Battle of Zorndorf: August 25, 1758

 

Karl Rochling painting of the Prussian king Frederick II grabbing the standard of one
of his regiments to encourage them to make another attack against the stubborn Russian army.

I nearly missed today's anniversary of the Battle of Zorndorf. This was Frederick's first encounter with the Russians and his very low opinion of them likely changed at the conclusion of the battle. It was pretty much a draw with both armies ending the day in the starting position of the opponent.

The sole monument commemorating the Battle of Zorndorf, now located in Poland.
There were no trees in front of the tower when it was built, but over the years it
became enshrouded by trees and brush.

Map from Wikipedia depicts the initial deployment of both armies with the Russians
in Red and the Prussians in Blue

Here are several pictures of the Zorndorf game that I played on my home pitch back in November 2017. Click on all of the pictures to enlarge the view.

The Battle of Zorndorf

My tabletop version of the Battle of Zorndorf that I fought in November 2027.

Battle of Zorndorf on my game table.

Russian General Fermor

A very large battery of Russian artillery complete with limbers and caissons.
Minden Miniatures all

Frederick the Great and his "A-Team" of generals
Minden Miniatures

I played Zorndorf as a solo game the first time that I ran it and I believe that the Prussians prevailed, albeit at a high price in terms of casualties. A second solo game produced a Russian victory as the Prussian attacks were cut to pieces by the mass of Russian artillery. I also ran the game at the Seven Years War Association convention and again at the Little Wars convention (I won ribbon that said "First Place" on it although I'm not sure what that means).

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