Evert and I may have played all the Russian scenarios, but there are a few we'd like to re-visit. This is the second of our re-plays, after I won it 10:2 playing the Russians and 10:2 as the French. Evert wanted the chance to do better. Plus, we need to practise saying Malo-yaro-slav-ets.

Commanding the Russians, I was loth to make a direct assault on the town. A "Cavalry Charge" card let me hit the French right flank with my Cuirassiers. The result was dead French cavalry and both infantry units in square. This gets me on the scoreboard (1:2 as Evert has the banners for the town) and reduces his hand size by two - a real handicap. Oh, and my Cossacks were obliterated making a nuisance of themselves (but Evert doesn't get banners for Cossacks).

Evert had manoeuvred the Old Guard forward and started bringing his Heavy Cavalry out from behind the river at the bottom of the board. I advanced infantry on my left to get in range of those squares. However, the next action was on the French left when Evert moved some infantry (damaged by the Cossacks!) onto the hills to push back the Russians. I overran them with my cavalry on that flank and put the Old Guard into square. (That's 2:2.)

Evert continued to press on the left, removing a Light infantry (2:3) and forcing another into square. A "Force March" saw the French infantry, including the Old Guard under General Pino, clear the hills and forest, finishing off the square to increase his lead - 2:4.

With the French right flank pinned in square, the Russians were able to outflank the town, occupying one hex, then eliminating a French Line to take another. That's 3:2 as Evert no longer has most of the town.

Evert advanced the French infantry on the left, the Old Guard finishing off the Russian Light cavalry hiding in the corner while the others eliminated the forward Russian Line under General Olsufiev - the General made his way back to the remaining Light cavalry. And the French re-took the lead 3:4.

Olsufiev immediately led the cavalry against the Old Guard and destroyed them when they didn't form square, Gen Pino hightailing it to the safety of the Heavy cavalry - 4:4.

Then the French Heavy cavalry charged, removing the Russian Light horsemen and then the infantry behind them - Gen Lichatschev fleeing the field. This left Gen Olsufiev as the only Russian element on their right flank! And the score's 4:6.

The Russian infantry in the centre fixed bayonets and charged the French positions in the town. This did not go well, with the Grenadiers taking a mauling and only managing to damage the French.

Another "Cavalry Charge" saw the French Heavies sweep into the centre at the back of the Russian infantry. One unit forced battered Grenadiers into square, while the other hit the Russian artillery, now bolstered by Gen Olsufiev. And the Russian Light cavalry stranded in the centre of town finally fell, 4:7.

The Russian infantry finally finished off one of the squares on the French right as the Cuirassiers forced another unit into square. Gen Legrand was in the square and fell with his men, so that's 6:7.

The last full-strength Russian Grenadiers forced their way into another part of the town after finishing the destruction of the French Line holding it. This tied the score at 7:7 and I'm now holding the majority of the town.

And then came our 'favourite' card: "La Grande Manoeuvre" (I'd been holding this since the start of the game, waiting for an opportunity). This let me fling the Grenadiers forward to seize the bridge at the bottom of the board (a banner to the Russians), while re-jigging the troops holding the town to make it harder for Evert to re-take it.

However, that's just what he did, French artillery pushing Russian Line infantry out of the town. So that's 8:7 when I get the banner for the bridge.

The coup de grace was a "Cavalry Charge" on my side that powered the Russian Cuirassiers through the town to finish off the French Heavy Cavalry. Both of them. And Gen Pino. That's a 10:7 victory that didn't look likely a few turns earlier.

Phew! Another epic battle (though not an EPIC battle) that lasted 36 turns, took 2.5 hours and could have gone either way. The French destroyed the Russian right, the Russians took the French right out of the picture and it all came down to the battle in the centre. But not who occupied the town. That was a terrific game, but the re-match will have to wait while Evert is on a cultural (?) tour of Italy.

(I’ve also posted this on my BGG blog, illustrated with some screenshots from our Vassal game: boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/153660/back-maloyaroslavets .)

It's the return match between Evert and me and my turn to play the French. Evert’s Mother Russia roll gave him blocks for two Line infantry, one on the left and one on the right, one artillery, adding to the unit left of centre, and two new Cossacks units that he placed on the right, backing up the Light cavalry.
Once again, I had a "La Grande Manoeuvre" card in my starting hand and used it to bring the Old Guard forward to occupy the church, put artillery in the woods on the left and get the Heavy cavalry out from behind the river (where they were stuck last game). Evert used a "Counter-attack" to copy my "Grande Manoeuvre". His "strategic move" put a Grenadier unit and General Dokhturov into the town right of centre, Foot artillery even further forward in the woods on the centre/right line and reinforced the left with Line and Grenadier infantry.
I quickly gained a banner by killing Gen Dokhturov! Yes, that's the 1/36 chance coming good for me again - Evert was not impressed and the score's 3:0 as I also have two banners for holding the majority of the town.
While Evert's advanced artillery pounded the infantry around it, his cavalry attacked on the right where my Light infantry formed square in defence. My Light cavalry moved against the Russian Light cavalry on the right while French infantry took on the Russian Grenadiers left and centre.
Next, Evert used a "Bayonet Charge" to move Russian infantry forward on the right, only for his Lights attacking French Line in the town to fall as the French battled back. That's 4:0. My response on the right saw the French Light cavalry finish off their Russian counterparts (5:0).
Continued fighting in the centre had little effect until I got a bit of luck to eliminate that Russian artillery that Evert had pushed well forward (6:0).
Having got rid of the Russian cavalry on the right, I was able to take my infantry out of square while my cavalry forced the attacking Russian infantry to retreat and then form square.
Focus now shifted to the left where both sides' cavalry got into the action. My Heavies put two more Russian infantry into square with the Old Guard following up to hit the squares. Russian Light cavalry put a damaged French Light infantry into square. Light infantry's muskets finished off my square while advancing Russian Line took out a damaged Line on the right, Gen Legrand making good his escape. And Evert's on the scoreboard 6:2.
My second Heavy cavalry eliminated the Russian Light horsemen centre-left (7:2). Evert's infantry on the left took on the Old Guard and came off worse (he was unlucky not to inflict some damage), making it 8:2 as one of the squares vanished. The Old Guard then removed the other Russian square on the left (9:2). An "Assault" on the right bore no fruit for the Russians and the Old Guard completed the win by dispatching some battered Grenadiers: 10:2.
Ouch! That's on top of my 10:2 win as the Russians - Evert is not having a good run. I think the key differences for the French this time was getting their Heavy cavalry into play and not having the Old Guard reduced to one block by a lucky die roll. (The Old Guard may have a hefty punch and be resistant to retreating, but they take casualties at the same rate as any infantry unit.) Plus, Evert's use of the "Grande Manoeuvre" to get units into the centre early on was certainly bold, but he couldn't follow up in sufficient strength to exploit it.

Evert and I continue our progress through the Russian scenarios with this battle. I started with the Mother Russia roll and was able to add an extra block to both artillery units plus one Light and two Line infantry on the left (I'm using left and right as shown in the set-up, not according to each army's viewpoint).
In recent games one or other player has had a "La Grande Manoeuvre" card early on. It was my turn in this game, allowing me to push two of my full-strength infantry units well forward on the left and bring the two Cuirassiers up to the hills on the right. Attacking on the right with my cavalry forced the two French infantry into square.
Evert responded by moving infantry, including the Old Guard, forward on the left and sending French Light cavalry against my Cuirassiers. My advanced infantry promptly shattered the Old Guard! (A lucky die roll sees them lose three of their four blocks.) However, Evert won a banner when his left-flank infantry eliminated my advanced Light infantry. The score is 0:3 to Evert as he also has the two banners for the majority of the town. At the same time, he moved the remnant of the Old Guard out of range and they're now blocking the bridge, bottling up his Heavy cavalry.
A "Bombard" card let my artillery take out the French artillery in the centre to score a banner for the Russians: 1:3.
After some more skirmishing on the flanks, I had a sequence of powerful cards that let me attack the town in the centre: "Force March", "Assault Centre", "Take Command". The result was to eliminate a French Line (General Gerard scampering towards the back of the battlefield) and take two of the town hexes to deprive Evert of those banners - it's 2:1.
The battered French Light cavalry on the right finished off my equally battered Cuirassiers, but the Russians continued to attack the town, eliminating another Line infantry and killing Gen Delzons into the bargain. That's 4:2.
At the start of my next turn, I picked up the two banners for holding the town (the score's 6:2) and played a "Cavalry Charge". On the right, the Russian Light cavalry finished off their French equivalents (7:2). The second Cuirassier unit hit a full-strength Line infantry. Evert gambled by not forming square only to see them wiped out (a bit of luck for me and it's 8:2). The horsemen followed up by taking out Gen Gerard (9:2). And, left of centre, Russian Light cavalry overran the French artillery (10:2).
From 4 banners to 10 in a single turn is quite something. That initial "La Grande Manoeuvre" gave me a good start that let me saddle Evert with a reduced hand size for the rest of the game. A bit of luck at crucial moments helped, too. But what can Evert do in command of the Russians?

10-5 thrashing by Docturov. Russians started with two Forced March cards and a First Strike. Three French leaders down, many Eagles lost today.

10-4 for the Russians. Very well played and good cards. An initial la Grande manoeuvre by the Russian brought the cavalry and the grenadiers to the front. After 4 squares (one with a hasty square card) the French were on the defensive the whole battle.

Played this one yesterday. I had the French and won 10-6 and it wasn't really that close. Russians had bad dice. At one point, over the course of several turns, the Russians rolled a total of 30 dice in ranged fire against a French LT. They only scored 2 infantry hits, and no more than one flag on any roll, so the French unit held there for the entire game!

Command and Colors Napoleonics - HMGS Recon - Orlando, FL - April 25, 2014 - Tournament #5

I am posting the results of tournament play for this scenario.
We had 14 players for the best turnout yet.

French had 10 wins
Russians had 8 wins

This seems to be a pretty balanced scenario. I think the consensus was that some starting cards with ForceMarch/BayonetCharge for the Russian Grenadiers in the center greatly improved the Russian chances.



​#1 Richard Lightle wins the closest contest in Tournament history. Pat Kurivial and Richard both had 3 wins and lost 13 blocks. Richard took #1 by beating opponents having a slightly better record than Pats opponents.



​#1 Paul with 3 wins. Yes, the Russians had a fighting chance in this scenario.