Leuthen Day Wargame

 

Prussian Itzenplitz regiment (IR 13) on the March to Leuthen.

Today is the anniversary of the battle of Leuthen, fought on December 5, 1757. Leuthen was Frederick the Great’s signature battle in which his army of 33,000 men utterly defeated the larger Austrian army(65,000 men) commanded by Prince Charles of Lorraine.

Austrian battle line swings to the left to face the Prussian threat.

I have wargamed Leuthen a number of times and I thought that I would share some pictures of the battle that I played as a solo game circa 2016. The game had a central table measuring 6ft by 15ft plus a back table of 3 x 15ft on each side to provide depth for reserves. The Prussians prevailed up to the point where they were getting ready to attack the Leuthen churchyard, and then I stopped the game. Yet the Austrians made a tough fight of it, especially in the grand cavalry melee at Sagschutz between Zieten’s Prussian advance guard and Nadasdy’s Austrian cavalry of the left wing. Had the Austrians won the cavalry action they might have stopped the rest of the Prussian attack.

Here are some of the pictures of the game:

Prussian Advance Guard Cavalry of the Right Wing.

General von Zieten commands the advance guard

The Austrian left flank rests on the village of Sagschutz. Austrian cavalry regiments of Nadasdy’s cavalry deploy as a refused flank formation.

Austrian artillery support the Hungarian brigade deployed between Sagschutz and Leuthen.

One of the Austrian infantry brigades deployed between Sagschutz and Leuthen.

Nadasdy’s Austrian cavalry move forward to attack Zieten’s advance guard Prussian cavalry.

The Cavalry Melee Begins.

Some unfortunate Croats get run down by Prussian Hussars.

The cavalry melee grows bigger.

Prussian Brummer battery moves forward to support the attack.

Prussian advance guard attack Sagschutz, held by Wurttemburg infantry.

Prussian Guards brigade advances in the second line.

Sagschutz falls to the Prussians.

Austrian reinforcements deploy from column to line.

Austrian reserves deploying around Leuthen.

More Austrian regiments around Leuthen.

I would post more pictures but the new Blogger format makes it difficult to do so. I’m exhausted from all of this cutting and pasting, etc. I think that I’ve posted enough pictures for to get the general idea.