We may have got the Battle of Borodino out of the way, but Evert and I still have some 1812 scenarios to play. Starting as the Russians, I noticed two things. First was the neatly positioned artillery that was well within range of the forward French troops. And the second was the cavalry: three Cossacks, two Lights, a Heavy and a Cuirassier.
However, my first job is the Mother Russia roll. I got to add a block to two Line infantry and two Lights. I used these on both flanks: the advanced Line on the left and one of the Lights behind, then the Line under General Kachawski on the right with one of the Lights in front of that.
And I got to start - woo hoo! Which I did by softening up the French centre with my artillery. I flung some Cossacks into the mix as well, taking on a French Light infantry in the woods on the right. Since my opponent doesn't get banners for eliminating Cossacks, they're pretty much expendable. And their advantage is that they attack into woods as if the trees weren't there. Evert put his Lights into square after standing up to the Cossacks' initial attack (two dice, two hits - lucky!) and losing half their strength.
The artillery bombardment paid off (more good dice), removing a French Line unit by the central town of Spass and killing General Merle into the bargain. The score's 2:0 to me.
I pushed Russian infantry (two Lights, one Line) forward on the left to take on the French infantry. Evert promptly moved them into the woods and then attacked from there. On the right, he removed those nuisance Cossacks.
An "Assault" gave me the chance to throw more Cossacks and Light cavalry against the French infantry on the right, while moving up my Cuirassiers and Light infantry. Faced with the Light cavalry, Evert formed square, making two squares on this flank (and only three cards in his hand).
The continuing skirmishing on the left bore fruit for Evert, eliminating a Russian Line: 2:1. And then a Light infantry: 2:2.
I had several Centre cards in hand, so attacked there. First, an "Assault" to move artillery and Guards Grenadiers forward and hit a French Line with my Heavy cavalry. The Line went into square (and Evert is down to just two cards in hand and can't form any more squares).
I used this to my advantage, the Heavy cavalry wiping out a damaged French Light infantry while the advanced artillery destroyed the square. That's 4:2, but at least Evert is back up to three cards in hand.
Time to use my "Cavalry Charge". On the left, my Light cavalry bounced off the French troops in the woods. The Heavy cavalry moved right, finishing off another damaged Light infantry and then obliterating the French artillery by sneaking round the back of their fieldworks. My Cuirassiers also got into the fight and destroyed a French line on the right edge. This takes the score to 7:2.
Evert's "Rally" card was completely ineffective and I played a cheeky "Grande Manoeuvre" to occupy Polotsk with one of the Guards Grenadiers (plus back-up). Unable to do anything about this, Evert deployed a "Grande Manoeuvre" of his own, but the game was over when I gained the banner for Polotsk at the start of my next (13th) turn: 8:2.
Well, that was fast and furious at the end as Evert just didn't have the cards to respond to my cavalry - his horsemen are (mostly) still stuck along the back row. He thinks my recent Memoir '44 games (I've been playing tournaments on BGA) have made me more aggressive. If so, it certainly paid off in this game. It will be interesting to see how the return match goes when I'll be on the defensive.
Pevans
