The Bloody Clash At Lutzen - again!

"for had not our foote stoode like a wall, there had not a man of us come off alyve" 

Letter from George Fleetwood to his father, giving an account of the battle of Lutzen

Warlord Game Open Day - 20th July 2019

In a reprieve of the game at Salute this year, the Friends of General Haig (FOGH) put on the Lutzen 1632 game at this year’s Warlord Games Open Day.  This blog post is a description of the days action. 

The game set up and ready to start.

It was a warm and sunny morning as three intrepid members of the FOGH arrived at Lenton Business Centre in Nottingham, also known as Warlord Games HQ.  We had a couple of hours until the start of the open day at 1000, and so we got on with unloading the figures, terrain and other paraphernalia for the Lutzen game.  The Warlord chaps had set up tables etc. in the Marcus Garvey hall already for all of the games, and so we were soon busy deploying figures for the game of Pike and Shotte.

Game under way - Swedish Green brigade attacking Imperial centre.

With the games set up we had just enough time for breakfast, and a pre game briefing.  We headed for the splendid on site caterers who were starting to turn out all sorts of hearty breakfast fare.  In the bacon butty queue we bumped in to Warlord supremo, John Stallard, and Black Powder author, Rick Priestly, mentally preparing themselves for the day’s first presentation session.

Breakfast consumed we agreed who was doing what for the game.  The plan was to run the game in a participation style, allowing visitors to the open day to investigate the world of Pike and Shotte by playing a turn or two, in between them checking all of the other cool things going on.  So we had one commander for the Imperial forces, one as the Swedish commander, and a third to umpire / generally talk to people.  This allowed us to keep the game going throughout the day, and also to ensure that any participating players had someone on hand to advise them on what was going on, and how the rules worked.  We had also cut down the forces slightly from the game at Salute to try and simplify the game for anybody joining in, and to ensure we got to a conclusion in the day.   We also set definite objectives for the day.  Gustav Adolph and the Swedish led Protestant alliance (hence ‘the Swedes’) needed to take Wallenstein’s two Imperial batteries to win the game.  If the Imperial forces held these at the end of the day then it was a defeat for the Swedes.

I have uploaded the Orders of Battle to Google Drive here.

We had various people join in and roll some dice through the day, and of course lots more who wanted to come and talk about the game, figures and terrain.  Dan from Wargames Illustrated popped by for a quick interview with video shoot.  Also Guy from Wargames Soldiers and Strategy, and Mel the Terrain Tutor, stopped by to take some photos.  It was great to talk to so many people about the battle and wargaming this period, including some people who had seen the game at Salute.

See the Wargames Illustrated coverage of the whole event here on YouTube, we start at 4:57.

See the Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy pictures of the game here on their Facebook page.

How did the game play?  

Well, it started in a similar way to the previous run out.  Gustav Adolph set off with the right wing cavalry to try and overwhelm the opposing Imperial left wing.  Before the arrival of the Imperial reinforcements, under Pappenheim, the Swedes have an advantage in numbers here.   Unfortunately, also as usual, the Swedish commanded shot were left behind as their mounted brethren hurried to chase off the Croat light horse.  Chasing the fleet of foot Croats led the Swedish cavalry to crash in to   the supporting Imperial Cuirassiers and Arquebusiers.

Gustav Adolph encouraging forward his horse and commanded shot.

On the Swedish left wing it was a slower start and the Commanded shot here were sensibly detailed off to neutralise the Imperial commanded shot hiding in the gardens outside burning Lutzen.  This inactivity tempted forward the Imperial right wing Croats who started sniping at the Swedish horse, supported by long range fire from the Imperial ‘windmill’ artillery battery.

Lutzen on fire in the foreground, with the two armies stretched out in the background.  Imperial on the left, Swedish on the right.

Imperial Commanded shot in the gardens outside Lutzen under attack by Swedish commanded shot with a light gun.

In the centre the Swedish shifted two brigades, Old Blue and Duke Wilhelm’s, across to the right to support the right wing cavalry, and also to lead an assault on the smaller Imperial battery which sat at the junction of the Imperial left wing and centre.  Progress in the centre was general slow for the Swedes throughout the day.

Imperial 'small' battery on the left of the Imperial Centre.  Preparing for the Swedish onslaught.

The Imperial forces hunkered down to weather the initial storm of the Swedish attack, and waited for Pappenheim.

Imperial foot in the centre.

Despite having the advantage of numbers, command, and initiative, the Swedish right wing horse couldn’t break through the Imperial left wing opposite them, and started losing units to the ‘men in black’, the Imperial cuirassiers.   Knyphausen, who was the overall commander for the Swedish centre and reserve, brought across the single regiment of reserve horse to try and force a decision on the Swedish right.  It was nail biting stuff.  Wallenstein, Imperial Generalissimo, was anxiously looking behind for any sign of Pappenheim’s reinforcements.  Where had they got to?!

Imperial left wing under attack

Holk, commanding the Imperial left, was starting to withdraw his forces under the constant pressure from the Swedes when Pappenheim finally arrived.  Pappenheim, true to form, rode straight at the Swedish right flank, supported by the reinvigorated Holk.  A desperate see-saw clash of cavalry ensued between Gustav and Knyphausen, against Pappenheim and Holk.  The Swedish commanded shot were thrown in to the swirling melee to try and bring down the Imperial Cuirassiers with their musket and light gun fire.

Swedish right wing and Imperial left wing, reinforced by Pappenheim, heavily engaged.

At the same time Wilhelm’s and the Old Blue foot brigades were attacking the small Imperial battery and the supporting Imperial Infantry.  The Swedish attacks were somewhat uncoordinated but bravely undertaken.  Wilhelm’s foot stormed the smaller battery but just couldn’t dislodge the gunners.  The Old Blue brigade charged the Imperial foot but couldn’t make any impression.

Add Imperial 'small' battery under assault.

The Swedish left wing and centre were encouraged in to action seeing this bloody combat to their right.  The Swedish left wing cavalry threw themselves at the Imperial cavalry in the restricted area between Lutzen and the Windmill battery, while the Green brigade foot traded shots with the Imperial troops in the Miller’s house and the Windmill battery itself.  In the restricted space the Swedish cavalry couldn’t make the most of their numbers and casualties mounted as they hurled themselves at the Imperial defenders.

Swedish left wing pressing home their attack.

Swedish Green Brigade, supported by Thurn's brigade, assault the 'windmill' battery.

It was the Swedish right wing that broke first.  Pappenheim’s Cuirassiers had proved decisive routing two squadrons of Swedish horse before also riding down the now isolated Swedish commanded shot.  At the same time Wilhelm’s foot were finally repulsed from the small battery, and the Old Blue brigade had to also fall back.  The final straw was the Swedish left wing also breaking.  The Swedish centre accepted defeat and started to pull back.  The Imperial batteries were safe in Imperial hands, and so the game was declared an Imperial victory.  Students of history will be interested to know that Gustav and Pappenheim both survived the day (unlike the real battle in which they were killed)!

Imperial left wing victorious.

Imperial 'small' redoubt and left-centre victorious as Swedish Infantry are thrown back.

This turn of events was well timed as it was now the end of the Open Day and time to pack up, retire to one of Nottingham’s fine hostelries, and discuss the battle.  Although the Swedes had some unlucky melee dice, and also struggled with their command dice on occasions, the major problem had been trying to defeat the Imperial Cavalry without using their commanded shot to soften up the enemy first.  Similarly their infantry attacks had not been able to take advantage of their superior firepower and salvo firing.  The experience from the two big run throughs we have had of Lutzen (see here for Salute battle report) has shown us that Gustav’s war machine is powerful, but takes some expertise to use to full advantage.  Most importantly the game felt right for us, taking in to account the troops used, and how they were handled.  We had played through to a conclusion in a day, introduced some new people to big battles with Pike and Shotte, and had a great day.  Who could ask for more? :-)

We did manage to work in a few breaks to take a look at the other things going on at the Open Day.  There was an awesome Black Powder Crimea game next to us, with the Russians taking a battering form a combined British and French force.  There was an interesting French Indian War game, led by another of the FOGH, Pete Brown, who was demoing his new Black Powder supplement, Dark and Bloody Ground.  The British forces had lost the wagon train to the French and their Indian allies in each run through - what a disaster, but lots of fun!  I was very interested to see Black Seas in action with some lovely new Napoleonic ships.  The SPQR demo tables seemed busy all day with people trying out the new Ancient skirmish rules.    There was a lot to look at.  In the glass cabinets of forthcoming figures I loved the MASH unit available for the new Korean Bolt Action supplement.  They looked very familiar for some reason!

Warlord have produced a video reviewing the open day here (you can see us just behind John Stallard's left shoulder!).

To finish, many thanks to everyone at Warlord Games for looking after us on the day.  We had fun, and everyone we spoke to seemed to be really in to the games and wargaming in general.  There was a very positive ‘vibe’ about the whole event.  If you like Warlord Games’ products, or are interested in any of their games, then this event should definitely be in your plans for next year.  I wonder what will be on the table in 2020?

Until next time!

Andy from FOGH.

Can the Empire Strike Back?

In this post I will talk about the upcoming re-run of the Battle of Lutzen at this year's Warlord Games Open Day, on the 20th July.

Warlord Games Open Day is a regular event where the company throws open its doors for the day at its Nottingham headquarters.  If you are interested in Warlord Games' products or games then it is well worth a day out. This link is to a video on YouTube where Warlord supremo, John Stallard, gives a run down of the day.

 https://youtu.be/KkT4jkrnNRw

I've been to the open days in previous years, as both a punter and a demonstrator, and I think they are a great idea.  If you are interested in any of the Warlord games then you will find most of them on show, and you will also be able to try your hand at them, or just ask questions of the experts.  A sort of "try before you buy".  Warlord make an awful lot of games now, and so there is plenty to chose from.  So whether you want to try out the old stalwarts like Black Powder and Pike and Shotte, or if you want to investigate the new games like SPQR and Black Seas, the choice is yours. 

There are also talks by some of the game designers, so you can hear about how games were put together, and perhaps hints on plans for the future.  You can take tours of the HQ and see how Warlord operates, including the fascinating process of turning base metals in to shining white metal figures; magic in deed!  The icing on the cake is to pick up some goodies from Warlord, and there are normally some very good special offers.

Figures from Warlord Games, painted by Matt Slade at Glenbrook Games.

Its not just Warlord there on the day.  There will be other members of the Wargaming glitterati in attendance, and some other manufacturers from the East Midlands 'Lead Belt'.

Wallenstein, ready to battle against the Protestant Alliance.
Figures from Warlord Games, painted by Matt Slade at Glenbrook Games.

So what will the Friends of General Haig be doing there?  Well, to followers of the blog it will come as no surprise that we are running the Battle of Lutzen, 1632, using Warlord Games' Pike and Shotte rules.  This will be a slightly modified version of the game run at Salute.  We have changed things slightly to enable us to let people at the open day join the game for a turn or two, so they can try their hand at Pike and Shotte and get a feel for how the rules work.

Figures from Warlord Games, painted by Matt Slade at Glenbrook Games.

This proved popular last year when we ran the Battle of Auldearn, 1645 (link).  There were a number of people, interested in Pike and Shotte, who wanted to get a better understanding of the rules, and see how things really operate in practice.  Some were happy to just watch the action and ask questions.  Others took up dice and tape measure, and tried their hands at 17th century battling.

So, visitors on the day will be able to take part as either the King of Sweden, Gustav Adolf with his protestant alliance, or the Holy Roman Empire striking back under Imperial Generalissimo Albrecht Wallenstein.  We will have two big, 28mm armies thundering in to one another across the table top, ensuring there will be plenty of action.  The Friends of General Haig team will be on hand to discuss the game and rules with visitors, and also to help people take a a turn or two as a 17th century general.  There will be every weight of cannon, lots of pike, loads of shot, terrifying black-clad cuirassiers, and devilish Croat light horse.  Who could ask for anything more? 

The Open Day takes place here:

Warlord HQ Nottingham

The Howitt Building, 

Lenton Business Centre, 

Lenton Boulevard
Nottingham, 

 NG7 2BD  

United Kingdom

Tickets are available from the Warlord webstore here:
https://store.warlordgames.com/products/warlord-games-open-day-ticket-20th-july-2019

I hope very much to see you in Nottingham on the 20th July.  Just look for our battle sign.

By Andy @ FOGH.

P.S. Throughout this post, the lovely Imperial command groups are made up from Warlord Games Thirty Years War range, all expertly brought to life by the talented brush of Matt Slade at Glenbrook Games (link).

Day of Battle

I’ve already written quite a few words about he day of Salute on the 6th April, but not yet actually written much about the Lutzen 1632 refight played out by the Friends of General Haig on the day.  This post therefore aims to correct this omission, and is the official battle report.

The order of battle has already been covered in a previous post here.

The troop rosters, set out for Warlord Games’ Pike and Shote, are also shared on Google drive here.

We followed the historical deployment as described in this picture.

We had divided each army into three commands.  We had six players and an umpire and so to start with we divided the commands among the six players.  As the day went on we allowed the players to have time off to go and see the rest of the show and so other commanders in the same army would take temporary control of their command.  The Imperial army had a fourth command (Pappenheim) which would arrive later and we decided to allow Wallenstein to command that in addition to his own command.

You can see it is a fairly cramped battle field, without much room for manoeuvre.  This was intentional, as the cramped conditions were all part of Wallenstein’s defence.  He knew that Gustav would try to outflank him and so he used the terrain to mitigate against this.  He also refused both flanks in an echelon formation, with some skirmishing Croats thrown forward to further protect each flank.

Wallenstein had the town of Lutzen burned to prevent the Swedes taking it and attacking through it.  He also used commanded shot to hold the gardens that surrounded the walls of the town.  The Imperial army also had two artillery redoubts, and had fortified the Miller’s house next to the Windmill battery.  The final Wallenstein touch was arming a group of camp followers to look like an infantry reserve on the left flank.

On the Imperial right we see the Windmill battery, the Miller’s House and the town of Lutzen.  There is little room for the Swedes to exploit their advantage in cavalry numbers here.  

They will need to take the gardens and the Miller’s house to allow they cavalry to move through the gap.  Wallenstein’s command here looks secure.

In the Imperial Centre we can see Colloredo has strength in depth, with cavalry units also mixed in the second line of the foot regiments.

The Imperial left under Holk looks the weakest position.  There is plenty of skirmishing light horse to try and slow down the Swedes.  Also some camp followers cowering at the back!

On the Swedish right we see Gustav Adolf II ready to attack the Imperial position. (In fact he is still waiting for his commanded shot and some more horse to deploy in this picture.)

In the centre Knyphausen has six infantry brigades, all in their 3 squadron formation with light guns attached.  The front three brigades are the elite Yellow, Old Blue and Green brigades.  There is also the Swedish heavy artillery position. 

On the Swedish left Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar has little room to manoeuvre and has the defended gardens of Lutzen to deal with.

The game started with the Swedes taking the first turn.  Gustav had no doubt what was required and immediately charged forward with his cavalry.  In fact, so keen was he to get to grips with the Imperial cavalry opposite that he decided to leave behind his slower moving commanded shot while he chased away the skirmishing light horse defending the Imperial left.  The Croats were dealt with in fairly short order but they had done their job and delayed the Swedes for a little while.  

The Imperial commanders knew they were out numbered on their left and they decided to move the reserve cavalry from the centre over to bolster the left flank.  This had a decisive effect and Gustav’s attack was quickly bogged down.  All of the Imperial horse had been made Caracole troops which in Pike and Shotte means they can not countercharge enemy horse.  This allowed the Swedes to have a slight edge in initiative to reflect their aggressive cavalry tactics.  However, the Imperial cuirassiers were still very tough nuts to crack.  Units were lost on both sides. 

Meanwhile the Swedes ground forward in the centre.  There were moving in to a storm of fire from Imperial Muskets and artillery.  But they managed to give back pretty much as good as they got.  The command dice were not kind though and it was hard work for Knyphausen getting his brigades forward.  

The player taking the role of Gustav was well aware of the historical fate of the Swedish king at this battle.  Despite this he did risk Gustav in a melee in an attempt to break the Imperial line.  There was a collective sharp intake of breath as the dice were rolled for risk to the general in combat.  He survived, and won the melee.  After this Gustav was kept out of the fighting.

On the Imperial fourth turn they could roll to see if Pappenheim arrived.  A 5 or a 6 on a D6 was required and a 5 was duly rolled.  Pappenheim’s troops arrived and charged straight in to the fray on the Imperial left.  Just at this moment, Holk, who had been commanding the Imperial left, was killed in a melee.  Pappenheim had arrived in the nick of time.  

In the centre the Old Blue brigade were up to the Imperial line but the rest of the Swedish Brigades were still struggling to come up.  Both sides were losing units due to the concentrated firepower of close range muskets and guns.  (The grey smoke indicates units disordered by enemy fire.)  Frustrated by the Imperial defences Bernhard decided to demonstrate with his cavalry against the Imperial windmill battery. 

Bernhard also sent his cavalry to attack Wallenstein’s flank, but to no avail.  A storm of musket and carbine fire prevented his Saxon horse from making any impression.  Perhaps their hearts were not in it!  No such qualms for Bernhard’s lifeguards who continued to threaten the heavy guns, and suffered accordingly.  

The tide had now turned against Gustav and it was only the Swedish Commanded shot and support from the Yellow brigade that halted Pappenheim’s rampaging cavalry.  It seemed that a stalemate was being reached on the Swedish right, Imperial left.  The Imperial forces couldn’t break through the combined arms of the Swedes, and the Swedes had lost too many cavalry to push forward.  

Could the Swedish centre save the day?  The Swedish infantry brigades had finally made it to the Imperial battle line.  You can see here only a few reserves and the Swedish heavy guns left on the Swedish side. 

The Imperial commander in the centre, Colloredo, was not going to let the Swedes dictate this final phase of the battle, and as the Swedes approached, Colloredo marshalled his reserves and counter attacked.  Imperial pike blocks stormed forward in to the Swedish formations.  The Imperial troops had the best of the ensuing melees, but the couldn’t break the Swedes.  

With stalemates along the whole line of battle , and darkness falling, the two sides had to withdraw.  The Swedish attack had been stopped, so a marginal victory to the Imperial troops.  But Gustav had survived (as the god like finger points to in this picture!).  It would have been fascinating to fight a second day, but sadly the Excel centre wanted the hall back, and so we had to end it there.

This was the Friends of General Haig’s first Thirty Years War game, and so I was very pleased that all of the commanders had really enjoyed the game, and all were eager to play it again.  Both sides were sure they could pull it off next time.  I think this is a good sign that we have a well balanced game.  The rules worked well, and all the players felt we had the factors about right.  I am certainly really looking forward to getting these troops on the table again!

Until next time!