Leuthen Journal

Austrian Brettlach Cuirassier Kettle Drummer
Prussian Schony Grenadiers (Private & Officer)
Reichsarmee Salzburg Infantry Regiment (drummers in reversed colors)
Prussian IR Markgraf Karl (19) 

In this Free Kriegspiel campaign, two equally strong forces were marching against each other with the objective of capturing the base village of their opponent. The Prussians started very strong with a forceful push of a whole hussar regiment in their advanced guard followed by the rest of the force. The Austrians marched north in three columns, which took some time to shake out from their bivouacs. The first engagement happened at Der Weisse Berg, where the Austrian advanced guard virtually sacrificed itself in order to give enough time for the rest of the Austrian force to deploy in the Station Nennweiler-Nennweiler line. Here the Austrians almost lost the day as their deployment was not completed before the loss of their advanced guard.

That was the opportunity the Prussians needed but they did not push forward. I blame von Braune’s brave but cautious character (decided by a roll of dice), who instead of charging all before him opted for the safety of his column against a possible Austrian counterattack! Instead, the Prussian force deployed in line and contested the summit of Der Weisse Berg and then the town of Nennweiler. Again, the advantage was with the Prussians as the Austrians were undecided on their line of deployment shifting units left and right from Alt-Stedten all the way down to Nennweiler and back again, trying to content the Prussian advance. This gave the impression to the Prussian C-in-C that the Austrians he was facing were a much stronger force, when in reality they were in a state of controlled panic (!) believing Frederick the Great was marching against them. Funny thing the games our mind plays sometimes…

At that time, a single Austrian hussar squadron broke behind the (unguarded) Prussian rear lines burning the village of Alt-Goldberg. This desperate but clever single action, forced the Prussians to retrace their steps abandoning Der Weisse Berg to clear up their line of communications. They finally established a defensive line in the Chateau H. defile waiting for the Austrian assault which never came! It was also good times for some breakfast and resting for the troops. A firefight in some nearby woods between opposing light troops remained inconclusive most of the morning to the frustration of both commanders, who kept feeding forces to a lost cause of little tactical importance.

Yes, both commanders asked for reinforcements, which they were granted, but they never showed up in force as the army HQ were not a small distance away. While waiting for reinforcements, the Prussians bolstering from their capture of half battalion of Grenz and a couple of hussar squadrons in the woods (above) decided to send their cavalry, two squadrons of the Prussian Hussar Regiment 6, in a flank march to hit the rear lines of the Austrians…It was payback time! The Austrians, however, were watching and they counteracted by sending their own remaining cavalry and a unit of grenadiers. They captured the Prussian hussars. Then, the Prussian C-in-C, anxious for the fate of his cavalry, not having received news for some time now, sent in another three squadrons, which met the battle-weary Austrians and routed them.

FINALE
At this point, the Austrian left flank was severely exposed, but the first wave of their reinforcements in the form of more cavalry were nearing the site of action (the Austrian HQ were closer than the Prussian HQ, plus the Austrian C-in-C had asked for reinforcements much earlier in the day). Unfortunately, the Prussians were again in no position to take advantage of the situation having spent all their cavalry reserves! Could they have pushed frontally the Austrian infantry? No, because they only had a strong grenadier battalion and two Frei musketeer battalions against a stronger and entrenched enemy.

UMPIRE’s COMMENTS
The battle finally evolved in a typical 18th century small engagement seeing the piece-meal engagement of single units. It was deemed unavoidable that the stalemate reached by the end of the day would not resolve the situation even with the arriving reinforcements. Having both commands exhausted (the players too!) I decided to stop the campaign here with the result proclaimed a stalemate as no side was strong enough to reach its objective. I call this a training campaign!

Part of the indecisive nature of this battle was due to the ‘fog of war’ imposed by Kriegsspiel. Both C-in-C without a strong reconnaissance force were unaware of the size, direction, and objectives of their opponents. For all they knew, they may as well be facing a whole army and not a single detachment. In addition, units seldom behaved as expected, whereas a few only exhibited bravery beyond the call of duty. Most troops, however, were happy enough to save their hide pretending they were doing their duty! Most officers were uninspiring at best, with only a couple being truly professionals.

In my opinion, the best part of this game was the fog of war and the freedom from having to follow a strict set of rules, allowing the Umpire to express his knowledge (or lack of it) of the period. The players appeared satisfied with the ‘reality’ feel of the game, although in most cases this ‘reality’ worked against them!

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