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OneArmedMexican
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Austrian AAR 1756-63

Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:58 pm

The offer in RoP AARs is still somewhat short in this forum, so I thought I would start one more.

Opening remarks: I learned a lot about AGE games by reading through other people's AARs and I hope to give some of the little experience I have acquired back. But probably I will soon realize that I have still a lot to learn. Usually, I play the Prussian (I guess I have a thing for the underdog). But this time I have decided to give the Austrians a try.

I will be using the 1.03 beta patch (which is still new to me). Normal difficulty, all AI behaviours, standard attrition.

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Turn 1: 1756 Early September

Sat Oct 30, 2010 3:03 pm

Turn 1: 1756 Early September

The Austrians have been surprised by the Prussian invasion of Saxony. The Austrian army is spread over the Habsburg's fast dominions.
General Browne will have to make the most of the few troops stationed in Boehmia.

After cursing her old nemisis for a sound five minutes, Maria Theresa has sent urgent orders to General Browne. If he values his post, he would better be successful:

1) He has to hold Prag at all costs.

2) He has to defend Königgrätz against an invasion from Friedrich's Slesian army

3) And lastly, he shall save as much of the Saxon army as possible. Queen Maria Theresa hasn't forgotten about the Saxony's treachery at the beginning of her reign, but right now the Saxons are providing cannon fodder for her war.

Alas, General Browne is too busy enjoying Prague's nightlife to give more than the most basic orders.

[ATTACH]12868[/ATTACH]

He relieves the useless Kollowrat of his command and forms his army into two column's. His forces get orders to rest at Prague and prepare for battles to come.

Since none of the generals is activated, waiting seems most beneficial for now. Plus Prague offers a central position which will allow me to strike either at Schwerin's Slesian or at the Elbe Army in the near future.

The forward troops are recalled since enemy reconnaissance is just fine without them for now.

Gaisruck's brigade marches north, slowly since the commander seems to be busy hunting in Boehmia's forrests.

Builds: 1 AUS Gren Depot Btl in Pressburg
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Turn 2: Late September 1756

Sat Oct 30, 2010 3:08 pm

Turn 2: Late September 1756

[ATTACH]12869[/ATTACH]

A Prussian column has advanced on Königgrätz. It is under the command of de la Motte Fouqué and some 1000 pw strong. I believe this is an opportunity. An immediate attack is ordered. Piccolomini's column will strike and Lucchese will hopefully provide some support late in the battle.
If all goes well I will have an advantage of one to three. If not Piccolomini should be able to hold his own. I don't expect a great victory. However, forcing the Prussians to retreat should be enough to keep my back safe for now.

Browne himself, still can't be bothered with military matters. King Friedrich is rumoured to have given a toast to Prague's nightlife. Kollowrat, too, is nowhere to be found. So one third of the Boehmian Army is left behind to defend Prague.

As for the Saxons, they are by now under siege in Pirna camp. As soon as they get activated they will try to sneak out.

Builds: 1 AUS Depot Bat in Olmütz; 1 Heavy Cav Replacement; I am preparing for casulties to come.
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Turn 3: Early October 1756

Sat Oct 30, 2010 3:20 pm

Turn 3: Early October 1756

[ATTACH]12870[/ATTACH]

The first scirmish of the war ends with a clear Austrian victory. Piccolomini is so proud of himself that he disappears for the next week. Afterwards he claims, he was busy writing to his wife about his exploits in battle.

However, sending Lucchese in support was a mistake, his troops were to late to march to the guns.

[ATTACH]12871[/ATTACH]

At last, Browne has decided to take an active interest in the war. He sends a dispatch to Pirna camp: "It is time for Saxony to die in glory."

Rutowski doesn't even bother to read this dispatch to his troops. Instead, he orders his troops to run for their lifes.

The Saxons will attempt to escape from King Friedrich's deadly grip in two columns.

(I was thinking about an escape in single brigades, but I feared that I would be cut down piecemale.

Browne is advancing to the next river line to catch the flood of retreating Saxons.

Lucchese is ordered back to Prag. So is von Bilberstein with two brigade in his newly formed column.

Builds: 1 SAX Gren Depot Bde; 2 AUS Cav Replacements.

Note: I do expect to be repulsed on the first try. Frankly, I have no good ideas on what to do with those Saxons. In my last campaign I did manage to safe half of them with the same tactic. But I may have gotten lucky back then, because the AI didn't put all its forces into the siege.
The historic move doesn't appeal to me either, Browne's army isn't strong enough to lift the siege. But I will safe it as a last resort.

But perhaps someone has a better idea. I am open to suggestions.
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Turn 4: Late October 1756

Sat Oct 30, 2010 3:38 pm

Turn 4: Late October 1756

[ATTACH]12872[/ATTACH]

The Saxon breakout attempt was refuted by King Friedrich. General Browne is raging in his tent: "Useless the whole bunch of them! They hardly even tried!"

[ATTACH]12873[/ATTACH]

Rutowski orders another breakthrough attempt.

Browne (with Lucchese in tow) is cautiously approaching the camp, he may have to break the siege after all. Prag is only protected by a token force of one brigade.

Piccolomini is locked in a standstill with a Prussian column which is sitting just outside Königgrätz. He hopes for snow and frozen Prussian toes. If it comes however, the forces inside Pirna will have a multitude of bad choices: freeze, strave or die fighting.

Overview of forces:

Relieve Army:
Browne: 1900 pw
Lucchese: 1800 pw

Saxons:
Rutowski: 1300 pw
Wilster: 750 pw

Elbe Army:
Moritz: 1500 pw
Ferdinand: 1200 pw
Heinrich: 1200 pw
F. Preußen: 850 pw
Bevern: 600 pw
Schwedt: 300 pw

Builds: 1 AUS siege Art in Olmütz. It will be used to reduce the Prussian forts in Slesia next year.

If this attempt fails, too (which I expect it to do with all those Prussians controlling the Pirna region), I will try to break the siege with Browne's army (and probably get slaughtered. The massed Prussian army seems just to big).
However, I think it might be worth the try anyway. I can afford casualties, the Prussian, however, cannot.

Better ideas are more then welcome!
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Sat Oct 30, 2010 3:46 pm

Here a small teaser, before I have to get back to my real work:

A very unexpected victory happened. :D

However, the overall situation is as gloomy as before.

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Turn 5: Early November 1756

Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:39 pm

Turn 5: Early November 1756

The belaguered Saxons made a successful surprise attack on a small detachment of Prussians outside Pirna.
Prussia has lost four of its best infantry regiments: the regiments Gemmingen, Ingersleben and the Grenadier Garde as well as the Prinz of Preussen elite regiment have ceased to exist. As an added bonus two much needed supply trains have been captured.


[ATTACH]12914[/ATTACH]

An enraged King Friedrich shouted "high-treason" and ordered a court martial. However, the idea was quickly dropped, when his brother dared to point out that the destroyed column had been under the personal command of his Highness.
King Friedrich realized that playing his flute all evening instead of commanding his menhad been desastrous. The flute became the last casualty of the day.

On the Saxon side, Graf von Wilster has been the hero of the day. He has earned himself a promotion.

Note:
This victory should never have happened! One complete Prussian column is wiped out and none of the five other columns in the region bothers to engage in the fight??? :blink:
I am at a loss for explanations. Maybe the AI messed up orders and put only one column on the offensive?
Anyways, only this small Prussian column took part in the battle. It consisted of four infantry regiments and two supply trains. The supply trains were captured, the infantry regiments were completely annihilated.
Still, the combat went on for five rounds. The other Prussian columns should have intervened, shouldn't they?

What to do next? The snow has reached Pirna, soon the pass back to Boehmia may be uncrossable. On the other hand, I have two columns ready to help the Saxons fight their way out.

Here are my options:

1) Retreat the Austrians and hope for a second miracle to save the Saxon army.

2) Stay put and hope that the Austrians march to the guns during my next breakout attempt. However, it is highly unlikely they would reach the Saxons in time. And my main army would be exposed to the weather longer than necessary.

3) Attack. I would probably be repelled. If not, I risk that the pass gets blocked by snow before I can cross back to Boehmia.

4) Try to break out in smaller groups with a higher evasion value.

I have a lot of bad choices to choose from.

[ATTACH]12915[/ATTACH]

It seems General Browne got cold feet. After having received detailed reports about King Friedrich's army he doesn't believe victory is possible. He orders a general retreat back to Prague and leaves his Saxon allies to their fate.

Rutowski however is not willing to give up hope yet. Encouraged by his latest success he orders a third breakout attempt.

Will King Friedrich continue to make mistakes or will Saxony finally surrender?

Builds: 1 SAX Depot Btl
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Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:37 pm

Just dropping a note here as spokeman of Athena ( AGE AI): I never admired so much Frederick II since I worked on Prussian AI. Prussia situation is really desperate, and whatever historical controversies about Frederick II' genious, srvival of Pussia facing such a powerful coalition is just the testimony He was a genious. AI will never be a genious. I just hope AI will stand until 1759 ( I'm serious).

Secondly, I haven't worked on Pirna event. I will do that someday, but for now AIis just unable to comply with the event rules ( 3 provinces to hold, etc...).


Last I commend you to start an AAR for ROP. It's a underestimated game which needs better exposition.
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Sun Oct 31, 2010 10:30 pm

Clovis wrote:Secondly, I haven't worked on Pirna event. I will do that someday, but for now AIis just unable to comply with the event rules ( 3 provinces to hold, etc...).


Personally, I am no big fan of the Pirna event. In my few Austrian games it never actually fired against me. On the other hand as a Prussian, I tend to ignore the event and just lay siege to the camp the old fashioned way. If the event fires anyway, I won't complain, if not one column is enough to get rid of those Saxons. The advantage: I gain a realistic chance of taking Prag in 56.

Clovis wrote:Last I commend you to start an AAR for ROP. It's a underestimated game which needs better exposition.


If anyone deserves praise here, that would most certainly be you. Your work on the AI is amazing. RoP has become a very fine strategy game and your part of the credit for that is well deserved.

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Sun Oct 31, 2010 10:36 pm

What would really please me is, when in a few days we will be sure that ROP AI is definitly in much better shape, some players post on any wargame related forum some examples of the high interest of this game, which deserves a better fame. Viral ad is the best :D
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Turn 6: Late November 1756

Mon Nov 01, 2010 2:20 am

Turn 6: Late November 1756

The Prussians have abandonned the siege of Pirna!

[ATTACH]12934[/ATTACH]

The third Saxon breakout attempt was beaten back by the Prussian. 2.000 Saxons stayed on the field of battle.
However, instead of following up on their success, the Prussians have retreated back to Dresden. The Saxon army is saved!

[ATTACH]12935[/ATTACH]

But the ordeal of the soldiers may just have started: ahead of them lies an exhausting march back to Prag. How many will succumb to General Winter's unmerciful grip?

General Browne's orders for the next two weeks are simple: Retreat to Prag at full speed. His Saxon allies are only too happy to comply.

[ATTACH]12936[/ATTACH]

It seems General Schwerin is making another effort to take Königgrätz. The reports about the approaching enemy are sketchy at best: It seems that Schwerin himself has only a small force of three or four regiments with him. However, he is accomapnied by von Katte's column consisting of another 10 units.
In order to counter this new threat General Lucchese is sent with four brigades to reinforce Picolomini at Königgrätz.

Time for an evaluation of my past moves:
Things turned out lucky. The Saxon Army hasn't lost a single element. On the other hand, King Friedrich is down by four crack regiments. The Saxon army will continue to fight in the years to come. An advance on Königgrätz has been beaten back. The objectives for this campaign season have been fully accomplished.
Not that it was any of my doing. Overall, I got away with a rather lacklustre performance. Moving General Browne's Army to the border was unnecessary activism. He never had the strength to take on Friedrich's concentrated army.
Furthermore, I didn't concentrate my army properly: Had the Prussian used his forces for a concentrated attack on either Prag or Königgrätz my dispersed forces might have gotten a bad beating.

Builds: 1 SAX Depot Gren Bat, 2 AUS Inf Rgt
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Turn 7: Early December 1756

Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:03 pm

Turn 7: Early December 1756

The threat to Königgrätz proved to be a feint. The Prussian retreated back to Slesia. Even better: the plains of Boehmia are still free of snow. The Saxon columns will arrive in Prag without further losses.
Maria Theresa orders messes to thank St. Pieter for this lucky turn of events.
The campaign season is effectively over.

General Daun is expected in Prag shortly. He will take over the drill of the Austrian army during the winter.

[ATTACH]13238[/ATTACH]
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Turn 8: Late December 1756

Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:10 pm

Turn 8: Late December 1756

Saxony has surrendered!

With the Saxon army safely in Prag, the last defenders of Camp Pirna have raised a white flag.

[ATTACH]13239[/ATTACH]

King Friedrich's spirits have been lifted by this success. He orders an advance on Karlsbad in full strength.
Despite desperate appeals from the scared citizens of Karlsbad, Browne stays in his winter quaters. Karlsbad is not worth the pain of campaigning in the middle of the winter.

Note: In general, I am very impressed with the RoP AI, however, in this campaign it's performance is rather weak. The escape of the Saxon army should have never been allowed.
Even worse is how the AI wasted the column which attacked Königgratz in Round 1: After being beaten back by Picolomini in Round 2, this force never moved again, but rather kept sitting around outside Königgrätz. Half a year later most of the 15.000 men have starved!

[ATTACH]13240[/ATTACH]
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Turn 9: Early January 1757

Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:15 pm

Turn 9: Early January 1757

Christmas and New Year pass peacefully. King Friedrich is still strolling around in the mountains just south of Chemitz.
Outside Königgrätz the last remaining soldiers of the Prussian column have starved. What a waste!

In Vienna, the Austrian Foreign Minister assures his Empress that France and Russia will commit seizable armies to a joint war effort against the Prussian aggression.

Accordingly, new war plans are drawn up for the coming year. Austria is no longer content with saving its forces, it is time to take the offensive. A new Slesian Army under Charles de Lorraine is created. It will receive the troops arriving from Hungria and the French border. Its base of operations will be Olmutz. It will systematically reduce the Prussian border forts in Upper Slesia. This should pave the way for the conquest of Breslau in 1758.
It is probable that King Friedrich II will react to this opening move by sending reinforcements to Slesia. At that point a choice has to be made: Send large parts of General Browne's Army into Slesia as well or invade Saxony. As a third option, it might be possible to achieve both. In any case, the strategic situation looks very promising: the balance of forces is shifting in Austria's favour. Moreover, the central position Prag affords allows to strike in any direction whereas King Friedrich has to take on long marches in order to shift his troops between Saxony and Slesia.

Builds: 1 SAX and 1 AUS Depot Btl.

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Turn 10-12: Late January 1757 - Late February 1757

Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:17 pm

Turn 10-12: Late January 1757 - Late February 1757

Austria's diplomatic efforts bear fruits! Russia declares war on Prussia. So does the Empire. The Prussian main army is concentrated at Leipzig. General Daun takes Browne's place as commander of the Böhmische Armee.

Builds: 2 SAX, Gren Depot Btl; 1 AUS, HRE, BAY and WüR Gren Depot Btl each; 2 HRE Depot Btl; 1 AUS, SAX Depot Btl each. One Austrian general gets a new field command. Elite French Replacement action taken.

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Turn 13: Early March 1757

Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:19 pm

Turn 13: Early March 1757

The French Army is reorganized and gets orders to march to the Pays Bas. The Duc d'Orléans is sent ahead to Rhinberg with several cavalry brigades. He will strike at Wesel in late March.

Austria and Boehmia are still covered in snow.

Reinforcements: 1 HRE and 1 WÜR Depot Gren Btl, 1 HRE Depot Btl.

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Turn 14: Late March 1757

Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:22 pm

Turn 14: Late March 1757

The Comte D'Estrees is raging in his tent: The Duc d'Orléans is nowhere to be found. Rumour says he has disappeared in some disreputable establishment. Or is he consciously sabotaging D'Estrees plan in a bid to replace him? His cavalry is sent to attack without the Duc instead Broglie gets orders to catch up with the column and command the corps in an attack on the Prussian troops outside Wesel. Hopefully some Prussians will be cut down before they can escape eastwards.

Reinforcements: 1 SAX and 1 HRE Depot Btl

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Turn 15: Early April 1757

Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:28 pm

Turn 15: Early April 1757

Bavarian and Wurttembergian troops are mobilized, they will be send to Nürnberg.

[ATTACH]13241[/ATTACH]

The Duc de Broglie successfully performs a lightning cavalry attack on Wesel. 2 Prussian regiments are caught by surprise and perish. Broglie gains a promotion.

The French main forces lack far behind.

Meanwhile, Austrian reinforcements stream northward. Still, it will take another month before the Army of Slesia is operable.

Four Saxon generals are sent to Nürnberg (the Reichsarmee is severly lacking in generals).

Reinforcements: A new SWE Brigade is shipped to Stralsund. Royal Roussillon and Saxe-Gothe Reg + 1 Field Art in France. From now most of my new units will be French for three reasons: 1) France has a huge surplus in commanders. 2) Decent quality. 3) Money will be the ressource most scarce. There are some French infantries that offer a very advantagous ratio between money and conscripts.
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Turn 16: Late April 1757

Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:39 pm

Turn 16: Late April 1757

It seems the campaigning season has finally begun. The Hessian contingent is heading south-east towards Erfurt. Is Friedrich leaving Hannover defenseless in order to mount an offensive in Boehmia? It is time for some reconnaissance towards Minden.

LeNoble's Brigade is laying siege to Lübeck. With no forces available in the region, nothing can be done about that.

Wesel has fallen. Unfortunately not before the Prussians managed to evacuate their remaining forces from the city. Broglie is advancing with the cavalry towards Dortmund.

The Prussian Elbe Army is still sitting in Leipzig. It will be of the utmost importance to make Friedrich disperse his troops. Luckily, two diversions are already planned: 1) Lorraine will invade Slesia soon. 2) Zweibrücken and Contades will lead a mixed army of French and Germans against Kassel.

A small Prussian scouting party is sighted outside Troppau. Charles de Lorraine - bored of waiting for the Austrian infantry to arrive in Olmütz - takes 10 cavalry regiments in a bid to intercept them.

Reinforcements: 2 HRE Depot Btl (1 of them Gren); 1 FRA German Inf Btl

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Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:47 pm

OneArmedMexican wrote:Turn 8: Late December 1756


Even worse is how the AI wasted the column which attacked Königgratz in Round 1: After being beaten back by Picolomini in Round 2, this force never moved again, but rather kept sitting around outside Königgrätz. Half a year later most of the 15.000 men have starved!

[ATTACH]13240[/ATTACH]



The RC has events to prevent this, normally. It will yet happen from time to time.

When will have achived RUS work, I will take a look on Pirna. there are old events dating back from the release I've not removed, but whose I know there are very insufficient, but creating better will take time.
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Turn 17: Early May 1757

Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:49 pm

Turn 17: Early May 1757

Lübeck has fallen! Le Noble stormed the city, the small garnision (170 men) is destroyed.

Erfurt is lost to the Hessians.

The Prussian scouts at the Mähren border never saw de Lorraine's cavalry coming; they are wiped out. The Austrian cavalry arrives back at Troppau and is ordered to join Piccolominis infantry which has finally arrived in Olmütz.

French scouts locate the Observation Army at Minden. So far only the Hessians are heading towards Saxony. The Comte D'Estrees seems to have a clear numeric advantage. He is ordered to take the offensive. However, in order to secure his supply lines, he will have to conquer Münster and Lippstadt before an attack on Minden can be staged.

Broglie is sent to take the unfortified city Dortmund; it will provide a supply base once the French Army arrives at Münster (which will take another month - damn mud!)

[ATTACH]13244[/ATTACH]

Inspired by de Lorraine's success Daun orders Lucchese to perform a raid on Bautzen with the four Austrian cavalry brigades of the Böhmischen Armee.

Reinforcements: 1 SAX and FRA Depot Btl each; FRA heavy cavalry replacement; Irish mercenaries

Note: Usually, I keep my cavalry - except for scouts - with my main armies (infantry lacking some heavy cavalry in support fares badly in this game). In this campaign however, I am trying to get some additional value out of them during the less hospitable months when mud is slowing down infantry too much.
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Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:59 pm

Clovis wrote:The RC has events to prevent this, normally. It will yet happen from time to time.


I guess this error of the AI was extreme (you rarely see a column not moving half a year while starving). The only area the AI regularly performed this bad was with patch 1.02 in East Prussia. It literally marched its own troops to death never mind snow or starvation. With patch 1.03 beta that seems to have improved.

But in my case (see turn 8 outside Königgrätz), I am at least able to see a little sense in the AI behaviour: it forced me to keep troops in Königgrätz.

I am looking forward to RUS. An extremely exciting period in history. Never thought, I would see a computer game about it. Keep up your great work! :thumbsup:

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Turn 18: Late May 1757

Sat Nov 13, 2010 12:09 am

Turn 18: Late May 1757

Dortmund and Bautzen have been conquered. Lucchese will return to Prag.

[ATTACH]13245[/ATTACH]

In D'Estrees quartier-général, a plan is made for the conquest of Westfalia. It is rather straight forward: In early June the French army will attack Münster. Once the city is taken the forces will advance to Minden.
Depending on Cumberland's reaction a column will be dispatched to lay siege to Lippstadt. If however Cumberland keeps his forces concentrated, this optional operation will be canceled.

The French Army:

Armentieres: 27000 men, 6000 horses, 144 cannon

Orléans: 25000 men, 6000 horses, 144 cannon

Contades: 20000 men, 3000 horses, 48 cannon

Broglie: 6000 men, 6000 horses

A smaller army under Zweibrucken will create a diversion to this main operation by attacking Kassel. Hopefully it will either draw the Hessians back to their homes or induce Cumberland to split his army.

Reichsarmee:

Zweibrucken: 8500 men, 1500 horses, 24 cannon

Chevert: 20000 men, 3000 horses

The Reichsarmee falls woefully short in artillery; this will be remedied shortly (besides the artillery already in the pipeline, a second one has been ordered).

Another worry is that parts of the Army of Observation are unaccounted for. In early May Cumberland and a seizable portion of Hannover troops were sighted at Minden. They seem to be advancing towards Münster now. However there should be more. Has Friedrich ordered a number of Hannover brigades east? Or are they heading north against Stralsund?

[ATTACH]13246[/ATTACH]

In the east, the offensive on Upper Slesia is about to start: Charles de Lorraine has assembled 53000 men, 20000 horses and 48 cannon. With another 96 cannon still on their way. Their first goal is Kosel. De Lorraine's army outnumbers the Prussian forces left in Slesia by 2,5 : 1.

Dauns army will protect Prag and Königgrätz for now. He commands the crème of the Austrian army which he drills without respite.

Böhmische Armee:

Daun: 45000 men, 10000 horses, 288 cannon (one further brigade will arrive in Prag in a week)

Wilster (Saxons): 22000 men, 10000 horses, 108 cannon

Rutowski (Saxon reserve): 7000 men, 3000 horses

Lucchese: 14000 men, 14000 horses

Bilberstein: 26000 men, 11000 horses, 96 cannon

The interesting part remains Friedrichs reaction: Will he invade Boehmia with the massiv force he has assembled at Leipzig. If so Daun will be happy to welcome him at Prag. If he choose to reinforce Slesia, he will most likely see an Austrian-Saxon army retake Saxony in his back.

The forces of the Reich will advance to Eger once they decide to join the war. Afterwards, they will either serve as strategic reserve (and move to Prag) or join in an invasion of Saxony.

Reinforcements: 1 FRA Art, 1 SAX Art, 1 HRE and 1 FRA Depot Inf Btl; Raise Money option drawn.
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Turn 19: Early June 1757

Sat Nov 13, 2010 12:18 am

Turn 19: Early June 1757

Intelligence report:
The Observation Army accompanied by Zastrow's column is headed towards the French Army. It is now situated just north of Münster. The exact number of troops is unknown (however it is believed that parts of the Hannover forces have been dispatched).
The Elbe Army has left Leipzig and is headed southwest; it is now just south of Jena. Friedrich has Ferdinand's column with him. The Hessians seem to follow Friedrich and have have arrived in Jena itself.
Keith's and Moritz's column supported by two(?) more columns remain in Leipzig.

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In the Austrian headquarter at Prag, Daun and his generals are perplexed. Nobody had expected this move. What is at play here - the mind of a genius or that of a moron?

Is it just a feint? If not, what is King Friedrich's goal? Frankfurt, Würzburg, Eger or Nürnberg (and the weak and badly commanded Reichsarmee)? Friedrich will need to conquer one of these forts, otherwise the Prussian army will face starvation far away from any supply base.

What should be done? Invade Saxony, reinforce the Reichsarmee in Nürnberg, just ignore Friedrich since he will either retreat or his supplies will run out?
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