When it comes to strategic level games of the First World War the attention of most gamers focuses on various aspects of German grand strategy. After all, doesn't the whole world tremble before the onslaught of the Fatherland's sons? This would appear to be true in the minds of average wargamers. Yet the Germans are not able to win alone. Without strong support from their Austrian brothers the Germans will fail in The Guns of August, a recent release from Avalon Hill.

Strong play by the Austro-Hungarian player is vital for the Central Powers to be triumphant. This can be difficult because of the critical position Austria occupies. The Dual Monarchy is in a central location surrounded by three hostile powers. This coupled with a weak army puts the Austrians on the brink of disaster from the very outset. Also, two of her three objective cities are close to the border and are in danger of an early capture.

Despite this, Austria's apparent weakness can be transformed into a position of strength. Her central location will enable rapid transfer of troops (by railroad) to any front which is in dire straits. Much of the troubled border area is made up of rough terrain, which is easy to defend because of the favorable dieroll modification. The combat results table also lends a helping hand since it favors the defender. Also, Austria's foes do not possess armies that are much better than her own. One fact must be kept in mind, however, Austria is not able to fight a protracted two-or-three-front war.

This article will concentrate on Austria's strategy in the opening year of the campaign game. I am studying the campaign game because in my opinion it is the heart of the game. The 1914 campaigns are most important because they will dictate how the rest of the war will be fought. The only real chance for rapid movement and maneuver exists in 1914, and a good player must try to take advantage of this chance.

Error

There is one large error in the game that must be corrected by the players beforehand. Montenegro is an Allied contry and should be treated as such at the start of the game. This is an historical fact, and I hope Avalon Hill will make this official. Unfortunately, this only adds to Austria's worries at the start.

OPENING SET UP

This is not a perfect deployment by any stretch of the imagination. I have found it to be a versatile one, and it is open to modification, depending on which side sets up first. To help illustrate the Austrian strategy, I will also include a sample setup for the Serbian army.

Serbia should deploy two 2-4-3s in hex DD27, three 24- 3s and the 1-1-2 in Belgrade, and a 2-4-3 and the 1-1-4 in hex HH27. The placement in HH27 is weak but is necessary to help defend Belgrade. A better hex would be HH28, which would help protect the river line from being penetrated by the Austrain forces.

Austria's best set up against Serbia is offensive in nature. One 2-4-3, one 3-5-3, and one 3-3-4 in hex CC27, one 3-5-3, one 3-3-4, and one 4-4-5 should be placed in hes HH26. The all-important force that will assault Belgrade is placed in hex FF25 and will contain three 4-6-4s and three 2-2-2s. A railway unit will be placed in hex EE25 to follow the advance into Serbia.

The sticky Russian front will have two 2-4-3s in Crackow and two 3-5-3s in hex HH17. The other flank position should be held by two 2-4-3s in OOI9 and a 2-4-3 in hex QQ21. The cavalry reserve of two 2-2-4s will be placed on hexes LL18 and NN20. The fortress of Przemysl should be garrisoned by three 3-5-3s and the remaining 2-2-2. The objective city of Lemberg will be defended by three 3-5-3s, the fortress engineer, and the remaining rail engineer.

Although not "at start" units, a word should be said about the reinforcements due in September. Send half of the 2-4-3 units to the Russian front and the other half to the Italian front. Even if you are not using the variable entry rules, the three corps should be sent to the Italian front anyway so you will not have to worry about it later. One corps should railroad to hex S21 and two should go to Trieste.

If Italy enters the war on the Allied side in 1914 then Austria is in trouble. If this happens send all six corps in that direction and have them entrench as soon as the rules allow them to do so (i.e. October). Luckily, Italy is weak in 1914, and the front should be able to hold.

THE RUSSIAN FRONT

There is no doubt about it, the Russians will attack. The million-dollar question is, how hard they will attack Austria. If the Tsar expects to conquer East Prussia his offensive in Galacia will not be very strong. If the Russians decide to send their main offensive against the Austrian front, you should hope to inflict as many losses on him as possible.

Try and hold Lemberg and Premysl if feasible. If these cities fall do not stand in the open, but retreat to the line of the Carpathians. Russian manpower is not strong enough to force this line. Let the Russians do the attacking and his casualties will rise out of porportion to your own. Austria is really not strong enough to attack here in 1914 and any such attacks will only hasten your own defeat. Be patient, as far as the eastern front is concerned, time is on your side.

THE SERBIAN FRONT

Your objective is to take Belgrade and break the Danube/Sava line. The rail line to Bulgaria and Turkey should be opened as soon as possible. If you fail to do this, the entire southern front will be jeopardized later in the war. Using the sample setups listed previously, Austria can attack hex DD27 at 1-1 odds with a modifier of -1 (rather risky). The other flank assault, hex HH27, can be executed at 2-1 with no modifier. The main attack is on Belgrade, which will be made at 1-1 with no modifer because of the heavy artillery support. All things being equal, Serbia cannot be conquered in 1914. She can be crippled by the loss of Belgrade and the river defensive line. After the border area is taken, you should push the Serbs back into the interior. The coup de grace to the brave Serbians will occur when the Bulgarians enter the war.

CONCLUSION

Using history as an example, we can safely say that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was in its twilight of power. Austria could only hope that the war itself would unite her diverse peoples into a working empire. It didn't work out that way. Instead, the war proved to be a disaster, and Slavic nationalism became a reality after the peace treaties.

In The Guns of August, however, Austria has a good chance of bettering her actual performance to a great extent. If the Austrian's are played carefully there is no reason (except for bad luck) for them not to better their historical record and not suffer such ignoble defeats.