Saalfeld
October 10th, 1806
In October 1806, during the War of the Fourth Coalition, Prussian forces under Prince Louis Ferdinand advanced into Thuringia to confront Napoleon’s troops. The Prussian-Saxon contingent, numbering around 8,300 men, aimed to halt the French advance and protect the region. Unbeknownst to them, Marshal Jean Lannes led a superior French force of approximately 12,800 soldiers, poised to engage the Allies near Saalfeld.
On October 10, the battle commenced with French troops attacking the Prussian-Saxon left flank. Despite initial resistance, the Allies were overwhelmed by the French assault. In a desperate attempt to rally his forces, Prince Louis led a cavalry charge but was killed in the melee. The Prussian-Saxon army suffered significant losses, with approximately 900 killed or wounded, 1,800 captured, and 33 guns lost, while French casualties were under 200.
The defeat at Saalfeld demoralized the Prussian army and disrupted their strategic plans. The loss of Prince Louis, a prominent commander, further impacted morale. This setback paved the way for subsequent French victories at Jena and Auerstedt, solidifying Napoleon’s dominance in the region.
Belligerants
France
Command 3
Leaders 1
Initiative
Prussia
Command 3
Leaders 1
Scale
One Space = ~ 400 meters
One Unit = ~ 1200 infantry / 500 cavalry / 10 guns
Starting deployment
Special rules
Prince Louis Ferdinand – The Prussian vanguard is led by Prince Louis Ferdinand, who is driven by great animosity towards Napoleon. When the Prussian player resolves a Leader Action order, each activated unit can add the Hazard die to its Assault dice without spending Activation markers.
Faq & Errata
Unfortunately, I realised that the Battle Board contains a major typo: there are two ‘Leader Action’ spaces, when one of them should be ‘Artillery’. The game system is solid enough to guarantee fun games and interesting choices even with this typo (those who have tried it this way have had no complaints!), but if you want to play the correct version, you can download and print this patch. Cut it following the cut markers, and place it on the Leader Action space that does not contain the text ‘Reposition Leader’. Sorry!
Interesting facts about the battle
The young Prince Louis Ferdinand was also a promising musician and composer, killed too young, like so many others, by the stupidity of war.
If you want a soundtrack for your battle, you can put on this Piano Quintet in C minor.