SYW Wargame Campaign Report: Background and Week 1

Portion of Russian Briefing before the Battle of Posen

Dear Reader,

With the beginning of social distancing (I was transferred from in-person to online work over 1 month ago),  I began to think about returning to a wargaming campaign which I had run in the Spring Semester of 2015 with my undergraduate students at Indiana Wesleyan University. This campaign, which takes place during the Seven Years War, pits several teams against one another in both map and tabletop combat (my students in 2015 actually used video games to resolve the combat).

This time, helped by a veteran colleague, I invited a number of academics, professors, wargame designers, and lifelong wargamers to join in the scenario. As opposed to my students in 2015, were I ran a simulation based upon the year 1762, here we chose a more generic scenario earlier in the Seven Years War, based upon a alternate 1758.

The campaign is played on this period map of the province of Sileisa from 1804; as you will see in a few weeks, the campaign has now been expanded to include the entire theater of war. Beginning on Saturday, March 21st, three teams (the Austrians, the Prussians, and the Russians) began movements on the map. I will be reporting on this campaign for as long as it lasts.

Background: 

For obvious reasons, I am not going to identify any of the participants by name, but rather refer to them by the historical counterparts they represent. The principal cast of characters include:

The Austrians:

Empress Maria Theresa (Represented by FM Neipperg in theater)

FM. Leopold von Daun

FML. Moritz von Lacy

FML. Ernst Gideon von Loudon

Gen d' Kav. Giovan Battista Serbelloni

The Prussians: 

King Frederick II of Prussia

GL Joachim von Ziethen

GL August Wilhelm von Braunschweig-Bevern

Prince Henri of Prussia

FM James von Keith

GL Christoph Burgrave von und zu Dohna

The Russians: 

Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (Represented by General Tottleben in theater)

FM Alexander Buturlin

FM Piotr Saltykov

GM Zahkar Tchernychev

GL Piotr Rumyantsev 

The initial deployments were as follows: The Russian army (~60,000) at Gnesen, the Prussian Army (~80,000) at Gr. Glogau with additional garrison forces across the map, and the Austrian Army (~90,000 men) at Brunn, in addition to large garrisons at Brünn and Olmütz. Some teams had offensive (cities that must be taken) and defensive (cities that must be held) objectives, while others only had offensive objectives. 

Each of these armies had specific compositions, but to avoid giving anything away to the players who are still in progress, I will not be providing the specific army lists. 

Week 1 in the Northern sector

Week 1

In various stages, the various armies began to move into action, starting on the

21st of March (1758).  The Prussian King divided his army into two portions, with the larger portion (~60,000) marching directly at Posen at a breakneck pace. The smaller portion took a slightly slower pace towards Schweidnitz (~20,000). The Russian army, slow to the march, began moving towards Posen on day 2. On day 3, the Russian army reached Posen, and was informed that the Prussian army was on their doorstep. The Russian commander, General Buturlin, was given the options of 1) a safe retreat over the Warta via abandoning the baggage train, 2) the ability to retreat most of the army and the baggage train via a rearguard action, 3) fighting the King of Prussia with the entire army. General Buturlin, chose 3), and dug in as best he could. This brought on a general action to the southwest of Posen. An overall situation map was provided to each commander, with the Russian map being reproduced below:

Russian briefing map, Battle of Posen

The resulting battle was sharp but short. The Prussians, advancing in three columns, deployed and attacked on the Russian right flank. 

The Prussian Army (left foreground) prepares to attack

This attack led to heavy fighting over earthworks and hedges in that sector of the battlefield cost the Prussians a number of their best troops, as grenadiers battalions were fed into the maelstrom. 

This deadly bargain paid dividends, however, as the Russian right was jackknifed further from its original position. In an assault by the Prussian center column won the day, a Frei-Infanterie battalion captured a battery of heavy guns, and the Russian army reeled from the battlefield, more disorganized than truly beaten. 

A Frei-Infanterie Battalion storms the Russian position

The butchers bills was light, considering the nature of the fighting. Approximately 12,000 Prussians and 15,000 Russians became casualties, with many of these lightly wounded and returning to service within the next few weeks. 3,000 Russians were captured by the Prussian Army.  The Russians retired to the north, leaving the Prussian army to lick its wounds on the battlefield. 

In the southern sector of the map, the Austrians advanced from Brünn, pushing out advanced troops and parties of grenzers and hussars to gather information, and taking a powerful train of artillery in tow. No major conflicts occurred in the southern part of the map of the first week, and indeed, by the end of the first week, the Austrian main army, (~90,000) was preparing to debouche from the Moravian foothills in the vicinity of the important fortress of Neisse. Tune in next week for a continuation of this series. 

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Thanks for Reading, 

Alex Burns