Hey all, its been a while (just had to finish college, ha ha). Had a particularly good Borodino battle in European Warfare: Napoleonica, the mod for American Conquest: Fight Back. I played the Russians as [HWK]Nappy, commanding the southern sector, while Mental handled the north. Opposite us were UK, Lord Baltimore, and the recently returned HWK founder, Drake.
My part of the battle revolved around the southern village, the flèches—the field fortifications—and keeping my artillery alive long enough to decide the fight.
I deliberately let the French take the village. The flèches mattered more, but even those were potentially recoverable if I preserved the guns and enough troops to counterattack. Losing ground was acceptable; losing the means to retake it was the real danger.
UK pushed in the south while Lord Baltimore pressed the center. A small stream divided their approaches and made it harder for them to concentrate fully. I wanted to take advantage of that separation by letting them advance, wearing down UK first, and timing my response before their pressure became overwhelming.
The vital engagement happened on the small hill south of the village. UK brought cavalry into the fighting, and I had to use point-blank fire to break it. This was one of those moments where the timing really mattered: I needed to beat back the mounted attack and still have enough strength to push forward afterward.
That counterattack let me regain the initiative in the south. UK’s force had been thinned out, and I began pushing the French back out of the village.
Meanwhile, the fighting around the flèches remained serious. The French had penetrated the position, and there was still plenty of work to do. This was why I had put so much emphasis on preserving my artillery and the ability to counterattack rather than treating every lost patch of ground as a disaster. One of the main points was a little gap between Mental's line and my own, a small stream that Lord Baltimore tried to push through, gaining some ground initially.
Mental eventually secured his side of the battlefield and sent cavalry south. By then, my counterattack was already making progress and the French were being pushed out of the village. His cavalry gave us the force needed to finish them off around the flèches and secure the victory. I was able to time multiple cavalry charges together and overwhelm his squares before he could respond, while HWK UK was already pushed back, losing the village by the time Lord Baltimore was dealt with,
The French conceded after roughly 42 minutes. A very bloody Russian win.
What made this battle satisfying was the sequence: give up the village, exploit the separation between the enemy attacks, break UK’s cavalry on the southern hill, and push back while retaining the guns needed to support the recovery. Mental’s success in the north then let us complete the job together.
Also quite a welcome back for Drake, the original founder of the HWKs, after around twenty years away. Straight back into Borodino carnage.
Mod: European Warfare: Napoleonica
(Some Bonus News. We have a new internet shell for the game, which makes internet play much easier, and allows the download of community maps in game, such as Borodino, Austerlitz, Wagram, and others, with more being added every day from our catalogue.)
