Lützen November 6, 1632 - an Osprey En Garde! project

[traveller]

Today 391 years ago Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus) died on the battlefield of Lützen. In Sweden(and Finland) this is commemorated by a special pastry that tens of thousands of people will eat today. This comes in many shapes but one of the classic ones looks like this:



My own small tribute to the "Lion of the North":



Beside this I have decided to learn the Osprey En Garde! rules that have been standing in my bookshelf for too long. As a learning project I am planning a fictional scenario based on the tragic events on November 6, 1632.

The monumental work on the 30YW, "Sveriges Krig 1611-1632" describes in detail what happened during the battle. This is based on the account given by Gustav II Adolfs page August von Leublfing on his deathbed November 15, 1632. The short version is that the situation on the Swedish right flank was critical. The Swedish Brigade was under hard pressure from Piccolomini´s cuirassiers and the King took personally charge of the Småland(400 men) and Östgöta(100 men) cavalry regiments(commanders of both regiments were wounded or dead) to relieve the infantry. The Kings followers were:

-Count Franz Albrekt of Sachsen-Lauenburg
-Chamberlain Truchsess
-Life guard Anders Jönsson
-Page August von Leubelfingen
-Stable Master von der Schulenburg
(Major Molck and Chamberlain Bernolf von Craylsheim were probably not present with the King)

The King led the two regiments across the road and over a ditch, Småland first and then Östgöta. When Piccolomini saw the Swedish cavalry, he turned his 500 cuirassiers against the Östgöta cavalry that was pushed back across the road. The King and Småland now faced Götz Cuirassiers(400 men) who had returned after a previous retreat. The King was shot in the left arm and while his followers attended the wound, the Småland regiment was pushed back towards the road by Götzen cuirassiers. Piccolomini´s cuirassiers probably also attacked the Småland regiment after the retreat of the Östgöta cavalry. The King and his followers were now surrounded by enemies. The King was shot in the back by Lt Col Moritz von Falkenberg from the Götzen regiment. Count Franz and Truchsess were separated from the rest and pushed towards the road. Jönsson was killed by a sword thrust and Leubelfingen was the last man beside the King until he was wounded and separated from the dying monarch. Cuirassiers stabbed the King and finally a Major Pier Martinelli ended his life by a pistol shot through the temple. Piccolomini personally arrived at the scene short after the Kings death.



The dramatic final moments are captured by the painter Carl Wahlbom (which can be seen in the Swedish National Museum):



The next step is to start gathering miniatures for the opposing sides:

Swedish
Gustav II Adolf and followers
A small force of Småland cavalry

Imperial
Lt Col Moritz von Falkenberg
6 x Götzen Cuirassiers
Major Pier Martinelli
6 x Piccolomini Cuirassiers

[Friends of General Haig]

A tasty looking pastry, and an exciting sounding scenario to play with En Garde 

[Metternich]

Looking forward to seeing the AAR (and pictures please).  A gallant king.

[sepoy1857]

Excellent! LOVE this period.

[Paul Richardson]

Bo: I'm really looking forward to this. I'm sure that you're aware that Steve Jones (The Warre Game) recreated this encounter at a 1:1 scale at Salute 2023.

[traveller]

Thanks all for your comments. All encouragement is highly appreciated! 

Paul, I was not aware of that but now that you mention it I found lots of great images on the web. My scenario is though a small fraction of the massive display on Salute. My leadpile is high and wide otherwise I would buy some of his beautiful miniatures.

I started playing around with the stats in En Garde for my game. I hope some 15 miniatures per side will give a manageable game. Maybe I will adjust them as we go along but here is a first stab:



The more I read about the fateful day of November 6, the more I realize what bad luck poor Gustav had that day. The outcome was really the worst imaginable...

A draft Scenario map and objectives:

[traveller]

Started working on the miniatures. First a small sabot base vignette following Gustavus being shot in the left arm, with an optional Leubelfingen attending him:

[Paul Richardson]

Tremendous. Really looking forward to seeing how this develops.

[traveller]

Thanks Paul, I guess you have a Gustavus in the pipeline as well?

[Paul Richardson]

Believe it or not I have two, one waving his hat in the air and one on a rearing horse. 

[traveller]

Believe it or not I have two, one waving his hat in the air and one on a rearing horse.

Wow! Love to see them once the are ready for display 

You can never have too many Gustavus Adolphus!
(I have currently 2x2 mtd/dism and I plan to do at least 2 more for 1612)

[Paul Richardson]

Indeed. I see that Steve Jones @ The Warre Game has just brought out a new Gustavus figure - falling from his horse.

[traveller]

Indeed. I see that Steve Jones @ The Warre Game has just brought out a new Gustavus figure - falling from his horse.

Yes, that´s a nice one. Order placed 

[traveller]

Considering that the scenario will involve only some 30 miniatures I realize that I will not need a big table so I made a smaller 3 x 3 board featuring the Lützen road and the field beyond. Movement will be restricted by the heavy fog that lay over the battlefield so a smaller table would hopefully still give a good game. I experimented with different materials for the fog and found that waddling used to stuff pillows etc gave a decent effect. As I am not ready with the miniatures for the game I made some test shots with some other 30YW miniatures. Does it work or are there any other ideas for using fog as a terrain feature?

[**GS**]

cool pictures!