Franz Josef’s Armies
Part Four: Komarów Days One and Two
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
February 2022

Once upon a time, I believed that I would spend my life as an academic historian (before that, I thought I would spend it in journalism, and before that, I thought I would win the Heisman Trophy at least once). While I get to work with history in this job, it’s not at the same level of deep research (no matter what some buffoon might spew about being “deeply read”). Except when it is.

I dug deeply for Infantry Attacks: Franz Josef's Armies (and the core game, Infantry Attacks: Fall of Empires); for a topic like this, you kind of have to. And I think I found something interesting, at least to me. I already knew, and have written, that the two national regular armies of Austria-Hungary (the Austrian Landwehr and Hungarian Honvédség) lacked the prestige of the Common Army with its ancient regiments, historical-mythical lore, and of course its bands. And while that can explain many differences (more prestigious regiments drew better officer candidates, for starters), it didn’t seem to answer why some of these formations behaved they way they did in battle.

Austro-Hungarian artillery in August 1914 simply wasn’t very good. The gunners were professional and well-trained, but that couldn’t make up for the enormous deficit in materiel. Decades of heller-pinching had equipped the batteries with weapons obsolete they day of their introduction, badly out-ranged by Russian guns and tossing softer shells on top of it.

Most Austrian commanders made up for that deficit as best they could, by rolling the guns right into the front line just like the Archduke Charles at Aspern a century earlier. But some did not, sending the infantry forward in crazed frontal assaults without any artillery support at all, leaving the batteries at the end of their march columns and never deploying them. And all of those formations were from the Landwehr or Honvédség.

While divisional artillery had been authorized for the two national armies in 1912 - field batteries had been organized in 1909 - bureaucracies grind slowly, and none more than that of Austria-Hungary. Additional guns began to be issued to the Landwehr or Honvédség in March 1913, with new regiments and batteries set up and filled by gunners, officers and instructors detached from Common Army artillery units. Not until April 1914 were the new artillery regiments declared ready for service and assigned to their divisions. Partial mobilization began on 25 July, spreading to full mobilization of the Dual Monarchy’s armed forces on 31 July. That meant that the Landwehr and Honvédség divisions and their staffs never conducted exercises with their full artillery regiments.

Franz Josef’s Armies is all about the battles of the Landwehr and Honvédség (and Bosniaken), and we see the effects right there in the scenarios. Let’s have a look at four more of them.

Chapter Five
Komarów Day One

Scenario Fifty-Three
Hungarian Aggression
26 August 1914
Austro-Hungarian VI Corps commander Svetozar Boroevic demanded aggressive behavior from his subordinates. When the 39th Honvéd Infantry Division detected Russian infantry to its front, the enthusiasm of the haiduks to close with and bayonet the Russians surprised even Boroevic and his officers. There would be no elaborate maneuvers for Boroevic: VI Corps would meet the Russian XIX Corps head on and push it back.

Conclusion
Ezredes (Colonel) Gyula Preinreich led the 9th Honvéd Infantry Regiment, a mostly Slovak outfit from Kassa in eastern Slovakia, into battle on the morning of 26 August with just over 3,000 effectives. By nightfall casualties numbered over 1,200 men killed and wounded, among them three-quarters of the regiment’s officers. But they had taken their piece of ground, the slight rise near Tarnavatka, and pushed the Russians back, just as their general had ordered.

Notes
The Hungarians have their artillery, two regiments’ worth, for what that’s worth. Morale and initiative are on their side, but they have a lot to achieve in their mad attack. Hungarian casualties have no impact on victory (this is pretty common in both Fall of Empires and Franz Josef’s Armies scenarios), coupled with a relatively short scenario time frame, allowing the game to show how the Imperial and Royal Army operated without telling you via special rules.

Scenario Fifty-Four
True Berserker Courage
26 August 1914
As the Austrian Fourth Army’s II Corps advanced toward the small city of Zamosc, its advanced cavalry patrols detected the Russian XXV Corps marching to attack the open left flank of the neighboring Austrian First Army. Fourth Army’s commander, Gen. Moritz Auffenberg, ordered his own divisions to attack the Russians before they could execute their own assault. The troops of Vienna’s 13th Landwehr Infantry Division responded with unexpected enthusiasm.

Conclusion
Like the Honvéds of 39th Infantry Division, the Landwehr attacked with what Auffenberg, who witnessed the action, called “true berserker courage.” The Landwehr division, one of four attacking on a relatively narrow front, advanced in closely-packed columns that suffered heavily from enemy field and machine guns. The Russians had been routed off the battlefield and fallen back on Zamosc in disorder, but the Landwehr paid a horrific price for their success. The 14th Landwehr Infantry Regiment, a mostly-Czech outfit from Brno (Brünn in 1914), began the day with just under 3,000 men in its ranks and ended it with less than 600.

Notes
Another massive attack, this time by a a huge force of Landwehr regulars against a division of Russian grenadiers. The Landwehr don’t have as much artillery as the Honvéds brought during the prior scenario, but their initiative and morale are very high and they’re still well-led (this will decline as the campaign carries on and so many able officers are gunned down at the head of their storm columns). This time the Russian don’t have very favorable terrain to make their stand, but they do have very good troops and those deadly field guns.

Chapter Six
Komarów Day Two

Scenario Fifty-Five
Across the Huczwa
27 August 1914
Gen. Moritz Auffenberg of the Austrian Fourth Army saw an opportunity. The Russian XIX Corps pressed forward, trying to drive a wedge between their own Russian VI Corps holding the eastern end of their line and the XXV Corps on the west. If the Austrian VI Corps’ 39th Honvéd Infantry Division could hold its ground, the Austrian IX Corps, just arriving on the battlefield, could take the Russians in their open flank. The plan depended on hard marching and precise timing, neither of these a particular strength of the Habsburg armed forces.

Conclusion
The 26th Landwehr Infantry Division, a Sudeten German outfit from Leitmeritz in north-western Bohemia, broke camp late and failed to reach the battlefield in time to deliver the stunning blow planned by Auffenberg’s staff. Instead, the Honvéds were left to face the Russians all by themselves, at a serious disadvantage in strength following the previous day’s losses. They made no progress on their own, racking up another lengthy casualty list for no purpose.

Notes
This scenario takes place on a small battlefield, but potentially with a lot of troops involved. The Hungarians have to make a pinning attack, and the Austrians will deliver the hammer blow from the flank. If they can set aside their Schlamperei and get to the battlefield on time. How much stock should the Russians put in that threat to their flank?

Scenario Fifty-Six
Fall of Zamosc
27 August 1914
The Austrian Fourth Army staff viewed the crossroads town of Zamosc as a key to the Russian position, and pressed their II Corps to take this objective quickly to help turn the Russian Fifth Army’s right flank. The town’s fall would open a huge gap between the Russian XXV and XIX Corps, inviting the destruction in detail of each. The mission fell to the Viennese 13th Landwehr Infantry Division, which would have to eject the Russian from a nearby hill before they could capture the medieval town at its foot.

Conclusion
The Russian Fifth Army ordered 70th Reserve Infantry Division to break off its action against troops of the Austrian First Army and come to the Grenadiers’ aid. That division failed to extract itself from its fight with the Austrian 45th Landwehr Infantry Division. Meanwhile the Russian XXV Corps asked a nearby Cossack division for help; that unit wasn’t engaged, but an Austrian patrol captured the lone messenger on his bicycle and the Cossacks were not coming. The Austrians swarmed over the hills next to Zamosc and drove the Grenadiers out of the town. At this point the Austrian Fourth Army seemed on the verge of a great victory.

And that’s Chapters Five and Six (which joins the scenarios from Chapters Five and Six of Fall of Empires). Next time, we’ll dive into Chapter Seven.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published an unknowable number of books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, three children and his dog, Leopold. Leopold knows the number.

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