Borodino, 7 September 1812, refought 4 & 18 October

 Borodino was one of the biggest battles of the Napoleonic wars, with over a quarter of a million troops battling for the road to Moscow.  The French were supported by Italian, Polish, Saxon and other allied nations.  The Russians had occupied defensive earthworks on the Smolensk to Moscow road, the previous day's battle had been to take the first of these.  

On the day the fighting was intense, with the the defences the scene of much close quarter fighting.  I have fought this battle using earlier versions of the scenario, this was Mike's first go.

Here's the map:

Set up - Eugene on the left, Ney left middle, Davout with 4 x 6 bases in the middle to do the heavy lifting and the Poles on the right flank.

Heavy cavalry and horse artillery

Move 2

On the right flank, the Poles and Junot attack in the woods.

On the left flank the Italians take Borodino and decide to advance up to the Russians.

In the centre Davout storms the Russian defences

Slightly later, Davout's left hand block and Ney's troops storm the Raevsky redoubt whilst the Italians move up against the Russians

Davout's troops move against the Fleches whilst the Poles and Junot take on the massed Opelchenie and Cossacks.  These Russian troops put up a good fight, taking several moves to get to break point and fleeing.

Move 4

In the centre, Davout takes the Fleches and drives the Russians down the hill.  The Russians now form a new defence line that proves hard to crack

On the left, the Italians are outnumbered by the Russians and fall back, piecemeal.  The Russians take Borodino.

On the right the Poles and Junot still cannot beat the large numbers of low-quality Russians, who manage to stave off assaults from the French & Allied heavy cavalry

Move 6

On the right the French & Allies keep trying to break the Cossack/Opolchenie block in the woods.  The French move off the Fleches to assault the new Russian position, but cannot break it.

On the left the Russians break the Italians and push them across the stream.  As the Russians now have surplus units, these are directed into the flank of Ney's troops, who are to the left of the Raevsky Redoubt.

In the centre the French have taken the Raevsky Redoubt but the cost means that the Russians can try to slip a cavalry unit into the gap between the redoubt and the Fleches

Move 8

On the left, the Italians got pushed back even further, whilst the Russians moved en masse against Ney

The destruction of the Italians meant that the French Imperial Guard, when it arrived, was diverted to the left flank to hold the line, rather than doing anything useful elsewhere.  The Guard is the "J" shaped column at the bottom of the photo

On the right flank the French finally broke the Russian defensive line and the Cossack/Opolchenie took the one casualty that led to them fleeing in disarray.  As this flank had made such slow progress, the French were now both running out of time and low on troops

Move 10  

By the end of move 10 the Russians were doing well.  Fresh troops had retaken the Raevsky redoubt and Ney's Corps was getting worn down

On the right the French were assaulting the next Russian defensive line but had failed to break it

On the left the Guard stabilised the left flank and stopped the Russians getting a victory point for one of the Smolensk road exits

This was the first outing for my Guard 12pdr, Artillery train and Marshal Murat

With the Russians holding more objectives than the French the game ended in a win for Mike.  

He had done well, building huge defensive blocks of line troops that took some time to whittle down.  Against all expectations the Cossack/Opolchenie in the forest held off the Poles.  My troops, especially those in the forests, struggled to move fast and launch co-ordinated attacks.  With hindsight, the Italians should have got to Borodino and then backed up Ney, rather than going for a frolic on the left wing.

Once again an enjoyable game - my thanks to Mike for hosting and to Dr Mark Smith for writing the scenario.  We had fought one of the biggest battles in history on a 6x4 foot table in a few hours - one of the reasons I like BBB for big battles!

If you haven't already got a copy of the Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles scenario book, do give it a go, it makes for entertaining and engaging games.