Merry Christmas everyone, here you have our refight of Borodino, played with Black Powder, a suitable change for the ruels if you don't have a pantagruelic battlezone is to pass the measures in inches to centimetres.
Enjoy!
The Russian Army
The procession of our Lady of Smolensk visits all russian positions before battle. Here Uvarov's division, the cossaks, Jägers regiments and the guard hussars.
The great redoubt and Barclay's division: Little russia brigade, the artillery reserve, Soum brigade and garrisoning the redoubt the russian position battery.
Next stop: the russian center, Tartarinovo village and Kutuzov Division (the russian guard and the guard cuirassiers). In the foreground, Soum Brigade.
The Bagration fletches and his division: the grenadier division, the izoum division and the artillery garrisons.
At the extreme left of the line: Tutchkov division, protecting the Utitsa woods.
Kutuzov pays his respects tot the Virgin
Gospodi!
The french army
At left: Eugene's corps: Brousier division, Delzons division, 3eme artillery and Caulaincourt's cuirassiers
Ney-Davout corps: Friant division, Morand division, the great battery and the 1ere artillery.
At right: Poniatowski's corps: polish division and polish voltigeurs
And finally the garde: grenadiers, artillerie a cheval and chasseurs a cheval.
First moves: Uvarov division rushes forward, with the jägers inflicting damage into the artillery.
The great redubt starts spatting fire
The french moves: due to bad rolls of initative just the dragoons and the Friant division move towards the fletches, the garde and the rest of the corps follow slowly behind, not lots of enthusiansm for the empire for sure.
The first charge: Uvarov boys envelop completely the poor Delzons division.
The cavalry breacks through and the frenchies run with the cossaks in their heels, an eagle is captured.
On y va! the dragoons charge home into the fletches, but unexpected artillerymen heroism (throwing only 2 dices against 8) pushes them back in confusion.
The fench heavy cavalry climbs rapidly the heights towards the great redoubt.
But the russian cuirassiers are eager to stop them.
The battle rages all around: the disordered and surprised dragoons suffer terribly from canister and musket alike. The french center is moving onwards in support.
The Soum division descents the hill tho engage the french tide.
Steel meets steel! Russians srike back.
But retreat after losing the combat.
Finally the dragoons are blown up by the concentrated fire.
En avant! general Morand charges against the Soum division and takes their colours.
In the woods a vicious firefight erupts between the poles and Tuchkov division. Enfilade fire: bad business sir!
after some time Morand breaks the russians
but are met by the descent of the russian guard
Back in the woods the injuried Tutchkov division attacks at bayonet point the poles.
expelling them from the field, and taking one polish silver eagle.
Russians desperatly trying to stop Morand with short range fire.
Friant's charge is too short and his men end up under the mouths of the russian guns.
Sènarmont style, due to their great manouvrebility the artillerie a cheval can make things as running into the flanks of russian divisions and droop grapeshot where it hurts most.
While Morand moves up to the redoubt, the vieille garde advances majestically to fill the gap.
After three turns of inactivity due to plundering (the cossaks presence havs worsened dicipline notably), Uvarov's corps is back and it's jägers shoot by enfilade the artillery.
Cavalry under fire! the cuirassiers are stopped by concentrated fire from the redoubt's cannons and the garrison of the village that has deployed into line. They will keep disorganised (and thus unable to move) for three turns due tot the accumulation ob sixes in shooting until the redubt is taken and it's guns silenced.
Into the ditch! Broussier division launches their assault but fails too short due to the hight ground and stake traps.
Clash of guards! grognards charge into russian guard weakened by concentrated fire.
La charge vers la gloire! In spite of the two wounds suffered the chasseurs a cheval caharge into the great redoubt proving to be once mor worthy of being the empereur's favourites.
Their pelisses are too much for the russkis and finally take over the great redoubt!
Sire ils on pris le redoute! très bien, portez moi mon dèjeuner.
Infantry moving on support.
But the guard cuirassiers counterattak and retake the bastion!
In Utitsa's green the grenadier division tries to break the elusive chasseurs, but only manage tho push them back a bit.
The cossaks charge, but Broussier men turns in time to face the steppe riders.
Bayonneting them really hard.
Back into the fletches, the Tuchkov division charges into the flank of Frian'st men.
Putting the imperials on the run (althought unable to capture the eagle)
The russian guard has fallen back from the french attack, and under the emperor's eyes are shot to pieces by the disciplined ranks of their french counterparts.
Skeet continues in the woods.
The last attack at borodino: Bagration launches his last reserves in order to prevent the garde to going any further
Morand's men step into the redoubt willing to dispute it to the russians, and so it is, the cuirassiers charge again to expell the foreingers from their earthworks.
But Morand discipline is too much for them, and are forced to halt before their square.
The guard hussars charge the great battery, but are unable to defeat the stubborn artillerymen.
The horse artillery dances again, in conjunction with the guards, they inflict three wounds to the vulnerable russian division.
And so the battle ends: here the CiC with their trophies (and some popes tot attend the wounded)
The outcome
Counting each base as 5000 men and each cannon as representing 100
each base offtable are 5.000 casualties, each injuried base in the table are 2500 casualties
each cannon: 100 offtable, 50 injuried in the table
the russians have lost 110.000 men
the french 135.000
A very slight russian victory then, at the cost of heavy losses the french army manages to set a trembling foot in the great redoubt, althought the fletches stay firmly in russian hands. If we compare with history the result looks much more the same: the armies maintain mostly their original positions; the french conquest of the redoubts is a week one, but the russian army would not be able to maintain their ground for long time as their center is partically gone and their right flank is under threat by the cuirassiers. So the russians retreat leaving open the path to Moskow.
