Maloyaroslavets

Battle of Maloyaroslavets, by Peter von Hess

This was a very special game played in the War Room some months ago against old friend of my fathers.  Marshall R was a colleague of my fathers when I was a lad.  My Dad had dabbled in wargaming a bit when he was younger, but he never really took to the hobby.  I, on the other hand,  fell for toy soldiers and fell hard.  The good Marshall was very kind to me when I was a youngster, teaching me how to paint my Airfix French Foreign Legion and slipping my Dad spare copies of Wargames Illustrated. 

So it was a real treat to finally host him in the war room for a game of Command & Colours Napoleonics. We played the battle of Maloyaroslavets from the Russian expansion. 

The Field of Mars

The scenario introduction from the Russian expansion. 

Napoleon marched southwest out of Moscow on October 19th toward the fertile region around Kaluga where supplies could be obtained. Eugene commanded Napoleon’s advance guard and all was going as planned until reaching Maloyaroslavets. Kutusov had also directed Dokhturov to march for Maloyaroslavets and the Russian advance guard arrived first. A furious meeting engagement ensued as Eugene charged over the River Luzha bridge and into parts of the village. Both locations changed hands several times. At one point Dokhturov broke off the attack, but was reinforced by Raevski and renewed the fight. Eugene’s final effort drove back the Russians to the ridges that overlooked the village. Early in the afternoon Napoleon was near the village, but after a close encounter with a party of Cossacks, he decided not to renew the action and made the fatal decision to alter the route of retreat to Mojaisk, forcing the army to retreat through the regions devastated during the advance on Moscow.

The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. Can you change history?

Link to the official scenario. 

Mr R took the French as he is by inclination a vile canting Bonapartist of the worst sort and they're bit a easier to play for players who are relatively new to the game. 

The central position, the town of Maloyaroslavets, is held by the French, but not so strongly as to be impregnable. The French have forces to reinforce it, but they're not immediately in position.  The Russian player is face with a choice, do you try and crumble the flanks of the French position and push on one side or the other, or commit to frontal attack? 

I committed to a frontal attack early and though I took fairly heavily casualties, I managed to take the centre with enough force to hold it. The French held part of the town, but without reinforcements  they wouldn't be able to drive me out again. 

Meanwhile Marshall R realised relatively quickly that trying to retake the town was a fools errand and mounted an attack on the French left. The Old Guard Grenadiers and French infantry drove forward into a flurry of Russian musketry. 

The French infantry managed to drive a wedge into the Russian position and I had to bring up Prince Mishkins Hussars to plug the gap. 

On the Russian left, Marshall R pushed his cavalry and infantry forward.  He didn't have the edge in numbers (always a problem, if you're attacking), but he had the edge in quality. Time would tell if that edge would be enough. 

The battle raged all across the front, with Marshall R pressing forward on the flanks to see if he could put pressure on me.  Several Russian battalions were broken before I could shore up the left, but I was still ahead, just. 

The Prince Mishkin Hussars were pummeled by a charge of French dragoons on the right, sent tumbling back and only barely survived to reform in much reduced numbers in the Russian rear. 

Not only did they batter the Hussars, but they followed up and crashed into the line infantry behind them.  The Russian formed square and held tight while the Dragoons thundered around them.  Meanwhile in the centre, I was able to bring my guns to bear on the weakened French infantry and break their will to resist.  With that the French army began to retreat from the field and the Cossacks began their pursuit. 

This was a close fought game which ended 8-10 and was nail biting right to the end.  It was real pleasure to get Marshall R around the table and hopefully we'll be able to do it again before too long.  I can't imagine telling ten year old Kinch that one day I'd been able to host him at my own wargames table.  Definitely a hobby life time achievement highlight.