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.

Bautzen - 20 & 21 May 1813 - replayed 20 Dec 2024 & 3 Jan 2025

 Mike and I decided to skip the battle of Lutzen (2 May 1813), as we've played it a couple of times before, moving swiftly to the battle of Bautzen.  The Russians and Prussians dig in behind the Spree river - Napoleon frontally assaults on day one whilst Ney attacks the right of the Allied line on day two.  

In this battle the French get bridging trains (one per Corps), so it's not just a charge across the bridge.  If only I had some suitable pontoon bridge models!  

Here is the map - Napoleon to the left, Ney at the top, Allies in the middle.  Having got used to playing with Veteran French in the last few battles, I now found that in taking the French I was mainly playing with trained troops - less likely to charge home if fired upon, they go spent on fewer casualties.  

The Set up

Here is the table ready for the start.  The on table troops in the foreground are Soult (left) & Marmont, who will advance to the Spree and cross it.

On the other flank McDonald, the Guard & Oudinot prepare to assault across the bridge and pin the centre.

Mike had troops in Bautzen, with his main defence line dug in further back.  I didn't expect to do well with the frontal assaults, I hoped that my flanking manoeuvres would do better.

Move 2

After two moves things are hotting up.  On the right Oudinot has pushed his troops in column to take on the defenders of Jenkwitz.  In the middle Mcdonald has taken Bautzen and is heading for the main line of resistance.  

On the left Soult and Marmont have crossed the river.  One of Napoleon's challenges in 1813 was a lack of cavalry.  Mike added to my troubles on the day by long range artillery sniping, which took out Soult's cavalry....

Move 3

By the end of move 3 the battle had split into 3 sectors.  On the right Oudinot squared off against Gortchakov.  Neither side had quite the numbers to kill anything, but steady Russian fire kept the French infantry from charging and the cannon from being deployed.

In the middle Macdonald & Marmont, supported by the Guard, attacked the defensive lines.

On the left Soult was left to his own devices.  The Russians lined up on the hill and brought up their guns.  The French assaults were disrupted and never developed, but the Russians were not willing to counter-attack and give up their defensive advantage.  They did try a sneaky flank attack (just above the six islands in the river) but were held off.

Move 4

On the French right we have Oudinot - he has formed "block" in preparation for another charge - to his right rear is his supporting artillery, driven off by the pesky Ruskis again!

In the middle the French throw in the Guard against the dug in Allies.

On the left the Russians hold the hill.  The French hang about at the bottom of the hill, whilst Soult diverts a division to avoid the outflanking Russians.  If only the cavalry were still around!

A close up of the central battle - The Guard to the right, Marmont & Mcdonald to the left.  The line in foreground are re-grouping after losing an earlier assault.

At the end of move 4 night fell, in the real world we had a cup of tea (Yorkshire, of course!) before resuming play at the start of day two.

Move 6

2 moves into day two, things have started to improve for the French.  

On their right flank Oudinot has broken through, aided by the Guard cavalry doing a flanking charge on the brave defenders of Jenkwitz.  In the centre the French assault the defences, throwing in masses of troops and the Guard.  

On the left flank Soult is joined by Ney.  A series of low movement rolls means the French advance slowly (or not at all, in some cases!) but Mike responds by building a defensive line and holds the hill.  Those 4 lakes act as some sort of "super moat" - breaking up the French attacks.

Move 8

On the right the French drive a massive wedge into the Allies and start taking VP (Victory Point) villages (red exploding markers).  

On the left the French take the big hill (worth a VP) but fail, so far, to get the last remaining VP village or the road exit.  If only I had not lost my cavalry!  I did manage to capture more non-VP villages...

Move 9

On the right the French broke the Allied line, but were too far away to get troops to the road exit.  It had been a long hard slog to get this far!

On the left the French failed to get the VP village across the stream but did hound the Russians away from the important VP hill.

At this point Mike and I called it a day.  The final French turn saw them masters of the battlefield and in possession of 3 VP, but with no further moves left to take further VPs and Mike too depleted to attempt to take any back, it was a draw.

Once again an exciting game with ups and downs, decisions to make and engaging to the end.  A couple of thoughts:

1. French troops are no longer veteran - and the enemy has skirmishers.  The French superiority margin is wearing down and thinner than earlier battles.

2. Cavalry - as French, you don't get much.  The Guard cavalry did a great job, but I lost 2/3 of my cavalry early on and that meant I could not exploit at the end of the game.

Once again, a well written and finely balanced scenario gave rise to an interesting and engaging game.

Photoshoot

French Chasseurs of the Guard

Guard artillery + line = Grand battery

Italians charging up the hill!

Guard Cavalry backing up an infantry charge

My Middle/Young Guard - in this case loads of Veteran stands lumped together.  Proper troops have been painted and await warmer weather for basing.

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.