Game 92 : Seven Years War, Lobositz October 1st 1756

 This is a new genre of game, launching into the Seven Years War with the Battle of Lobositz. Some people will wonder why? I got interested because I was convinced that I could use the existing huge figure collection and existing "In the Grandest Manner" rules to fight this period. 

When fighting any battle or period, I measure success in two ways. The first is, was the game exciting? The second is, did the battle have the feel of battles at that time? 

The latter is quite often down to the rules used and this is was the main challenge. Cutting to the chase, it worked great, although that is my opinion. The rules were not changed in any way from their use in Napoleonics. What made things work were the organisation of the respective armies and their allowable formations.

The how, on how this was done, is best left to a book, or indeed the rules, later next year when more games will have been played. However, I am quite happy to share all the files with anyone interested in the detail. You will need a set of "In the Grandest Manner" to make the best use of the files. However, I  will give the concise version below.

The Prussian army consisted of units of Infantry Btns, 1/2 Cavalry regts and Artillery batteries. Infantry btns were 4 coys, totalling 98 men; Cavalry 1/2 regts were generally 48 men and Artillery batteries had 4 pieces. 

The Austrian army consisted of units of Infantry Btns, Grenadier btns, Grenzers, 1/2 Cavalry regts and Artillery batteries. Infantry btns were 4 coys, totalling 98 men, the Grendier btns were 3 coys with 54 men; Cavalry 1/2 regts were generally 36 men and Artillery batteries had 4 pieces. The Grenzers were a single coy size in permanent open order with 36 men per unit.

The battle of Lobositz sees Frederick plunging into Bohemia to try and wrap up the Saxon departure from the war and to persuade the Austrians that all was lost. As in any war, the reality is always different.

Lobositz sits on the River Elbe. It needs to be taken to be able to freely issue onto the plains on the southern side. 

The road in the centre is not actually a road, it was a landgraben that had no affect on the battle. Lobositz is represented by a number of village areas. There is a sunken road between Lobositz and Sullowitz that is represented on the battlefield as the road with fields on either side denoting the banks down to the road. Troops in the road are hidden until the fields are reached. We used common sense as to what to allow to be hidden. The "wooded" looking are is in fact a hill with a series of vineyards across the whole feature.  

This pic shows two units of Grenzers advancing. I use a single close order base with two open order bases deployed and centred to the front and touching.

Here we are at the deployment stage when the fog/mist lifted. I used a fixed time method for the weather clearing. The thing to note already is that the Prussians are refusing their left flank and not entering the vineyards. As it turns out, the vineyards are occupied by a lot of Grenzers, a good space for them, being in the open is not something they like! The sunken road is denoted by the roads with pretty trees either side. In the road are more Grenzers, hoping to create a surprise before running off!

Both sides are lining up with the sunken road between them. The Grenzers are still skulking!

The Prussians maintained the advance and the Grenzers fired their ambush and then had to orderly retreat before they were squashed!!

The Cavalry from both sides now prepare to engage and another Prussian column is about to assault the southern most end of Lobositz. The Prussian have been clever and deployed two howitzer batteries to support this attack. Because they use plunging fire, the villages have no defence factor against howitzer batteries.

This is taken by moving along from the above pic and then turning 90 degrees. It show Austrian cavalry trying to squeeze the Prussian left flank, it is succeeds it would relieve all the pressure on Lobositz village as he Prussians would be flanked. The Prussian cavalry beat off the Austrian attack, causing heavy casualties in the process.

The Prussian infantry on the right flank attempts to advance over the sunken road in support of their cavalry. The Austrians are fortunate in the that most of their artillery is on this flank. The Prussians never actually broke, but the constant pressure and mounting casualties force the advance to be cancelled.

Lobositz is assaulted and the Austrians have the luck of the Gods in the ensuing combat. The first Prussian assault broke. Here you see Grenadier btns using their affective fire support to disorder the Prussians as they assault.

On the angle from Lobositz, the Austrian cavalry charges again to exploit the above victory. Again, the Prussians hold their ground. The Austrian right wing cavalry is now a spent force. This is now a meat grinder!

Further to the right of the previous action, Prussian Dragoons attempt to break the Austrian right flank. The attack against the Grenadiers is beaten off, the steady volley fire from the Grenadiers being particularly effective.

With the above in action, the Prussian renew the assault on Lobositz. This time there is no stopping them. The Prussians get their due luck and throw the Austrians out. The Austrians are not finished though, and throw in two more counter-attacks. The Prussians hold!!!

Game time shows it is 3.00pm, when the actual battle appears to have quietened down and both armies disengaged. We called it at this point and were surprised in that we had a relatively historical outcome. The Austrian Cavalry was still there but thin in numbers. The infantry were still at a good strength. The Prussian Cavalry was still ready to continue the fight, the Prussian infantry had suffered.

 

Austrian Formations	Losses %			Prussian Formations	Losses%
	Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery		Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery
BROWNE				FREDERICK III
Lucchese				Gessler
Lobkowitz	-	13	-	Katzler	-	21
Hedwiger	-	48	-	Kyau	-	15
				Schwerin	-	13
Kollowrat				Katte	-	23
Macquire	3	-	-
Krottendorf	0	-	-	Keith
Wollfersdorf	4	-	-	Bevern	0	-
Perony	0	-	-	Kleist	42	-
				Braunschweig	24	-
Radicati				Hirschfeldt	0	-
O’Donnell	-	28	-
Lowenstein	-	74	-	Independent troops
				Grendiers	57	-
Lacy				Guards	55	-
Hadik	0	71	-	Hussars	-	0
Wied	17	-	-
				Artillery
Independent troops				Moller	-	-	18
Grenzers	1	-	-
Grenadiers	14	-	-
Artillery
Fuerstein	-	-	2

Losses were relatively high, or I should say that the combat effectiveness of various formations was degraded a lot. A great game, so good that we are fighting it again with sides reversed. Here I was Browne, now I get to pretend to be Frederick!!!

Me there with my lucky jeans, only 16 patches so far!! Graham has recovered from constantly stretching over the centre tables as he attacked!! The game really had the feel of what we thought SYW should have. Linear tactics, infantry and cavalry used in blocks rather than nuanced tactics and the artillery was only effective, for some engagements, when they could deploy at effective range. We started play on the Friday afternoon and finished late on the Sunday afternoon. Time for more beer and curry!!