Austria's Army?

[British-Bulldog]

Hey guys, I've been playing an Austrian game recently and it's quite frustrating as my army seems to get raped whenever I get attacked . I've currently lost Tyrol, Venetia and Austria to the Kingdom of Italy and each stack I've sent against them has been utterly destroyed. I've never had problems like this on my Prussian or British games before, so I ask now, is Austrians army different/worse than the other coalition factions?

...Or is it just me :/.

[♔DoomBunny666♔]

Yeah, Austrians have pretty bad line, they make up for it with brillaint light troops tho, Grenzers, Windbusches and Hussars the stars of the show, ideally the line is made up of Hungarian Grenadiers and Fusiuliers and the 2 special regiments, but those still get beaten up quite badly.

[Slaists]

Hey guys, I've been playing an Austrian game recently and it's quite frustrating as my army seems to get raped whenever I get attacked . I've currently lost Tyrol, Venetia and Austria to the Kingdom of Italy and each stack I've sent against them has been utterly destroyed. I've never had problems like this on my Prussian or British games before, so I ask now, is Austrians army different/worse than the other coalition factions?

...Or is it just me :/.

Are you fighting against the AI or humans controlling AI armies? In the latter case you might be in trouble. Otherwise, just try to overwhelm the AI with numbers, which means you would ration your arty. Austrian arty is immobile (no horse artillery) and inaccurate, hence - quite disposable.

My typical early campaign army setup would be: gen, 4 light horse, 4 Hungarian line, 4 German line, 4 grenzers, 2 jaegers, 1 12 pounder arty + 2 to 4 light cavalry units in reserve. When howitzers become available, I'd swap one German line with a Howitzer.

I would divide my army into two larger groups of mixed line & grenzers + 1 Jaeger unit for support, I'd keep cavalry separate for mobile strikes, and the arty placed centrally somewhere between the two larger groups. Grenzers are murderous bastards and a mix of them and line is even deadlier. I'd use my cavalry very aggressively to pursue targets of opportunity (arty & enemy cavalry being my first priorities). If my cavalry gets damaged, I retire it to get fresh cavalry in as reinforcements. I have yet to see any serious campaign problems for this mix.

[British-Bulldog]

Thanks for the feedback guys it'll really help, and yes I am fighting the AI. I didn't know the Austrian Artillery was immobile; heck you learn something new everyday! Thanks again guys.

[Slaists]

Thanks for the feedback guys it'll really help, and yes I am fighting the AI. I didn't know the Austrian Artillery was immobile; heck you learn something new everyday! Thanks again guys.

Oh, sorry, if I caused confusion. The Austrian army is not literally immobile. It' just slow. Austrians never get horse arty which allows other factions to switch battery location very quickly. Austrians do not get that luxury.

[Clodius]

And everyone's foot artillery moves incredibly slowly due to speeds having been reduced with the recent free DLC - if you have them its best not to move them at all.

This is a big error to me as in fact foot artillery moved at pretty much the same speed as infantry and it just further encourages static defensive play.

Given this would suggest you exploit the games weakness and play more defensively and try and lure them into attacking you.

Unless you've helpfully built them cannon foundries in the territories they've taken from you I tend to find AI Italians build little or no artillery - so you're mainly going to be fighting line infantry and chasseurs a cheval.

The line infantry can be outshot by your lights if you micromanage the ranges carefully enough (unfortunately skirmish mode is broken).

The c-a-cs are not as good as your cavalry unless they get off a proper volley while charging.

[British-Bulldog]

Ohhhhh right XD, sorry about the 'immobile' thing. I get it now, I'll take some of these tips with me to my game and I'll tell you how it goes; fingers crossed!

[Lusen]

I would use numbers to attack. Let the heavy cav and line atack while flank with jägers and dragoons.

[VINDIC]

...for me Austrian' units are pretty good, also if there are no elites...the problems are others...bad economy...geographically position...etc.

[Dodge]

Ohhhhh right XD, sorry about the 'immobile' thing. I get it now, I'll take some of these tips with me to my game and I'll tell you how it goes; fingers crossed!

I hope I get a jobby, Freddy. I've got my fingers crossed... crossed... crossed... crossed... cross... ed