Battle of Mollwitz - Afterthoughts

After the battle, the victorious General Count Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg reviews his remaining forces on the snow-covered fields of Mollwitz

IN some ways it is easier to command the army that lost in real life.
This may seem counter-intuitive, but your predecessor will almost certainly have made mistakes - mistakes which you can avoid.
The chap commanding the army that originally won, however, can be in something of a quandary. If he follows the plan of the victorious commander, he knows his wargame opponent will be ready for him. But if he deviates, he risks throwing away his advantage.
I was able to improve the Austrian performance by not having my cavalry make futile frontal charges against formed infantry. The lesson that muskets beat sabres is not an easy one to learn, it seems, as the French were to make the same mistake at Minden.
My opponent in our refight felt he got several things wrong.
Firstly, but perhaps of least importance, was how he sent his hussars to their doom. His idea, he revealed, had been to hope the hussars could avoid my cavalry and cause confusion among the infantry around Mollwitz. But half a squadron of hussars was never likely to achieve much by itself and, as he admitted, he had failed to take into account the ponderous movements of the Prussian horse.
A more serious mistake, he felt, was to have advanced his infantry on too broad a front, making them vulnerable to both Austrian guns.*
Thirdly, and most seriously, was his decision to split his infantry, detaching two battalions - a quarter of his foot - to deal with my left-flank cavalry. If my horse had obligingly charged his infantry from the front, his decision might have been justified. But I had no intention of doing that, and my cavalry only closed in when one of his battalions became isolated. As my opponent observed: "The poor so-and-sos had two exposed flanks and an exposed rear - they didn't stand a chance."
At the time, he thought he was copying the successful Prussian tactic from the original battle. But what actually happened in 1741 was that the Prussian infantry as a whole turned to fight off the Austrian cavalry. Only after being successful in that endeavour, did the Prussians advance on the outnumbered Austrian foot.
*********************************************************
So our campaign to refight the War of the Austrian Succession has begun.
The 275th anniversary of the next battle, Chotusitz, is over a year away, which should give me plenty of time to get on with painting more figures.
I also intend to publish the latest version of the rules, and follow with rather more detailed explanations of the thinking behind their mechanics.
*Incidentally, among the changes I made to the rules shortly before the battle - minor tweaks are always going on - was a major one to make the artillery less effective. We felt guns had taken on a Napoleonic aspect in our playtesting, and it was necessary to rein them back. In the event, both armies' guns played a role that seemed well in keeping with the standards of the mid-18th century.

Battle of Mollwitz - The Refight (continued)

TURN NINE

The snow-covered battlefield at the start of turn nine

Both sides' artillery proved particularly ineffective this turn despite my gunners firing canister at almost point-blank range.
They had reason to be nervous - Prussian musketry came into its own, sweeping away the whole crew from one gun and reducing the other to 25 per cent effectiveness. My battalion of Karl von Lotheringen Foot was also destroyed.
My only consolation was that the battalion of von Glasenapp Foot that Frederick was with also suffered casualties and failed a morale test, despite the King's presence.
The other battalion of von Glasenapp Foot fared even worse. Charged in the rear by my surviving half-squadron of Modena Cuirassiers, they were wiped out to a man, although they did manage to reduce the cuirassiers to 25 percent effectiveness.
There was further bad news for Frederick when the remaining troopers of the heroic von Bayreuth Dragoons were caught in the flank and completely routed by my Liechtenstein Dragoons.
Units eliminated at the end of turn nine: four squadrons of Prussian heavy cavalry, the half-squadron of Prussian hussars, three battalions of Prussian foot; one squadron of Austrian heavy cavalry, two battalions of Austrian foot, one Austrian gun.
So the Prussians have lost 7.5 units out of a starting force of 16.5, meaning one more unit elimated and they will have lost the battle.

TURN TEN
The Prussian plight seemed well-nigh impossible of escaping, but there was early cheer this turn for Frederick when his grenadiers charged the crew of my remaining gun in the flank, automatically eliminating them (they had no friendly foot within 4cm).

The Prussian grenadiers charge my gun from the flank. In the background, but too far away to help, are the Nagy-Károly Hussars

There was further good news for Frederick when he managed to rally the remains of the von Glasenapp Foot.
There was no firing this turn as the Prussian artillery had no Austrians within range and I kept my cavalry out of musket range.
Units eliminated at the end of turn ten: four squadrons of Prussian heavy cavalry, the half-squadron of Prussian hussars, three battalions of Prussian foot (7.5 units in total); one squadron of Austrian heavy cavalry, two battalions of Austrian foot, both Austrian guns (5 units in total).

TURN 11
By now it dawned on me that the fairly comfortable victory I seemed to be heading for was suddenly becoming anything but.
With my guns gone, I could not inflict any long-range casualties, and there were no inept Prussian horse left to chase. Instead I was going to have to trust to my infantry and cavalry to finish the job ... but that meant taking on the fearsome Prussian bluecoats.
But just as suddenly as I realised this, the battle was over when Frederick's von Grevenitz Foot, having turned to confront masses of approaching Austrian cavalry, were charged in the rear by my Los Rios de Guiterez Foot.
The badly outnumbered Prussians were slaughtered, bringing their army past its breaking point.

It's about to be all over

An aerial view of the complete battlefield at the end

Next: Mollwitz afterthoughts

Battle of Mollwitz - The Refight

A DAY late, but we are under way.
Here's my plan.
Clearly the Austrians cannot win a pure musketry duel, and I must make full use of my overwhelming advantage in cavalry.
In order to bring about a horse-v-horse confrontation with as little interference as possible from the Prussian foot, I intend copying a manoeuvre used in 1741 - namely sending my left-flank cavalry on a wide arc in order to attack their Prussian opposite numbers from the side.
My right-flank horse will be sent across the Kleinerbach to take on the Prussian horse there.
My infantry will await the onslaught of the Prussian foot. At least my guns should be able to rake the bluecoats with canister when they close to musketry range.
The figure of von Neipperg will be moved to join the hussars.

TURN ONE
Frederick's only moves were to continue getting his right flank into order. He has apparently decided not to advance until everything is ready.
(Something similar happened in 1741. The Austrians were not aware of Frederick's approach, and the Prussians could have attacked them in camp. But the King, uncharacteristically cautious in his first battle, stopped to get all his troops lined up in regular formations.)
I sent my cavalry off on their respective roles - the left wing to outflank the Prussian right, and the right-wing to cross the Kleinerbach.

Looking from behind the Prussian right. In the background the Austrian left-flank horse can be seen swinging to their left

The Prussian artillery, just within range of my infantry, opened fire, scoring a hit on the Deutschmeister Foot, who passed the subsequent morale test.
My guns, not being sited forward of the first line, were out-of-range of the Prussian foot. One gun was able to fire at the Prussian guns, but this counter-battery fire was completely ineffective.

TURN TWO
I ordered my infantry lines to fall back out of range of the Prussian guns, causing Frederick to order his guns to limber (this is shown by pointing the guns away from the enemy).
The only firing was by my left-flank gun, which scored a hit on one of the Prussian guns.
Frederick intriguingly sent his hussars obliquely forward, much to my puzzlement as I was not sure what he hoped to achieve by this.

The Austrian right-flank cavalry cross the Kleinerbach. Directly to their front is the half-squadron of Frederick's King's Hussars

TURN THREE
Frederick ordered his left-flank heavy horse forward, apparently trying to take advantage of the somewhat disjointed state of the Austrian horse crossing the stream.

Frederick's left-flank cuirassiers and dragoons advance

In the centre, I ordered my infantry to fall back some more.
The Prussians began a general advance, which brought their first line within roundshot range of my guns, the von Lehwaldt Foot suffering a hit.

Looking from behind the Prussian centre. The boulder next to the right-hand gun indicates it has suffered a hit

The view from behind the Prussian right

TURN FOUR
Frederick's guns, now within range of my infantry again, unlimbered. Meanwhile, my own guns failed to inflict any casualties on the Prussian foot.
On both flanks there was a clash of cuirassiers, with the Prussians losing the melee in each case. The von Buddenbrock Cuirassiers were particularly badly affected, losing 50 percent of their effectiveness.

Looking from the rooftops of Mollwitz village towards the advancing Prussian centre

TURN FIVE
On the Prussian left, the retreating Brandenburg-Schwedt Cuirassiers were caught from behind by my Hohen-Ems Cuirassiers. On the Prussian right, something similar happened as the fleeing Buddenbrock Cuirassiers were charged in the rear by a squadron of my already victorious Modena Cuirassiers.
This was rather careless by Frederick as, under our alternate-moving rules, he had time to get at least one unit out of harm's way.
In a development echoing what happened in the real battle, the two extreme-right battalions of Prussian foot turned to try to deal with the Austrian horse (a sign of General Field Marshal von Schwerin acting on his own initiative, perhaps?),

On the Prussian right, two battalions turn to face the Austrian horse sweeping by

A view of the general cavalry melee on the Prussian left

We calculated artillery firing before the melees, and with dramatic results.
The Prussian Lehwaldt Foot were reduced to 50 percent effectiveness, but managed to pass their morale test. Alas, the same could not be said for my Deutschmeister Foot who, taking their second hit of the battle, found their bravery deserting them and they promptly took to their  heels.

Looking from behind the Prussian guns. In the far background the surviving members of the Deutschmeister Foot can just be seen fleeing between the hussars and Mollwitz village

The melees were something of a disaster for Frederick with both his cuirassier squadrons wiped out. The Brandenburg-Schwedt Cuirassiers did as least inflict two hits on their attackers, only to see both hits cancelled by my producing a pair of 6s with my saving throws (cuirassiers have a saving throw from hits of a 6, thanks to their cuirass).
One small bright note for the Prussians was that the Porzellan Dragoons held their own against my Cordova Cuirassiers, each squadron inflicting a hit.
Units eliminated at the end of turn five: two squadrons of Prussian heavy cavalry.

TURN SIX
I moved the figure of von Neipperg to intercept the retreating Deutschmeister Foot, and he successfully rallied them.
My infantry hastily rearranged themselves to plug the hole in the first line, although the Karl von Lothringen Foot, in their eagerness, pushed further forward than their comrades (the move-variation rule coming into effect).
Both my guns fired canister, inflicting a hit on the Prussian right-flank von Leps Foot and the left-flank Brandenburg-Schwedt Foot. The von Leps passed their morale test but the Brandenburg-Schwedt, perhaps shaken by the fate of the Brandenburg-Schwedt Cuirassiers, broke and fled.
The Prussian guns had even more success, concentrating their fire on the Rios-Deutschmeister Grenadiers which, thanks to failing their morale test, ceased to exist as a unit.
On the Prussian left, the Porzelan Dragoons, suffered a second round of meleeing against the Cordova Cuirassiers and were also hit in the flank by the Hohen-Ems Cuirassiers. Not surprisingly, the dragoons were wiped out, but not before reducing the Cordova squadron to 25 percent effectiveness.
On the Prussian right, a squadron of my Modena Cuirassiers clashed bloodily with the von Bayreuth Dragoons. Each inflicted three hits, meaning there would be a second round of meleeing. Also on this flank, my other squadron of Modena Cuirassiers suffered a musketry hit from the battalion of von Glasenapp Foot that had turned to help out their cavalry. The cuirassiers failed the subsequent morale test, losing a further 25 percent effectiveness.

An aerial view showing the Prussian centre pushing forward while the Austrian horse are victorious on both flanks

Units eliminated at the end of turn six: three squadrons of Prussian heavy cavalry; one battalion of Austrian foot.

TURN SEVEN
A combination of musketry and canister disposed of the remaining von Leps Foot, although not before they had scored a hit on my left-flank gunners, whose morale nevertheless remained steadfast.
The Prussian left-flank von Glasenapp Foot also suffered a hit from canister, but passed their morale test.
Further to the left, beyond the Kleinerbach, the ponderous nature of the Prussian horse was highlighted when my Batthyány Dragoons caught the King's Hussars in the flank and destroyed them without suffering any losses.
On the other flank, the dragoon-cuirassier melee was again drawn.

Massed Austrian horse prepare to ford the Kleinerbach for an easy-looking prey in the shape of the retreating Brandenburg-Schwedt Foot

Units eliminated at the end of turn seven: three squadrons of Prussian heavy cavalry, the half-squadron of Prussian hussars and one battalion each of Prussian and Austrian foot.

TURN EIGHT
Another bloodthirsty round.
The Brandenburg-Schwedt Foot met their inevitable fate, at the hands of the Prinz Savoyen Dragoons.
It was also a successful round for the Prussian von Bayreuth Dragoons, who finally got the upper hand and eliminated a squadron of my Modena Cuirassiers.

Despite horrendous losses, the Prussian foot, with King Frederick in their midst, continue to close in on the Austrian troops in front of Mollwitz

Units eliminated at the end of turn eight: three squadrons of Prussian heavy cavalry, the half-squadron of Prussian hussars, two battalions of Prussian foot; one squadron of Austrian heavy cavalry, one battalion of Austrian foot.

To be continued