Battle of Lobositz PDF Available

Now that I can download PDF files into the new Fife & Drum Miniatures website, I think that I will start posting some of the old historical battle accounts that Jim Mitchell and I wrote for the Seven Years War Association Journal when we were editors, on different shifts:

Battle of Lobositz PDF

I get a fair number of requests for back issues and articles and it occurs to me that the new Fife & Drum Miniatures web site is the right place to make the articles available for free. It is my intention to have the web site be more than just an on line store for the purchase of miniatures, I also want it to be a place where enthusiasts of 18 Century military history can go to obtain information on battles, wargame scenarios, painting guides and much more.

I was able to reduce the size of the Road To Philadelphia 1777 PDF file from 17MB to around 800KB, thanks to Henry Hyde, who generously sifted the document through his magical software and reduced the size of the document without losing any resolution in the pictures. Thank you Henry. :)

Battle of Lobositz at the SYW Association Convention

Battle of Lobositz at the SYW Association Convention

This year's Seven Years War Association ("SYWA") Convention was held in South Bend, Indiana on March 28th and 29th and if I recall correctly, we have been holding this convention for well over 25 years in a row.

This was my first opportunity to field my Minden Miniatures SYW Austrian and Prussian armies at a convention, and what better place to stage a refight of the Battle of Lobositz in 1756 than at the SYWA convention? Drawing inspiration from Charles S. Grant's scenario from his recent book: "Wargaming In History - Volume 9 - Lobositz, Reichenberg, Prague and Kolin", I found that Grant's Lobositz and the size of my painted armies were a perfect match.

I boiled the orders of battle down to the following forces:

Prussian Army

6 btns of musketeers

2 btns of fusiliers

1 btn of grenadiers

3 x 12-pound cannon

2 x 3-pound cannon

4 regiments of heavy cavalry

Austrian Army

6 btns of musketeers

2 btns of converged grenadiers

2 btns of Croats (light infantry)

2 x 6-pounders

1 x 12-pounder

1 x 3-pounder

3 regiments of heavy cavalry

The Rules

I used my own Fife & Drum rules for this game, using a 1:20 figure to man ratio. Thus infantry battalions were 30 figures, cavalry regiments were two squadrons of 12 figures, and artillery , well, I'm not sure what it is, I just try not to put too many guns on the table top.

The rules are printed on one side of a regular 8.5" by 11" sheet of paper. The mechanics of firing, melee and morale are the same, so the players tend to pick up on how the rules work within a turn or two during the game. I don't want a player to perform poorly for the reason that he didn't understand the nuances of the rules. I want my players to concentrate on their tactics with the assurance that the rules are not going to cause them to lose the game.

The Potted Historical Background  Paragraph :)

The background to the battle is well known to many of my readers, but a brief overview follows:

It is 1756 and Frederick II of Prussian has invaded Saxony in a pre-emptive strike to knock the Saxons out of the war before the Austrians can mobilize their forces. Frederick had the Saxons bottled up in their encampment at Pirna, and he chose to utilize starvation as a means of forcing their capitulation. In the meanwhile, the Austrians commanded by Marshal von Browne, have advanced up the Elbe River in Bohemia and await the arrival of the Prussians . Von Browne has a very strong defensive position with his right flank anchored on the Lobosch Berg, a dormant volcano covered in terraces and thorns - suitable places for the Croat light infantry. The Austrian left flank is safely deposited behind the marshy Morellenbach stream while the center is occuppied by most of von Browne's cavalry. It is an unusual deployment, by 18th Century standards, but the ground suits Browne's deployment perfectly.

As the Prussians emerged from the valley, they see a portion of the Austrian army deployed on the field to their front. However, a thick fog shrouds the Austrian left behind the Morellanbach. Frederick sends some of his cavalry to probe the center and find out what is out their. This gradually grows into an ever larger cavalry battle until nearly all of Frederick's cavalry is engulfed in the meleel.

Meanwhile, on the Austrian right, the Croats fight a deadly duel with Bevern's battalions of musketeers. It is hard fighting, but eventually the Croats are forced to flee the Lobosch Berg and hightail it back to Lobositz. With the Loboshberg lost, von Browne orders his right and center to retire behind the Morellanbach and that is essentially the end of the battle. The Prussians were rather surprised at how steady the Austrian infantry had become, compared to its performance in the two Silesian Wars in the 1740s.

The Story in Pictures (click all pix to enlarge the view)

Opening view of the Prussian center and right flank (cavalry), anchored by an artillery battery atop the Homolka Berg.

Prussian left flank with Croats ocuppying the Lobosch Hill.

Danger lurks where Croats appear.

Austrian left flank deploys behind the marshy Morellanbach stream.

Frederick supervises the siting of the Prussian 12-pounders on the Homolka Berg.

A closer view of Frederick: vignette painted by Leuthen Studios.

The game begins!

Grand cavalry melee breaks out in the center of the field.

The Prussian cavalry numbers begin to tell as the Austrian cuirassiers are pushed back. The Prussian center - infantry- now begin their advance on the town of Lobositz, hoping to cut off the Austrian right from the rest of the army.

An overview of the action late in the contest. Austrians begin to retire through the town of Lobositz, while the Prussian attack in the center tries to reach the road ahead of the Austrians. At the top of the table we see the Austrian left retire back across the Morellanbach.

As the Austrian cede the Lobosch Hill, the Prussian right presses the attack, but they are too late to catch the Austrians.

The Post Mortem

I have run the Lobositz scenario about 4 or 5 times now, and I have to say that this was one of the best game scenarios that I have ever had on my watch. There was considerable "back and forth" in the cavalry melee that seemed to capture the historical action to a "T". Using Charles S. Grant's advice, I divided my cavalry regiments down from one 24-figure regiment to two 12-figure "squadrons". This created a lot more units buzzing to and fro during the cavalry battle and I really liked the way that this played out. A squadron would pitch into an enemy squadron and fight its melee, then either retire or advance depending on its losing or winning the battle. Another change that I made to my rules was to allow cavalry to reinforce an on-going melee. Previously I did not allow this in my games. I liked the way that this worked out too.

All of the players seemed to enjoy themselves and have a good time playing the game. Every figure on the table was a Minden Miniature, save for a couple of RSM limber riders that I used on my own limber teams. This type of game takes a lot of effort to put on, but when you have a great group of players and the game turns out better than expected, then you have a winning combination that makes it all worth while.

Battle of Lobositz: Dec. 27, 2012

Cavalry clash at Lobositz. Prussian blue dragons (Suren) and blue hussars (Stadden) in melee with the Saxon Rutowski regiment (Elite Miniatures). Click pix twice to enlarge the view.

This afternoon we refought the battle of Lobositz (October 1, 1756) using the Charles S. Grant scenario that is found in his book titled, "The Wargame Companion". The game was played with three Prussian players (Der Alte Fritz himself, Keith L., and Chuck the Lucky) and two Austrian players (Bill Protz and John M.) and it was staged in the basement man cave of DAF. Mrs. Fritz kindly prepared a lunch of chili and pumpkin bread, which was served around 1 PM. Keith L. kept our tummies full with some wonderful chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that were baked by his wife, Donna (AKA, "the World's Best Baker").

Both sides had 8 battalions of regular infantry and the Austrians were allowed to augment their forces with two units of light infantry (72 Croats on the Lobosch Hill and 24 Arqubusiers de Grassin in the wolf pits in the center of the field). The Grant scenario provides for about 10 battalions per side, but I thought it best to trim the rosters down a little bit as I did not want to overwhelm the players with the masses of figures that required movement. Both sides had 20 squadrons of cavalry, but the Prussians had more armoured cuirassiers. Artillery pieces were 5 for the Prussians  and 4 for the Austrians.

The following game map, copied from "The Wargame Companion" by Charles S. Grant, illustrates the table layout for the Grant family version of Lobositz. The Prussians were advancing onto the table from the top of the map, between points "C" (Homolka-berg) and "A" (Lobosch Hill). Point "B" is the town of Lobositz, adjacent to the Elbe River, which cuts across the lower right hand corner of the map. Point "D" is the only passable ford across the Morellanbach Stream, which runs diagonally across the lower left corner. The Austrians were located behind the Morellanbach, around Lobositz village, and on the Lobosch Hill.

Lobositz game map created by Charles Grant (senior) for his original Lobositz scenario wargame, (map is from "The Wargame Companion" by Charles S. Grant.

In our wargame, we used the same basic table set up, although our table was 15 feet long by 6 feet wide with two back tables (2ft by 15ft) that provided extra depth to the battlefield.

Pre-battle situation. Prussian artillery is located on the Homolka-berg (middle left). Part of the Morrellanbach Stream and the village of Sullowitz can be seen in the right corner. The Lobosch Hill is at the far end of the table.

Prussian Vanguard approaches the field - initial starting position. They are deployed on one of the "back tables". The aisle space does not exist in terms of the battlefield area. Troops move from one table to the next without penalty.

Village of Lobositz on the back table. The blue terrain is the Elbe River. Austrian cuirassiers  deploy in the center of the Austrian battle line.

Austrian right wing showing regular infantry deployed near the hamlet of Welhotta. Croats defend the Lobosch Hill.

Some of the special ground rules for the game:

1) it takes two game turns to cross the Morellanbach. Any unit doing so emerges on the other side in a "disordered" condition. It may not fire muskets whilst in the Morellanbach. 

2) the Elbe River is not fordable; it may only be crossed at the bridge.

3) on the Lobosch Hill, light infantry may move about without any penalty to movement. Regular line infantry will be "disordered" during any turn in which it moves on the hill. If it doesn't move that turn, it is not "disordered".

4) the Homolka-berg may not be scaled from its front due to the height and steepness of the hill. It can be assailed from the west side though.

5) the Austrians have a pair of "wolf pits" that they can deploy in the center of the field; however, these are not placed on the table until spotted by the Prussians.

6) any Austrians deployed behind the Morrellanbach will not be visible until Turn 4 or if any Prussian unit is within line of sight under the current weather conditions.

7) weather conditions: the field is covered in an early morning fog. On game Turn 1, visibility is only 12"; increasing to 24" on Turn 2; and 36" on Turn 3. Beginning Turn 4, the fog has lifted and is no longer a factor in the game.

Prussian vanguard emerges from the valley in order to deploy on the plain in front of  Lobositz.

Austrian infantry deployed behind the Morellanbach is sighted by two squadrons of Prussian hussars.

Turn 2: Prussian mass of cuirassiers (7 squadrons in the front line, and 6 squadrons in the second line) advance towards Lobositz, supported by the first Prussian infantry brigade (3 btns).

At this point in the game, I found that I was really busy moving my cavalry command around the field, and so I had little time to take very many more pictures. I believe that Bill took a lot of pictures of some of the individual melees and he will post them on the Campaigns in Germania blog later.

My massive brigade of Prussian cuirassiers was moving unopposed across the center of the table for the first three turns, as the fog prevented either side from seeing much of the field. As the fog lifted, the Austrian and Saxon cavalry advanced to meet the Prussin threat. The double line of Prussian cuirassiers appeared to be unstoppable in the center. Over on the right, my dragoons and the Garde du Corps (3 squadrons) were winning melee after melee and whittling the Saxon cavalry down.

It was then that the unthinkable happened: I watched six squadrons of my cuirassiers engage their Austrian counterpart in the center. I lost the first round of melee by only one casualty (15 for me versus 14 for the Austrians). The side with the most casualties in that round of melee takes a morale test, needing a "6" on two D6 dice plus modifiers to pass morale. Normally, this is a rather matter of fact thing to do. The losing side usually gets pushed back six inches and then both sides pitch into it again on the next turn.

I rolled a "4" on two D6. Even with a few modifiers, there was no way that I could add enough positive factors to move my score up to a "6". As a result, my entire contingent of cuirassiers routed back towards the Prussian lines. In most instances, this is the end of it, as pursuit is difficult to achieve for heavy cavalry. However, you guessed it, the Austrians rolled their dice and the score indicated that they would pursue the Prussian heavies. Not good, so far, if you catch my meaning. I still had one more chance to escape with only the casualties suffered. I rolled a single D6 to determine what speed my horses would run in the rout. They rolled canter speed.  I only had to travel faster than the Austrian pursuers to escape. Again, Lady Luck failed me as the Austrians rolled to travel at the gallop.

I was doomed.

Or more specifically, my six squadrons of beautiful Prussian cuirassiers were doomed, for once the Austrian cavaly touched my routing figures, they were all removed permanently from the game. In one fell swoop I lost 72 cuirassiers. Yikes!

All I could do was laugh. Afterall, if you are going to spin, crash and burn, then do it in the most spectacular manner. :)

I turned to my colleagues and said, "well lads, it is time for you to win the battle, I'm spent." I think that everyone, including the Austrian players, were gobsmacked by this turn of events. We took a break for lunch and once we were refreshed, we returned to the wargame to play out the rest of the battle.

The Prussian left wing staged a succesful assualt of the Lobosch Hill. I had to chuckle to myself when I heard the Prussian commander say, "those Croats are impossible to dig out of that damned hill!"

Prussian infantry rout the Croats off of the Lobosch Hill.

It was soon 4:30PM, our agreed upon ending time. So we halted the game in order to assess the outcome.The Prussian held the Lobosh Hill on the left and had four battalions, nearly untouched, on the plain below. In the center, there were maybe 3 or 4 squadrons of Prussian cavalry and the heavy battery of 12 pounder atop the Homolka-berg. It was a very thin line of defense. On the Prussian right, three Austrian battalions had advanced across the Morellanbach stream and were heading towards the Homolka-berg, which was only defended by a single Prussian battalion.

We decided that neither side had a meaningful advantage on the table top. We therefore called the game a draw. Presumably, the Prussians would have retired back up the valley towards Saxony, while the Austrians would undoubtedly cross the Elbe River and lick their wounds and recover for a new fight. Neither side had enough offensive power to finish off the other side.


I have to say that this was one of the most enjoyable wargames that I have ever played in, even though it featured one of the biggest failures that I have experienced during a game . There was plenty of bad dice rolling all around, which resulted in several extreme outcomes in the probability distribution, but these made the game that much better, in an odd sort of way.

You don't believe me, here is some proof, shown in the picture below:

One of Bill Protz's dice rolls. They really were that bad! Each set of dice represents the base firing number for groups of 20 figures. You add modifiers to this initial roll of dice, so typically you would hope to roll something in the 8 to 12 range on two D6 to inflict maximum casualties on your opponent.

I had several consecutive save situations where I had 12 saving throws and only saved 1 figure in the whole lot.


This is the third time that our group has gamed Lobositz, and each time we have had a truly enjoyable game with a lot of ebb and flow to the cavalry battle as well as great feats of valor for both sides.  I give the scenario my highest recommendation and hope that I have been able to entice you to give it a try.

The following section provides some historical background to the battle. The excerpt is taken from the Clash of Arms game titled "Lobositz".



Historical Background (excerpt from Clash of Arms board game Lobositz)
August 29, 1756: The Seven Years War erupts in Europe. The Prussian army led by King Frederick II (later "the Great" to his admirers) invades Saxony. "Blitzing" through the neutral Saxon electorate he hopes to open a path to Austria’s rich Elbe River valley in Bohemia. The Saxon army does not directly resist the invaders but withdraws into a fortified encampment on the Elbe River around Pirna, there awaiting rescue by the Austrians. The Prussian invasion grinds to a halt here; Frederick has no choice but to lay siege. Meanwhile in northern Bohemia, the Austrian army under Field Marshal Browne gathers its strength in preparation for the relief of its new ally. 

Retaining the initiative King Frederick split his army, leaving half to keep the Saxons penned in Pirna, while he marches with the rest into Bohemia in search of the Austrians. On the morning of October 1, they stumble onto Browne’s army deployed around the little town of Lobositz on the Elbe River. A close fought, ten hour struggle ensues, with charge and counter-charges made across fog masked fields, hills and vineyards before culminating in a street fight amidst burning buildings. Finally, at darkness, the Austrians withdraw in good order, conceding the field. 

Although a small battle by Seven Years War standards, the action at Lobositz was significant for having delayed the Austrian relief effort enough to force the Saxon surrender at Pirna. Of greater significance, the Prussians learned that their enemy “was no longer the same old Austrians” they had previously faced, and a quick victory could not be expected. Lobositz would be the first of many battles in a war to last seven bloody years.

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.

Lobosch Hill Part II

Here is the model Lobosch Hill that I made for our Lobositz game.



Here is a picture of the actual Lobosch Hill in the Czech Republic

My Lobosch Hill model is almost complete now. The spackle dried overnight and so I gave the terrain a light dry brushing of tan paint in order to pick out the raised highlights created by the spackle paste.

The next step was to mix some white PVA glue (Elmer's Glue in the USA) with water and brush the white mix over sections of the model. You want to work in small areas so that the surface of the glue remains even. Then I sprinkled mixed turf flock from Woodlands Scenics over the sections of glue and worked my way around the model until the flocking was completed. I tried to leave some areas unflocked so that it would look like the rocks were showing through the green vegitation. As the picture of the real ground indicates above, most of the hill is green.

Tomorrow I will spray diluted white glue over the surface to afix the flock even more, and then give it a spray of dull coat. The thinned down glue and dull coat should keep most of the flock on the model, from my experience. This was a relatively easy project to do and I am sort of tempted to whip out a quick Homolka Mound model to use at the other end of the table. We shall see. I have a lot of figures that need to have their bases terrained, so that comes first.

Lobosch Hill

The second phase of my Lobosch Hill terrain feature for the Charles Grant Lobositz game was completed this evening. Sunday night I glued all of the foam pieces together. Monday night I tried out the hot wire carving tool and hacked away at the edges of the foam in order to make it look more like a hill and less like a wedding cake.

I should have stopped there, but I had the bee in my bonnet to start painting and spackling the darn thing, so that's what I did. I should have painted the entire foam board first, with a base coat of brown paint. But instead I pitched into smearing spackle all over everything and about an hour later, I was done with the painting and spackling phase of the project. I will let it dry overnight and perhaps dry brush some tan paint tuesday night, if the hill is sufficiently dry. It should be, my basement get so dry that all of my lichen dries up in the winter.

I will post pictures tomorrow, but it's late and I need to get to bed, and besides, the hill looks like a blancmange right now, if not a wedding cake. Its appearance will improve after the dry brushing and the flocking is completed.