"The French forces were arrayed here. As you'll recall from our discussion of the Ulm Campaign over the appetizers, Napoleon had just captured a big chunk of the Austrian army and occupied the Austrian capital of Vienna, but he feigned confusion and weakness in his own ranks by intentionally evacuating the Pratzen heights"

*draws circle, labels it "PRATZEN"*

"Now here on the far right of the Allied lines, guarding the road to Olmutz, was a unit commanded by General Bagration. Remember that name, it's going to come up again later."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35319341)

irl howled with laughter at this

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35319353)

"So this piece of salami is Marshal Lannes."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35319543)

*sticks toothpick into salami slice*

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35319547)

"...so yeah, that's pretty much how the War of the Third Coalition ended, here in the heart of Bohemia. Waitress, Czech please? No pun intended."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35319433)

"So, uh, do you want to come back to my place and learn about the Treaty of Pressburg?"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35319475)

make it like that 2nd cousin & biglawyer in the bathtub poast

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35319620)

But, to her surprise, there are two dudes in the apartment. It's mance rayder and bob woodward pu. And they're wearing britches.

"I think the best way to learn about the Treaty of Pressburg is to reenact the negotiations", Charles said. "I've invited my friends over to serve as the Austrian foreign minister Count von Cobenzl and Emperor Francis"

He then puts a three corner hat on his shocked date. "You will be playing Napoleon. Remember the crushing victory you just won, and consider what kind of concessions you can extract. If you need help, I will be role playing your foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand but lets see how much you can do on your own"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35320209)

high school history class?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35319704)

Also General Bagration, as ARE Reptile pointed out, is famous because in WWII the Red Army named a major anti-Nazi operation for him. When CharlesXII tells his date to remember the name Bagration, he's setting up a storyarc where he keeps seeing this girl and keeps lecturing her on Russian military history until at least the Eastern Front of World War II

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35319731)

He needed to take DC. The south controlling DC and setting their capital there would have changed the war completely and likely would have resulted in foreign intervention.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35320598)

The Russians were the first to learn this and make the most out of it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35320582)

"I know - he's so smart AND creative!"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35319703)

This is why I come here.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35320610)

"Arrive at 2:30 pm, sharp. I only have 3 hours and we need to make every moment count."

Make every moment count? What was THAT supposed to mean, Angela thought. Was Charles thinking of...no, no, he'd made it very clear how he felt about those activities. Still, after she protested that she wanted some alone time together, he'd agreed that none of his strange lawyer friends would be around this time.

She stepped up to his apartment door and gave a knock.

"Come in, it's unlocked."

As she stepped in, Angela found herself confronted by a map...a very large map, with strange blue and red blocks on it.

https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic298083_lg.jpg

"Howdy, Angela, great to see you. You mentioned wanting some alone time, so I thought we could follow-up on last week's discussion with a head-to-head board game."

Board game?, thought Angela. Charles had mentioned an interest in them, but this didn't look anything like Catan or Pandemic or even Risk.

"This," Charles said with unconcealed enthusiasm, "is Napoleon's Triumph. It's a board game specifically on the Battle of Austerlitz, and is the masterwork of Rachel Simmons."

"A girl made this?"

"Well, he was Bowen Simmons at the time, but transitioned to being a woman around 2014. Very strange, but the game is excellent. Since you were Napoleon last time, I figured I'd reverse things now and let you be the Allies. You enjoy numerical superiority, but are more limited in movement and are under pressure to attack the French."

"...Oh. But I was hoping since we're alone we might have a chance to-"

Charles interrupted her by handing her a 12-page pamphlet.

"These are the rules. You'll want to give them a close read while I prep dinner. They aren't long compared to most wargame rulesets but they're pretty dense. It'll all make sense when we start playing, trust me."

"This is splendid, Charles, really," Angela said. "But before we start, I thought maybe you'd like some wine. I brought one of the bottles I won at the church raffle!"

"That's great, but alcohol is poison."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3881872&forum_id=2E#35320826)