Borodino for Joy of Six - 7 Sept 1812 - fought 20 Mar 2026

This year Ilkley Irregulars will be hosting the battle of Borodino, 7 September 1812, at the Joy of Six  Wargames Convention in Sheffield on 28th June.

Friday 20th saw Mike, Charlie, Mark and myself refight the battle as a first run through.  We had all last met at the excellent Battleground show in Middlesborough, where the Irregulars were hosting Waterloo.

Mike and I played Borodino in October 2024 (AAR here) and I played it with the scenario author, Mark Smith, way back in October 2022 (AAR here).  On both occasions the Russians won (merely by not dying too fast....).

OK, so what happened on Friday?  Mike and Mark led the French, Charlie and I took the Russians.  Team Rodina is hampered by having some poorly armed troops (pikemen) and having the right wing pinned until turn 3.  The French (plus the Italians, Saxons, Polish, Westphalians, etc.) have lots of well armed troops - but they have to climb 2 two level hills and assault the Russian entrenchments.

Turn 0

Here's the starting picture - Mike has made some bespoke scenery and I am planning to make suitable buildings and defences.

Turn 2

On the Russian right Charlie defended the Redoubt and Borodino, however, with most of his troops fixed till turn 3, the action was mainly trading shots with the advancing Italians.  There was a fair bit of banter that despite much shooting and Borodino changing hands, neither Charlie or Mark lost any bases for several turns.

On the Russian left my plucky defenders counter attacked and I tried to get various Cossacks and Pike troops to move.  As half my flank is a huge forest, there was much opportunity for my troops to delay.

Turn 3

At the end of turn 3 (lunch break!) the Poles, backed up by heavy cavalry, had pushed my front-line defenders into the woods, however I still held the village and my reserves were moving, slowly, to bring their pikes and ragged muskets to bear.  In the centre more reserves were supporting the Fleches (left hand defences) and I had even advanced to take on one of Davout's assault units.

On the right Charlie had advanced his troops (released at the start of turn 3) and was pressurising the Italians in Borodino.  It was around this time that someone finally lost a base....

Turn 4

Fortified by Baguettes and Borsht (OK, it was filled rolls - very good!) we pushed on.  

On the left, Junot's Westphalians destroyed the Cossacks and advanced against my reserves.  My heavy cavalry support rolled low enough to not move.  Around Ultitsa the Poles got wiped out at the cost of two of my units and Davout stormed the Fleches.  My reserves (lower right) are waiting for the next turn to swing into action.

On the Russian right Charlie moved to contact with the Italians and the cvasualties mounted on both sides.  Ney went straight ahead to assault the Redoubt.

Turn 6

By the end of turn 6 I had lost the Fleches, but had halted any onward moves by Davout by sending in my decent reserves.  In the woods my good cavalry finally turned up to support my exhausted reserve troops and my regulars, whilst low on ammo and disordered, managed to be sufficiently hard to kill that they were still fighting.

On the right Charlie held the redoubt and the Italians were only just across the stream from Borodino.  the column you can see at the top of the picture is the Guard moving to shore up the French left, as the Italians started to take casualties and holes opened up in the line.

Turn 7/8

At the end of French turn 8, with the Russians having completed turn 7, we decided to end the game.  It was decided that the French were unlikely to make any further gains, so we concluded with a draw.  

The Russian left - the Russians are still hanging on in the woods about 9 inches from Ultitsa.  The French have the Fleches defences, however the next objective is unlikely to be taken.

On the Russian right the redoubt is firmly in our hands and a solid line of troops blocks the French direct advance.  The French Guard has reached the stream at Borodino, but the French left flank has some pretty big gaps that the Russians can use to slip troops through.

Conclusion

It was great to have a new player - Mark has played a lot of games under different rules, so was quick to get the mechanisms sorted and start making decisions - he also had some good questions that meant Mike and I were busy checking the rules.  Welcome Mark!

The game is similar to Waterloo, in that the French need to move far and fast to envelop the Russian defences before the Russian reserves are released and the numbers move towards the Russian favour.

On the French left the Italians need to take Borodino AND hold that flank.  On the right, the French need to push through the woods to get behind the Fleches, in this game my aggressive counter attacks destroyed the Poles and slowed Davout's troops.  

It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to our next play test!

French, Italians, Saxons Colin's BBB collection, Russians & Poles are Mike's.  Figures Baccus 6mm.

Marengo in Leeds - AAR

 The last two club days at Leeds saw a return to Marengo, with myself as Austrian and regular opponent Mike as Bonaparte himself.  Marengo is interesting, in that the French deploy at the Austrian end of the table and are attacked by overwhelming Austrian forces - so they need to hang on till Dessaix and the reinforcements arrive.  We used BBB rules and the Marengo scenario posted to the BBB io group.

A quick look in the archives shows that I played this in August 2021, as we were emerging from Lockdown - I remembered it as a fun and entertaining restart to my hobby.  See the last AAR here  

Here's the board at the start of play:

Above, the Austrian end, with cheeky French column deployed in the Austrian start area.  They were relocated and the game could start.  Marengo is the left hand village, stoutly defended by 4 French infantry.

Below, the view from the French end towards the Austrians.

The view from the Austrian end - these troops are all going to come piling on  as the Austrians start the game.  Note Austrian command cup of tea.

My plan, as Austrian general, was to push forward in the middle whilst sending cavalry, infantry & grenadiers up the left hand road.  The plan worked, in that Mike deployed his initial reserves to counter this threat and stopped shoring up his troops around Marengo.

Mike also managed to lose all his cavalry in the really stages.

Below, scattered Austrian units cause Mike concern.

Below, French Consular Guard & Friends threatened by the left hook.  In the process, however, my left hook forces started to get whittled away....

Meanwhile, however, my forces in the middle had issues with traffic jams and three French units that holed up in the villages and woods.  Instead of a swift breakthrough, I was rolling just low enough to miss/disrupt, not cause damage,  So my troops assaulted, got repulsed, formed up, tried again, etc.

Below, Austrians not quite co-ordinating and expelling the French, who used the woods and villages to great effect.  A lot of inadequate movement rolls on my part did not help!

The French unit below, having been evicted from it's village, spent the rest of the game sitting in a marsh and distracting Austrian gunners with forays into the dwindling Austrian left hook forces, before retreating into the marsh again!

In the end it was a draw.  The Austrians had Marengo (Hurrah!) but didn't get the crossroads or eliminate Napoleon.  Neither side had inflicted more than 50% casualties than received.

All in all it was a fun two evenings gaming.  The game was in the balance till the end.  Well worth playing if you want something different.  We both agreed we would be happy to play again, perhaps next time I'll be the French?