Introduction by Congress of Vienna Assistant Designer/Editor, Fred Schachter – For those unaware, to familiarize this InsideGMT audience of what designer Frank Esparrago created with his fun and exciting Congress of Vienna game, available via GMT Games; InsideGMT has presented articles including a “Strategies for” series… (think of the old Avalon Hill General magazine’s “Perfect Plan” articles for that legendary company’s “classics”), “Game as History”: An Historical Introduction to the Congress of Vienna Period” as well as a four-part series entitled: “Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna” and a host of other material such as game “After Action Reports”.
Use this link to access these articles: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-850-congress-of-vienna.aspx. This site includes a copy of the game’s full Rulebook as well as its shorter Quick Start Rules Summary. As to the Congress of Vienna Vassal Module, it can be found using this link: Category:GMT Games – Vassal. Isn’t it wonderful how many GMT games can be computer played using Vassal?
For Vassal is a wonderful way to game since it electronically duplicates all a game’s physical components, which in the case of Congress of Vienna, includes gameboard, dice, cards, various counters, pieces, rules and player aids to enable a four-player contest: one for each of the game’s Major Powers: France, Britain, Russia and Austria.
Without Vassal, the CoV Team’s efforts could not have been as comprehensive as they were. Those aforementioned InsideGMT articles could not have been as impactful. For that, an eternal debt of gratitude is owed to the very talented Joel Toppen, who back in 2020 created the initial foundational Congress of Vienna Vassal Module. Designer Frank Esparrago, in turn, built and modified it through numerous iterations to ultimately reflect the game’s final Terry Leeds’ published graphics. Through Vassal, CoV Play Testers could enjoy and contribute to the game from across the United States, Spain, United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic and Asia (Manila, Philippines and Shenzhen, China). Fun stuff!
We now present a “walk through “of how Congress of Vienna was converted into its latest electronic form, specifically VASSAL for the physically published game to enable four players, without geographic constraint, to have a grand time experiencing all this wonderful game has to offer.
Furthermore, readers may note that due to the wonderful support of those ordering and hopefully now enjoying Congress of Vienna, the game is currently “OUT OF STOCK” (thank you! thank you! thank you!). GMT will reintroduce CoV as a P500 Reprint offering within the next few months. You folks know how that system works, eh? For now, the game IS available to learn and play via Vassal. Have fun!
Here is Congress of Vienna Goes Electric 2025 Edition: starting with its “Game Set-Up” of course… so take it away Frank!
Note: If you would like to view any of the following screen illustrations (Figures) in a larger size, you can click on the image.
The first screen of CoV’s Vassal Module allows the choice of whether the game is to be conducted with players connected on-line or for an off-line contest by a single player or group using Vassal in lieu of the physical Congress of Vienna game. During CoV’s on-line play testing, one of the team would unlock the game and the other players would connect with it using the team’s established Skype guidelines!
The next two screens, Figures 1 and 2 shown below, are mandatory to get a game underway (that is, they always appear and must be properly responded to before commencing play). The first screen allows you to choose the desired CoV Scenario. The first option is the Full Campaign Game 1813-1814 (for a maximum of 10 turns). The other menu-offered scenarios are shorter, with less turns and different historical set-ups, etc. (see Figure 1).
Once this prompt is responded to, the following screen allows choosing sides (see Figure 2). It also facilitates selecting the option of a two or three player game. The final option is for playing Congress of Vienna solitaire (“Solo”), in which you manage all four Major Powers (per Playbook Sections 19-23). To fully experience the game’s solitaire offerings, you’ll need the large two-side printed Allied and French Bots which are included in the physical game.
When Vassal remains open after a scenario and player(s) by their respective Major Powers are selected; the Module’s Main Window of the entire gameboard appears (see Figure 3)!
At this screen’s top are different buttons identifying CoV game components: two red and green buttons are located to its top left (surrounded with a dark blue rectangle). Both allow you to select an additional national card each turn to the player winning the Initial Environment Table’s turn start result (This is an achievement of creativity and Vassal programming virtuosity by the talented Joel Toppen! Bravo and thanks Joel!).
Thereafter, this button allows you to draw the Initial Event Card through which each turn begins and to its right is the Character & Event Card Deck (both surrounded by a red rectangle in Figure 3). This last button directs you to the main driver of this Vassal game. Immediately to the right of this button are four buttons that open the hand of cards for each Major Power Player (Austria, Britain, France, and Russia). Once a game is underway, these buttons can only be activated by the player who owns that Major Power. This requires privacy (except for a two/ three player contest or a Solo game). We put these four buttons inside an orange rectangle in Figure 3 above.
The Chart Folder button contains different player aids such as Congress of Vienna’s Detailed Sequence of Play, Battle DRM, Campaign Game VP Chart, Rules, etc…. Further to the right are the two electronic dice (surrounded by a dark red rectangle) which keep the game “alive” and for which we never used for other Vassal games.
This is a true technological marvel it seems to us (although a player frustrated by bad luck can’t throw these dice out an open window or smash one with a hammer to teach the other[s] a lesson… yes, such reactions are within the actual experience of some CoV Team members: readers may have other bad die rolling stories to share)!
To their right are other less important buttons allowing receipt of optional Handicap Cards or to remove Characters who may die during a game (this surrounded by a light green rectangle). In between these are the buttons and charts that facilitate electronic play for 2-players (see the following Figure 4 below).
On the left side of the screen top is the Clean Button. This activates the Vassal screen’s clearing of game components at the end of each turn. It returns all markers and cards to their respective locations ready for use next turn. This is a clear, valuable, and appreciated advantage over physical face-to-face games as it eliminates potentially disastrous gameboard upset risk from pets and/or small children on the loose!
Finally, there’s the Help option located in the screen’s upper left corner (surrounded by a light green rectangle). This option opens a PDF file player aid (CoV Vassal Notes) which explains in detail the buttons and options of this Vassal Module for players through text and explanatory screen images. A new player is strongly encouraged to check out this PDF document once the Module is loaded, for it contains “How to” details beyond what this article encompasses.
The main window of the Congress of Vienna Vassal Module has components which do not fit on a screen without overly reducing their scale and legibility. Perhaps the most important feature is the Diplomacy Display (surrounded. by a red rectangle). This is where the game’s 30 Issue Markers (diplomatic, military, economic and political), intrinsic to the game’s Diplomacy and Government Phases; are located at the beginning of each turn if available for player selection by not being initially placed on a Major Power’s Track or the Negotiating Table.
At the bottom of Figure 3, flush left, there is a light brown Track (starting at 0 and ending at 80) to tabulate each Major Power’s VPs (indicated by a text box and light blue arrow). The Military Map (highlighted by a yellow rectangle) is where, during the War Phase, each army’s movement takes place and upon which battles are fought on the map’s different Fronts (A-G, including America’s War of 1812, depicted by a box rather than a Front of multiple spaces). The following Figure 7 features this map and explains some of its attributes. Congress of Vienna is certainly a game of diplomacy; but it is also a wargame!
On the bottom right of the Vassal screen is a vertical/horizontal scroll feature to block out the screen’s Diplomatic Section. This enables viewing, without distraction, solely the entire Military Map. This comes in handy when resolving the Congress of Vienna War Phase. Additionally, two adjacent horizontal Tracks (orange for the Allies and light blue for France) allow Major Powers to record Military unit losses (cubes) during a battle via the DRM Battle Tracks.
The screen’s right side is the Diplomacy Area (surrounded by a light blue rectangle). This is where the Diplomacy and Government Phases take place. There you’ll find the Negotiation Table, each Major Power’s National Track radiating from it, Diplomacy Round Tracker with the Turn Record and other game features. Also, each gameboard corner includes one of the four National Force Pools and other markers. Finally, the rightmost section of the Vassal screen contains the Card Trading Area where 2 players place cards to be traded between them during a Diplomacy Phase Round (this Card Trading Area does not exist on the physical board as players directly trade their cards without placing them on the board!).
We present in Figures 5 and 6, two key windows within the main window. Figure 5 below shows the Initial Event Card Window (this opens by clicking the appropriate button). In that window you can see the front and back of these cards. On the upper left screen side, the magnifying glass icons allow you to enlarge or reduce the magnification of these cards per viewing preference. The Figure 5 screen’s label, outline, and arrow are red in color.
In Figure 6, we show the Character & Event Game Cards Window. This window opens in the same manner as the previous one. Presented, as an example, are two cards: “Fouché” (#11) which is a CHARACTER CARD and a “Debating card” (#60) which is an Event card. Both are drawn from the same common deck for all players.
Returning to Figure 5, if you click an Initial Event Card’s “Execute” option (which opens through a right mouse button click), all the card’s instructions are automatically completed… as if accomplished by a player MANUALLY! Designated cards go into the players’ hands, Issues placed upon the appropriate National Tracks/ Negotiation Table, additional units and Resources placed in each Military Map capital space or in the correct National Resource Stacks. Neat, eh?
When you move the vertical and horizontal scroll and use the magnifying glass to expand the screen, you gain a complete single-screen view of the Military Map (see Figure 7). On this map are located the different Army Blocks that occupy their spaces. These spaces constitute Battle Fronts, also known as Tracks. These are identified by a capital letter from A to G. In the below image, Track C’s British Army of Portugal is portrayed by a red block (a red arrow whose tip is in the lower left corner of the screen). This British Army begins turn 1 of a Congress of Vienna Campaign Game in the space of Portugal.
Figure 7’s Military Map Features’ Examples: Military units (which are wooden cubes in the physical game are also simply referred to as “units”), belonging to the British Army of Portugal are indicated within the Army of Portugal Box through a red double arrow and rectangles at the screen’s lower left corner. This Box indicates this Army’s Campaign Game Turn 1 strength as four British (red), two Portuguese (dark red) and two Spanish (yellow) units: this is a respectable force of eight cubes representing approximately 160,000 soldiers! The number in the upper center of the Army Box is its maximum allowed size of ten units. Its adversary, Track C’s French Army of Spain, located in the Leon space, contains six.
The British Force Pool portrays available British, Portuguese and Spanish units, as well as cylindrical British Fleets. It is located at the lower right corner of the Figure 7 screen (indicated by a light violet arrow, rectangle and text). Additionally, the British player’s markers, which include Military Support, Resources, and Character Bonus Reminders, are displayed near this Force Pool Box. Furthermore, this Force Pool example contains an empty space where unbuilt Portuguese units are placed (as of turn 1, both are included in the Army of Portugal Box).
In Figure 8, we show an enlarged Window of the gameboard’s Diplomacy Area. At its center is the Negotiation Table (a square with rounded edges and yellow color border highlighting). This is where most Issues begin in CoV game and from which the negotiations and ensuing debates of a turn move them. This is the part of the board where, as a player, you will spend most of your time during the Diplomacy Phase’s negotiations and debates. It is also where, during the Government Phase, you’ll allocate your Resources on those Issues most vital to implementing your grand strategy for Congress of Vienna victory!
At the upper mid-left of this Vassal screen image is the Turn Record Track (surrounded by an orange rectangle). This is where the Turn Marker is located. It is a black and orange marker with an hourglass symbol placed for a CoV Campaign Game’s first turn on its March-April 1813 space.
The Austrian National Track has been highlighted with a white rectangle in Figure 8. The nearby yellow pawn, which is a much larger gold pawn in the physical game, is used to designate the Major Power winner of an Initial Phase’s “Wager”. This pawn is subsequently shifted during a turn to designate its Diplomacy Phase winner. The winner goes last each Phase, so in this example, with the pawn by the Austrian Track, France would go first in clockwise order. The British Track is located beneath the Austrian Track.
Surrounded by colored rectangles are four important Record Tracks, each with a pawn to indicate its latest game status. On the right-side center of the Figure 8 is shown the Future Government of France Track, within has a dark blue pawn. This pawn is moved by its diplomatic Issue being won and financed with a Resource.
On the upper center of the image are the double Tracks (green and light red) of the Absolutism / Liberalism Record Tracks with their green and red pawns. A successful pawn movement, in addition to a Resource expenditure, requires a successful die roll result of 4 or more to trigger its Track space’s indicated VP effect(s). See Rulebook Section 12.4.5 for related details such as potential die roll result modifiers.
The Pax Britannica Track, with its red purple pawn at the bottom of screen, does not require a related Issue to be won for its pawn’s advancement, thereby winning Britain the entered space’s victory points. Instead, the pawn advances if the British player fulfills the next Track space’s prerequisite(s) and rolls a die result of 4 or more. That die roll may be modified per the Pax Britannica Track’s rule 12.4.11.
Finally, with Figure 9, we show a sample of the Allied side’s window used for Congress of Vienna’s Solitaire Game. Playbook Sections 19 through 23 describe the game’s solitaire play options. The Solitaire French side’s window is similar!
Hopefully, the preceding encourages you to give Congress of Vienna’s Vassal Module a try with two, three, or a full roster of four players around a fun and friendly gaming table and/or versus its solitaire system.
Concluding Remarks by Congress of Vienna Assistant Designer/Editor, Fred Schachter – The preceding provides an overview, a “lay of the land” if you would, of how Congress of Vienna is electronically depicted using VASSAL. To reiterate, CoV’s Vassal Module may be downloaded via: Category:GMT Games – Vassal.
For a “How to Play CoV Solo” video, with its associated InsideGMT article, kindly reference: Background for the How to Play Congress of Vienna Solitaire Video | Inside GMT blog. Do note that Congress of Vienna’s two-side printed French and Allied Bots are provided with the physical game.
Others are here invited to provide CoV videos of their own regarding the game so we may all continue our Congress of Vienna journeys either directly or vicariously. Hopefully, CoV’s Vassal Module, as well as the physical game, facilitates such creativity.
Please feel free to pose questions and/or feedback via the space InsideGMT provides for this purpose at this article’s conclusion. Thanks for your interest!
