Battle of Leuthen December 5, 1757

 

Battle of Leuthen in flats. 
Bavarian Army Museum

Today is the anniversary of Frederick the Great's greatest tactical battle, the Battle of Leuthen, fought on December 5, 1757.

I refer you to the excellent article on the battle found on the Obscure Battles web site.

Leuthen - Obscure Battles

Here are some pictures of past war game battles of Leuthen that I have organized.  The buildings and trees were all made by Herb Gundt and the table mat was made by The Terrain Guy. Sadly, both sources have retired and are no longer in the business of making war gaming terrain.

One of my Leuthen games on my home pitch, using Minden Miniatures.

Leuthen fought at General Pettygree's barracks on his huge 6ft by 30ft tables.

Leuthen village and its iconic church, defended by the Rot Wurzburg regiment.
This game was played with the B.A.R rules using a 1:10 figure ratio.

I have probably gamed Leuthen nearly ten times so I am not going to stage a refight of the battle today. The Austrians usually lose because it is too difficult a task to recover from the initial flank attack of the Prussians. The couple of times that the Austrians have won, they mounted a stout defense in the town of Leuthen, centered around the famous walled church.

I hope that you enjoy this little trip back in time.

Leuthen Game Report - Part I Cavalry Melee

The Battlefield of Leuthen - Austrians on the left and Prussians on the right.

CLICK ALL PICTURES TO ENLARGE

On Saturday December 1, 2018 our group convened in Brown Deer, Wisconsin to fight our version of the Battle of Leuthen ahead of the anniversary date on December 5th. Rather than stage a scenario with the opening Prussian flank attack on the Austrian army, we decided to stage the action around the Prussian assault on the village of Leuthen.  The Austrians had regrouped a bit and organized a make-shift battle line around Leuthen. If the Prussians could dislodge the Austrians from the town, then they would achieve a game victory.

There are too many pictures and commentary to put the game report into one blog posting, so I plan on breaking the action down into three segments: the big cavalry action on the Prussian left flank, the assault of the Prussian Guards on the Leuthen Churchyard, and the action on the Prussian right flank.

Without further ado, I will start with a game report on the cavalry action between the Austrians (Graf Lucchesi) and the Prussians (von Driessen) on the Prussian left wing or flank of their battle line. This starts my report for the simple reason that this is where I fought as commander of the Prussian left wing.

The Prussians

The Prussian left wing cavalry consisted of the following:

CR8 von Seydlitz cuirassiers - 5 squadrons

CR10 Gensdarmes cuirassiers - 5 squadrons

CR13 Garde du Corps cuirassiers - 2 squadrons

HR5  Black Hussars - 3 squadrons

Total Prussian cavalry: 15 squadrons

We were missing one of the Prussian infantry players, so Jim H. and I split up the Prussian infantry brigade. So I took command of the IR22 Alt Dessau and IR5 Alt Braunschweig musketeer regiments. I also commanded two 12-pound Brummers.

The Austrians

The Austrian (right wing - theirs) cavalry opponents consisted of the following:

O'Donnel Cuirassiers - 5 squadrons

Stampach Cuirassiers - 4 squadrons

De Ligne Dragoons - 4 squadrons

Savoyen Dragoons - 4 squadrons

Total Austrian cavalry: 17 squadrons

The action began with both sides advancing their cavalry towards the center of the table. I had posted the two Brummers on the Butterberg (a small hill) and I could see that the Austrians intended to charge the guns and take them out of the game. Knowing that my opponent always does this, I limbered up the Brummers on the first turn and disappeared behind the crest of the hill where the IR5 Alt Braunschweig musketeers provided them with protection. I decided that the Brummers would be useless in the melee area, so I sent them off to the center to help the Prussian Guards' assault on the Leuthen churchyard. I also sent the IR5 regiment to the center where it could help with the overall attack. The IR22 Alt Dessau musketeers were stuck amid the swirl of cavalry around the Butterberg.

The Prussian cavalry advance forward with the CR8 von Seydlitz cuirassiers
and the CR10 Gensdarmes leading the way.

I could tell from the get go that I was likely screwed from the bad deployement of troops on my part. I had the IR22 musketeers on my right front blocking the Prussian Gensdarms from getting into the fight. In addition, the IR5 musketeers behind the Butterberg impeded the advance of the CR8 cuirassiers and the HR5 hussars. Even further behind were the Garde du Corps cuirassiers, who became my de facto cavalry reserve. So rather than having a broad front of cavalry and reserves sweeping forward, I could only send half of my regiments forward while the other two regiments (my best cuirassier regiments) were blocked by my own infantry, thereby delaying their entry into the fray.

The Austrians on the left and the Prussians on the right close in to melee on the third turn of the game.

 As cavalry actions are want to do, the melees break down into the to and fro of individual squadrons, making it difficult to tell friend from foe. Below is a picture of the huge cavalry melee that developed.

The cavalry melee really explodes into high gear.

The initial crash of cavalry seemed to favor the Austrians, who were able to throw more squadrons into the melee at first. I had to sacrifice the HR5 Black Hussars in hope of buying some time for the CR13 Garde du Corps to assist on the left of my forces. The first dozen or so of my dice rolls were exceptionally bad. It seemed that in every melee the Prussians were inflicting 3 to 5 hits per melee while the Austrians seemed to hit back with 8 to 12 hits. My saving throws must have been a little better because after the initial crash of cavalry, the Prussians began to gain the advantage on the cavalry field.

Then just as victory seemed to be mine, the Austrians suddenly picked up steam again and pretty much wiped out the Black Hussars, the Garde du Corps and the Seydlitz Cuirassiers. However, it was a Pyhric victory of sorts as the remaining Austrian cavalry, mostly cuirassiers, were too damaged to be much of a threat to my forces on the right. The solid wall of IR22 musketeers sealed off my flank from the Austrian predators while at the same time, the CR10 Gensdarms vanquished a number of its foes on the right half of my battle area. Obviously my dice rolling had improved considerably during the second half of the game. 

The IR22 Alt Dessau regiment decides that it would be a good idea to turn one of its grand divisions facing left just in case the Austrian cuirassiers prevail in the nearby melee. The right flank of IR22 seems secure with the Prussian Gensdarmes covering their flank.

With the Austrian cavalry no longer a threat, the Gensdarms turned their attention towards the Austrian infantry battalions that were dangling out in the air to the left of Leuthen (from my point of view). They quickly maneuvered onto the flank of the Austrian infantry and were perfectly positioned to charge down the streets of downtown Leuthen and sweep at least two Austrian regiments out of town. The IR22 musketeers also wheeled onto the flank of the Austrian infantry in support of my cavalry attack. This was going to be fun.

The first initiative card fell to the Prussians and as I eagerly slapped leather and trotted my horses down the road, the umpire decreed that this was not to be. You see, we divide the table into three different game zones - each zone drawing their own movement and firing cards for the first initiative. So my Gensdarms were deemed to have crossed into the middle zone of the table (Leuthen village) and thus I had to wait for a Prussian card draw in the center zone before I could charge. Naturally, when the movement card was drawn in the center zone, it was an Austrian card and so I could not charge until the Austrians moved. They of course changed their front to face my cavalry and so my opportunity for fame slithered out of my grasp. That's the way it goes and I accepted the judgement. C'est le guerre.

The Prussian Gensdarmes having defeated the Austrian De Ligne dragoons, now ride towards the juicy target of Austrian infantry out in the open near Leuthen village.

With the Austrian cavalry no longer a threat, the IR22 Alt Dessau regiment advances across the battlefield,
then wheels right to enfilade the Austrian grenadiers at the edge of the village.

Regardless of what happened with my cavalry, the Prussian infantry held the upper hand in the left section of Leuthen village. Austrian infantry battalions were now taking fire from two directions and there wasn't much that they could do about it. The Austrians were "saved by the bell" in this case, as our house rules call for every game to end at 4PM regardless of what is happening on the table. I really like this concept because it provides certainty to the end and keeps both sides from fighting to the last man. When we stop the game, after time runs out, we have the opportunity to sit around with a cold beverage and discuss the game and tell the stories of what happened. 

Part II of the game report will feature the attack of the Prussian Guards on the Leuthen churchyard.

Part III will follow the action on the Prussian right wing, or it might be included in Part II.

In either event, I have little clue as to what happened in the other areas of the table as I was too involved in my own game on the left. My opponent, Bill P., and I were both exhausted by our play and we mutually collapsed to our chairs at the same time. There were still a few squadrons of cavalry capable of fighting, but neither of us had the energy to keep on going. Thankfully, 4 o'clock rolled around just in time.

Winter Wargaming

Frederick and his staff at Leuthen. (click on all pictures to enlarge)

We received our first dusting of winter snow overnight here in Hesse Seewald and thoughts naturally turn to the Christmas season and all of the fellowship and good cheer that it brings. 

The first battalion of the Itzenplitz (IR13) marching through the Winter snow.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland, a view of my street today.

I went crazy on the outdoor lights this year and probably put up twice what I normally do. I would finish a section of the front yard, step back across the street to view my work, and then decide that I needed just a few more lights on the right side of the house.

A view of the outdoor lights at Schloss Seewald

Needless to say, the outside of Schloss Seewald is looking very festive. We are going to purchase our Christmas tree this afternoon and decorate it today. Somehow, it doesn't seem like the holiday season until the tree goes up.

Winter Wargames

I am fortunate to have purchased some Winter terrain mats from The Terrain Guy five or six years ago, before the gentleman closed down his business. The mats are made of canvas with some kind of flock (I'm guessing) adhered to the canvas. Some bits of brown and grey coloring were added to the mats to create a realistic Winter look. Herb Gundt scratch built the snow clad buildings, the roads and frozen streams, and the leafless Winter trees in keeping with the Winter theme. Yes, I actually have buildings and terrain specifically for snow battles and conventional terrain for the non-winter season.

Over the years, I have used these mats to fight battles such as Trenton, Mollwitz and Leuthen along with several fictional battles from my Hesse Seewald collection of figures.

On the Road to Leuthen

Another view of the Itzenplitz regiment on the march. Winter roads, trees and buildings for snowscapes were  made by H.G. Walls major domo, Herb Gundt. The figures shown in the pictures are Minden Miniatures.

I have refought Leuthen a number of times over the years. At least two of them were fought using our 60-figure big battalions for the Batailles dans l'Ancien Regime rules. More recent versions of Leuthen were fought with my Minden Austrian and Prussian armies using a more manageable 30 figure battalions.

The pictures posted in this thread are from a large solo Leuthen game that I played in early 2017, if I recall correctly.

The iconic Leuthen church, manned by the heroic Rot Wurzburg regiment.

Linear warfare at its best - the Austrians form their battle line to stop the Prussian assault.

The Prussian Guards finish off the Reichsarmee troops.

Battle of Trenton

I fought the Battle of Trenton on, appropriately, Christmas Day in 2015. History repeated itself as Washington's army prevailed over the poor Hessians. The figures used in the battle were from my Fife & Drum Miniatures line of AWI figures.

View of Trenton on Christmas Day 1776.

Frozen streams, snow on the ground and bare Winter trees make for a bone-chilling scene.

The Chew House from Germantown doing double duty in Trenton.

The Battle of Mollwitz

This iconic battle was Frederick the Great's first battle (and sort of his first victory). Frederick wasn't so great that day as he allowed Marshal Schwerin to wisk him off the field to safety. He only found out the following day that Schwerin had won a convincing victory over the Austrians.

For wargamers, the Battle of Mollwitz evokes thoughts of the book "The War Game" by Charles Grant Sr.

Long ordered lines of Prussians advance on the Austrian army at Mollwitz. There is a reason for calling this the Age of Linear Warfare.

Austrian counter-attack aims to outflank the Prussian left wing.

The Prussian center is gaining the upper hand in front of Mollwitz.

The Army of Hesse Seewald

In December 2016, my nephew Alex and I played a game over the Christmas holiday, as my Hesse Seewald army "saw the elephant" for its initial battle. The green clad Hesse Seewalders prevailed, just barely, over the white clad Saxon army.

The Saxon camp on a quiet Winter's morning.

But things quickly heat up as Hesse Seewals dragoons (in green on the right)
launch a surprise attack and are met by Saxon dragoons.

the largely green clad Hesse Seewald army advances towards the Saxon camp.

The Saxons fall back from their camp, save for one lonely regiment
that is trying to buy some time for the rest of the army.

The Liebgarde of the Hesse Seewald army are the exception to the rule of wearing green uniforms.

Close combat ensues with the Hesse Seewalders gaining the upper hand in the fire fight.

Winter warfare is a fun change of pace style of tabletop warfare. I am fortunate to have been able to collect some beautiful terrain pieces over the years and refight some of the famous historical battles fought in the 18th Century - the Age of Linear Warfare.