Black Powder: Rearguard in Russia 1812

This Easter long weekend I set up a largish Black Powder game, set in Russia in the early summer of 1812, during the French attempts to pursue and encircle the Russian Field armies. Given the pestilence that currently stalks the land, this was a solo game - although the Easter Bunny would occasionally leave small chocolatey gifts when I wasn't looking!

Playing against the Russians in a solo games makes things easier, particularly when their mission is simply to temporarily defend a narrow defile gap in the forest, forcing the enemy pursuit to halt and deploy. I also adopted the Clash of Eagles rule for the Russians that they could not use initiative movement - except to charge!

The Russian rearguard consisted of 10 infantry battalions - 2 brigades of 5, 3 batteries of 12 Pounders, and a heavy cavalry brigade of 2 regiments of Cuirassiers and one of Hussars. 

An infantry brigade was deployed to each side of the road out to each respective treeline, with the heavy guns concentrated to cover the approach road. A detachment of  Jagers defended the village around the crossroads, and Cossacks patrolled the edges of the woods to delay any encirclement...

As is the way, the French vanguard vastly outnumbered the defending Russians: 5 Brigades of infantry, each of 4 battalions, 2 medium foot batteries and 2 heavy batteries, and an attached light cavalry brigade of 2 Chasseur and 1 Hussar regiment, plus horse guns.

Backing them up, in deep reserve off table, were the forward elements of the Heavy Cavalry Reserve: 2 Cuirassier brigades, a Dragoon brigade, a Lancer regiment and horse guns. However if these were heavily committed, rather than simply coming forward to claim all the glory after the event, the best result the French could claim was a draw. To win they had to get 2 intact infantry brigades off the table on each side of the Post road within 8 moves.

The game opened with the Russian pre-game bombardment as the French deployed on table: 2 volleys at long range, then one at medium range, then the game started. By the fourth volley of artillery fire one of the French Infantry brigades was thoroughly disordered and shaken. However they had managed to detach skirmishers to cover the forest on the flank.

However on the French left flank things were moving apace - one infantry brigade had hurled itself impetuously onto the Russian line...



and the other 2 brigades were closing up too...

Meanwhile the French foot artillery was concentrated forward to conduct counter-battery fire against the Russian batteries, in the hope of drawing their fire from the suffering French infantry columns... 

The Russian target of the first French column managed to hold on - the Russian Infantry were all Tough Fighters rerolling one failed H-2-H dice... 

But there were more columns to come on this flank...

 And soon parts of the Russian right flank were falling back in disorder...

Flanking enfilading fire from the Jagers in the village helped to break up the integrity of the closest French column...

But sheer weight of numbers was beginning to tell, despite some hand to hand victories for the doughty Russians...

Was it time to commit the Cuirassiers and Hussars to force the French Columns into square - the French Heavy Cavalry were not yet on table, so perhaps there would be time to halt the French infantry then regroup to meet the French Reserve cavalry later? A failed order answered that question!
 

With the intrepid French Light Cavalry moving to support their infantry, that opportunity seemed to have gone - the French Lights would have to be disposed of first...

Easily done!

However by this time the French infantry from their right flank had moved across the table to help exploit success...



Whilst on the deep French right flank, the skirmish screen were also driving the Cossacks back...

Getting confident, one skirmish battalion edged out into the open, the better to take the Cossacks under fire...

 

The wily Cossacks were having none of this bravado - still able to charge upon initiative, they did so! However, under Clash of Eagles, skirmishers are able to form square as if from line, with the over-confident Legere were able to do - so no harm done this time!



Returning to the French left flank, the Russian line was now buckling under the pressure, and the Russian Cuirassiers were too busy following up the remnants of the French Light Cavalry to harass the French columns...

But where was the French Heavy Cavalry? With the Russian battery by now whittled down to a third of its former glory, and the Russian right flank crumbling, surely now was the time to sweep in and grab all the glory? Alas for the French offensive, a blundered order and subsequent roll of 2 on the Blunder table meant that the Heavies were now a full 2 moves off entering the table edge - and this was move 7! 

Despite an inert defensive plan, the tough fighting of the Russian Infantry, coupled with French blundered orders, meant that the French were only on the cusp of breaking through by move 8, so victory went to the sons of Holy Russia this Eastertide!