Austerlitz Reviews

Austerlitz allows you to replay the battle of Dec 2nd 1805 between Napoleon I and Alexander I from the viewpoint of the two commanders. <75,000 French troops v <95,000 Russian and Austrian, battling over a map of 104 sq miles. This game is CERTAINLY NOT RECOMMENDED FOR MOST GAMERS, if you consider yourself a casual gamer. Simply because the interface is old and there’s tremendous amounts of off-PC record keeping and documents to view (this game was made before interfaces could keep the type of data required). I DO HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS GAME TO GROGNARDS! What attracted me to this game was the promise of commanding a huge battle from the viewpoint of the Commander-In-Chief. I’m wondering why no modern game has replicated this idea for pre-radio wargames? This is where a PC comes into its own v tabletop or indeed turn based PC games which give a God like control with immediate response by the units, and info on likely casualties. This is not realistic, and Austerlitz better portrays a realistic simulation for a individual Commander. I was put off by the graphics, however, I am now used to them and appreciate their style for what they are. They remind me of a tabletop war game, a few houses to represent towns, a few trees here and there, hills, green grass, etc. It would be wrong to assume the units are block wargame units. They are more like miniatures which can change formation in accordance with orders. I was surprised mid battle to see a unit in Square formation and Line. And (the only animation in this game) the Artillery shooting. So, the units ARE dynamic. They’ll also change if they are disordered. From the Store Game Page via a link is the Manual PLUS the Map which is ESSENTIAL for this game. Here lies the first issue with the interface, with no map available in game, you need to know all the town names and features to issue orders, you MUST physically print out the map. The map is good and gives the position of the forces as they start the battle. As troops move around, I find it difficult to track them, so I will create counters for each corps and track them on the map. The first play through is VERY confusing (not least if trying without the map or having read the manual). As there is ZERO in game tutorial. A multitude of initial settings will alter how the game plays for you. I initially played the game with view all messages but found this gave me far too much noise/detail. A more Operational approach is required, to command so many men over such a huge map. Therefore, I now opt to avoid all messages apart from those to and from myself. For a realistic game I also opted to allow viewpoint from only Napoleon. Had I selected the option to allow a viewpoint from anywhere on the battlefield, I could have typed the command “VIEW NORTH FROM (xlocation)” etc. Playing as Commander, you can choose “LOOK NORTH” etc, to change your personal viewpoint. The important thing is to compare the features you see on the screen with your map, to work out exactly who’s where and what’s where. If you click the mouse on the screen, it will tell you what the feature is or what the unit is. The next extremely important thing you need to print is the Order Of Battle for both sides, APPENDIX A2 in manual. This is ESSENTIAL (no in game OOB). The game is detailed enough that when you click units it might say “It appears to be a line infantry battalion of Rivaud” (of which, Rivaud commands 6 batallions). As commander, you can NOT command Rivaud (as many other wargames WOULD allow). It is the I Army Corps Commander Bernadotte who issues orders to Rivaud, who then in turn issues to his batallions. What you can do is issue general orders to Bernadotte OR specific orders. i.e. “BERNADOTTE MOVE TO (x location)” (to move a Corps, or at least, Bernadotte to decide what part of his Corps to move) or “BERNADOTTE ORDER RIVAUD TO ATTACK THE ENEMY 1 MILE SOUTH OF (x location)”, if you want him to issue a command to a specific part of his Corps. IF that order gets relayed to Rivaud (after half hour

👍 : 51 | 😃 : 0