Leo Sapieda, the Palantine of Vilna, is leading the Polish and Lithuanian troops to recover cities lost in Courland. Gustavus crosses the Dwina behind him to divert Leo away. Leo doubles back and has "trapped" the Swedes on the wrong side of the river (T.A. Dodge asserts that this was Gustavus' plan to bring Leo to battle). This battle broke the back of Polish efforts in this area, and next year, the scene of conflict became Ducal Prussia. The terrain and troops are correct, the deployments are typical doctrine for Poland and Sweden for the time, The Swedes are in the arrowhead formation to maximize firepower and reduce the chance of a critical failure due to cavalry (Note that they have yet to change to tactical battalions). The Polish formation plays to the traditional cavalry strength. Unless it snows and makes firepower useless, the Swedes should win. ORDER OF BATTLE - LITHUANIA Leo Sapieda, Palantine of Vilna, commanding Winged Hussars 8 heavy Elite Winged Hussars 8 heavy Veteran Winged Hussars 8 heavy Veteran Pancemi 8 medium Veteran Pancerni 8 medium Regular Pancemi 8 medium Regular Uhlans 8 light Peasant Uhlans 8 light Peasant Rajtar (Cuirassier) 8 cuirass Regular 'German' Foot 12 musket/12 pike Regular Heyduks 12 axe/musket Veteran 'Polish' Foot 24 axe/musket Militia 'Polish' Foot 24 axe/musket Peasant 1 heavy gun Breakpoint = 5 ORDER OF BATTLE - SWEDISH ARMY Gustavus commanding Thum and Teuffel cavalry and foot officers Duke Courland 8 cuirass Veteran Livonian Cuirassier 8 cuirass Regular Finnish Horse 8 medium Elite Swedish Horse 8 medium Regular Swedish Horse 8 medium Militia Scots Mercenary 8 medium Militia Thurn Regiment 12 musket/12 pike Militia Scots Regiment 12 musket/12 pike Regular Plato Regt (Swedish) 12 musket/12 pike Regular Yellow Regt (Teuffel) 12 musket/12 pike Elite 1 medium gun (maneveurs light medium- fires like a heavy) Commanded shot - in five groups of six figures Breakpoint = 5 Battle of Lutter: August 27, 1626 The 30 Years War by Bill Boyle. Back to MWAN #102 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com