This week’s Thursday game was a re-fight of the battle of Lobositz from the Seven Years War using Valour & Fortitude rules.

As a reminder:

The Battle of Lobositz, fought on 1 October 1756, marked the first major engagement of the Seven Years' War in Europe. It took place in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic) between Prussian forces led by Frederick the Great and an Austrian army under Maximilian Ulysses von Browne. The battle unfolded in difficult terrain shrouded by morning fog, leading to confusion and intense fighting, particularly around the Lobosch hill and the village of Lobositz. Although Frederick initially underestimated the Austrian resistance, Prussian discipline and artillery eventually forced the Austrians to withdraw. While tactically a Prussian victory, the battle demonstrated that Austria remained a formidable opponent, setting the tone for a long and hard-fought war.

I would command the Prussian against a motley crew in charge of the Austrians.

Despite the lovely sunshine in the photo above, game-time dictated that we started very early in the morning with the battlefield shrouded in mist. That meant that long range observation and fire was very patchy.

My main objective was the village by the river, which was protected by a strong force of infantry and guns.

To the left, there was an annoying enemy position: several battalions of enemy light troops skulking in vineyards atop the Lobosch hill.

In front of me were large numbers of enemy cavalry blocking my cavalry from sweeping forward.

Finally, I did have one advantage over Frederick as I “knew” that one of the main body of Austrian infantry wouldn’t be moving for a few turns as, historically, that’s what happened.

Dealing with the Annoying Enemy Position

First thing on the agenda was to deal with the annoying enemy positions to the left. Historically these proved very difficult to shift, so I decided to take a bit of time to work a battalion over the steep hill/rough ground around the enemy’s flank, then give them a volley to weaken them before charging in with the Grenadiers.

This all worked very nicely, and although it would take me the whole battle to deal with the situation, it would give me me a decent number of victory points to build on.

Dealing with the Enemy Cavalry

Next on the list was the enemy cavalry: they had to be neutralised in order to avoid them sweeping into my right flank as my infantry advanced towards their objective.

In this period, I tend to find that without one side having overwhelming numbers, big cavalry clashes in a battle tend to lead to both sides losing all their horsemen: either to combat or the pursuit that usually follows. I was happy to work towards a result like that: as I said, all I wanted to do was to protect my infantry’s advance.

Both sides’ cavalry streamed forward and a typically-brutal Valour & Fortitude melee followed. I suffered some initial reverses, but fortunately could support my horse with heavy artillery firing from the hill behind, who wreaked all sorts of damage on the enemy’s first line, and with my right hand infantry battalion, who shot enough enemy horse to pieces to give my remaining cavalry the advantage they needed.

Job done, and I even had two squadrons of cavalry left over to shield my right flank when the stationary enemy infantry and some more of their cavalry on the far right did eventually get moving.

Taking the Village

Everything seemed to be going okay so far, so it was now time to move up my main infantry body and try and take the village of Lobositz: my objective for the day.

Forward went my infantry, rapidly closing with the enemy line. It looked like being a tough scrap as advancing into a line of enemy muskets is never fun, especially when they have cannon supporting them on one flank.

I did, however, have an Ace up my sleeve…or rather a Nine. Valour & Fortitude allows certain special moves dictated by cards that you can draw, and I had drawn a Nine or Surprise Attack. That gives you an extra move followed by an assault.

As my infantry approached the Austrian line, my right hand battalion ‘played this card’ and suddenly shot forward and to the right, charging both batteries of very some surprised Austrian gunners who had previously been looking forward to remaining well out of hand-to-hand combat as they fired cannister at my advancing infantry safe from their position just to the right of their infantry comrades.

Caught off guard, the Austrian gunners turned and fled, leaving the main Austrian infantry line unsupported and outnumbered.

Along with the victory points gained from dealing with the Austrian lights in the vineyard and the victory in the cavalry melee, it was now only a matter of time before I took the final few I needed for an overall victory…espcecially as I had plenty more infantry about to arrive at the schwerepunkt.

So a quick and decisive win for the Prussians, and a great game all round!

SOGS will be demo-ing the above game at the Vanquish wargames show in Bourne End this Sunday.

See you there!

The History

Fought on 10 April 1741 in Silesia (modern-day Poland), Prussian forces under Frederick the Great clashed with an Austrian army led by Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg. The battle opened in heavy snow, which hampered movement and reduced visibility. Austrian cavalry quickly gained the upper hand, routing the Prussian horse on the right flank and in the centre. Believing the battle lost, Frederick fled the field early.

Despite this, the Prussian infantry maintained remarkable discipline. Under the direction of Kurt Christoph von Schwerin, they held their lines and delivered controlled, effective musket fire that steadily drove back the Austrian forces. What began as a near-defeat ultimately turned into a decisive Prussian victory.