The Napoleonic Wars, Black Powder, 28mm

Although it sounds a little like a certain Hollywood director, Tarutino (or Vinkovo) was a battle fought in Russia during the French invasion of 1812. In the real scrap, the Russians trounced Marshal Murat’s French, or rather his  ad-hoc force which included French and German cavalry, and Polish infantry. It was an important victory for Mother Russia, and set in train the events which would lead to the retreat from Moscow. This battle report is brought to you by Bill Gilchrist; The game was fought at my house on a 12 x 6 foot table. I also umpired, as well as providing the terrain and the figures.  Hugh Wilson, and Donald Adamson commanded the French, while Dave Paterson, Mark Taylor and Scott Duncan were the Russian players.I based the scenario on the troops I had available, taking into account (to some extent) the proportions at the actual battle. This meant the Russians had two more brigades and more artillery. The French army deployed with three infantry and three cavalry brigades on the table, with the heavy cavalry brigade in reserve off table.The Russians deployed in three marching columns which entered the table on Turn 1, with the jaeger brigade and the hussar brigade on the right, an infantry brigade, a grenadier brigade and a dragoon brigade in the centre, and their other infantry brigade plus a mixed cavalry and Cossack brigade on the left . Like the French they also had a cuirassier brigade held back as a reserve to be committed by the umpire.The French plan was to hold defensively effectively on their initial deployment. The Russian plan was to break the French centre and outflank with their more numerous cavalry on their left.On the Russian left their advance was held up the dense terrain, and they took most of the game to advance beyond the stream. To make things worse, the leading infantry battalions to cross the steam were then forced into square by Bavarian light cavalry brigade, and so the advance ground to a halt. Eventually, after repeated command failures, the Cossacks crossed the stream and charged the Bavarians. Inevitably they were repulsed, and were driven back of the table, having become “Shaken”.In the centre the Russian line and grenadier brigades were held in check throughout the game by the French “foreign brigade”. During this prolonged fire fight both sides lost a battalion. The most exciting action of the day in the centre was fought by the cavalry. The Russian dragoons drove back the French hussars, and were then in turn broken by the French dragoons. Unfortunately in their moment of victory the dragoons had to pass a morale test, and thanks to very poor die rolling they broke and fled the field. To remedy the situation the French called their reserve cavalry brigade of lancers and cuirassiers onto the field and so the umpire allowed the Russian cuirassier brigade to deploy too.The scene was set for a stirring clash of l’arme blanche. First off the French lancers charged the leading Russians cuirassiers using an initiative move, and the cuirassiers counter-charged, prompting the start of a swirling melee. The cuirassiers were then promptly hit in the flank by the French Hussars who had recovered from their earlier defeat to rejoin the fray. The hussars were left masters of the field as, under attack from two sides, the Russian cuirassiers broke. The only comfort for the Russian players was that the lancers retired disordered.On the Russian right flank the jaeger brigade engaged the fight, and after a long struggle it broke three of the four battalions of French infantry standing in their path. They were helped in this by the Russia hussar brigade who held their French counterpart – chasseurs a cheval – at bay with one regiment, and sent the other hussar regiment around the back of the French infantry. The highlight for the French here came when one of their battalions held off a Russian infantry column which charged it to its front, while also seeing off the Russian hussars, who simultaneously charged them in the rear. Lucky dice rolling is all-important at these crucial moments. Eventually though, they were charged again in both the flank and the rear, and they finally broke and ran.

Tags: Black Powder