First Impressions of the War Of The Austrian Succession

Peter Robbins, 5 February 2025

What’s In The Box!?

Brad Pitt eat your heart out. By and by, it’s been 30 years since the release of the movie Seven. My God I feel old now. So, what do you get in the box that is WDS’s War Of The Austrian Succession?

First let’s give this game some context in the overall series. This offering fits squarely before the WDS title Seven Years War, but covers battles that are a good bit after their previous offerings, Thirty Years War and Great Northern War. Both of which I’d previously provided impressions of, and are outstanding wargames, well worth gracing your virtual game shelf.

What I love about this particular offering is it’s a tighter historical time-frame, from 1740 to 1748, but still contains many participant combatants. It seems like the 18th century was a fun time when any succession was in question, tens of kingdoms show up at the border to lay some form of claim, or to just start up their own previous aggressions willy-nilly. Fun times to wargame! Also, this whole century is just overall very bright and colorful, wargaming battlefield array of uniform and composite units wise. It’s just a great time period to wargame, either on the table with minis or on a virtual tabletop like in the WDS offerings. This wargame has sparked yet again my desire to research a time period that I’m not all that familiar with. The entire Musket & Pike series has done this for me, and I absolutely thank WDS for igniting that historian flame in me again.

Below is a pic of the entire series to give you an idea of where WAS (the acronym we’ll use throughout this article) falls.

click images to enlarge

Scenarios

As to the scenarios provided in WAS, here is the direct list of available scenarios in the user interface listing. Any unique prefix is a unique and custom map, with a corresponding battle. Each variant is a unique lettered scenario name for the same map/scenario. I very much enjoy the amount of research that WDS have put into the What-If? Variants they provide in their games, and WAS is no exception to that rule. Very realistic possibilities of the day and age are explored, and this makes the user want to research each battle they take part in more closely; a great side-effect of playing any of the Musket & Pike series. The listing below represents a lot of scenarios, and a lot of varying maps, similar to the offerings in previous Musket & Pike series wargames by WDS. There are months worth of scenarios to play thru provided.

We had to cut the list into three columns, or you’d still be scrolling. Yep, even now. still . . . scrolling

Two of my favorites amidst the bunch are Fontenoy and Culloden. I have a soft spot for “pre-Seven Years War British” scenarios apparently. I just like the darker-red-coat look of their uniforms. A crimson if you will. It’s also just very interesting to see their troops shaping into an imposing world power. We’ll use the Battle Of Fontenoy (1745) as the scenario of choice for an after action report later, to show off some of the decision-making done in a typical set of 10 turns in WDS Musket & Pike titles.

Campaigns

As far as provided campaigns and editor there-of; you get a Campaign Editor, as with all Musket & Pike series wargames by WDS. Here is a small taste of what that editor provides:

As seen above, these are the three provided Campaigns with WAS: The Battle Of Fontenoy, Prussian 1745 Campaign, and The Jacobite Invasion Of England. In all three of these campaign cases there are single scenarios that cover each of these campaigns. What sets the campaigns apart is its Choose Your Own Adventure style of “shaping” questions ahead of the game’s choice of which “branch” to follow in the defined campaign. You could make a very complex spider-web/branched campaign. WDS does provide the tool to make your own campaigns or edit one of the three provided. You are however, limited by the maps and orders of battles included in the product¹ (there is no Map Editor, but you do get a “Sub-Map Editor” that can slice and dice the existing maps and save them off as smaller maps), but that is the only limitation. The sky’s the limit otherwise for campaign creation and editing.

Some example campaign “shaping” questions are below:

This is rather nicely done. It’s simple, but effective – just the way I like shaping actions. I’ve always wanted to do something similar of my own making, and voila, something simple to emulate offline as the mood strikes for miniatures campaigning and tabletop face to face play just the same. Nice show.

RTFM

As the header states, read the manuals. They are good. They are not overdone, they are Goldilocks just right. Before you buy the product (who are you kidding, get it! Get it now!) read the manuals, all of which are provided online on the product page here

You can of course get a good bit into how the interfacing of WAS works right out of the race blocks by using the Getting Started manual side-by-side with the Getting Started scenario, and I do recommend that highly, but as soon as you finish that walk-thru, READ EVERYTHING else provided.

The Designer Notes, in particular, are really well done. They provide great context and insight which makes your playing of the wargame that much more enjoyable. WDS have done an extraordinary amount of research for this product in particular. From reading through the designer notes, over four years of such research, scenario, and map editing! That is impressive. This is not just a thrown together DLC of an existing game engine, it’s truly a work of art simulating very well this unique series of succession originated scuffles.

Mechanics & Gameplay

I’m not going to regurgitate the manuals, as I’ve already advised above to not overlook them. They are well-formatted, well-researched, and helpful. What I will do however, is give you an idea of how a turn generally plays out, including the decisions you normally have to make, and some very high level tips on how to do “reasonably ok” at the game. The rest is what you learn from experience, and the only way to get that is to play, over and over again, wargame! Then learn from your mistakes, and jot down notes on what worked well and what sucked wind during your play thru against the AI. Once you are satisfied you can get a minor victory or better on all of the included scenarios against the AI, then take a stab at playing against a human opponent online with Direct Play or via PBEM file exchange.

Movement is generally just clicking on a hex to see what units are in it. Double-clicking the hex to highlight all of the units present for then moving or firing sake. Then you are using the left side user interface listing of units to ctrl select or deselect particular units or elements as needed. You then right click on the hex you intend to move towards, and voila, you move, unless you’ve run out of movement points to expend.
Firing either with small arms or with artillery is done by switching to firing mode, or by holding down the CTRL button while RIGHT CLICKING on an enemy unit (after selecting one or more of your own). For Artillery I recommend using the nifty Artillery Dialog, which will list all of your available artillery units, whether they have valid targets, and whether you’ve fired them already this turn or not. Very useful.
Melee is done as the final step of a Turn for your side (in the default Turn Mode which I’ve used throughout this game review). There are limits to how many units can participate in the melee and many modifiers involved based upon unit types, formations, you name it. Read over sections 5.23 through 5.29 in the User Manual for specifics. You very basically just use the Resolve Melee to force the computation of the results involved with units that have directly moved into an enemy hex. In Turn Mode these are only useful when you are in the Melee portion of your Turn (which occurs after all movement and firing for your side, when in the default Turn Mode).

Command & Control is managed via organization and command radius buttons in the user interface. When you have both on, as you double-click on a given stack, you will also see what organization it belongs to. The suggestion is to click on any leaders with a B on them so that you are consistently monitoring your battle situation at the Brigade level. It is the first echelon of command in most scenarios of the Musket & Pike series.

My two favorite buttons to keep ON at all times during play. If you Right-Click away from your units, the view will go back to the unshaded top down view which you’ll occasionally want to reset to for decision-making sake. Then double-click on a stack with a “B” labeled Brigade Leader to get back to the above Command & Control centric viewing of your forces. See section 5.4 Force Management in the User Manual for more specifics. Experiment with these Highlight functions. The more you master the information they provide, the better results you will get as a commanding general.

Supply for small arms firing infantry units is managed via supplied wagons. From the User Manual: “Supply Wagons are used to resupply Infantry units that become Low or Out of Supply. For each unit of strength, they can resupply 10 men. They have no ability to attack the enemy, but they can be captured by the enemy.”
Turns & Phasing are configurable. I personally use the default turn settings described generally as “each player moves, fires, and melees using units under his control in his turn.” Further limitations are described in this pic from the User Manual below:

I personally avoid using Phase mode. Everything I’ve written in this review is based upon using the default Turn Mode. The other options are generally described in the below pic:

In a typical turn you will:

Organize your forces by command radius. Keep the organization button and the command radius buttons ON at all times. Just left-click further away from your troops to get an unfiltered/un-shaded view of the whole battlefield as needed. Then, as you click on stacks, or leaders, you’ll then re-gain the command radius view quickly and consistently.
Avoid moving different troop types together in the same hex (not always possible, but try to avoid it if you can).
Avoid overloading the stacks in a hex unless they are of the same troop type and same formation.
Avoid Disrupting your units anywhere near an approaching enemy if at all possible. See the Summary Info manual for what actions and or enemy actions will cause your unit to be disrupted. You will not automatically be undisrupted is the key to why you want to AVOID becoming disrupted like it was the plague.
Write out a Commander’s Intent for each Brigade. At the start of each turn, when in doubt, re-read that list of brigade level intentions and think of how you are making that end state a reality for that brigade, and for your division, and for each Army as a whole. Are you supporting your neighbor’s intentions, while maintaining and expanding upon the successful completion of your own intention?
Read the terrain each turn. Re-evaluate if you are getting the most out of the terrain modifiers, and AVOID benefiting the enemy by allowing them to remain in superior positions. The Summary Info manual in particular will help you make these modifier based decisions throughout play.
Get cavalry or skirmishing infantry in a better observation position to reveal hidden enemies.
Get your units into, or retain a reserve of your units in, hidden areas. The “Spotted” button is your friend here.
Use the Artillery button to help you determine which batteries are in range and which still have yet to be fired.
In general, the Fired and Moved buttons are as helpful as the Spotted one. Turn them on and off as needed.

The main portions of the interfacing. My own generalization there-of:

Is the meat and bones Unit command area of the interface.

Is what I would call the map overlay toggles set of buttons.

I would classify this final set of buttons the primary Command and Control aiding Highlight buttons:

And that is the whirlwind tour of the basics of Mechanics and Gameplay. Later, we will move on to an example portion of a larger battle, to show you the decision making process throughout as a player of War Of The Austrian Succession by WDS.

Conclusions

This is a fantastic wargame. It is one of the best of the Musket & Pike series, and I say that based upon its combination of compressed time-frame depicted, combined with the breadth of units and nationalities/kingdoms involved. It is the best of all worlds wargaming wise. It plays thru like a board-based unit counter game, but with the ease of automation.

And as a result of the automation, the wargame design of the whole WDS set of games is able to crunch in much more detail into resolution computation, modifiers, the whole nine yards. Get the game, period. Not much more I can say. I’m a fan of the series, I’m a fan of the game engine. These “board adjacent” hex based wargames are not everyone’s cup of tea, but I personally really enjoy WDS wargames.

WDS has single handedly brought me into the fold of hex and counter tactical/operational wargaming. I was a bit dismissive of the approach from having seen large front lines doing barely anything and not having much control over any form of combined arms or maneuvering.

The WDS titles as a whole, and the Musket & Pike series in particular, strikes a great level of scale and command capabilities. You feel like you are “in control” to an appropriate level as a Corps or Army commander and each echelon below. War Of The Austrian Succession is top notch amongst the Musket & Pike series. This wargame is well researched, includes well done scenario design and includes extremely useful documentation in the form of its manuals.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Thank you for visiting the Regiment of Strategy Gaming and riding with The Armchair Dragoons.
Rather than list a bunch of social media links, the easiest thing to do is to check out our LinkTree, which connects you to all of our various locales around the web.
You can also support The Armchair Dragoons through our Patreon, and find us at a variety of conventions and other events.
Feel free to talk back to us either in our discussion forum, or in the comments below.