Battle of Maloyaroslavets, Fought on 29th May 2012 at New Buckenham Historical Wargamers Club

 Hello there! At last the wargaming famine is over with the above battle fought at the wargames club I attend. In a large hall the game was set up the evening before and players arrived promptly to get their places and plans arranged.

 Although dcropped and part way through the game this picture gives you an idea of the size of the game.The actually does not show a further third of the battlefield at the bottom of the picture which holds the Italian division and its cavalry.

Which is here marching across the board.

Here next to the Italians is the Russian church on a plateau. The ground had a scattering of snow represented all over the table.

This is the objective for the game. The capture of these two village sectors were the goal for the French and Russian forces.

Annd the Approaching assaulting french forces. Gallantly led be me they were going to keep many of the Russians occupied and not defending the villages. They did their job but did not get into contact with the enemy.

At the same time the troops under my command had to deal with the threat from their left of a cavalry division comprising of cossacks and regular light cavalry. These did slow some of the advancing infantry battalions as they had to form square to repel these forces.

These Saxons were held up in particular. These were supplied for the game by Will who has done a very good job of painting these.

They were on the right wing of the approaching division whichis here.

The left of my attacking column had the French forces that were assaulting the village sectors. They were supported by this 'grand battery'

At the same time, on the far left of the battlefield the Italian division advanced to their objective against an angry grey sky.

Meanwhile after a couple of attempts to threaten the flanks of the formed infantry the Russian light and irregular cavalry withdrew into nearby woods.

Although the moves in the game were kept going, (by the umpire Darren), there was time to showcase some of the figures used in the game which came from a number of different collections within the club. These figures are completed from the latest Perrys plastic French line box. THey have come out very well indeed and looking to the left of the picture is a small conversion showing a wounded infantryman.

Here is a close up for you.

The representation of the cavalry commander on the table is here.

The Italians on the other side of the table and from another collection looked good too.

Here is the front of 'my' attacking forces from the Russian point of view.

The village sectors started off in Russian hands and on the first attempt they were pushed out. However the dekoralisation of the division they were part of led to them breaking and quitting the field. This lead to a scramble to fill the vacant position which the Russians won. They stayed there for the rest of the game.

Further forces made their way across the board to back up the forces under my command however they were not able to make a difference to the outcome.

An overview of the game at this stage shows the Russians absorbing the pressure all along their front. They broke fighting against the Italians but held along the rest of their front.

This is the attack of the troops under my command. They did get a bit closer than this and after two attempts to press home their attack  they were finally demoralised and could not turn this back.

To make me feel better here are the Italians successfully engaging the Russians.

Here is a last look at the head of column of another collection.

Overall it was a very enjoyable game and well worth the wait after the 'Wargames Famine' of the last year or so. It was well run by the umpire and with over 50 battalions on either side it made a very good spectacle.

Further AAR and photographs are available on the New Buckenham Historical Gamers Facebook page here.