1805: Austerlitz by Robert Goetz

Robert Goetz

(Red letters on black background...)

I read this book after reading Scott Bowden's book.  I was just expecting a repeat and was very pleasantly surprised it that it covered the subject matter slightly differently so that the two books interleaved rather than overlapped.

This is all part of my research for the Austerlitz project.  I've done the Order of Battle more or less (one for Bowden and one for Goetz).  I still have the Osprey Campaign book(s) to read and F G Hourtoulle's Austerlitz - The Empire at its Zenith (although I bought that more for it's uniform pictures that I found irresistible), but my next challenge is to the play the boardgame of the battle that I have (Napoleon at Austerlitz that appeared in The Wargamer Number 17 - issued in 1981).  My current aim being to get a feel for the required terrain as that seems to be the next big challenge in order to progress the project.

Meanwhile I'm continuing to work on the figures required for the battle.

Goetz wrote his book in 2005 after Bowden's book (which was published in 1997) and as  a result he makes reference to it when discussing various aspects of the battle, particularly the number of troops engaged.

While very much focussed on the battle, I enjoyed his summary of the outcomes of this unique battle which had such a wide ranging impact on the politics of the day.

When it comes to the Austerlitz scenario I can see a need for two: one would commit the Allies very much to their plan, while a second would give them more freedom to react (such as if Alexander had better advice and acted on it).  Both could be challenging, but we will see.

My current thinking is to look at three depictions of the battlefield.  One is to shrink it to 9x5, the standard for Napoleon's Battles.  Another is to go to 12x5 which would seem based on my calculations so far to fit most of the battle in.  Finally, there is the option of breaking the battle into its various parts.  All of these options are attractive and I'm hoping that the work done on one will readily facilitate the others.

Austerlitz OOB - Comparison of Bowden vs Goetz

I'm probably over doing this, but the comparison is relatively easy to do, and so, why not...

French

				General	Bowden	Goetz
Grande Armee				Napoleon	(4)	(4)
	Imperial Guard			Bessieres	(2)	(2)
		Infantry of the Imperial Guard
			1st Brigade	Hulin	16FrOG	16FrOG
			2nd Brigade	Soules	16FrOG	16FrOG
			3rd Brigade	Lecchi	-	-
		Cavalry of the Imperial Guard
			1st Brigade	Ordener	12FrGHC	12FrGHC
			2nd Brigade	Morland	-	-
		Artillery of the Imperial Guard
			1st Company		FrG8#	FrG8#
			2nd Company		FrG8#	FrG8#
			Royal Italian Guard		ItG8#	ItG8#
		Grenadiers de la Reserve		Oudinot	(1)	(1)
			2nd Brigade	Dupas	20FrGN	20FrGN
			3rd Brigade	Ruffin	-	-
				Duroc	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Laplanche	16FrGN	16FrGN
	1st Corps			Bernadotte	(2)	(2)
		1st Infantry Division		Rivaud	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Dumoulin	16FrLN	28FrLN
			2nd Brigade	Pacthod	24FrLN	12FLN
			2nd Coy 3rd Reg		Fr6#	Fr6#
		2nd Infantry Division		Drouet	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Frere	20FrLT	20FrLT
			2nd Brigade	Werle	28FrLN	28FrLN
			3rd Coy 3rd Reg		Fr6#	Fr6#
	3rd Corps			Davout	(2)	(2)
		2nd Infantry Division		Friant	(1)	(1)
			Advance Guard	Bierre	24FrLN	24FrLN
			1st Brigade	Kister	-	-
			2nd Brigade	Lochet	-	-
			1st Coy 5th Reg		Fr8# Half	Fr8# Half
		4th Dragoon Division		Bourcier	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Laplanche	8FrLC	12FrLC
			2nd Brigade	Sahuc	-	12FrLC
			3rd Brigade		-	-
			3rd Coy 2nd Reg		Fr8# Half	Fr8# Half
	4th Corps			Soult	(2)	(2)
		1st Infantry Division		St Hilaire	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Morand	12FrLT	12FrLT
			2nd Brigade	Thiebault	24FrLN	28FrLN
			3rd Brigade	Vare	28FrLN	28FrLN
		2nd Infantry Division		Vandamme	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Schiner	12FrLT	12FrLT
			2nd Brigade	Ferrey	28FrLN	28FrLN
			3rd Brigade	Candras	24FrLN	28FrLN
		3rd Infantry Division		Legrand	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Merle	20FrLT	16FrLT
			2nd Brigade	Fery	16FrLN	28FrLN
			3rd Brigade	Lavasseur	24FrLN	20FrLN
		4th Corps Light Cavalry Division		Margaron	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Margaron	12FrLC	8FrLC
			4th Coy 5th Reg		Fr8#	Fr8#
		3rd Dragoon Division		Boye	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Boye	20FrLC	12FrLC
			2nd Brigade	Scalfort	-	8FrLC
			3rd Brigade	Milhaud	-	-
			3rd Coy 2nd Reg		Fr8# Half	Fr8# Half
		4th Corps Artillery Reserve
			17th & 18th Coy 5th Reg		Fr12#	Fr12#
	5th Corps			Lannes	(2)	(2)
		3rd Infantry Division		Suchet	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Claparede	12FrLT	12FrLT
			2nd Brigade	Beker	24FrLN	24FrLN
			3rd Brigade	Valhubert	20FrLN	20FrLN
		1st Infantry Division		Caffarelli	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Demont	20FrLN	20FrLN
			2nd Brigade	Debilly	20FrLN	20FrLN
			3rd Brigade	Eppler	12FrLT	12FrLT
		2nd Dragoon Division		Walther	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Sebastini	12FrLC	12FrLC
			2nd Brigade	Roget	-	-
			3rd Brigade	Boussart	-	-
			2nd Coy 2nd Reg		Fr8# Half	Fr8# Half
	Corps des Reserve Cavalerie			Murat	(2)	(2)
		1st Heavy Cavalry Division		Nansouty	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Piston	20FrHC	20FrHC
			2nd Brigade	La Houssaye	-	-
			3rd Brigade	Saint-Germain	-	-
			4th Coy 2nd Reg		-	Fr6# Half
		2nd Heavy Cavalry Division		d'Hautpoul	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Noirot	16FrHC	12FrHC
			2nd Brigade	Saint-Sulpice	-	-
			4th Coy 2nd Reg		-	Fr6# Half
		Light Cavalry Brigade		Milhaud	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Milhaud	8FrLC	8FrLC
		1st Corps Light Cavalry Division		Kellerman	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Van Marisy	16FrLC	8FrLC
			2nd Brigade	Picard	-	8FrLC
			1st Coy 3rd Reg		Fr6#	-
		5th Corps Light Cavalry Division		Fauconnet	(1)	-
			1st Brigade	Treillard	12FrLC	8FrLC
			2nd Brigade	Fauconnet	-	-

Nothing too dramatic and a few are just different allocation of regiments to brigades.  As Napoleon's Battles is a brigade level (which includes large three battalion style regiments) ruleset I tend to prefer when adapting actual OOBs to NB to preserve brigade structures where possible.  This has become easier with the 4th Edition that readily caters for small units (less than 16 figure infantry and 12 figure cavalry).  Of course this is something that can be actually configured to the individual figure, but that would mean starting off with loss markers in some cases and there is already plenty of counters and labels to deal with.

The main thing that I might change is the preponderance of half batteries of horse artillery.  Something to test out as well as research in my reading up on the battle.

Allies

				General	Bowden	Goetz
Combined Russian and Austrian Army
The Tsar				Alexander I	(4)	(4)
	Commander of the I. II. and III. Columns			Buxhowden	(3)	(3)
	Commander of the Austrian Contingent			Liechtenstein 1	(-)	(-)
		Advance Guard of the I. Column		Kienmayer	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Carneville	24AsGZ	20AsGZ
			2nd Brigade	Stutterhiem	8AsLC	8AsLC
			Artillery		As6#	As6#
			Artillery		As6#	-
			3rd Brigade	Nostitz	8AsLC	8AsLC
			4th Brigade	Moritz	8AsLC	8AsLC
		I. Column		Dokhturov	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Lewis	20RsLN	28RsLN
			2nd Brigade	Urasov	24RsLN	28RsLN
			3rd Brigade		16RsLN	28RsLN
			Artillery		Rs12#	Rs12#
			Artillery		Rs12#	Rs12#
			Artillery		Rs12#	Rs12#
			Artillery		Rs12#	Rs12#
		II. Column		Langeron	(1)	(1)
			Viborg		16RsLN	16RsLN
			Kursk		16RsLN	16RsLN
			Perm		16RsLN	16RsLN
			Fanagoria		16RsGN	16RsGN
			Ryazan		16RsLN	16RsLN
		III. Column		Preobreshensky	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Muller III	20RsLN	20RsLN
			2nd Brigade	Strik	12RsLN	28RsLN
			3rd Brigade	Loshakov	12RsLN	20RsLN
		IV. Column			-	-
			Russians	Miloradovich	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Berg	12RsGN	12RsGN
			2nd Brigade	Repninsky	12RsLN	24RsLN
			Artillery		Rs12#	Rs12#
			Artillery		Rs12#	Rs12#
			Austrians	Kolowrat	(1)	(1)
			Austrian Brigade	Rottermund	28AsLN	28AsLN
			Austrian Brigade	Jurczik	24AsLN	28AsLN
			Austrian Brigade		24AsLN	-
			Artillery		As12#	As12#
			Artillery		As12#	-
		V. Column		Liechtenstein	(2)	(2)
			Austrian Cavalry	Hohenlohe 2	(1)	(1)
			1st & 2nd Brigade	Caramelli/Weber	12AsHC	12AsHC
			Artillery		As6#	As6#
			Russian Cavalry	Essen II	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Penitzki	12RsLC	12RsLC
			Constantine Uhlans		-	16RsLC
			Cossacks		-	12RsCLC
			2nd Brigade	Uvarov	20RsLC	20RsLC
			Elisabetgrad Uhlans		-	16RsLC
			Cossacks		8RsCLC	8RsLC
			Artillery		Rs6#	Rs6#
			Artillery		Rs6#	Rs6#
			Artillery		Rs6#	Rs6#
		Advanced Guard		Bagration	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Dolgoruky	16RsJG	16RsJG
			2nd Brigade	Kamensky II	16RsLN	16RsLN
			3rd Brigade	Engelhardt	28RsLN	16RsLN
			4th Brigade	Wittgenstein	16RsLC	16RsLC
			5th Brigade	Voropaitzki	20RsLC	20RsLC
			Res Cavalry		-	12RsLC
			Cossacks	Chaplits	12RsCLC	12RsCLC
			Artillery		Rs6#	Rs6#
			Artillery		Rs6#	Rs6#
			Artillery		As6#	-
			Artillery		As6#	-
		Russian Imperial Guard		Constantine	(2)	(2)
			Infantry of the Guard	Maliutin	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Depreradovich	28RsGD	28RsGD
			2nd Brigade	Lobanov	16RsGD	28RsGD
			Cavalry of the Guard	Kologrivov	(1)	(1)
			1st Brigade	Jankovich	12RsGLC	12RsGLC
			2nd Brigade	Depreradovich II	20RsGHC	20RsGHC
			Artillery		RsG6#	RsG6#
			Artillery		RsG6#	RsG6#
			Artillery		RsG12#	RsG12#
			Artillery		RsG12#	RsG12#

Not too strikingly different, but there are four extra cavalry units, and an extra 18 infantry bases.  A few less guns and one Austrian infantry unit excluded.

My preference remains to treat these as two OOBs and hopefully play the game a few times seeing what difference the OOBs make.

The real challenge is getting the terrain determined along with the starting positions etc.

Austerlitz Muster - Part Two

Almost two years ago I posted Part One of this project.  All the French have now been ready for some time, it has just taken a while to catch up with Stephen to see what gaps exist with the Austrians and Russians.  Today we did that.

The Order of Battle is based on Scott Bowden's book.  I might also produce one based on Goetz's book.

 We worked on the Austrains first.

All Stephen's except the 28AsLN in the bottom right hand corner.

 His infantry are pretty close to the right basing for Napoleon's Battles,

the cavalry and artillery (in some cases) less so.

 Buxhowden with the Advance Guard of Column I along with Columns I, II and III.

There are two 8AsLC units that need a few more figures.

A snip of the list.  The third to last column is the number of men or guns and the final column is the number of bases that is then rounded to get the Napoleon's Battles' unit (the ninth column).

 The Advance Guard and the Russian Imperial Guard.

Still have to check the classification of Voropaitzki's cavalry and arrival times of two Austrian batteries.

Liechtenstein with the IV and V Columns.

The other two columns making up the Allied force.  

These big formations are going to be a challenge for them to manage.

We are missing a Supreme Commander base featuring Alexander.  I've just about finished painting up some replacement Austrian batteries and have some Russian Horse Artillery that I am planning to do.

It will only be the cavalry that don't conform to the Napoleon's Battles' basing and movement trays and labels will have to deal with that.

Austerlitz Muster - Part One

One of my projects for 2016 is to do Austerlitz using Napoleon's Battles.  I will be using Scott Bowden's book "The Glory Years - Napoleon and Austerlitz" as my main source.  It has an excellent Order of Battle with which I have now completed a first pass at creating a OoB for Napoleon's Battles.  It might get revised based on points calculations (balancing) between the two forces and to reflect any significant force structure variations I come across based on reading about the battle, but I expect these to be minor.

I can just about do everything for the French.  Stephen N is checking his Austrians and Russians and I also expect Richard to be able to field them as well, which should mean plenty of opportunities to play out the scenario.

This is the Imperial Guard.  The only aspect re the OoB that I'm not happy with is lack of divisional commanders for the infantry and cavalry of the Imperial Guard (as distinct from the attached grenadiers).  With respect to the figures my Napoleon stand is rather tired and I really should use Guard Horse Artillery figures rather than foot, but these are all in the nice to have category. 

2nd and 3rd Corps, just missing 8FrLC (dragoons).

4th Corps, missing five divisional level generals and 20FrLC (dragoons).

5th Corps complete.

Reserve Cavalry missing Murat as the Corps commander.

General figures I have in the lead mountain, but the dragoons I will have to order.  With an eye to what I can muster for Waterloo, these additions will also fill gaps with that OoB.