Borodino 2012- Battle Report

Well, what can I say?  Totally awesome weekend. I’ve never seen so much lead on one table with up to 30 players commanding the various units. I took command of Raveski’s Vii corps, Bagrations Corps,  and was ordered to defend the Great Redoubt while to my left the VIII Corp (Borodzin) was tasked with defending the Fletches. We arrived at the venue at 8 and by 11:30 the tables were set up and the reserve tables groaning under the weight of the French reserves. A quick pep talk from Kutuzov and we were ready to go.

The battle was huge, you looked one direction and it was figures as far as you could see, look the other direction it was the same. A truly inspiring spectacle that was a privilege to be part of. 

I hope these pictures do it justice: there was nearly 4500 infantry, over 1000 cavalry and 160 guns and we played for about 14 hours over two days.

John and Phil did final plans for the tables on the ferry to the South Island. They came up with a very cool layout that made for a very engaging game. We had 11 6x4ft boards to make the design which was almost a number 4- two long legs and a centre which meant that there as room on the flanks for battles that could create flanking movements and really gave the impression f depth.  .  

 The French Reserves that are to be fed into the battle as they march up the reserves table and get to the end of it- holy crap!

 After a few hours set up and organisation, checking each division and corps was complete, and allocated to a commander and by 11:30 in the morning we are almost ready to begin.

 Raveski's corps deploys to defend the redoubts.

 The first French are sighted.

 The first clash. Jagers throw Kent's French back as they advance on Borodino- to much cheering and catcalling- a couple more turns of fierce fighting occur before Borodino falls.

 Kutuzov ordered us to hold our cavalry reserve on the right flank for a turn or two to see what happens. Martin replied with words to the effect of "fuck that! I'm off to cross the river". A reconnaissance in force with his whole corps was to follow. And off he went starting a very large right hook that drew in hordes of French divisions into a maelstrom that lasted for the next two days!

 Meanwhile the French transferred Junot's 8th corps to reinforce Poochie Poniatowaski's Poles in an attempt to crush our left flank and outflank the fletches. Holy crap!

 On the far right Martin is drawing the French like bees to honey. If only they'd pulled back to stop him getting through to Borodino he would have been bottled up on the wrong side of the river.

 Meanwhile a crisis is rapidly developing on our left.

 Dave (on the right) checks the French progress on the far left, hmm that's not looking good. Paul Goldstone (who popped down from Wellington) is giving him his best "no, no its not, and its about to get a whole lot worse, watch this." look.

 Dave and I are tasked with holding the Fletches and the Great Redoubt. We thought things looked quite good at this point, till the French surged across the river and attacked the fletches in force. One minute the field looked relatively empty then a host of triple move brigade commands later and they were upon us. 

An infantry division marches through the swamps to support Martin's cavalry expedition.

Here they come! The French juggernaut engulfs the fletches.

 Cavalry reserves are released as Dave and I struggle to throw the French back. Over the next 8-9 hours of game the Fletches change ownership at least 8 times in an epic struggle. Alas we are unable to make much of a dent in individual divisions and- the French masterfully recycle worn battalions back to recover, while soon we are running short of infantry. In the end  we were forced to throw cavalry into the French infantry and force them into square then blast them with artillery. But soon we lacked infantry to clear the troublesome French off the ridge. And compared to our far right flank we were holding quite well!

 About 4 pm my command is ordered forward to make room to commit the Guard. about bloody time!

 Still the battle rages over the fletches.

 Dave "Scruff" who often posts on this blog, looks slightly worried. His command is on the other side of the Great Redoubt and fighting another French corps.

 My cavalry are worn down and close to breaking, I husband them, pulling them back and giving them a chance to recover.

 We finally break two divisions at the fletches but as we now the French cavalry reserves have started to arrive.

 A shot from the French positions towards the Great Redoubt.

 Meanwhile Martin continues to cause havoc- eventually breaking Eugene's command for the loss of none of his divisions,a  great achievement. an he break though before our centre or right collapses under the ever increasing French pressure?

 Dave Hancox breaks the French forces to the right of the Great Redoubt but he is also broken soon after.

 The french have forces us back from the fletches and driven a wedge between my forces and Dave's. Dave's divisions have been broken and Bagration's Corps is under threat as we have now lost 5 divisions. Sensing the opportunity Noel and Nick storm towards the Great Redoubt and smash both of my divisions breaking Bagration's corps. Our centre has gone! 

 A view towards Borodino.

 The French surge up the hill and captured the great redoubt despite Tim's valiant attempt to steam the French tide.

 At this point Kuturov sends a message to the Tsar stating that the French are defeated the the Russians are withdrawing in good order to Moscow. In reality our centre has been crushed and the right flank is retreating is disarray while Barclay's army is left to ponder what might have been.

The roll call of broken divisions and corps

Update:
Rodger has some more amazing pictures on the Rebel Barracks blog:

Final comments
A fantastic game that really was lot of fun throughout- it looked truly amazing. so many figures! A well deserved French win. Martin did an outstanding job on our right flank, while Phil somehow managed to keep the French from breaking through on the left despite Poochie and Russell Briant's aggressive outflanking movements. Our left was under pressure and threatening to collapse throughout but it was out centre that took the hammer blow and was unable to respond effectively enough. A great game and I thoroughly enjoyed being part of it. Well one everyone and especially John for such fantastic organisation.

Most embarrassing moment. Dave lost a divisional commander early so I sent Bagration over to give his division orders. Instead of waiting till the end of the turn to issue his orders he went first and blundered, so no more commands for his Corps- and this just as the French first gained the fletches!

Black Powder was perfect for the game like this, the action was intense there was always plenty happening and the game flowed well. At one point today two spectators were discussing trying to do a game like this using FoG Napoleonics, they decided it would take about 8 months to play.