Mini LOBOSITZ with EAGLES CHEAPER THAN BRAIN CELLS

Alex came over last night and we played an outstanding game of Eagles Cheaper than Brain Cells, SYW edition!  Really speaks to the resilience of these rules as we were able to subtract 50 years and the game played great.  In fact, with Alex's mods, the action felt very "stately" and deliberate just like a SYW action should feel.  Now to the battle!

The action was, of course, from the Neil Thomas One Hour Wargames scenario "Twin Objectives," which itself is based on the action at Lobositz during the Seven Years War.

Prussians arrayed for battle at the start line, technically the saddle between the Homolkaberg and the Lobosch Hill.

The Austrian battle lines.  Alex weighted his right, behind the hill pretty heavily.

Austrian Pandours in position to resist on the Lobosch hill!

 The Prussians started with excellent rolling for orders and were able to advance the army and divert infantry resources towards the Lobosch to capture it.  My plan is to advance infantry in the center, and my strong cavalry wing on the right against Alex's artillery.  I'm hoping the hill is an economy of force mission but it was not to be.  Due to the fog and the Austrian deployment for the battle, we instituted a rule where the Austrians could deploy second, based off the Prussian deployment.  This was not going to be the pushover that Old Fritz thought it would be!

Hungarians along the Lobositz road with their backs to the Elbe.

Clearing the Lobosch hill!  Note the casualties as a fierce skirmish develops between the light troops and the Pandours!

Fritz and staff check things on the hill.  

 We decided that you can move your general anywhere at will.  This represents command emphasis and focus more than the physical location of the general.  It's important, however, because your general officer bestows a free order!

The battle heating up.   

Note the Prussian infantry advance in the center.  The Cavalry remains still, awaiting the order to charge!  I'm whittling down the infantry on Alex's left my right with the guns, hoping to charge them soon.

 We decided against counter-battery fire as well.

With the Lobosch cleared, Prussian infantry set their sights on Lobositz

 The game stipulates that the attacker must capture both the hill and the town in 15 turns.  No easy feat! 

Vorwarts!  The Anhalt gloriously marches into battle.

Prussian Infantry advancing as the artillery hammers the enemy

 Alex has wisely kept his battering ram, the Austrian heavy horse cavalry, off by the Elbe to counter attack.  He waits for the right moment, right as the Prussian line is advancing into the open and exposed!  Pure joy for a wargamer (Alex in this case - horror for me!) as Alex unleashes his heavy cavalry into my exposed flank!  NOT GOOD!

Here they come!  The Austrian cavalry tear into the rear-flank of the Anhalt!  Alex set this move up rather well.  Lobositz is in the background.

Deadly mustachioed men with stomachs full of bad goulash.  They are not to be trifled with.

 The cavalry charge is extremely effective and scores with 100% effect, vaporizing the Anhalt Regiment with 5 hits.  They scatter and cease as a fighting force.  Frederick is not pleased, although it must have offered him some solace that the Austrian heavy horse was itself eliminated in the fight!  No doubt losing all semblance of order as they rode down retreating blue coats!

The men of the Anhalt have had enough and quit although they gave a good enough accounting of themselves this day.

More goulash men!  Victory is ours!  WAIT!  Brown screams, the battle is not yet finished!

 Now that Alex has blunted the Prussian maneuver, he sets his sights on the Lobosch and sends the Hungarian infantry against it.  My single remaining infantry Regiment is waiting for them but it's going to be a tough slog to hold this hill!

I have an ace up my sleeve, though.  The Itzenplitz Grenadiers, who by virtue of their not moving and consistently rolling a "1" for movement, they earn the nickname "SITZ-EN-PLATZ" for all eternity.

The Sitzenplatz get their rears in gear.  I need them to stabilize a potentially dangerous situation in the center.

The Prussian Cavalry swing into action!  The blue die means they've an order assigned to them

Holding the hill for now.

Sitzenplatz Grenadiers advance up and will pour a deadly volley into the flank of the Hungarians.

Casualties mounting.  Generals are brought in to rally but it's too little, too late.  They'd fold under the pressure of the firing.  The Prussians will go on to lose the hill!

My shock troops, my elite grenadiers who were supposed to have the honor of storming Lobositz are grinding away in a steady firefight with Austrian infantry on the plains!  The plan is breaking down!

The artillery batters Lobositz and eventually drives off the infantry in the town.  The battery on the right would go out of ammo no less than FOUR times this battle (in 10 turns).  That shows how much firing they've been doing.

The last serious Prussian effort to win the day.  Perhaps with the Grenadiers I can keep the field, take the town, and then the hill?  I still have enough artillery to do it!

Alex re-orients the Hungarians on the Lobosch Hill.

Great shooting Alex!  The Sitzenplatz Grenadiers run for it back to the saddle.  Now, with only a single remaining infantry regiment, I cannot capture both objectives!  Best I can hope for is a draw.

Ugh!  Grenadiers running away!  

Alex closes the battle with excellent shooting by his Hungarians and the Austrian artillery and I'm left with no infantry and only a battered cavalry brigade and my artillery.  My infantry have all quit!

Thoughts on EAGLES SYW:

Wow much fun last night with this game.  The system and Alex's outstanding adaptations fit very well into linear warfare.  I loved the "plodding" feature of the Austrian infantry - so perfect for the period.  Plodding infantry (think Austrians or poorly trained regulars or pre-Von Stueben Continentals in the AWI) can only turn at the end of their move.  This makes it much more difficult to maneuver a force.

Also the rules we came up with for artillery and cavalry were simple but so effective in evoking the period feel.  These are a winner, just like their Napoleonic predecessor.  I'm anxious to play again, and also take this into the American War for Independence. 

Thanks so much to Alex for a fun and relaxing evening with a game full of tension and reversals of fortune on both sides!  Also thanks for the cool goodies Alex brought over for me to peruse.

Some miniature progress coming up with a flight of Stuka's done, and more 15mm SS troopers completed. 

Alex and I also talked of upcoming projects as well.  For this coming year, I'm thinking that means World War I Late War, Ancients (Rome vrs Rome vrs Barbarians), and of course more WWII!