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.

French Guard - Baccus 6mm figures organised for BBB rules

 My friend Mike and I have been gaming the BBB scenario book Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles, one common factor in all of these battles is Napoleon, the other is the French Guard, first called the Consular Guard, then the Imperial Guard.  

Over last winter/spring I took the time to create enough French Guard figures for most of the battles, in some cases making a summer and winter option.

The Old Guard started as two infantry regiments of Consular Guards (Grenadiers & Chasseurs) and two regiments of cavalry (Grenadiers & Chasseurs).  It went through a number of changes, mainly expansion, adding more infantry, dragoons, lancers, etc.  You probably already know this....  😊

The Infantry

Old Guard - summer

Here are the Old Guard in their summer uniform - the Grenadiers have red plumes and the Chassuers red over green plumes.  These three bases are enough for most of the scenarios in the book.  

As I wanted these troops to look their best, all Guard troops were painted with brass muzzles and firing mechanisms on their muskets (these are normally just steel, as per the gun barrels and the bayonets).

The Old Guard Chassuers have had plumes added to the side of the Bearskin (re-purposed bayonets)

Old Guard - Winter

In colder weather the Guard wore blue Greatcoats, a colour not used by most of the French army, so they stand out a little more....  Here the Middle Guard skirmishers are standing in for Old Guard Skirmishers in Greatcoats.

Middle Guard - Summer

The Middle Guard wore shakos, otherwise (and especially at this scale) they were identical to the Old Guard.  They had a number of different flag styles - I went for the gold "N" in a wreath on blue because it sets them apart from everyone else on the table.

Middle Guard - Winter

The Middle Guard also wore blue Greatcoats, so they are easy to tell from the rest of the army.  

Young Guard - Summer

I have only made Young Guard in Summer so far, here are the Young Guard Grenadiers.  I made the 1st & 2nd Tiralliers and the Flanquers Grenadiers, who wore Green Jackets as they were light infantry.  I could have made a skirmish base of these, but I decided to go with a base of formed infantry, partly because I only needed one skirmish base.

Tiralliers & Flanquer Grenadiers

I needed 6 bases of Young Guard, so the other three are 2 bases of Voltiguers and one of Flanquers, this time the Flanquers are based as Skirmishers. 

The Cavalry

Here's the Guard Cavalry made to date - you'll need 2 bases of Heavy Cavalry & two of Light.  

Guard Heavy Cavalry

The Heavies are the Horse Grenadiers - they get all the +1 bonuses - and the Empress Dragoons

The line Heavies were the Carabiniers - a similar uniform and using the same models

Guard Horse Grenadiers on the left, Line Carabiniers on the right

My other heavy unit is the Empress Dragoons, click on this link to see more.  Here's what the two Heavies look like together - suitably scary!

Guard Light Cavalry

The Light Cavalry are the Chassuers a Cheval (one of my favourite units), the Polish Lancers and the Dutch Lancers.  The Lancers are covered here in more detail.  Here are the Light Cavalry units together.

Here are the Chasseurs a Cheval of the Imperial Guard on their own.

Artillery

I really enjoyed painting these up.  As I wanted to show their using 12 pounders, I increased the crew figures to 5 per base.  

To move them around the battlefield I made this limber & gun.  As far as I can tell Guard Artillery transport uniforms were slightly different to those of the line artillery.

I also made a Horse Artillery battery (foreground) for the Waterloo game.

Guard General

As in my second Command & Control post  I have now made a General figure to lead these fine troops

Finally...

All figures are Baccus (though not necessarily as described on the tin).  I have enjoyed figuring out the conversions needed to get the look I wanted.  

Sources used were the Funken book, Pinterest & the Jemima Fawr website which has 8 detailed blogs on making the Guard in 15mm, I found this really inspirational.

What's next?  Horse Chasseurs & Grenadiers of the Guard with alternative flags, Polish Lancers (possibly with flag changes), Dutch Grenadier infantry, possibly more foot guns, possibly winter foot artillery in greatcoats, Young Guard Artillery, Guard Marines ......

Ligny & Quatre Bras - 16 June 1815 - refought 23 & 30 May 2025

 Slightly out of chronological order - here's the battles of Ligny & Quatre Bras, 16 June 1815 - refought approximately 210 years later.  Quatre Bras is probably not a battle, at least not in BBB terms, but as it was on the same day and roughly in the same place, combining the two actions adds a level of complexity and interest to the battles.

The Scenario was written by Matt Bradley and is available as a free download in the files section of the BBB Group.  You can find it here - but you may need to log on first!

Here's the map:

Mike took the British and Prussians, I took the French.  Here's the table laid out for the start.  Apologies for the lighting - it was actually a sunny day!

French Left

French Right

Turn 2  On the left, the french push toward Quatre Bras, in the middle the French push across the stream and threaten the Prussian line.

On the right, the French Guard threaten Tongrinelle 

Turn 4 - on the left the French took Quatre Bras, whilst the British used their firepower advantage (pink counters) to drive them back out.  In the centre the French took losses as they assaulted the objective villages.  I had formed my cavalry into one big menacing block....

To the right, the French piled on the pressure, with one unit breaking through to take an objective village.

Turn 5   On the left the French lost Quatre Bras and the centre became a slogging match.

On the right, the Guard drove the Prussians out of Tongrinelle, with Mike's left flank getting hammered.

 

Turn 6  On the left flank the French had been thoroughly hammered by the British, but this turn saw the arrival of French re-inforcements!

In the middle the French continue to hammer away at those objective villages and on the right the Guard prepare to wheel left.

Turn 7 - on the left, the French reinforcements shake out of column (2 x speed on roads) and dep[loy ready to assault.  The big block of French cavalry has slowly been whittled down, but still threatens Blucher's right.

On the right, the Prussians have retreated as more French arrive and the Guard attacks the Prussian left.

Turn 8 - on the left the French advance to the Bridge, the British form up to defend Quatre Bras again.  One sneaky unit of Brits has skirted the forest to take potshots at lurking French cavalry.

On the right the Prussians still hold one objective village as the French close in for the kill.

French 9 on the last French move,  it's a standoff at Quatre Bras and the assault against the last Prussian objective village goes in.

On the right the French hold the objective villages, just in case the Prussians try a last minute assault to regain them.  

Allied 9 - the French have not retaken Quatre Bras, but the Allies have not been able to advance south of the river Thyle with more than 50% of their troops.

In the centre the French hold 4 objectives, with the Prussians holding just one objective village.  There are no more Prussians to the right of this picture!

Conclusions 

It was a really good game, not just because I won.  i managed to get most of the rolls i wanted and drove the British and the Prussians back.  Mike was not as lucky with the dice, but he put up a spirited defence and only gave ground slowly.

Having the Allies and Prussians both on the table made a lot of sense - the French need to contain the British and secure their left flank.

This game allows you to field those shiny Waterloo British uniforms as well as the Prussians, plus the Guard gets to play a pivotal role in it all.

I highly recommend the scenario.

Thanks to Mike, worthy opponent and provider of regular teas and coffees!