How do i beat Austria?

[Tormodius]

Hi. Im a newb. I just started playing as Napoleon, and first i did was to attack Austria. I dunno if this was a good idea?
Maybe it was not, because they come with some huge army of 150k men and slaughter my Grand Armé and invade Italy and Switzerland.
Any hints? Please

 

[marat271]

Hi. Im a newb. I just started playing as Napoleon, and first i did was to attack Austria. I dunno if this was a good idea?
Maybe it was not, because they come with some huge army of 150k men and slaughter my Grand Armé and invade Italy and Switzerland.
Any hints? Please

The ai is very bad at managind large armies. Let them invade Itally and smash them with a huge host og +50k troops.

 

[Shiranui]

Your army should be much bigger than theirs.

 

[Walker85]

Hi. Im a newb. I just started playing as Napoleon, and first i did was to attack Austria. I dunno if this was a good idea?
Maybe it was not, because they come with some huge army of 150k men and slaughter my Grand Armé and invade Italy and Switzerland.
Any hints? Please

Also, read this: What People Don't Understand? Tips & Tricks that's a very useful thread for beginners.

 

[Dsilink]

if austria is alone in that war they're pretty much hopeless at the hand's of the AI, france's armies are larger at the start and throughout most of the game and their armies, even smaller stacks, are deadly in battle.
stack a lot of tropes, put great generals in command, attack from both austrian - french fronts and NEVER FIGHT AS AN ATTACKER ON THE ALPS. the bonuses they get for defending their are massive and attrition there is sky high

 

[GREG 42]

just cut them off with smaller stacks

 

[Tormodius]

Thanks guys. Your tips were awesome! I finally managed to slaughter their troops.
I guess my mistake was i didnt organize the flanks with good commanders and balanced numbers, but once i found out you can do alot of reorganizing and then do that neat tactic selection, I think its getting better ^_^

 

[comsubpac]

if you attack them early when they are still at war with the ottoman empire you can easily steal half of austria without firing a single shot. it did so with prussia two times. after that a quit gaming for now...

 

[Sol Invictus]

As it is now Austria always attacks The Ottomans within the first few months and that makes it easy for the Player to just wait and pounce once they are all tied up with The Ottomans. The AI should have a few opening moves so that it is not so predictible. Maybe go Ottomans, Bavaria, or Italy. Just someting to mix it up a bit.

 

[Tormodius]

Another question: How do I gain more manpower?
You see, during my invasion of Austria i lost a great deal of men. Armies now reinforcing for new campaigns, but manpower is dwindling fast. I need more men! :blink:

Maybe also some tips as to how to not lose so many men, also appreciated

 

[StephenT]

Maybe also some tips as to how to not lose so many men, also appreciated

Don't march stacks of 150,000 men through the Alps. Keep your army in separate corps of around 25,000 each as they move towards the enemy, until you see exactly where the Austrian army is located. (You do have cavalry scouting ahead of the main army, don't you?) Only then make the stacks converge into a single army. As soon as you've defeated the Austrians, divide them again so you stop taking attrition.

In battle, make sure your flanks are capable of choosing one of the tactics that doubles its defensive strength, such as hold, entrenched or counter-punch. In general, to achieve that you need one out of each five brigades on that flank to be light infantry or cavalry. Having artillery included as well helps you reduce the enemy's attack strength before the main combat phase.

After the war, make sure your stacks are not taking attrition, and move them back into friendly territory as soon as possible - they recover losses faster when in your core provinces.

 

[ParadogsGamer]

Don't march stacks of 150,000 men through the Alps. Keep your army in separate corps of around 25,000 each as they move towards the enemy, until you see exactly where the Austrian army is located. (You do have cavalry scouting ahead of the main army, don't you?) Only then make the stacks converge into a single army. As soon as you've defeated the Austrians, divide them again so you stop taking attrition.

In battle, make sure your flanks are capable of choosing one of the tactics that doubles its defensive strength, such as hold, entrenched or counter-punch. In general, to achieve that you need one out of each five brigades on that flank to be light infantry or cavalry. Having artillery included as well helps you reduce the enemy's attack strength before the main combat phase.

After the war, make sure your stacks are not taking attrition, and move them back into friendly territory as soon as possible - they recover losses faster when in your core provinces.

This

 

[Tormodius]

Thanks StephenT! This advice is sure to help me fight better. ( I play at normal/normal difficulty, maybe its too hard for me)
I got some real problems now i have both Russians, Prussians, Ottomans and Austrians against me. And I have 0 manpower. I have beaten the Prussians and Austrians in several wars and taken some territory. Made friends with the Bavarians and swapped territory with them, and formed Westphalia and took all the land in the alps from Salzburg to Trieste. Still the Prussians and Austrians go into coalition with the rest and starts a new war. I'm not complaining, because i think its fun they want revenge.

I have tons of ducats so i started building some depots at the home front because I saw they give +5% manpower. Still it says that I need 140k men to reinforce my armies. Now I do have this Grand Armé with Napoleon with about 50-60k men and i try not to send him over vast distances because i dont like attrition.

However these enemies have so many more, and looking at the war-view i see they have high war capacity and manpower like 100k for example Russian armies coming into Italy, and Westphalia. I often beat them in battles but they have so much manpower they keep coming all the time. OMG! I think i will lose the game because of massive loss of men! :0