Battle of Mollwitz, 10th April 1741

Historically, Mollwitz was the first victory for the recently crowned Frederick II of Prussia.

This was another chance to use our snow terrain (yippee!) as, despite the date (10th April), a snow storm in the days prior to the battle had left the field covered in heavy snow.

 The armies advance towards one another.

Taking advantage of the Austrian compromised deployment, the Zieten hussars charged their Austrian foes...

(Frederick had befuddled them so that they had turned about and now had light cavalry in the van and regiments with seniority on their left!)

 ... and were victorious, capturing the enemy's flag and causing some of the Austrian heavies to be carried away with their retreat. An early Prussian victory!

On came the infantry attack.

On the Prussian right, Schulenburg's 12 pdfs saw a lovely target...

... and were particularly accurate.

This affront seemed to be a signal to the Austrians who unleashed their ace: their superior numbers of cavalry.

 Precipitating large cavalry mêlées...

 ... on both flanks.

The cavalry mêlées went the way of the Hapsburgs, but they were not as victorious as they would have liked (and needed to be). As in the real thing, and in a pure piece of wargaming serendipity, the Austrian cavalry general Römer was killed in these combats! 

The limited Austrian artillery had not caused the advancing Prussians too many casualties, but a chance, bounce-through hit General Prinz Leopold, causing him to need a fresh horse.

The Austrian cavalry had control of the Prussian left flank, but the opposing grenadiers would not be easy to deal with. 

The opposing lines came within musketry range and the volleys began. 

Austrian cavalry on the Prussian left sought to complete their ascendency.

Back on the Prussian right, the grenadiers were keeping the enemy cavalry at bay.

Early Austrian advantage in the firefight lead Frederick to be convinced by General Schwerin to convince his monarch to retire from the field (a roll of two for initiative causing this effect).

 The infantry closed to close range along the entire line.

 ...The Austrian cavalry on the Prussian left had found a flank. Too little, too late?

 Close range musketry resulted in the lines of both armies being greatly reduced.

Casualties had mounted up so that both the Austrians, with 1/3 losses, and the Prussians, with 1/4 losses—just under 1/3) had to take an army withdrawal test.

All quiet.
The Austrians failed their test and withdrew.
Shattered by their exertions, the Prussians moved to the shelter of Mollwitz and surrounding villages to rest and recuperate.


As Jeff Berry states in his post about the battle on his fine 'Obscure Battles' blog (see below),

"Mollwitz was a long, tedious, and bloody battle (lasting over seven hours, interminable by 18th century standards). Each side lost approximately 4,000 casualties (KWC), the Prussians actually a little more. But the Prussians kept the field, and so, under the stilted conventions of Enlightenment warfare, won the day and the political point, saving Silesia for Prussia. Frederick had won his first battle."

So it was with our version too.

Our game was a little quicker than the real thing, having run for six turns (hours), but the casualties on both sides were large, noticeable to the players and clearly evident in the photos in this post.


Many thanks
Jeff Berry for his fine overview of and information about the battle
http://obscurebattles.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/mollwitz-1741.html

Mark for designing the game and supplying majority of the figures.

Julian for supplying remaining figures, venue and hospitality.

David and me as the winning Prussians for ensuring that Frederick's history remains intact!


Next time
After our four-session (month) epic of Friedland earlier this year (see post at link if you missed it), we are having one of our sojourns from Napoleonics. This allows each of us to stage a game (or more) from among the 'periods other than Napoleonics' that we also indulge in—while we build up for something big in the greatest wargaming period (IMHO).

For our next scheduled session on 22nd October, Mark is planning a game from the Mercenary War (240 BC – 238 BC), perhaps based on Bagradas River?

Looking forward to it immensely.

The Leuthen Chorale, 5th December 1757

The Prussians immediately attacked the exposed left flank of Charles' army.

The latter, at the behest of the C-in-C, tried to escape by use of the now famous "Julian manoeuvre".

Daun's forces were coming down the road, trying to raise the spirits of their down-cast Imperial allies. They planned to come down like a tonne of bricks.

Prussian's oblique attack pressed on...

...though there were occasional wins for the Austrian-Imperial forces. Here, in the combat between Zeiten's cavalry and those of the retreating Imperials, O'Donnell's Sachsen-Gotha dragoons get the better of the pursuing Prussians.

Precision marching by the Austrians; parade-ground perfection.

Charles began to re-form his line around the ridge to the north of Leuthen.

The Württembergers had taken the brunt of the Prussian avalanche, but had managed to cause some casualties to the attackers.
(.Dice on the edge of the board not re-entry points for troops that had retreated from the board but were unbroken. Number is the number of turns until return).

The new Austrian line takes shape.

Some retiring troops exposed their flank and would suffer from the Prussian's guns.

The pursuing Prussians too are forming their lines.

Austrians in position, batteries ready to bombard the Prussian forces.

Wider view. Note Lucchesi's heavy cavalry and von Spiznass' grenadiers on the right flank (left of photo).

Prussian's re-formed for the attack.

There, there is your target!

Whambo! Driesen unleashes his attack on Lucchesi's surprised troopers.

Notsitz's hussars attempt to delay the Prussians further.

The Austrian left in disorder. Spiznass' grenadiers had achieved some local victories, but were not now exposed to Driesen's victorious cuirassiers.

The Prussian left was driving in the Austrian right and preparing to assault Leuthen church.

Both armies had now reached 1/4 losses and so had to take an army withdrawal test. The Prussians passed, but the Austrians failed. Game over.

The 'imponderable' had delivered the 'correct' outcome. The Austrians were in a far more parlous state, having lost more troops (1/4 of an army nearly double the size), two commanders and at least a couple of flags to the Prussians nil.

With the notable exception of the attack on Leuthen Church, the game had gone largely according to the history, even down to the destruction of Lucchesi cavalry by Driesen's troopers. Despite the attempted "Julian manoeuvre" to avoid it, the Imperial forces (particularly the Württembergers) had been largely destroyed by Frederick's oblique flank attack, so that the Austrians were at almost exactly the same point at which they quit the field historically when the army withdrawal test was failed.

Chalk another one up for Zimmermann which, with Mark's additions and clarifications, once again produced an engaging, interesting, exciting, enjoyable and amusing game.

Top scenario Mark. Thanks for designing and providing most of the figures for it. Thanks to Julian for his figures, hosting us and getting into character as Charles so well (!) and to Stephen and Paul for coming out to join us for the game.