Austria - faction guide (incl. full unit roster)

**Aldgarkalaughskel** · March 08, 2009, 04:54 AM

Austria Guide

Contents
I. Introduction
II. Historical Background
III. Campaign Strategy
IV. The Military
V. Summary
VI. Resources

Habsburg Monarchy Coat of Arms

Royal coat of arms from left to right: Kingdom of Bohemia, Kingdom of Hungary, Kingdom of Croatia

I. Introduction

Almost everyone who played a bit with Empire: Total War thinks that Prussia is the hardest faction. They are all wrong. Difficulty depends on what goals do you set for your campaign. Restoring the (Holy) Roman Empire seems like one badass goal. Therefore the short campaign (capturing 11 more regions by the end of the year 1750) is just too petty undertaking for this 'faction'. If you want to truly enjoy the magnificence and might of this glorious empire I would recommend you to fire up the world domination campaign, which means you have to hold 40 regions by the end of the year 1799. To make it a real challenge, set campaign difficulty on very hard and battle difficulty on hard. Normal / normal is too easy, but very hard battle difficulty is extremely annoying due to the unreasonable bonuses the AI gets (your advanced infantry units will get beaten by militia in a melee).

The Austrian campaign is simply beautiful, as you are in the heart of Europe with no lesser ambition than to be the single most powerful ruling dynasty in Europe. What makes this campaign challenging?

You have no colonies at the start.
Austria is surrounded by powerful and aggressive nations such as Prussia, Ottoman Empire and Russia (backed by her ally, Poland). Which means you have to be on the alert and expect offensive forces from all directions of your empire.
Early on you will notice you are in a spot that is possible to be conquered from every angle.
Emergent nations, such as Hungary will keep you busy.

II. Historical Background

Austria's Rise to Power (1657–1714)

The long reign of Leopold I (1657–1705) saw the culmination of the Austrian conflict with the Turks. Following the successful defense of Vienna in 1683 led by King of Poland John III Sobieski, a series of campaigns resulted in the return of all of Hungary to Austrian control by the Treaty of Carlowitz in 1699. At the same time, Austria was becoming more involved in competition with France in Western Europe, with Austria fighting the French in the Third Dutch War (1672–1679), the War of the League of Augsburg (1688–1697) and finally the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), in which the French and Austrians (along with their British and Dutch allies) fought over the inheritance of the vast territories of the Spanish Habsburgs. Although the French secured control of Spain and its colonies for a grandson of Louis XIV, the Austrians also ended up making significant gains in Western Europe, including the former Spanish Netherlands (now called the Austrian Netherlands, including most of modern Belgium), the Duchy of Milan in Northern Italy, and Naples and Sardinia in Southern Italy. (The latter was traded for Sicily in 1720).

Battle of Vienna in 1683

War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)

War of the Spanish Succession was a war fought in 1701-1714, in which several European powers combined to stop a possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under a single Bourbon monarch, upsetting the European balance of power. It was fought mostly in Europe, but it included Queen Anne's War in North America. The war was marked by the military leadership of notable generals like the duc de Villars, the Jacobite Duke of Berwick, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy (as the Austrian general).

The war was concluded by the treaties of Utrecht (1713) and Rastatt (1714). As a result, Philip V remained King of Spain but was removed from the French line of succession, thereby averting a union of the two kingdoms. The Austrians gained most of the Spanish territories in Italy and the Netherlands. As a consequence, France's hegemony over continental Europe was ended, and the idea of a [ins]balance of power[ins] became a part of the international order.

Prince Eugene of Savoy, crossing the Alps in 1701

Rákóczi's War for Independence (1703-1711)

Rákóczi's War for Independence was the first significant freedom fight in Hungary against absolutist Habsburg rule. It was fought by a group of noblemen, wealthy and high-ranking progressives who wanted to put an end to the inequality of power relations, led by Francis II Rákóczi (II. Rákóczi Ferenc in Hungarian). Its main aims were to protect the rights of the different social orders, and to ensure the economical and social development of the country. Due to the adverse balance of forces, the political situation in Europe and internal conflicts the freedom fight was eventually suppressed, but it succeeded in keeping Hungary from becoming an integral part of the Habsburg Empire, and its constitution was kept, even though it was only a formality. The Magyar rebel soldiers were called as Kuruc, the Austrian ones as Labanc. The Kuruc culture survived the suppression and lived on as the idea-bearer of an independent Hungary. Many former kuruc soldiers of the Rákóczi Uprising joined the Habsburg army after 1711.

Kuruc-Labanc battle

Austro-Turkish War of 1716-18

The Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) was not an acceptable long-standing agreement for the Ottoman Empire. Twelve years after Karlowitz, the Turks began the long prospect of taking revenge for their defeat at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. First, the Turkish Grand Vizier Baltacı Mehmet's army defeated Peter the Great's Russian Army. Thereafter, in the Turkish–Venetian War (1714–1718), the new Grand Vizier Damat Ali re-conquered Morea from the Venetians in 1715. In response to Austria, as the guarantor of the Treaty of Karlowitz, threatening the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Empire declared war against Austria. In 1716, Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the Turks at Petrovaradin. The following year, after the Austrians captured Belgrade, the Turks wanted peace and in 1718 the Treaty of Passarowitz was signed. The Austrians maintained control over Belgrade and the Treaty of Passarowitz confirmed their gains in 1699, leaving the Turks with control over the south bank of the Danube River.

Eugene of Savoy during the Battle of Belgrade 1717

Source

The Capital

Vienna became the seat of the Emperor in 1556, with Hungary and Bohemia having been added to the Habsburg realm in 1526. During the 16-17th century Vienna was unsuccessfully besieged by the Ottoman Turks twice, as the city was protected by medieval walls. These fortifications, which accounted for the major part of building activities well into the 17th century, proved decisive in the Second Turkish Siege of 1683, as they allowed the city to maintain itself for two months, until the Turkish army was defeated by the army led by the Polish King Jan Sobieski. This was the turning point in the Turkish Wars, as the Ottoman Empire was pushed back more and more during the following decades.

View of Vienna in 1758, by Canaletto

The 18th century was characterised by extensive building activities. In the course of reconstruction, Vienna was largely turned into a baroque city, lead by architects Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. Most construction happened in the suburbs, as the nobility began to cover the surrounding land with garden palaces, known as Palais. The best known are the Palais Liechtenstein, Palais Modena, Schönbrunn Palace, Palais Schwarzenberg, and the Belvedere (the garden palais of Prince Eugene of Savoy). In 1704, an outer fortification, the Linienwall, was built around the Vorstädte. After the extensive plague epidemics of 1679 and 1713, the population began to grow steadily. It is estimated that 150,000 people lived in Vienna in 1724, and 200,000 in 1790. At that time, the first factories were built, starting in Leopoldstadt. Leopoldstadt also became a site where many Jews lived, as they had been driven out of their 50-year old ghetto in 1670. Hygienic problems began to become noticeable: sewers and street cleaning began to develop.

Shadows of the once mighty empire - The Gloriette on Schönbrunn Hill

La Certa by Vivaldi

During the height of his career, Vivaldi received commissions from European nobles and royalty. Opus 9, La Cetra, was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI. In 1728, Vivaldi had the chance to meet the Emperor in person when he came to Trieste to oversee the construction of a new port. Charles admired the music of the Red Priest so much that he is said to have spoken more with the composer in that occasion than with his ministers in two years. He gave him the title of knight, a gold medal, and an invitation to come to Vienna. On his part, Vivaldi gave Charles a manuscript copy of La Cetra; this is a set of concerti almost completely different from the one published with the same title as Opus 9. Source

Prinz Eugen der edle Ritter

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Dessauer Marsch

III. Campaign Strategy

Here is your empire at the start of the campaign, in 1700. This is a relatively large territory to start with, and generates a solid influx of 5000 golds per turn.

The empire consists of 6 regions. The most important one is Austria (Vienna), but Hungary has the biggest population, so it has a great potential to develop to your second capital. Basically the Prague-Vienna-Pressburg axle will serve as your military powerhouse early in the game.

Technology & Economy

So what should you do first? Take a look at your economical holdings. You have

8 agricultural buildings
3 mines
3 workshops
1 inn
1 school

So send your gentleman to the school of Graz (in the vicinity of Vienna)

...and start researching Common Land Enclosures to upgrade your farms and boost your regular income. You should build the basic roads in all regions as soon as possible, as you have a huge territory to defend and marching armies from one spot of your empire to another could take years. Inventing advanced build technologies later and upgrading your roads wouldn't hurt either. Remember: you are a continental power (with no particular interests in naval dominance), so roads are CRUCIAL to easily move your troops and achieve the victory conditions in time. The next technology to research should be the Bayonet to give you the necessary weapon technology bonus in melee fights. Austria has no colonies at the start, so focus on land military. Don't bother researching too much naval techs / building a large fleet. The most important military technologies are the Military Syllabus (which enables Drill School with advanced units) and Fire by Rank.

You shouldn't spend all year earnings. Keep 20 % of the income to compose a decent reserve fund in case one of your neighbors declare war on you and you'd need immediate expenses.

Religion

Religion is not as crucial and decisive in this game as in Medieval II: Total War, but it's still a major factor. It influences diplomatic relations and public order. The Habsburg Empire was one of the most prominent catholic empires in the new age and kept this position until its disintegration in 1918. Therefore you should stand up to your Catholic values and start converting the population of your newly acquired regions. Actually Transylvania is 90 % Orthodox at the start (which is historically inaccurate btw), so you should send your one and only priest there first.

If you intend to invade the Balkans (which you will have to do to win the game), you'll need more priests to catholicize this 100 % Muslim area. By seizing the Italian churches you'll find the religious manpower you need for this holy mission.

One easy way to ensure your people are more and less happy very early on is to make 75% of your towns into catholic churches and tech them up. This gives a conversion bonus, happiness +, and a priest unit. This will slow you down in the tech race, but will ensure that you can stay a monarchy for a long time, in a wide strech, with no real fears and keeps taxes around medium. (read more about priests under agents)

Government

Government has a major impact on gameplay, actually. Austria's government type is absolute monarchy which means you can kick / replace your ministers if they give bad bonuses or have bad traits, but you cannot replace the monarch. Check this screen regularly. Your ministers are by and large a mixed bag. All of mine got mistresses, no idea why. If they get below 2 stars, boot them. Sadly you can't fire the candidates, and as a result you're stuck with the worst five rejects that sits there taking up all the slots of possible candidates, and therefore denying any chance of improving the government. On the other hand, it's very easy to take a 3 star vanilla minister and make him a 5-6 star guy. They improve very fast, especially if your empire is on the rise as well. If you ever change ministers make sure to choose the youngest candidate. The more time he spends in office, the more time he has to gain traits and ancillaries, therefore the bigger the chance he will be a great public servant of the government.

If you would like to change the government type, here's what you have to do. By forcing a lower class revolution, you get a republic. If you force a noble-class revolution, you get a constitutional monarchy. There are a few steps to take when manufacturing a revolution:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Advantages of a government change: Your people will be happier in those regions with lower class population. Your citizens will also be more satisfied with the government if you invented enlightened techniques. The Republic is the form of government where you will hardly get a revolution. But in order to get to Republic you have to go through 2 revolutions, which is not very wise for a large empire like this, so your end destination should be the Constitutional Monarchy. In a Republic, it is the will of the people that they sometimes elect fools and you can´t do much about it.
Disadvantages: If you like to play this campaign historically correct, you don't want to switch government type. The Habsburg monarchy was especially repressive against lower class rebellions. This should be your doctrine and orders for you all. Destroy them all, wipe out their leaders and install fear into your peoples, then brutally usher them back into their steel mills and granarys. Your king is king, unless the nobly born wish to have a say, which we can discuss over tea and scones.

Diplomacy

Your diplomatic standings at the start of the game

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Diplomacy is essential if you are playing as Austria. Alliances can decide the fate of Europe, at least decide where will borders meet, and which borders will meet. If you are willing to remain correct in a historical sense, you should not break the peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire (where the Ottomans ceded most of Hungary, Transylvania and Slavonia to Austria), and remain hostile to France and Spain who are about to unite their kingdoms to create an empire that could dominate Europe and cease the balance of power.

At the start, you are allied with Great Britain and the United Provinces. Although they are not Catholic factions, this shouldn't bother you. Cherish these alliances, they are valuable against your main European rivals, Spain and France (and later against Prussia). If they go to war against a minor nation, you should declare war too, even if it's one of your neighbors, horribile dictu your ally. Keep in touch with Sweden as well, and forge an alliance with her if possible; the lion from the north may prove to be a good help against Poland, Prussia or Russia, your neighbors who are all potential threats to you. Only be at war with a faction if you are actually attacking it, and make peace as soon as possible. The larger your empire, the more they fear you, so the bigger the chance they will agree to your peace proposals, you might as well get some lucrative items in a peace treaty.

If you keep on good terms with the Polish (keep sending them state gifts), you won't have to keep much of an army in the North, but this is not likely to happen due to their stubborn hate and hunger for Hungary. A star fortress with a half-stack in Hungary can hold of quite a lot, and it's also a good way to prevent rebellions in the area. The Catholic Polish are also your natural friends against Orthodox Russia, which is growing huge in almost all campaigns. Keeping a strong Polish faction as a defensive line against the Russian Bear seems like a nice idea.

Make trade agreements with the United Kingdom, the Ottomans and Marathas to increase your cashflow. Be sure not to ally with too much factions, unless you'd like to get into a scrape like this:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Territorial expansion - opening moves on the Big Chess Board

Eugene of Savoy, the greatest Austrian general after a few years of campaigning

At the start of the game you can decide where to expand:

East (Poland)
North (Prussia)
Southwest (Italy)
South (Ottoman Empire)

You can't expand your empire in all directions, as upkeeping more than one offensive army (consisting of 1-2 full-stacks) will sweep out the national budget. Hungary tends to revolt and become a minor faction, so it's a good idea to keep half a stack of infantry there.

East (Poland). I wouldn't advise to expand your empire too much in the Eastern directions for the following reasons. First, these territories are not really worth the efforts (except for Warsaw), as they are either poor or have low population, probably both. Secondly, this move would mean that you encounter Russia too soon, which would quickly or slowly lead to your downfall. However if the Polish declare war on you (this is almost inevitable, happens in 80 % of the games), you can still invade Warsaw with a deadly force and make peace with them, or give back their capital and make them your allies (I wouldn't advise the latter option though, as Warsaw is a valuable asset). The trick to attack Poland without being in war with all of their allies (including Russia) is to declare war (and capture) Saxony - only Poland will join the war as their allies. This is also a strong strategic move against the Prussians.

North (Prussia). Dealing with Prussia is the key element in your campaign. Sooner or later you have to deal with them once and for all, as holding the Northeastern German regions is the condition to win the long campaign. Always keep an eye on them, they could be far more dangerous than the larger factions, because they tech up faster and expand more agressively. If you have neighboring territories, station powerful garrisons or else they will attack you. Wait until you become powerful enough to build up a massive invading force, usually a full-stack is needed to capture their capital. If you take out the two provinces of the start, they will move to Courland and set up shop. Do not under any circumstances let them gather a large army, they tech up military fast.

Southwest (Italy). This seems to be the next best possible route to follow. Italy is rich, Catholic and strategically in a valuable position: it is in the center of the European map, so you can launch pirate raids on Spain, France, Ottomans or North Africa. It also has a good deal of ports, which will enable you to trade with more factions and establish your naval base to control the center of the Mediterranean Sea. The only one of real concern is Venice, the others may build up quite drastically, but by and large Venice is the only one who will go to Austria looking for war. They build up fairly quickly, and have a gigantic navy. So put your hand on Venice as soon as possible, it is not hard to conquer them with a full-stack. This is historically correct by the way, see the War of the Spanish Succession (where European powers combined to stop a possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under a single Bourbon monarch, upsetting the European balance of power). You are to become one belligerent of this war just about to explode at the start of the game. So prepare your horses and weapons, recruit a full-stack army, march towards Venice and conquer it. If you are lucky, you can take the other Italian cities by surprise, declare war and attack in the same turn. Spain's holding can be easy pickings too. I'd recommend keeping Savoy (your ally) as a buffer state between you and the mighty France. These are all predominantly Catholic regions, so you won't have to bother with religious conversion. They are also well-developed cities with high-level buildings and lots of farms / vineyards, so you can put your agricultural tech advantage to a good use.

South. As I mentioned in the Diplomacy section, keeping the peace with the Ottomans - at least for a while - is a historically correct gameplay due to the principle of pacta sunt servanda in international politics. If you don't care about history and decide to rewrite it, that's okay too, but it's unnecessary since the Ottomans won't attack you in the early game - they are almost as reliable keeping the peace as if they were your allies. The Balkans seems a temptingly easy target due to the poorly defended regions and the fact, that the Ottomans have no considerable allies at the start, but beware, as it has relatively poor regions converted to Islam. If you conquer them, exempt the population from taxes and don't recruit new units for a few turns there to prevent local revolts and ensure growth. If you annexed these territories, consolidate them for a while and fortify your positions, as the Ottomans will probably launch a counterattack. Another way to start a war against the Ottomans is during your war with Venice, finish Venice off by taking southern Greece. Give yourself enough to time to replenish then springboard up from Greece to Istambul. Once you get to Istambul you may well find yourself stuck, they seem to like placing a lot of ships there, so it's wise to appeal for peace at this point.

West (Germany). You can also try and take the "German" route and conquer the small German states, before they become the prey of Prussia. These states may look easy, small numbers of troops, one city,and financial gains. Be wary though, and check diplomacy before you engage. Almost all of them have a Protector at the start or ally. If you don't feel like starting wars with the Dutch or England feel free to make one or two a procetorate and collect 50% of thier profits until you can afford to take them out. Usually Bavaria and Westphalia will agree to becoming your protectorates, if you offer them 2000-3000 golds in exchange, which is almost a bargain for the benefits you gain with these treaties.

A recommended starting scenario is to take Venice, make Bavaria and Westphalia your protectorates, capture Saxony and Warsaw, make peace with the Polish, then attack Prussia. Don't be at war with Prussia and Poland at the same time, it could be catastrophic. If you'r done with Prussia, you can continue the conquest of Italy, then turn your attention to the Balkans. To meet the victory conditions, you need to rule the land from the Baltic Sea to the Aegean Sea. This is not an easy undertaking, but after you annexed a few new regions, you can afford the upkeep of more offensive forces and expand in multiple directions, though focusing to one area means fair play. Don't be an expansionist whore and let your soldiers rest after you captured a region.

If you want a real challenging game, wait 20-30 turns and let your enemies build up their own military machines. This will lead to long, epic wars, and very tough situations. If you stick to historical role-playing, you should let the Prussians steam up anyway (by consolidating your power in the Southern section of Europe first). Always check the diplomacy screen and try to make useful alliances, before everyone is alienated from you. After 30-40 turns probably everyone will hate you in Europe for gaining so much territories and kicking over the balance of power - the principle you fought for in the first hand. What irony!

Territorial expansion - midgame and endgame strategy

If you decide to expand your empire rapidly, you should own the most part of Eastern and Central Europe after 35-40 turns. It's a good strategy to strengthen your position against the Russian beast by allying with Sweden and Poland in exchange for a few Northeastern territories, that will cause you too much trouble anyway. I usually decide not to take out Poland as they serve me as an excellent buffer state between Russia and me, although they are not a bit reliable and will turn against you after 10-15 turns, so you should keep a full-stack in reserve just in case you need to invade their capital again and give them back for a new alliance. It is a cat and mouse game, but having a direct border with Russia is far too dangerous and it will cost you a lot of money, invading her will cost you even more. If you played finished your conquest in the East, in the Balkans and in Italy, you should have a solid 15k income per turn, which means you can fund a full-scale war against the rest of Europe, finally unite it under one banner and truthfully call yourself an Emperor. If you played smartly, you kept most of the small German states and Savoy as your protectorate. Since you no longer need them as a safety belt against France, go and take them out one by one (except for Savoy which seals your Italian border). Use their income and manpower to invade France and Spain and finish the restoration of the Roman Empire.

Beware though that some regions tend to be rebellious, especially the Protestant, "enlightened" German regions who yearn for change in the government. In my game Hungary, Prussia and Bavaria rebelled (and emerged as new nations) long after I've invaded them and got the "Nation destroyed" message. Out of the blue. There was no significant resistance beforehand, although it's advisable to regularly check on the problematic regions - the most problematic one is always shown in the bottom of the Government menu. Maintain military presence in these regions, never use less than 4-5 units as a garrison. If you receive messages of workers' strike repeatedly, it is wise to halt your campaign a bit and stay there with your army to prevent break-aways. If you have 4-5 universities/schools fully staffed with brilliant gentlemen, you should be inventing new technologies in every second turn, so there's not much need for more schools - destroy them and build church schools instead. Send your catholic missionaries to these regions to spread the word and reinforce the faith in absolute monarchy.

Colonization. You can colonize but its not necessary. Due to the wars in Europe you will at times have a variety of lucrative lands that other nations will want. Spain will offer new world territories for Venice so they can take control Italy with Milan. France, will want some of the German states and offer you just about anything from Northern New France, to south american territories. Be wary though, Quebec will become a free state early on. The new world is not as lucrative as you might think, you can only earn 2,000 a year from 2 capitals there. India is harder but similar deals can be made with Dutch and English for land (for example swap Corsica and Sardinia + a few techs for Ceylon). Sadly, taking an army over and conquering is just too long and expensive. You need most of your armies back home in Europe, even when you conquer quite a bit. If you decide you want the souther lands of New America, to go with your Carribean island trade empire, you will be facing the Pueblo and the Cheeroke who both field vast armies, multiple stacks, even on medium who are not afraid to run down and take your cities which are undefended. You can choose to take mexico and south america but those held little interest to me. If you take Georgia and Florida you will probably have to take Kentucky as well. The english will Tenn, then you sit and wait to see who starts the New England vs New Austria war first. The iriquois should keep it from happening until you want it to. As should the French if they are still around.

If you set up colonies you should also take your hands on Gibraltar as soon as possible to control the trade routes ending in your Italian/Balkanese ports, as Spain and France tends to buccaneer on these routes. Taking Malta first and using its improved port to build up a navy is also advisable.

IV. The Military

Army composition, unit deployment and basic battle tactics

For more detailed battle tactics description, read Warclaw's Infantry Land Warfare Guide and Twisted's Defensive Battleformations.

At the start of the game you can recruit militia and provincial cavalry in most regions. In Vienna, you can recruit the 2 weakest artillery units (sakers and demi-cannons), pandours (basically the forerunners of policemen) and line infantry (who will form the bulk of your armies). By upgrading your MG's Encampment in Pressburg to MG's Barrack, you will be able to recruit Hungarian Hussars, one of the coolest units of this faction (actually you should build Barracks wherever it's possible, as you are surrounded by hostile nations). Meanwhile use the Provincial Cavalry available in Zagreb. The advanced units (like Carabineers, Grenadiers) can be recruited in Drill Schools, for which to build you need to invent the Military Syllabus. Keep this in mind when choosing the next technological advancements, and always use the best units you can recruit.

Typical composition of an early era Austrian army:
4 early era artillery (including a mortar)
4 jaegers
6 line infantry
2 pikemen
4 provincial cavalry
1 general

An effective formation on contact is usually cannons next to each other in the middle with infantry spread end to end. The cavalry and pikemen should be deployed on the flanks, general behind the cannons (although it can be placed anywhere, even in the flanks if you support him with powerful units).The reason for so much artillery units is that these early devices are relatively inaccurate. Therefore finding the right place for your artillery can give you the cutting edge in battles, if you can maintain the devastating bombardment of enemy troops up to the point when your units engaged in a melee fight. High grounds defended by cliffs from the front are perfect deployment areas to avoid picking off your own soldiers' heads with cannonballs.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Line infantry will give the bulk of your armies. This is the basic unit of all European armies, so don't be surprised if you find very similar guys in another color within the enemy lines. Often the different stats of these units will decide the outcome of the battle, therefore you should take a note on these stats, courtesy of InFUA.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

As you can see, Austrian line infantry are significantly weaker than normal in accuracy, morale and melee ability, but have 150 men per unit rather than the usual 120. This means that your line will generally be longer than the enemy's, but also brittler. Thus it will be easier for them to outflank and enfilade the enemy, but you will definitely have to do so and make it count before your center collapses. If you attack, you should march up them to shooting range, then give order to fire (if you set the fire at will option off, which is a must if you placed your skirmishers/ranged units in front of your lines). They are called line infantry for a reason: really try to form a line with them, unless you want unnecessary casualties caused by friendly fire. If you feel, you are losing the fire combat, click the "plug bayonet" button (if you have the bayonet technology), and run down the enemy. It is still better option to attack with your remaining soldiers in any situation then to wait for them to be futilely shot by enemy guns. Experience the awesome power of bayonet charges.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Jaegers are your early special units, but they are very useful later as well. Jäger means "hunter" in German, and these soldiers are in fact equipped with long range hunting guns. They can deploy stakes during battles, and you should feel free to use this special ability to create a defensive line for them and utilize their 'sniper' skills. Hunting down the enemy has never been so much fun!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Typical composition of a late era Austrian army
2 improved artillery (including a mortar)
4 line infantry (improved, f.e. fire by rank)
3 jaegers
1 windbüsche jaegers
1 guard
1 grenzers
1 grenadiers
2 carabineers
2 cuirassiers
2 hungarian Hussars
1 general

Note: another solution is to use 2 Uhlans (lancer heavy cavalry) instead of cuirassiers.

Late era Habsburg armies are really grandiose and they are match to the powerful armies of any other nations. Because of the technological advancement, there's no more need for 4 artillery units, 2 will be enough in any army. The mix of forces is basically the same as I showed you in the early era, except for some special units substituting the former generic ones. Grenzers ('border officers') are agressive skirmishers armed with an unusual double-barrel musket and ready to harass the enemy lines once the battle commences. Guards are the elite version of line infantry, but you should use 1, max. 2. in an army to keep historical correctness (and to be fair to your enemies). The cavalry squadron is amazingly effective if you fill it up with both heavier and lighter units. Once you get to recruit advanced mounted units, use 6 of them in your stacks, to make your army more dynamic and use them to take out the enemy cavalry and cannons, and if you are done with that, start to roll up the foe from the flanks. Be aware though, that the hammer and anvil technique - which was so powerful in the previous games (RTW and M2TW) - won't work so effectively here due to the sharp edged weapons, like the bayonets. On a final note, it is not a real Habsburg army, if it doesn't have the notorious Hungarian Hussars who fearlessly do any dirty job the Kaiser gives them (except for charging down their own compatriots maybe?

).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Austrian unit roster

Infantry
Militia
Pandours (recruitable in Austria)
Pikemen
Line Infantry
Grenadiers
Grenzers
Jaegers (Jägers actually

)
Windbüsche Jaegers
Guards

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Cavalry

Provincial Cavalry
Carabineers
Light Dragoons
Uhlans
Hungarian Hussars (recruitable in Hungary)
Cuirassiers
Household Cavalry
General's Bodyguard

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Artillery
Puckle Guns
Sakers
Demi-Cannons
12-lber Foot Artillery
4-inch Mortar Battery
6-lber Horse Artillery
24-lber Horse Artillery
24-lber Howitzer Foot Artillery

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Colonial units
Colonial militia
Sepoys
Company Infantry
Colonial Light Cavalry
Colonial Dragoons
Company Cavalry

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

V. Summary

The Habsburg Monarchy is an astonishing and very interesting empire without a doubt. It aims at restoring the Holy Roman Empire, therefore you should go for world domination and try to unite the German states, annex Italy and liberate the Balkans. The government type (absolute monarchy) and the predominant religion (Catholicism) somewhat set your limits, but this shouldn't bother you when advancing in the technology tree or allying with non-royalist or non-catholic nations. The varied unit roster makes the Habsburg army superb, so use it wisely and bravely. If you combine the strength of your provinces, sponsor culture and science, keep your citizens devoted to God and the Emperor and overcome your rivals, including Spain, France, Poland, Prussia and the Ottomans, you can restore the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome. Good luck and have fun!

VI. Resources (for modding)

Map of the historical development of the Habsburg Monarchy

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Military units of the Habsburg Empire

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

History of the Habsburg Monarchy
The Rebirth of the Habsburg Army
Austria Faction Thread at the Historical Research Center
The Kuruc Army
The Hungarian Hussar

**Odovacar** · March 08, 2009, 05:53 AM

I took Venice with a good force. The battle was interesting but not hard. Meanwhile the Polish-Ukrainans declared war on me, but they were in constant war already and I conquered Poland.

The prussians in my game did not dare to attack me, I have a large military.

**Aldgarkalaughskel** · March 08, 2009, 07:44 AM

Hi Odo, I could bet you would play as Austria too.

The prussians in my game did not dare to attack me, I have a large military.

I guess you focused your military on the north, that's why you didn't attack you, is that right?

Hungary has been reported as an emergent faction here, but I don't know whether it emerges if you play as Austria.

**macallan** · March 08, 2009, 10:37 AM

Hungary tends to revolt and become a minor faction, so it's a good idea to keep half a stack of infantry there.

If you keep on good terms with the polish you wont have to keep much of an army in the north. A star fortress with ten infantry units can hold of quite a lot, plop one down in northern Silesia if you don't want to invade Prussia.

I think the western part of the Ottoman Empire is fairly easy to grab, but expect to spend a few years getting the population under control. Once you get to Istanbul you may well find yourself stuck, they seem to like placing a lot of ships there.

Spain's holding in the mediterranean can be easy pickings.

I'm hoping Russia can be convinced to take Austria's side in a conflict with Poland, trying that out right now as the final stage of my game.

**paw** · March 08, 2009, 01:30 PM

erm,
do u guys use light infrantry frequently??
they are small in numbers..
how shld i deploy them?
march they forward in skirmish mood and engage the enemy ??

**twistoff** · March 09, 2009, 10:33 AM

I'm playing on H/H, and these are some developments in my Austria GC:

I have pretty good relations with Prussia, and am at war with Poland-Lithuania. Venetian States declared war early on me, so I took Venice. Spanish wanted Venice, and after declining their deal of swapping Milan and Venice, they declared war on me as well, so I took Milan. Italian States declared war immediately on me, even after having good relations and sharing military access. Ottomans are trying to give me Moldavia for Croatia, but I keep on counter offering with other regions, so I think they will declare war on me pretty soon too...

I wish I didn't go to war with Poland now...

**Anastasios** · March 09, 2009, 10:54 AM

Strategy Plan (

)

1700
Create an army of 3 Line Infantry, 3 Militia, 1 Cav and your General
In the start of the game u do not need to create any more units as Austria has already a good number of units compare with the other nations.
Spend your most of your money by upgrading your city buildings
Try to have a Trade aggrement with Saxony and Wurttemberg.
And also an alliance with Venice (Venice has ships Austria do not, also u need the sea trade roots clear, plus Venice will keep busy Ottomans in the East-South)
Move one or two units of Cannons to your Forts, disband the rest of them, as are not very useful in the first turns.

1702
Therefore after creating this army from your existing units, break your alliance with Bavaria, and conquer it (Bavaria in the begin has low standard garrison units)
Make an alliance with Prussia (is going to help you in the future when Poland declares war)

From 1702 until 1710
You should have 2 militia units to each town and created a second formation army as in the Begin

Tip: The Generals that u do not use is better to move inside the towns because are helping in the taxes.
Declare War against Ottaman Empire (Propably by this time Venice would conquer Athens and attack Bulgaria or Constantinople regions, there is a big chance Russia invade Ottoman regions)
Capture Serbia and Bosnia regions, the Ottoman for some reason becoming more aggressive after the first 20 turns, so their army should be mainly from mob or sword carrying units.

After 1711 Poland is going declare war upon u, especially if your weapon technology is high, do not attack let Prussia deal with them (Prussia has better military technology, just move one of your two armies in your boarders with Poland and defend them.
Make Peace with Ottoman Empire (they are going to accept it)
Creat a third army as far as your economy allows you, and break the alliance with Venice.
This is the most difficult part as Venice had the time to create a good garrison in their capitol, but u have three armies.
By leaving one in your boarder with Poland attack with the rest of them Venice Capitol.

From 1715 to 1717
U should have already the capitol of Venice and with your two armies u can move from bosnia region to Athens and Morea and capture them.

Tip : Until this period do not creat any navy, let the navy of Venice to blocade your port, by the destruction of Venice nation so their navy will be destroyed.

1722
By this year u should have Bavaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Venice, Athens and Morea regions under your control, due to the navy bloackade of Venice your money should be very low, raise the taxes for 5 turns and then lower them.
Tip: Now you have lot of Ports not only for new trade roots but also to create good navy units (Man of War, Frigates etc)

1727
Russia if is going to be lucky should have Bulgaria region under their control and Ottoman Empire (due to 20 turns with war) without good army units, now u can do two things :
1. move your two armies and capture Constantinople region.
2. help Prussia in the war with Poland.
Also upgrade your armies, i.e replace the militia units with Line Infantry or Grenadiers, add a cannon unit, replace the militia cav with hussars or ulans.

Tip1: One army should not have more than 8 units for economical reasons.
Tip2: Better to have a formation of 4 Granadiers, 2 Line Infantry, 2 Cavs and Cannon unit. (Granadiers upkeep cost is less and fight better than Line Inf)
Tip3: All these years do not provoke or attack Saxony, leave them inside their country, Saxony in the begins creats 6 units and by 1710 has 12 units, u can not deal with them if u are not military tech. advanced.
Tip4: In case u capture Constantinople, the new Ottoman Capital is going to be in Ancara, do not attack make peace with them and a trade, even if they do not accept make them by money or threat to accept it.
Tip5: Create an Alliance with Russia or have good relationship with them.
Tip6: Have some churches, the new regions need to tranformed to your nation relegion so the revolting chances to be minimized

What ever u decide to do(help Prussia or capture Ottoman capital) by 1732 u should stop fighting (peace with Poland), just fix your economy, make the people relax, creat some good naval units may be another Army.

1739
By creating good naval untis, u can now make two attacks in Spain :
U can capture Lombardy (next to Venice) and Naples.
Spain is not going to counterattack due to war with France or Britain, therefore u will not feel any pressure.
Tip: Spain has lot of Trade roots, block them with your naval units.

After that u are alone (I have not decide what to do

)

I hope the above Strategy plan give an idea how to move in the first years,
also my campaing is in hard and battles hard.

*sorry for my English

**Aldgarkalaughskel** · March 09, 2009, 11:33 AM

I completely overhauled my guide, enjoy and comment.

Thanks for your input, Anastasios. (It sounds more like an after action report than a strategy plan.) Actually most things you say "Russia is going to be lucky", "Poland is going to declare war on you" are merely contingencies. They can happen, but hey do not necessarily happen, it can vary from game to game. And I don't think attacking an ally (Bavaria) is a good idea early in the game.

Originally Posted by paw

erm,
do u guys use light infrantry frequently??
they are small in numbers..
how shld i deploy them?
march they forward in skirmish mood and engage the enemy ??

At the beginning, there's not much else, so you have to make do with line infantry.

**Anastasios** · March 09, 2009, 12:33 PM

PowerWizard
I start a campaing and stop it four times as Austria, and I start it over cause I found new things and how to move better, all these four times the scenario is similar (with the above)

In the first two turns if do not make alliance with Venice is going to attack u
If u make alliance is going to attack Ottoman Empire (so benefit u to support Venice)
Russia due to more Regions expands and have war with Ottomans
and 1711 Poland declaring a war with u (earlier if u are tech. advanced)
Of course the game changes according with your moves and diplomacy but AI is quite passive.

Also in the begin u do not need an Ally like Bavaria (no offence) u need another big city for tax income.

The best way for Austria to expand in the first years is to capture the Balkans, then capture Venice (u need the Ports of Bosnia)

Is just my opinion may be I am wrong but until now is working for me.

**Odovacar** · March 09, 2009, 04:03 PM

Hungary never rebelled in my game but I was forced to stop collecting taxes there for a while. Not to mention Hungary is still in ruins in 1700, so Austria needs to rebuild it.

Under my benevolent rule Nyiregyháza and Buda appeared. (Maybe Győr will too?

)

Komárom even stopped an ukrainian attack...

so go Austria!

**Alexkrok** · March 09, 2009, 05:58 PM

I have a question about the Austrian faction that no one has quite yet answered fully for me on the main board. Can you recruit Grenzer's in the GC as Austria? Someone said you can but only a max of 2 units. Anyone here know? thanks!

**macallan** · March 10, 2009, 07:43 AM

Originally Posted by Odovacar

Hungary never rebelled in my game but I was forced to stop collecting taxes there for a while. Not to mention Hungary is still in ruins in 1700, so Austria needs to rebuild it.

I think chances are very high that Hungary rebels if you dont stop collecting taxes there every now and then. Even with heavy building and quite a few units there they still make trouble for me.

**Aldgarkalaughskel** · March 10, 2009, 01:10 PM

Updated my guide.

Originally Posted by Anastasios

PowerWizard
I start a campaing and stop it four times as Austria, and I start it over cause I found new things and how to move better, all these four times the scenario is similar (with the above)

In the first two turns if do not make alliance with Venice is going to attack u
If u make alliance is going to attack Ottoman Empire (so benefit u to support Venice)
Russia due to more Regions expands and have war with Ottomans
and 1711 Poland declaring a war with u (earlier if u are tech. advanced)
Of course the game changes according with your moves and diplomacy but AI is quite passive.

Also in the begin u do not need an Ally like Bavaria (no offence) u need another big city for tax income.

The best way for Austria to expand in the first years is to capture the Balkans, then capture Venice (u need the Ports of Bosnia)

Is just my opinion may be I am wrong but until now is working for me.

That's why I said attacking Venice is the best possible solution. And there are ports in Italy too. Moreover it is richer, better developed and a fully Catholicized region, so you don't have to exempt it from taxes for too much turns, plus you get a lot of high-level buildings to recruit advanced units. There's no point in starting a war with the Ottomans early in the game, and - as I said in the guide - this would historically not a correct campaign due to the peace treaty Austria and the Ottomans signed in the previous year (1699). The Balkans can wait until you reinforced your position in Italy. Austria was fighting against Spain and France in that decade, in the War of the Spanish Succession to keep the balance of power in Europe (the kingdoms of Spain and France wanted to unite).

Poland is not much of a threat in my campaign, you can beat the invaders with a half-stack garrisoned in the Hungarian fort.

Originally Posted by Odovacar

Hungary never rebelled in my game but I was forced to stop collecting taxes there for a while. Not to mention Hungary is still in ruins in 1700, so Austria needs to rebuild it.

Under my benevolent rule Nyiregyháza and Buda appeared. (Maybe Győr will too?

)

Komárom even stopped an ukrainian attack...

Hehe, Nyíregyháza spawned in my empire too.

Actually you can see which city will develop next in the bottom left corner of the city screen.
If I have a very large empire, I will make Hungary rebel and stuff them up with gold, just to see how they develop. I don't know yet though if Hungary has some special units or not. A Kuruc cavalry would be badass.

Originally Posted by Alexkrok

I have a question about the Austrian faction that no one has quite yet answered fully for me on the main board. Can you recruit Grenzer's in the GC as Austria? Someone said you can but only a max of 2 units. Anyone here know? thanks!

Only later in the campaign.

**For Victory** · March 10, 2009, 02:50 PM

Terrific guide, thank you! I am reading it over in case I decide to switch from a Prussia to Austria campaign.

**King of Kings** · March 10, 2009, 03:04 PM

Amazing guide! +Rep.

**Aldgarkalaughskel** · March 10, 2009, 06:26 PM

Thanks, guys!
Updated with full unit roster, enjoy.

**Hun Birodalom** · March 10, 2009, 07:10 PM

Excellent Guide, +REP.
In my Austrian campaign I first waged war against Venice (they besieged my port) and captured Venice itself than sold it to the Spanish for 10000 I believe. I than attacked Poland because they kept sending single units and vandalizing my resources. After that I just kept expanding every which way in a somewhat radial direction. That was a short campaign on very hard, enjoyed it quite a bit. I'll start a long campaign this week.

**Brocktree** · March 10, 2009, 07:36 PM

I captured venice solely with cavalry =D

Carabineers and some contact cavalry. And a general =P

Didnt even use the house's (which wouldve caused me to lose automatically) =P

**Eusebius86** · March 10, 2009, 08:46 PM

Excellent guide, plus rep!

I'm far from Catholic, but your guide has peaked my interest in the Austrians. I'll give em a go after I finish my Prussian campaign.

**EmperorJulian** · March 10, 2009, 08:46 PM

I've messed around with an Austria Grand Campaign twice now for twenty turns each, both on hard difficulty. I find Prussia invariably attacks within 20 turns, but what concerns me more is the behavior of Poland in my second attempt (well and The United Provinces too for that matter). At the very outset the Dutch declared war on Westphalia, making me choose between two allies, I go with my friends in Cologne thinking they'd get wiped out and the war would be over. Instead the Dutch never send any stacks into Germany, and they wont accept a peace or ceasefire. Effectively the war is in abeyance but also eternal. I suspect I'd have to take Holland or somehow inflict damage upon the Dutch to end the war. TW needs a thing similar to EU3 in which if a war is left dormant for long enough it ends automatically.

Now for the Polish, they attacked me in 1702 after making the bizarre request that I "give" them Hungary and Bohemia for Galicia and Podolia and Military access. I guess they didn't like being turned down so they attacked the next turn. They also asked for that region swap in my first game, but didn't attack me either. I immediately took Warsaw and since I didn't want Polish territory, I attempted negotiating, bear in mind this is on Hard campaign difficulty. At any rate, they would accept no peace, no province swap (Poland for West Prussia) and so forth. I ended up having to defeat all their field armies, take Lithuania (which I gifted to the Knights of St. John) and West Prussia by force before they finally accepted some cash and techs for a ceasefire. Next turn they declare war again. This time I ravage the area around Lwow, destroy their armies and get a ceasefire. Next turn they declare war a third time. On that turn, Prussia also declared war and I figured I was pretty well done. What I don't understand is the Polish obsession for fighting a war against me, they're not allied with the Prussians and they hadn't won a battle or taken a single province, they were also way behind in techs and prestige. It reminds me of RTW's AI: offer protectorate status to player, then attack player next turn.

I'm still learning how the campaign AI works and stuff, but the perpetual war thing is irritating, yeah I might have had problems fighting the Polish and Prussians but they weren't in league either, so it's not like the AI was coordinating something. I don't know, I'm going to keep experimenting but what I'm seeing so far, at least on hard is just a pain.

As an addendum, in a third campaign with Austria, within 10 turns, I'd had Venice, the Italian States, the Dutch, Poland and Prussia all declare war on me. I can't imagine I'd survive that, nor would the Empire in real life. I'm finding Austria to be extremely challenging, yet, I haven't had Hungary Revolt though, oddly enough. The AI certainly doesn't seem passive in Hard Campaigns, though perhaps they (the AI factions) don't effectively project their power. I just wish the AI was more reasonable when it's beaten. It works in EU3, not so much in Total War.

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