Austrian Advanced Guard Division - Wagram 1809

Corps of the Day

Today, we put together all of the units to make up the Austrian Advanced Guard Division under the command of GM Nordman ... and see how they fit together on the battlefield.

Whats in the box ? A pretty huge Division as Divisions go. A handful of everything in here makes this a very strong force to confront.

A massive numberof guns, and some large blocks of infantry regiments ... plus a large wing of cavalry, and some specialist light troops as well.

Arrayed on the battlefield, the deployment area of this unit is once again constrained by the command radius .. 30cm or just over a scale 1km for 'functional' command radius. Means that deployment is neccessarily tight across the whole frontage.

View from the commander's position, looking to the right of the Division. Although the Division is spread out over a 2km frontage, there remains a good deal of depth to this deployment.

The Division offers quite a few small units of specialist light troops that can be deployed to hold various objectives. Here the 13th Grenzers are assigned the farmyard which anchors the left flank of the Division.

Divisional command stand for Nordman, with his Hussar signaller.

Looking out across the front of the Division from the Right flank, solid blocks of Infantry brigades cover the ground all the way to the village, and a huge collection of artillery batteries sit in the centre of the formation. Hussars are held back in reserve.

Massed medium foot batteries in the center.

An eagle's eye view of the deployment, showing the depth of the reserves.

How to use this force tactically ?  Good question that one.

It is a Division sized unit, albeit a very large Division, with a true combined arms balance. Troop quality is good, with the bulk of the infantry being solid troops, and a few Veteran units in the mix such as the 4th IR, and some of the Jaegers.

The addition of 4 bases of Hussars gives this Division a lot of reach and hitting power. However, the real heart of this Division is the large massed batteries of the artillery. And therein lies the problem - this is an Advanced Guard Division, who's job it is to scout out in front of the main force, and establish a line against the approaching French.

With the exception of the foot artillery, all units here have great mobility. But you cannot afford to just leave the guns behind.