 0 cavalry · 2 batteries

Russian 12 battalions — Austrian 10 battalions

Kolowrat and Miloradovich's 4th ColumnKollowrat and Miloradovich

arrives turn 1

Novgorod Musketeer Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard Russian
Apsheron Musketeer Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard Russian
Little Russia Grenadier Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Grenadier Standard Russian
Smolensk Musketeer Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard Russian
Austrian brigade — Salzburg, Kaunitz, Auersperg (5 bns) — 5 bns · Line Standard Austrian
Austrian brigade — Kaiser, Czartoryski, Lindenau (5 bns) — 5 bns · Line Standard Austrian

Artillery arrives turn 1

4th Column battery — the position guns — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large
4th Column battery — the light guns — foot; one of the formation's batteries Standard

Odds: Soult's two divisions against the 4th Column, caught strung out across the plateau — the French advantage is concentration, and that half the allied column is still marching off it

Deployment — who sets up where, and from which turn

Deploying. First to deploy: Russia and Austria; then France.

The zones as lettered on the map:

A St-Hilaire and Vandamme — below the slope, in the fog
B Bernadotte (I) — on soult's left (enters across this edge)
C Kolowrat and the Fourth Column — on and behind the crest

How they stand. Each zone says how its formation stood at the moment the action opened, in the words of the histories, and that is how it is set up. A formation IN MARCH COLUMN is one column along the length of its zone, its head at the end it faces and each unit behind the last at your rules' marching distance — not massed at the front of the box. The facing is the way the formation looks, by the map's north arrow. Nothing may be set up otherwise: the situation is the scenario.

France

A IV Corps · 1st Division (Saint-Hilaire), IV Corps · 2nd Division (Vandamme) — at start faces east
- IV Corps · 1st Division (Saint-Hilaire) — In the dead ground below the plateau, hidden until the fog lifts.
- IV Corps · 2nd Division (Vandamme) — On Saint-Hilaire's left, aimed at Staré Vinohrady.

Russia and Austria

C 4th Column (Kollowrat and Miloradovich) — at start in march column faces west On the table at start, in march column heading south-west. It may not change formation before turn 2 and counts as unformed until it does — the column was still marching when Saint-Hilaire came out of the dead ground.

Victory

French DecisiveAt the end of the game the French hold both summits, the Pratzeberg and Staré Vinohrady, with formed units.
Allied DecisiveAt the end of the game the French hold neither summit, or no French formation remains formed on the plateau.
MarginalAt the end of the game the French hold one summit, or both are contested.

Special rules

The fog lifts: French units in the deployment zone are not spotted before the end of turn 2 and may not be fired on. From turn 3 the plateau is clear.
Caught in column of march: Allied units beginning the game in march column may not fire and count as disordered until they have spent one full turn stationary or completed a formation change.
Road march: A unit moving along a road in column of companies or limbered adds 3in to its move. A unit that enters the road corridor in column of march adds 3in but is destroyed outright, without fighting, if charged by formed infantry or cavalry while still in that formation.

On the day, and how the result carries forward

decisive_a

French decisive	The centre is gone. Both allied wings are now fighting their own private battles, and neither knows the other's fate. E5 Staré Vinohrady — the Guard Counter-attack France needs one fewer to win it.A plateau taken cleanly left Vandamme's brigades fresher when the Guard came at them. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway Grenadiers of the Reserve come on two turns earlier.With the plateau secure the Guard and the grenadiers could be pushed straight down the southern slope. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway Russia and Austria need one fewer to win it.An allied left with no centre behind it had to get away faster.
Marginal	The crests are held, but at a price nobody at French headquarters expected to pay for empty ground. E5 Staré Vinohrady — the Guard Counter-attack Guard cavalry (grenadiers and chasseurs à cheval, Mamelukes) come on two turns earlier.With the crests still in dispute Napoleon had the Guard cavalry closer up, and sent it in sooner. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway Napoleon's adcs drops by one.Napoleon stayed forward on the plateau longer than he intended, and his staff went with him.
Allied decisive	Kollowrat's men are back on the Pratzeberg and the French centre has stalled below it — a battle nobody in either headquarters planned for. E5 Staré Vinohrady — the Guard Counter-attack Guard cavalry (grenadiers and chasseurs à cheval, Mamelukes) come on two turns later.With the allies back on the Pratzeberg, Napoleon had to keep the Guard cavalry in hand against the centre. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway Russia and Austria gain two units of line infantry, from turn 2.A 4th Column still holding the heights could cover the retreat of the southern columns. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway BOTH has two fewer turns.The French had to fight their way onto the plateau before turning south at all.

The historical record — what is left off, what was changed, and how the strengths were reached

What is on the table, and what is not. The units here are. Soult's two divisions and Bernadotte's leading division against the 4th Column, caught strung out on the plateau it was marching off: both sides are on the table at close to their real weight in this sector. 20 units.

Left off the table

Legrand's division — Holding the villages on the Goldbach. That is E1 and it is happening at the same time.
Drouet's division of I Corps — Frère's brigade went north with Lannes and fights on the Olmütz road; Werlé's brigade comes up on Staré Vinohrady after this table closes.
The Russian Imperial Guard and the French Guard — They meet on Staré Vinohrady in the early afternoon, after this table closes, in the Guard counter-attack.

Where this game departs from the record

The 4th Column's guns are two batteries — Seventy-six guns are recorded for the column. Two units of twelve and eight are what a table can use; the rest of the park is behind the crest and out of the engagement.

E5Staré Vinohrady — the Guard Counter-attack13:00–14:00 · 10 turns of 6 minTABLE 12 × 6 ft

France defending · Russia and Austria attacking

France — You have just taken Staré Vinohrady. Keep it. The Russian Guard is coming up the slope at you, and the Guard cavalry is on its way if the line holds long enough for it to arrive.

Russia and Austria — Retake Staré Vinohrady and reopen the centre of the army. This is the Guard's one commitment of the day, and there is nothing behind it.

Arrivals

B turn 3 (13:12) · dice — enters across ZONE B · on that turn, no condition
Guard cavalry (grenadiers and chasseurs à cheval, Mamelukes)
Guard cavalry (grenadiers and chasseurs à cheval, Mamelukes) — Napoleon sent Bessières forward with the Guard cavalry and its horse battery when he saw Vandamme's first line give way; Rapp led the charge in person.

Your 12 ft table: France 12 battalions, 4 cavalry, 2 batteries · Russia and Austria 10 battalions, 4 cavalry, 2 batteries. The muster below is this force.

Command — who leads what, and how good he is

Every formation here is led by the man who led it, at the level he held. Where anything is recorded of the man himself it is given — 5 of 5 here. This battle names no grade for him, so each man is graded from his record, or by default, as his card says. Use the note where there is one, and your own judgement where the card says the grade is a default.

France

Maréchal Soult — IV Corps France

Workmanlike by default — nothing consulted marks him out either way

commander unknown — 3 brigades
commander unknown — 5 brigades
commander unknown — 5 brigades
commander unknown — 3 brigades

Maréchal Bernadotte — I Corps France

Workmanlike from the record

I Corps at Austerlitz was on the field and did what it was asked, no more.

commander unknown — 3 brigades
commander unknown — 3 brigades
commander unknown — 1 brigade

Maréchal BessièresCorps

Commands the Guard; he sent the cavalry in.

Général de division VandammeDivision

Took Staré Vinohrady and then lost the 4e Ligne's Eagle holding it.

Général de division Drouet d'ErlonDivision

Only Werlé's brigade of his division is on this table.

Général de brigade RappBrigade

Led the Guard cavalry's counter-charge in person, under Bessières's direction.

Russia and Austria

Grand Duke Constantine — his corps Russia and Austria

Workmanlike from the record

Led the Guard against Vandamme at Austerlitz in person; brave, and it was thrown back.

The Tsar's brother, commanding the Guard in its one attack of the day.

Grand Duke ConstantineCorps

The Tsar's brother, commanding the Guard in its one attack of the day.

Order of battle — the real regiments, brigade by brigade

Not every unit that fought is on this table. Some are left off to keep the game manageable, and some were not in this part of the battle. The full list is under The historical record, below.

France12 battalions · 4 cavalry · 2 batteries

Vandamme's 2nd Division, IV Corps

Schiner's brigadeGdB Schiner arrives turn 1

24e Légère (2 bns) — 2 bns · Veteran StandardFirst onto Staré Vinohrady.
4e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line LargeThe regiment whose Eagle the Russian Guard cavalry took — the only French colour lost on the day.

Ferey's brigadeGdB Ferey arrives turn 1

28e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Large
46e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard

Candras's brigadeGdB Candras arrives turn 1

57e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Veteran Large

Artillery arrives turn 1

Vandamme's divisional battery — foot; 8-pdr and 4-pdr guns with two 6-inch howitzers Standard

Drouet's 2nd Division, I Corps

Werlé's brigadeGdB Werlé arrives turn 1

27e Légère (2 bns) — 2 bns · Veteran LargeThe strongest French regiment on the field.

The Imperial Guard arrives turn 3Bessières

Ordener's brigadeGdD Ordener

Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde — Elite · heavy Large

Morland's brigadeCol. Morland

Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde — Elite · battle StandardColonel Morland was killed leading them.
Mamelouks de la Garde — Elite · battle SmallA single squadron, riding with the Guard Chasseurs.

Savary's brigadeGdB Savary

Gendarmerie d'élite de la Garde — Elite · heavy Small

Artillery

Guard horse battery — horse; 8-pdr and 4-pdr guns with two 6-inch howitzers Standard

Russia and Austria10 battalions · 4 cavalry · 2 batteries

The Russian Imperial GuardBessières

Depreradovich I's brigadeGM Depreradovich I arrives turn 1

Preobrazhensky Life Guard (2 bns) — 2 bns · Elite Standard
Semenovsky Life Guard (2 bns) — 2 bns · Elite Standard
Izmaylovsky Life Guard (2 bns) — 2 bns · Elite Standard
Guard Jäger Battalion (1 bn) — 1 bn · Elite Standard

Lobanov's brigadeGM Lobanov arrives turn 1

Leib-Grenadier Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Grenadier Standard

N. I. Depreradovich's brigadeGM N. I. Depreradovich arrives turn 1

Chevalier Guard Regiment — Elite · heavy StandardCut to units in the French Guard's counter-charge.
Life Guard Horse Regiment — Elite · heavy Standard

Jankovich's brigadeGM Jankovich arrives turn 1

Guard Hussar Regiment — Elite · battle Standard
Guard Cossack Regiment — Veteran · irregular Standard

Artillery arrives turn 1

Guard 6-pdr Horse Battery Nr. 1 — horse; 6-pdr Large
Guard 12-pdr Foot Battery Nr. 1 — foot; 12-pdr Large

Ranks as the sources abbreviate them: GdD Général de division · GdB Général de brigade · GM Generalmajor (major-general) · Col Colonel.

Odds: Vandamme's division and Werlé's brigade, with the French Guard cavalry coming up behind them, against the whole of the Russian Imperial Guard — elite against elite, and the most concentrated Guard cavalry fight of the era

Deployment — who sets up where, and from which turn

Deploying. First to deploy: France; then Russia and Austria.

The zones as lettered on the map:

A Vandamme and Werlé — on Staré Vinohrady
B Bessières and Rapp — the Guard cavalry (enters across this edge)
C Constantine — the Russian Guard, up the slope

France

A IV Corps · 2nd Division (Vandamme), 27e Légère (2 bns) — at start faces east
- IV Corps · 2nd Division (Vandamme) — On and around the crest of Staré Vinohrady, which they have just taken: Schiner's, Ferey's and Candras's brigades, with the divisional battery.
- 27e Légère (2 bns) — Werlé's brigade of Drouet's division, come up on Vandamme's left.

Russia and Austria

C Russian Imperial Guard (Grand Duke Constantine) — at start faces west The whole of Constantine's Guard, infantry, cavalry and guns, come up from its reserve position behind the plateau to retake the crest.

Victory

French DecisiveAt the end of the game the French hold Staré Vinohrady with formed units, and three or more Russian Guard units have been broken.
Allied DecisiveThe allies hold Staré Vinohrady with formed units at the end of the game.
MarginalThe French hold Staré Vinohrady but fewer than three Russian Guard units have been broken, or the crest is contested at the end of the game.

Special rules

The Eagle of the 4e Ligne: If Russian Guard cavalry breaks the 4e Ligne, the allied player takes its Eagle and scores one campaign point at once. The French take the point back only by breaking the cavalry unit that carried the Eagle off, before the end of the game.
Road march: A unit moving along a road in column of companies or limbered adds 3in to its move. A unit that enters the road corridor in column of march adds 3in but is destroyed outright, without fighting, if charged by formed infantry or cavalry while still in that formation.

On the day, and how the result carries forward

marginal

French decisive	The Russian Guard goes back down the slope in units, and there is nothing left in front of the French centre. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway Imperial Guard (Bessières) come on three turns earlier.With the Russian Guard broken, nothing held the French Guard on the plateau, and it came down onto the southern slope early.
Marginal	The Guard is thrown back, but it goes back in order, and it takes the Eagle of the 4e Ligne with it. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway Russia and Austria gain two units of Guard infantry.A Guard that fell back in order off Staré Vinohrady still had battalions in hand to cover the retreat of the allied left.
Allied decisive	The Guard is back on Staré Vinohrady, and the French centre has a hole in it that Napoleon did not plan for. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway France fights without two units of veteran infantry.Vandamme's division had to stay on the plateau to face the Guard instead of coming down onto the pocket. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway Russia and Austria need one fewer to win it.With the centre reopened, the allied left had a way out that did not run across the ice.

The historical record — what is left off, what was changed, and how the strengths were reached

What is on the table, and what is not. The units here are. Vandamme's division and one brigade of Drouet's against the whole Russian Guard, with the French Guard cavalry arriving: the fight at close to its real weight, because it was a small fight on a narrow front. 23 units.

Left off the table

Frère's brigade of Drouet's division (94e and 95e Ligne) — Committed on the Olmütz road beside Lannes at the same hour.
The Imperial Guard infantry — Held in reserve behind the plateau; only the Guard cavalry was sent in.
Saint-Hilaire's division — Holding the Pratzeberg at the other end of the plateau.

Where this game departs from the record

Each Russian Guard regiment is a unit of its own — So that the allied player chooses which of the Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky and Izmaylovsky go in first, and which are kept back.
The Guard Cossacks are graded Veteran — They were the Guard's own regiment, and are not to be played as irregular levies.
The Mamelukes are a unit of their own — A single squadron attached to the Guard Chasseurs: small, but it rode in the charge with them.

E3The Santon and the Bosenitz Corridor08:00–13:00 · 15 turns of 20 minTABLE 12 × 6 ft

France defending · Russia and Austria attacking

France — Hold the Olmütz road and the Santon. Nothing north of the chaussée matters as much as the flank of the army south of it.

Russia and Austria — Break past the Santon and roll up the French left, or at minimum hold enough French troops here that they cannot go south.

Arrivals

A turn 6 (09:40) · dice — arrives in ZONE A · on that turn, no condition
2nd Division (Drouet)
2nd Division (Drouet) — Bernadotte's second division came up on Lannes' right as the northern fight developed.
B turn 6 (09:40) · dice — arrives in ZONE B · on that turn, no condition
5th Column (Liechtenstein, Cavalry Reserve)
5th Column (Liechtenstein, Cavalry Reserve) — Liechtenstein's cavalry was sent north across the field and arrived on Bagration's flank late in the morning. Turn 6 is about 09:40 on this engagement's clock; accounts give no time for the arrival.

Your 12 ft table: France 24 battalions, 5 cavalry, 2 batteries · Russia and Austria 13 battalions, 8 cavalry, 3 batteries. The muster below is this force.

Command — who leads what, and how good he is

France

Maréchal Lannes — V Corps France

Decisive from the record

Held Bennigsen’s whole army with the advance guard at Friedland from dawn until the Emperor came up, and led the centre at Austerlitz and Jena.

3 divisions (12 brigades) — a small command — only 3 formations, few enough that his orders reach all of them. By that shape alone, he can turn most of his command within the hour, and all of it within two. What he does not reach holds what it has and conforms to what is happening beside it — it does not blunder forward and it does not sit under fire doing nothing.

commander unknown — 5 brigades
commander unknown — 5 brigades
commander unknown — 2 brigades

Maréchal Bernadotte — I Corps France

Workmanlike from the record

I Corps at Austerlitz was on the field and did what it was asked, no more.

commander unknown — 3 brigades
commander unknown — 3 brigades
commander unknown — 1 brigade

Maréchal Murat — Cavalry Reserve France

Capable from the record

The best leader of horse in Europe: the pursuit after Jena that took the surrenders at Prenzlau and Lübeck, and the charge at Eylau. Command of anything but cavalry was not his strength.

4 divisions (0 brigades). By that shape alone, about half his command can be turned to a new purpose within the hour. What he does not reach goes on doing what it was last told, competently, whether or not that is still the right thing.

commander unknown — 0 brigades
commander unknown — 0 brigades
commander unknown — 0 brigades
commander unknown — 0 brigades

Maréchal LannesCorps

Maréchal MuratCorps

Russia and Austria

Prince Johann von Liechtenstein — 5th Column (Cavalry Reserve) Russia and Austria

Workmanlike from the record

Led the Allied cavalry at Austerlitz; charged Lannes and was beaten off.

4 divisions (4 brigades) — a coalition command — his orders pass through a staff that is not his own. By that shape alone, one formation at a time, and the far flank is an hour behind the near one. What he does not reach goes on with its last order, and commits itself before news of any change arrives.

No divisional echelon: he handles all 4 brigades himself.

Generallieutenant Prince BagrationCorps

Feldmarschall-leutnant Prince LiechtensteinCorps

Order of battle — the real regiments, brigade by brigade

Not every unit that fought is on this table. Some are left off to keep the game manageable, and some were not in this part of the battle. The full list is under The historical record, below.

France24 battalions · 5 cavalry · 2 batteries

Caffarelli's 1st Division, V Corps

arrives turn 1

13e and 17e Ligne (4 bns) — 4 bns · Line Standard
30e and 51e Ligne (4 bns) — 4 bns · Line Standard
61e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard

Suchet's 3rd Division, V Corps

arrives turn 1

17e Légère (2 bns) — 2 bns · Veteran Standard
34e and 40e Ligne (4 bns) — 4 bns · Line Standard
64e and 88e Ligne (4 bns) — 4 bns · Line Standard

Drouet's 2nd Division, I Corps arrives turn 5

94e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard
95e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard

Trelliard's Light Cavalry Division, V Corps

arrives turn 1

9e and 10e Hussards — Line · battle Standard
13e and 21e Chasseurs à Cheval — Line · battle Standard

The Cavalry ReserveMurat

arrives turn 1

Nansouty's carabiniers and cuirassiers — Veteran · battle Standard
d'Hautpoul's cuirassiers — Veteran · battle Standard
Walther's dragoons — Line · battle Standard

Artillery arrives turn 1

Horse battery of the Cavalry Reserve — horse; one of the formation's batteries Large

V CorpsLannes

Artillery arrives turn 1

V Corps battery — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large

Russia and Austria13 battalions · 8 cavalry · 3 batteries

Russian 13 battalions · 7 cavalry · 2 batteries — Austrian 1 cavalry

Bagration's Advance Guard of the Right Russian

arrives turn 1

5th and 6th Jäger Regiments (4 bns) — 4 bns · Veteran Standard
Arkhangelgorod Musketeer Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard
Old Ingermanland Musketeer Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard
Pskov Musketeer Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard
Pavlograd and Mariupol Hussars — Line · battle Standard
Empress Cuirassiers — Veteran · battle Standard
Tver and St Petersburg Dragoons — Line · battle Standard
Cossack pulks — Kiselev, Malakhov, Khanzhenkov — Reservist · battle Standard

Artillery arrives turn 1

Bagration's battery — the position guns — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large
Bagration's battery — the light guns — foot; one of the formation's batteries Standard

The 5th Column — the allied cavalry reserve arrives turn 6Murat

Austrian cuirassiers — Nassau, Lorraine, Kaiser — Veteran · battle Standard Austrian
Grand Duke Constantine Uhlans — Line · battle Standard Russian
Chernigov and Kharkov Dragoons — Line · battle Standard Russian
Elisabetgrad Hussars and Cossacks — Line · battle Standard Russian

Artillery

5th Column horse battery — horse; one of the formation's batteries Standard

Odds: Lannes and the heavy cavalry against Bagration and Liechtenstein — close to even, and the only sector of the battlefield where that is true

Deployment — who sets up where, and from which turn

Deploying. First to deploy: Russia and Austria; then France.

The zones as lettered on the map:

A Lannes (V) and Murat — astride the Olmütz road
B Bagration and the Fifth Column — the Allied Right

France

A V Corps (Lannes) — at start faces north-east Caffarelli right of the chaussée, Suchet left, anchored on the Santon.
A Cavalry Reserve (Murat) — at start faces north-east Heavy cavalry behind the infantry line, in hand.

Russia and Austria

B Advance Guard of the Right (Bagration) — at start faces south-west Infantry astride the road, cavalry on the open ground to the south.

Victory

French DecisiveAt the end of the game the French hold the Santon and the road corridor, and no formed allied unit stands west of Blasowitz.
Allied DecisiveThe allies hold the road corridor west of Bosenitz, or the Santon battery is taken.
MarginalThe corridor is contested, or the allies hold Blasowitz but not the road.

Special rules

The Santon battery: The Santon carries an entrenched French battery that may not move, fires at no penalty over intervening troops, and counts as fortified against assault.
Liechtenstein's misplaced cavalry: The allied cavalry reserve does not deploy at the start: it arrives from the southern table edge on turn 3, in march column, and may not charge on the turn it arrives.
Open ground south of the chaussée: The ground between the road and Blasowitz is open and firm: cavalry charging there gets a free reform after a successful charge.
Road march: A unit moving along a road in column of companies or limbered adds 3in to its move. A unit that enters the road corridor in column of march adds 3in but is destroyed outright, without fighting, if charged by formed infantry or cavalry while still in that formation.

On the day, and how the result carries forward

decisive_a

French decisive	Bagration is falling back east along the chaussée in good order, and the French cavalry has nothing left in front of it. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway France gains one unit of dragoons, from turn 3.With the north settled, Murat's dragoons were free for the pursuit in the south.
Marginal	Both sides hold what they started with and both have spent their cavalry doing it. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway BOTH has one more turn.A north still in play kept French troops looking over their shoulder.
Allied decisive	Bagration is across the chaussée and into the French rear areas — the one thing the allied plan never asked of him. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway Murat's staff rating drops by one.Murat and the reserve cavalry were still committed in the north and could not come south. E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway France deploys six inches further north.A French right that had to watch its rear could not press the pocket as hard.

The historical record — what is left off, what was changed, and how the strengths were reached

What is on the table, and what is not. The units here are, and the most cavalry-heavy table in the series: nine cavalry units of the twenty-nine. That is the engagement — the only sector where both sides had room to use horse. 30 units.

Left off the table

Beaumont's dragoon division — Went south with the pursuit. It is in E4.
Rivaud's division of I Corps — Went to the plateau with Bernadotte. It is in E2.

Where this game departs from the record

Caffarelli's and Suchet's five regiments each are three units apiece — Ten two-battalion regiments would be ten units on a table that also carries nine of cavalry. Brigading them in pairs keeps the corps legible.
The Austrian cuirassiers are one unit of eighteen squadrons — Three regiments on one base. They arrive together, charge together and are the heaviest thing on the allied side.

E4Aujezd and the Pond Causeway13:30–16:30 · 12 turns of 20 minTABLE 12 × 6 ft

France attacking · Russia and Austria withdrawing

France — The allied left is in a pocket between the plateau and the ponds. Close it.

Russia and Austria — You cannot win this. Get as much of the army out south and east as you can, and make the French pay for the rest.

Arrivals

A turn 4 (14:30) · dice — arrives in ZONE A · on that turn, no condition
Beaumont's dragoons
Beaumont's dragoons — Dragoons came down from the centre to close the eastern side of the pocket.
A turn 6 (15:10) · dice — arrives in ZONE A · on that turn, no condition
Imperial Guard (Bessières)
Imperial Guard (Bessières) — The Guard followed Napoleon down onto the southern slope once the plateau was secure.

Your 12 ft table: France 24 battalions, 2 cavalry, 2 batteries · Russia and Austria 23 battalions, 1 cavalry, 2 batteries. The muster below is this force.

Command — who leads what, and how good he is

Every formation here is led by the man who led it, at the level he held. Where anything is recorded of the man himself it is given — 1 of 5 here. This battle names no grade for him, so each man is graded from his record, or by default, as his card says. Use the note where there is one, and your own judgement where the card says the grade is a default.

France

Maréchal Soult — IV Corps France

Workmanlike by default — nothing consulted marks him out either way

commander unknown — 3 brigades
commander unknown — 5 brigades
commander unknown — 5 brigades
commander unknown — 3 brigades

Maréchal Murat — Cavalry Reserve France

Capable from the record

The best leader of horse in Europe: the pursuit after Jena that took the surrenders at Prenzlau and Lübeck, and the charge at Eylau. Command of anything but cavalry was not his strength.

commander unknown — 0 brigades
commander unknown — 0 brigades
commander unknown — 0 brigades
commander unknown — 0 brigades

Général de division VandammeDivision

Took Staré Vinohrady and then lost the 4e Ligne's Eagle holding it.

Général de division OudinotDivision

Maréchal MuratCorps

Russia and Austria

Generallieutenant Langeron — his corps Russia and Austria

Workmanlike from the record

His column at Austerlitz was caught in the villages when the Pratzen went; at Leipzig his corps fought as directed.

Generallieutenant Przhybyshevsky — his corps Russia and Austria

Laboured from the record

Lost his column in the Goldbach villages at Austerlitz and was taken with most of it.

Generallieutenant LangeronCorps

Generallieutenant PrzhybyshevskyCorps

Order of battle — the real regiments, brigade by brigade

Not every unit that fought is on this table. Some are left off to keep the game manageable, and some were not in this part of the battle. The full list is under The historical record, below.

France24 battalions · 2 cavalry · 2 batteries

Vandamme's 2nd Division, IV Corps

arrives turn 1

24e Légère (2 bns) — 2 bns · Veteran Standard
4e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard
28e and 46e Ligne (4 bns) — 4 bns · Line Standard
57e Ligne (2 bns) — 2 bns · Line Standard

The Grenadiers of the ReserveOudinot (Duroc commanding on the day)

arrives turn 1

1st Grenadier Division (5 bns) — 5 bns · Grenadier Standard
2nd Grenadier Division (5 bns) — 5 bns · Grenadier Standard

The Imperial Guard arrives turn 5Bessières

Grenadiers and Chasseurs à Pied de la Garde (4 bns) — 4 bns · Elite Standard
The Guard cavalry — Elite · battle Standard

Artillery

Guard battery — foot; one of the formation's batteries Standard

The Cavalry Reserve arrives turn 4Murat

Beaumont's dragoons — Line · battle Standard

IV CorpsSoult

Artillery arrives turn 1

IV Corps battery above the ponds — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large

Russia and Austria23 battalions · 1 cavalry · 2 batteries

Langeron's 2nd Column

arrives turn 1

Ryazhsk Musketeer Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard
Phanagoria Grenadier Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Grenadier Standard
Vyborg and Perm Regiments (6 bns) — 6 bns · Line Standard
St Petersburg Dragoons (detachment) — Line · battle Standard300 men in two squadrons.

Artillery arrives turn 1

2nd Column battery — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large

Przhybyshevsky's 3rd Column

arrives turn 1

7th and 8th Jäger Regiments (4 bns) — 4 bns · Veteran Standard
Galicia Musketeer Regiment (3 bns) — 3 bns · Line Standard
Butyrsk and Narva Regiments (4 bns) — 4 bns · Line Standard

Artillery arrives turn 1

3rd Column battery — foot; one of the formation's batteries Large

Odds: French fresh troops coming down off the plateau against three columns that have been fighting since dawn — the allied player is playing for extraction, and the victory conditions say so

Deployment — who sets up where, and from which turn

Deploying. First to deploy: Russia and Austria; then France.

The zones as lettered on the map:

A Vandamme, the Grenadiers and the Guard — off the plateau
B Second and Third Columns — between Telnitz and the ponds
C Exit — the causeway and the ice (march off across this edge)

France

A IV Corps · 2nd Division (Vandamme) — at start faces south Coming down the southern slope of the plateau.
A Grenadiers of the Reserve (Oudinot (Duroc commanding on the day)) — at start faces south Oudinot's converged grenadiers, fresh.

Russia and Austria

B 2nd Column (Langeron) — at start faces north Langeron's men, disordered and short of ammunition.
B 3rd Column (Przybyszewski) — at start faces north Przybyszewski's column, largely cut off.

Victory

French DecisiveThree or more allied formations are broken or captured and no more than one is extracted.
Allied DecisiveThree or more allied formations are extracted in good order, with their guns.
MarginalTwo allied formations are extracted, or losses fall between the two other bands.

Special rules

The frozen ponds: A unit crossing a pond becomes disordered and, if fired on by artillery while on the ice, takes an additional disorder result. Units may not fight on the ice.
No drowned army: Units driven onto the ice are dispersed, not destroyed: treat them as withdrawn from the table rather than casualties.
Extraction: An allied formation that leaves by the southern or eastern table edge in good order counts as extracted and scores; one that is broken or captured does not.
Road march: A unit moving along a road in column of companies or limbered adds 3in to its move. A unit that enters the road corridor in column of march adds 3in but is destroyed outright, without fighting, if charged by formed infantry or cavalry while still in that formation.

On the day, and how the result carries forward

decisive_a

French decisive	The allied left ceases to exist as a fighting formation, and the coalition's war ends with it. The chain ends here: France wins it — French decisive victory, at or beyond the historical scale.The historical result: the Third Coalition collapsed within weeks of the battle.
Marginal	A beaten army, but an army still — and one that marches away east with most of its infantry. The chain ends here: the campaign is drawn — French tactical victory without the strategic result.A less complete victory would have left the allied field army intact enough to fight again that winter.
Allied decisive	The pocket does not close. The allied left comes out south of the ponds with its guns, and the campaign goes on. The chain ends here: Russia and Austria win it — Allied strategic escape — the campaign continues.An allied left that escaped intact would have made the peace terms Austria actually accepted unthinkable.

The historical record — what is left off, what was changed, and how the strengths were reached

What is on the table, and what is not. The units here are, the smallest table of the four, because the engagement is an extraction: two allied columns cut off between the villages and the frozen ponds. 20 units.

Left off the table

The 1st Column and the Austrian advance guard — They got away south-west past Telnitz rather than into the pocket.
Saint-Hilaire's division — Held the plateau while Vandamme came down off it.

Where this game departs from the record

Vandamme's five regiments are four units — The 28e and 46e are brigaded. The engagement is a pocket, not a manoeuvre battle, and the French player does not need five separate elements to close it.
The two allied columns are fielded at their E1 strength — What reaches this table should be what survived E1, and the E1 result carries that through. The order of battle lists the full columns; the E1 outcome takes units off them.

Playing the Chain

carry each result forward

Engagement	French win	Marginal	Allied win
E1 Telnitz and Sokolnitz	+2 France	0	+2 Russia and Austria
E2 The Pratzen Heights	+3 France	0	+3 Russia and Austria
E5 Staré Vinohrady — the Guard Counter-attack	+2 France	0	+2 Russia and Austria
E3 The Santon and the Bosenitz Corridor	+1 France	0	+1 Russia and Austria
E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway	+2 France	0	+2 Russia and Austria

France leads by 4 or moreAusterlitz as it happened, or worse for the allies

France leads by 1 to 3A French win that does not end the coalition

LevelA drawn day and a winter campaign to follow

The allies lead by 1 to 3Weyrother's plan half-works

The allies lead by 4 or moreThe plan works, and the war does not end in December

Reference & designer’s notes — the ground, the historical orders of battle, myths, and rules guidance

The Ground

read before setting terrain

The map is drawn to be read, not measured. Every plate is the real ground fitted to a table of the stated size, and your table is not that survey: your hills are the hills you own and your village is the village you own. Set the ground out to match the map as near as your terrain allows, and let it stand.

The lettered zones are the same. A zone shows where a formation stood when the action opened — read it across onto your own table by eye. What the scenario fixes is which side is whose and which edge a formation enters by; where inside its own zone you put each battalion is yours. Where a depth is given it says how much room the formation needs, not a line to measure to.

Feature	On the table
The Pratzen plateau	A broad, gentle plateau: it commands the field for artillery and observation but does not block movement, and troops on it are visible from a long way off.
The Goldbach	A small stream in a marshy bottom: the obstacle is the boggy ground and the villages on the crossings, not the water.
The Sokolnitz castle	Walled castle, granary and pheasantry — the strongest single position on the southern field, and a formation-breaker to fight through.
The Santon	A steep knoll beside the Olmütz road, entrenched and held as a fixed battery: it anchors the whole French left.
Staré Vinohrady	The northern shoulder of the plateau; whoever holds it can see and shoot into the flank of anyone on the Pratzeberg.
The Satschan pond	Frozen hard enough to walk on and to break under artillery fire: a hazard and an escape route, not a wall.
Telnitz	Village on the southernmost crossing; the allied plan begins here and stalls here.
The pheasantry	Walled game park with standing timber next to the castle: hard cover, blocked sightlines, and a formation-breaker to fight through.
Boggy ground west of the brook	Boggy water-meadow along the stream — the actual obstacle in the south, and the reason the villages are the only practical crossings.
The old vineyards	Vine rows and terraces on the plateau's northern shoulder: light cover, broken going, and disorder for anyone crossing them in formation.
Stubble and fallow on the plateau	Open frozen stubble over most of the plateau. No cover at all, which is exactly why the morning fog decided the shape of the attack.

Table sizes: 14×6 ft: full force · 12×6 ft: full force · 10×6 ft: 80% · 8×6 ft: 67%

Weather, Light & Going

Foggy from before dawn, holding in the Goldbach valley into the morning and clearing on the heights first; ground frozen, ponds bearing.

Orders of Battle

historical

France

E1/E2/E4/E5 · IV Corps Soult 23,600 · 35 guns

E1 · III Corps (detachment present) Davout 4,300 · 12 gunsE1 BIII Corps (Davout, detachment present) turn 5

E2/E3/E5 · I Corps Bernadotte 13,000 · 24 guns

E4/E5 · Imperial Guard Bessières 5,500 · 24 gunsE4 AImperial Guard (Bessières) turn 6

E3 · V Corps Lannes 12,700 · 20 gunsE3 A at start

E3/E4 · Cavalry Reserve Murat 7,400 · 36 gunsE3 A at start

E4 · Grenadiers of the Reserve Oudinot (Duroc commanding on the day) 5,700E4 A at start

Russia and Austria

E1 · Advance Guard (Austrian) Kienmayer 6,880 · 12 gunsE1 C at start

E1/E4 · 1st Column Dokhturov 13,490 · 64 gunsE1 C at start

E1/E4 · 2nd Column Langeron 11,550 · 30 gunsE1 C2nd Column (Langeron) turn 3E4 B at start

E1/E4 · 3rd Column Przybyszewski 7,700 · 30 gunsE1 C3rd Column (Przybyszewski) turn 5E4 B at start

E2 · 4th Column Kollowrat and Miloradovich 13,900 · 76 gunsE2 C at start

E5 · Russian Imperial Guard Grand Duke Constantine 10,530 · 40 gunsE5 C at start

E3 · 5th Column (Cavalry Reserve) Prince Johann von Liechtenstein 5,375 · 24 gunsE3 B5th Column (Liechtenstein, Cavalry Reserve) turn 6

E3 · Advance Guard of the Right Bagration 13,700 · 42 gunsE3 B at start

Strengths, marked with the game each formation fights in; a formation that fought on two days is listed once with both.

Villages on the Table

why four, and which is which

Only a built-up area that was fought over is played as a village, and no table carries more than four. That is a choice made for the game, not a claim about the ground. The real countryside was thick with villages, and drawn at their true size they would leave no room to manoeuvre and stop the flow of play every time a brigade came near one.

- Village (house blocks inside a ring): a built-up area fought over. Every rule for built-up areas applies. - Strongpoint (a walled square): a farm, château, church, walled mill or earthwork that was held or could be. Small, but a defended position. - Hamlet (two blocks): a few buildings the fight passed through. Light cover. Where a village was fought over but a table already has its four, it is played as a hamlet and named below. - House (one small block): one or two buildings. Marked where they stood, for bearings, and not a village. - Village, not fought over (outlined buildings): marked on the map where it stood, and played as open ground.

- E1 · Telnitz and Sokolnitz: villages Telnitz, Sokolnitz, Kobelnitz; strongpoints the Sokolnitz castle, the pheasantry; marked, not fought over Satschan. - E2 · The Pratzen Heights: villages Kobelnitz, Pratzen, Girzikowitz; strongpoints the Sokolnitz castle. - E3 · The Santon and the Bosenitz Corridor: villages Pratzen, Bosenitz, Blasowitz, Girzikowitz. - E4 · Aujezd and the Pond Causeway: villages Telnitz, Aujezd, Satschan, Menitz; strongpoints the pheasantry. - E5 · Staré Vinohrady — the Guard Counter-attack: villages Blasowitz.

Village (house blocks inside a ring): a built-up area fought over. Every rule for built-up areas applies.
Strongpoint (a walled square): a farm, château, church, walled mill or earthwork that was held or could be. Small, but a defended position.
Hamlet (two blocks): a few buildings the fight passed through. Light cover. Where a village was fought over but a table already has its four, it is played as a hamlet and named below.
House (one small block): one or two buildings. Marked where they stood, for bearings, and not a village.
Village, not fought over (outlined buildings): marked on the map where it stood, and played as open ground.
E1 · Telnitz and Sokolnitz: villages Telnitz, Sokolnitz, Kobelnitz; strongpoints the Sokolnitz castle, the pheasantry; marked, not fought over Satschan.
E2 · The Pratzen Heights: villages Kobelnitz, Pratzen, Girzikowitz; strongpoints the Sokolnitz castle.
E3 · The Santon and the Bosenitz Corridor: villages Pratzen, Bosenitz, Blasowitz, Girzikowitz.
E4 · Aujezd and the Pond Causeway: villages Telnitz, Aujezd, Satschan, Menitz; strongpoints the pheasantry.
E5 · Staré Vinohrady — the Guard Counter-attack: villages Blasowitz.

Deliberate Departures from History

Four engagements, not a battle. Utitsa-scale detail, the fighting around Kobelnitz and Bernadotte's full commitment are compressed or left off the tables. What is here is the part of each sector that was still undecided.
The chain is written as a sequence. The three morning engagements were simultaneous. The diagram above shows how to play them side by side.
Reinforcement timings are regularised. Historical arrivals were ragged over hours; the scenario gives them turn numbers with a die-roll variation. The variation is invented; the fact that each formation arrived late and piecemeal is not.
E4's victory conditions rewrite the day's meaning for the allied player. Extraction rather than ground. Without this, the engagement is an execution.
The 4th Column uses the smaller strength figure. Stated above, with the alternative.
Russian regimental strengths are shares of the column totals, not figures from returns.
Two brigaded units per Russian column are composites, carrying the balance of a column whose full regimental list is uncertain.
The Pratzen table runs to 12:05, not 11:30. The ascent was over by late morning; the two extra turns keep it a full game.
Staré Vinohrady is a table of its own. The Guard counter-attack came in as the fight for the plateau was ending. It is split off so that it can be played as the short, sharp action it was.
The Russian Guard starts on the table, formed on the slope below the crest, rather than marching on at the first turn. It comes to the same thing, and saves a turn of queueing at the table edge.
Drouet's division is divided. Werlé's brigade is on the crest at Staré Vinohrady; the rest of the division is on the Olmütz road.

Myths & Corrections

The drowned thousands. The 30th Bulletin of the Grande Armée claimed twenty thousand Russians drowned when French guns broke the ice on the Satschan pond. The ponds were drained after the battle: what came out was a few dozen guns, some horses, and two bodies. The retreat across the ice was real, the disaster was invented in Paris, and any scenario that scores the ponds as a killing ground is repeating a press release.
The Pratzen is not a ridge. Covered above, and the single most common table error.
"Napoleon abandoned the heights as a trap" is true but often overstated. The withdrawal was a deliberate invitation; the precise form of the counter-stroke was decided late, on the evidence of what the allies actually did on the night of 1 December.
Kutuzov did not lose this battle. He commanded an army executing a plan he had argued against, in the presence of two emperors, one of whom overruled him. Grade the allied command accordingly — the friction belongs at the staff level, not in the troops.
The Pratzen plateau: Wargames tables routinely build it as a steep ridge. It is a rolling agricultural plateau, and the whole battle only works if it is drawn that way.
The Goldbach: Named differently in different accounts, which is why the same crossings appear under different names in scenario books.
The Satschan pond: The bulletin's drowned thousands are a fiction — see the special rule in E4.
Boggy ground west of the brook: Modern maps show drained farmland; in 1805 this was wet ground, partly frozen.

Sources

Graded [A] scholarly / [B] reliable secondary / [C] corroborate / [D] claim only.
[B] historyofwar.org — 'Battle of Austerlitz, 2 December 1805' — Corps and column strengths, sequence and timings, casualty figures, the pond myth
[C] Wikipedia — 'Battle of Austerlitz order of battle' — Divisional and regimental composition of both armies
[B] The Napoleon Series — 'Russian-Austrian Order-of-Battle at Austerlitz: 2 December 1805' — Allied army totals in battalions, squadrons and guns; allied command structure
[B] napoleon.org — 'Austerlitz, 2 December 1805: a timeline' — Cross-check on the sequence of the day
[B] austerlitz.org — 'History trail of the Austerlitz battlefield: list of locations' — Terrain features: the Golden Brook, the Old Vineyards, the Romza and Rakovec brooks, the wet ground at the Stará Valcha mill, hill heights
[A] Nafziger, G. — 'French Order of Battle at Austerlitz, 2 December 1805' (805LCI), The Napoleon Series, from Alombert & Colin, Campagne de 1805 en Allemagne (Paris, 1904) — French regimental strengths, brigades and brigadiers for Staré Vinohrady, and the Imperial Guard cavalry
[C] fr.wikipedia — 'Ordre de bataille de la bataille d'Austerlitz' — The Mamelukes and the Gendarmerie d'élite, and the guns of Vandamme's battery and the Guard horse artillery
No archival returns or book-length study stand behind these orders of battle, so the Russian strengths are approximate; Duffy's Austerlitz 1805 and Bowden's strength reconciliation are where to firm them up.

How well each muster is established

E1 Telnitz and Sokolnitz — Regiments and formation strengths from the Wikipedia order of battle and historyofwar; the four recorded unit strengths are marked as such and carry sizes. No source gives any other unit's size, and each of those units says so.
E2 The Pratzen Heights — Regiments and formation strengths from the Wikipedia order of battle and historyofwar. The artillery is sized on recorded gun totals; no source gives the size of any infantry or cavalry unit.
E5 Staré Vinohrady — the Guard Counter-attack — The regiments, their brigades and their commanders are well recorded on both sides, and the French regimental strengths come from the French returns.
E3 The Santon and the Bosenitz Corridor — As E1 and E2. The gun totals are recorded at formation level; the unit sizes are not, and the units say so.
E4 Aujezd and the Pond Causeway — As the other engagements in this battle.

Time, ground, and the bayonet decide.

Vedette Wargames · vedette-wargames.com · games to keep the general in you fighting

Made by a wargamer, for wargamers. A guide to the game, not a work of reference.

Researched battle	Engagements
Austerlitz 1805Telnitz and Sokolnitz · The Pratzen Heights · Staré Vinohrady — the Guard Counter-attack · The Santon and the Bosenitz Corridor · Aujezd and the Pond Causeway	5
Jena–Auerstedt 1806The Landgrafenberg and Vierzehnheiligen · Hassenhausen · The Collapse toward Weimar	3
Eylau 1807The Town · The Blizzard and the Russian Centre · Kutschitten and the Southern Flank	3
Friedland 1807Sortlack Wood and the Loops of the Alle · Ney's Attack and the Town	2
Arroyo dos Molinos 1811The town at dawn · The plain and the mountain	2
Fuentes de Oñoro 1811The Village: First Storm · The Plain: Poço Velho and the Fighting Withdrawal · The Village: Second Storm	3
Borodino 1812Shevardino Redoubt · The Bagration Flèches · Uvarov and Platov's Raid · The Raevsky Redoubt	4
García Hernández 1812The squares on the Serna slope	1
Krasny (Krasnoi) 1812The Losvinka Gully: Eugene's Breakout · Napoleon's Gambit: The Guard's Feint and Davout's Escape · Ney's Rearguard: The Losvinka and the Ice of the Dnieper	3
Salamanca (Los Arapiles) 1812The head of the column · Leith, Maucune and Le Marchant · Clausel's counter-attack · Ferey at El Sierro	4
Leipzig (the Battle of the Nations) 1813Wachau and Liebertwolkwitz · Moeckern · Lindenau · Probstheida · The Bridge and the Rearguard	5
The Six Days — Champaubert, Montmirail, Château-Thierry and Vauchamps 1814Champaubert · Montmirail · Château-Thierry · Vauchamps	4
Ligny 1815Saint-Amand and Wagnelée · Ligny village · The Guard breaks the centre	3
Quatre Bras 1815Perponcher holds · Kellermann's charge and the Guards	2
Waterloo 1815Hougoumont · D'Erlon's attack and the great charge · The squares and La Haye Sainte · Plancenoit · The Guard's last attack	5
The Waterloo Campaign 1815Quatre Bras · Ligny · Waterloo — the decisive hours · Wavre	4
Sixteen battles	53

Austerlitz, complete

Austerlitz

The Situation

The Whole Battle

The Engagements

France

Russia and Austria

France19 battalions · 1 cavalry · 2 batteries

Legrand's 3rd Division, IV Corps

Friant's 2nd Division, III Corps arrives turn 5

Bourcier's 4th Dragoon Division (part) arrives turn 5

III Corps arrives turn 5Davout

Russia and Austria41 battalions · 5 cavalry · 2 batteries

Kienmayer's Advance Guard Austrian

Dokhturov's 1st Column Russian

Langeron's 2nd Column arrives turn 3 Russian

Przhybyshevsky's 3rd Column arrives turn 4 Russian

France

Russia and Austria

France

Russia and Austria

France23 battalions · 0 cavalry · 1 battery

Saint-Hilaire's 1st Division, IV Corps

Vandamme's 2nd Division, IV Corps

Rivaud's 1st Division, I Corps arrives turn 5

IV CorpsSoult

Russia and Austria22 battalions · 0 cavalry · 2 batteries

Kolowrat and Miloradovich's 4th ColumnKollowrat and Miloradovich

France

Russia and Austria

France

Russia and Austria

France12 battalions · 4 cavalry · 2 batteries

Vandamme's 2nd Division, IV Corps

Drouet's 2nd Division, I Corps

The Imperial Guard arrives turn 3Bessières

Russia and Austria10 battalions · 4 cavalry · 2 batteries

The Russian Imperial GuardBessières

France

Russia and Austria

France

Russia and Austria

France24 battalions · 5 cavalry · 2 batteries

Caffarelli's 1st Division, V Corps

Suchet's 3rd Division, V Corps

Drouet's 2nd Division, I Corps arrives turn 5

Trelliard's Light Cavalry Division, V Corps

The Cavalry ReserveMurat

V CorpsLannes

Russia and Austria13 battalions · 8 cavalry · 3 batteries

Bagration's Advance Guard of the Right Russian

The 5th Column — the allied cavalry reserve arrives turn 6Murat

France

Russia and Austria

France

Russia and Austria

France24 battalions · 2 cavalry · 2 batteries

Vandamme's 2nd Division, IV Corps

The Grenadiers of the ReserveOudinot (Duroc commanding on the day)

The Imperial Guard arrives turn 5Bessières

The Cavalry Reserve arrives turn 4Murat

IV CorpsSoult

Russia and Austria23 battalions · 1 cavalry · 2 batteries

Langeron's 2nd Column

Przhybyshevsky's 3rd Column

France

Russia and Austria

Playing the Chain

The Ground

Weather, Light & Going

Orders of Battle

France

Russia and Austria

Villages on the Table

Deliberate Departures from History

Myths & Corrections

Sources

How well each muster is established

Everything in the box

The generated theatres