Battle of Lobositz - Feb. 8, 2009

Prussian Cuirassier Regt Prinz von Preussen (CR2) breaks through the Austrian centre in pursuit of the Esterhazy Hussars . Croats defend wolf pits in the foreground.

[Note: please click on all pictures to enlarge the spectacular view]

The team of Protz, Frye and Der Alte Fritz staged a refight of the SYW battle of Lobositz, today at the Little Wars Convention in Lincolnshire, Illinois. The game featured two five-player teams representing the Prussians of Frederick the Great and the Austrian army of Marshal Ulysseus von Browne, fought in October 1756. Allegedly after the historical battle, a number of Prussian officers commented that "these are not the same old Austrians that we are used to", meaning that the Austrians were more tenacious than in the last war. Today's Austrians proved to be no less determined to defend Bohemia from the Prussian invasion.

We used the Lobositz scenario from Charles S. Grant's The Wargame Companion for our inspiration. Each side had 10 battalions of infantry, 6 artillery pieces and between 225 and 290 cavalry figures. The Prussians had a smaller cavalry force, but it consisted entirely of cuirassiers, while the Austrians had an assortment of every type of cavalry.

Austrian Deployement

The Austrian left wing was protected by the marshy Morellenbach stream, and here we placed 3 battalions of infantry and two dragoon regiments (48 figures each). This represented von Browne's deployment of his main army.


Austrian left wing deployed behind the marshy Morellenbach.

The center of the Austrian position was manned by two regiments of cuirassiers: Birkenfeld (60 figures) and Ansbach (48 figures), some converged horse grenadiers (36) and two small regiments of hussars -- Baranyay (30 figures) and Esterhazy (24 figures). Behind the cavalry, there were two sets of "wolf pits" in which some Croat light infantry deployed, and finally, behind the Croats, were three infantry battalions.

The Austrian right wing was anchored by the Lobosch Hill, on which more Croats were deployed, and the village of Welhota (3 btns of Austrian infantry.


Croats (background) and Hungarians (foreground) deployed on the Lobosch Hill and held it throughout the entire game.

Prussian Deployment
The Prussians were basically advancing out of a valley that opened up onto the Bohemian Plain of the Elbe, near the town of Lobositz. The valley entrance was bordered by the Lobosch Hill on the Prussian left, and the Homolka Mound on the Prussian right. The Prussians sent a brigade of three battalions to capture the Lobosch and threaten the Austrian right wing at Welhotta.

The Prussians placed all of their cavalry in the center, supported by a battery of 12 pounders on the Homolka Mound.


Prussian battery on the Homolka Mound supports the CR10 Gendarmes in the center. The CR13 Garde du Corps can be seen on the far left. Two other cuirassier regiments can be seen debouching from the valley on the right of the picture.


Prussian right wing prepares to attack the Austrians across the Morellenbach.


Another view of the Prussian cuirassiers emerging from the valley and onto the Elbe Plain in order to attack the Austrian center.

The Battle Begins With the Cavalry


Big cavalry scrum meets in the center early in the game (Austrians on the left side, Prussians on the right).

The troops were set up so that there would be no choice but for the cavalry of both sides to spur their horses and charge. The first melee, involving the Ansbach cuirassiers and the Baranyay hussars for the Austrians, very nearly broke through two regiments of 60 figure Prussian cuirassiers (CR2 in the front, and supported by CR8 in the second line). The CR2 Prinz von Preussen (in yellow coats) lost the first round of melee and just barely passed their morale with a "6", exactly what they needed. Had they failed, they would have routed through the supporting CR8 Seydlitz cuirassiers and likely the follow up Austrian attack would have run both Prussian units off the table. Alas, luck was with the Prussians (thank goodness, but it would have been a spectacular thing to see).

Eventually though, the weight of Prussian numbers told the tale (see break through picture at the top of this blog page) and they pushed or routed all of the Austrian cavalry of the center off the table and onto the back table. Only the two Saxon dragoon regiments remained, and they were on the opposite side of the Morellanbach, and in no position to help. So the Prussian cavalry held the center, but their infantry had not moved up with them, so the survivors of the victorious charge had to fall back to the Homolka Mound or else face destruction from the musketry of the Austrian infantry in the center.


Prussians advance towards the Morellanbach, on their right, but never seriously threaten this Austrian position.


Prussian IR13 Itzenplitz attempts to capture the Lobosch Hill. They drove off the Croats, but the Hungarian reserves held the hill for the rest of the game.


Prussian infantry advance in piecemeal fashion in the center, but to no avail as the Austrians won the first fire initiative in this sector.

Once the cavalry was played out on both sides, the infantry took over to decide the contest. One Prussian brigade pushed towards the Morellanbach while the center brigade also advanced, but the traffic jam of retiring horses meant that the center could not form a continuous line of battle, so IR18 and IR15 Garde Grenadiers were stopped cold by the Austrian musketry.

By this time, both sides were played out, having gamed from 11 AM to 4:30 PM and we all agreed that neither side had the upper hand in the game. All that I can say is that there was a lot of dead horse flesh on the back casualty table, an indication of a battle hard fought.

We will convene at the House of Protz in a few more weeks to refight the battle of Leuthen on our winter terrain. The game is based on the Charles S. Grant "Flank Attack" scenario in his book on wargame scenarios.

Terrain Notes

The green-brown terrain mats featured in this game were custom made by The Terrain Guy, a US company based in Texas. These mats are easy to use and transport and they look terrific. The Lobosch Hill and the Homolka Mound were made by Der Alte Fritz using 1.5" pink insulation foam board, his trusty Hot Wire knife, spackle compound mixed with brown paint, and Woodlands Scenics flock. Buildings were provided by HG Walls and Ian Weekley.

The hand made terrain pieces look very nice atop the table mats and I plan to make many more ridges and hills for future games. It is easier than one would think. I was able to make the Homolka Mound in two evenings' work.