This is a second playtest of the Borodino village side of the battlefield at "The Battle of Borodino" if you follow. I decided to do a second playtest because the result of the first playtest resulted in the French being checked at the village of Borodino.
I wanted to play with different players, who dutifully planned slightly differently from the first playtest, to ensure that the French could take the village itself with relative ease.
The single biggest problem with the playtest is that both sides historically did not use all of their forces for the whole time. The French had Divisions from Davout, which then redeployed to the Great Redoubt sector, once the village of Borodino was taken.
The Russians had 2 Infantry Corps in the immediate area. Borodino was not heavily contested and one of these Corps was then sent to reinforce the far left flank.
This game had all these forces available with no requirement that they be redeployed as per history. There will be interesting consequences when the whole game is played if they are not redeployed!!
The pictures are in no particular order, but they do show the main manoeuvrings and combat areas.
The pic above shows Dessaix, supported by Lecchi, attacking the Russian left flank of Borodino village. The idea is to take the village, retire to reserve and then transfer to the main army over the stream. Dessaix duly cleared the Russian left side of Borodino village after a days fighting.
The action previously described can be seen towards the top left of this pic. This is looking at the Russian right flank of Borodino village and the church. Again, the fighting would be stiff as the church was garrisoned by the Russian Guard Jaegers. Guards can fight forever! Eventually, the Guard numbers were worn down by attrition and the church taken.
Grouchy is probing down the far French left flank. The French are trying to goad Uvarov out of position and engage in the open away from supports. The ruse did not work and Uvarov remained within distance of supporting artillery.
One of Eugene's Divisions is advancing in the open to the their left of Borodino village. The aim is to carry the heights to their front. With a Grand battery already deployed within effective range of the feature, success would drive the Russians from this side of the Kamenka entirely.
The situation in Borodino just before it falls to the French or more accurately Franc-Italians.
The game satisfied me that both sides can be victors on this sector of the battlefield. Both sides, at the main event, will have to make critical decisions that will impact profoundly on the tactical situation not only in this sector but across the whole battlefield.
This game will be played at the end of January/early February and will be the subject, itself, of a dedicated Companion series book.
The gamers gallery. Steve, top right, is from Treefellas and goes to a couple of shows a year. Useful to have a terrain maker in the next village!
The next game is back to WWII. The Russians are attacking the Germans in latish 1941. It will be interesting as it is the first time we've done the Germans defending with the favourable terrain. After this game will be more Napoleonics until the end of the year. Something new but I haven't worked out what yet.
Enjoy!
