Of course It’s also important to recognise that there were other events leading up to this famous engagement. As I’m sure you are aware facing the French on the field in December 1805 where Austrian and Russian troops however it is worthy of note that over 70% were Russian. This disparity was mainly due to Austrians under General Mack who surrendered to Napoleon at Ulm with over 23,000 men and when you also consider the additional engagements at Wertingen, Günzburg , Haslach-Jungingen, Memmingen, Elchingen, Langenau, Herbrechtingen, Nordlingen, Neresheim and Trochtelfingen this number jumped to over 60,000 Austro-Hungarian troops who would missing from the Allied order of battle at Austerlitz. In addition there was also the Italian front to consider, here Marshal Massena occupied the second largest Austrian Army under Archduke Charles defeating him at Caldeiro and subsequently stopping any men from reinforcing the army facing Napoleon.
But the story of Austerlitz (or Slavkov u Brna in Czech) is more than just the one battle (or the several battles in the Ulm campaign) it is also a story of subterfuge the incredible French spy Charles Schulmeister and his defacto spy master General Savary completely confused and hoodwinked the Austrian high command first leading them to believe that only a token force threatened their front and then later that Napoleon was at breaking point with his troops low on morale and close to mutiny (although in truth Napoleons Army was suffering logistical problems being over a thousand miles from Paris and was within a few weeks of having to retreat due to lack of supplies) – There was also the complete breakdown at the highest levels of Austrian Command with both General Mack and Archduke Ferdinand believing they were in command of the main Austrian force after a mistake by Emperor Francis gave nominal command to both men! The mistake would be one of the most costly in military history.
I have created a full OOB for Austerlitz however I will most likely break this down as I did with Wagram again the size of the battle really dictates the need to do this…..I will be including a few new things ….Cossacks play a major part in this battle in fact the night before the battle Napoleon himself came close to capture by these famous horsemen from the Russian steppes when he was scouting with a small party and would have been if it wasn’t for his quick thinking escort and staff also the Russian Hussars sprite will also make an appearance. In addition French Dragoons fought on foot in various actions in particular at Wertingen so I have simulated this by enabling the Dragoons to dismount to fight (still work in progress but will post more details soon) As shown previously I also have some Russian cavalry flags for the dragoons and Cuirassiers and the famous Chevalier Guards…..In addition there are a few new flags for the Russian Hussars apart from the guard Hussars the hussars in 1805 were not issued with Russian standards so I have included some flags with religious Icons which is indicated they may have carried into battle the exception is the Pavlograd Hussars who carried a standard of their city into battle they were issued with the St. George standard for their brave rear-guard actions at Austerlitz this regiment is also heavily mentioned in Tolstoy’s classic ‘War and Peace’.
The French Guard cavalry also made a notable impact at Austerlitz in particular the Horse Grenadiers (or Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde Impériale) here they clashed with the before mentioned Russian Chevalier Guards, now there isn’t a sprite to represent these men (at the moment
) and they were rarely used in battle the notable exceptions was at Austerlitz, Eylau (which I hope to cover in the future) and Hanau and of course Waterloo – So I am reskinning a cavalry sprite to represent them it is work in progress another guard unit was the much feared ‘Escadron de Mamalukes’ and the Chasseurs à Cheval (who earned their spurs in Italy and then Egypt) I’m trying to also include these guys but no promises. OOB wise Austerlitz (obviously!!!) Wertingen, Günzburg , Haslach-Jungingen, and Elchingen and in Italy 2nd Caldeiro will be featured – Sorry no maps we’ll have to use the ones released but plenty to choose from.So not much to do!!! Should keep me busy
A few Pictures to follow later my wifi a bit iffy in Portugal... although yesterday visited Rolica and Vimeiro an emotional experience to stand where Wellington once did B) it's Busaco tomorrow. Zeke
Okay as promised I mentioned that I would like to represent the French Horse Grenadiers or to give them their proper pronunciation 'Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde Impériale' these were the elite of the elite as depicted here: 
