1812 Retreat from Moscow - Scenario 3 - The Killer Wind

 The third of the four scenarios in Pazoot's 1812 Retreat from Moscow Battle Chronicles game.

The French stragglers need to get through the village and collect loot to survive the night while avoiding the chasing Russians. But with a raging blizzard their sense of direction can be confused and the exit can shift randomly and the Russians can appear just a short distance from them. 

While not as lucky as last time their luck still held and they nearly all made it out of the village.

The situation at the start of the game. The French need to get from the top right to the exit at the bottom left. However, each turn the exit may move around the left or bottom sides.

Our pursuing Russian heroes. Lots of Cossacks.

Our French team. I have added their names to the bases. While the white painted numbers were very effective in not being apparent on the table I couldn't read them. 😂

End of turn 1.  The French have split into three groups consisting of: three unwounded infantry, three wounded plus the cook, and the two Lancers. This means each group can move at the same rate.
 Two Russians have turned up on the right.

End of turn 2. The lancers have attacked the two Russians killing one. The unwounded French have looted some bandages, a sword and a telescope. The wounded head towards the center of the board but two Russians have appeared on the right.

End of turn 3 - The Lancers finish of all the Russians on the right -  red dots. The unwounded French loot some warm clothing while the wounded loot some bandages....still no food. Two more Russians appear from the snow storm from the south.

End of turn 4 - Those two Russians are quickly shot by the wounded French. The unwounded French and Lancers head for the exit and any remaining loot in that direction. Some firewood and vodka is looted.    Three Russian Jagers appear on the left.

End of turn 5. The wounded group looks to find some more loot at the bottom left of the village. The unwounded French trade fire with the Jagers killing two of them but Marc receives a wound. The exit appears tantalizing close to the French unwounded group and Lancers. During the turn the French loot more Vodka and firewood.     Four Russian infantry appear out of the snow at the top, partially hidden by a building.

End of turn 6.  After killing the last Jager the two French infantry and the two Lancers escape the village. The remaining French troops head towards the exit and pick up any convenient loot but they are now in a very dangerous position with two groups of four Russians after them.

End of turn 7 - Russian fire is ineffective and they can't reach the French for melee. The French loot vodka, a sledge and bandages, a poor return for the risks taken. Four more Russians appear from the south. With the Exit now disappeared out of reach will the French survive to the next turn? They need one more man to get off the table, preferably Alain and the cook (otherwise the horses are toast)

End of turn 8. A sudden flurry of snow and the exit appears very close. "Lucky" Luc has cunningly thrown a bag of gold coins towards the closest Russians, distracting them, but unknowingly has dropped his lucky rabbits foot that took him through three battles and five years in the Grande Armee. The remaining two Russian groups close in and fire, wounding Luc twice meaning he will move too slowly to make the exit next turn.

End of turn 9. Luc is shot down in a hail of musket fire just short of the exit, covering the escape of the others. They will remember his sacrifice if they make it back to France.

As they huddle around their campsite the French pray for Luc and count the day's loot and wounds.

In the campaign phase they can heal all the wounds with the bandages and vodka they looted. the firewood and remains of the sledge get them through the night without frostbite, plus without Luc and with the efforts of the cook they have just enough food (including a food point carried over from last scenario). The horses eat their fodder hoping tomorrow they will be just as lucky.

The telescope will come in handy in the next scenario although the Green Hat they looted before may cause problems. No gold coins are left but with everyone unwounded their prospects are brighter.

Thoughts on the scenario.

It is very interestingly balanced. As more loot is collected the chances of getting anything other than Russian infantry falls and with a maximum of just twelve of them it makes it easier to escape.

While the victory conditions say you need to get food, I thought that as I have the horses and the cook I would be able to feed everyone anyway so I just let that slide. Escaping the Russians today is more important than eating tomorrow.

The moving exit marker made the game very exciting. At what point do you start escaping? I should have left the cook with the unwounded French as they move faster and as she doubles the amount of food losing her would have been disastrous... especially for the horses.

1812 Retreat from Moscow - Scenario 2 - Through Frozen Streets

 The second of the four scenarios in Pazoot's 1812 Retreat from Moscow Battle Chronicles game.

There is no doubt that the French were extremely lucky in the first play through of this scenario. Not only were the Russian reinforcements few but they also appeared away from the French soldiers. The loot that was investigated was a mixed bag but did supply the necessities as well as some useful equipment. On to the detail of the game.

The starting positions. The French need to get from the top right to the bottom left.

The Russian hordes/heroes available to stop them.

End of turn 1 - One loot point has been investigated and it is food! Only one Russian line infantry appears and the Lancer is ready for him.

End of turn 2 - The French continue their investigations / pillaging. No civilians have been asked to join despite their wailing. Two lots of horse fodder have been discovered, at least the horse will be well fed before it gets eaten.
The Russian that appeared has been run down by the Lancer (red dot) but one more has appeared on the left hand side of the board.

End of turn 3 - The French head towards the exit. Two more loot points are investigated and they find a Pretty Green Hat, some gold coins, and some food. Now all they need is firewood!
The Russian soldier charges in bravely to close combat to no effect and battle will continue next turn. From the top two more infantry appear.

End of turn 4 - Another bag of coins is discovered. The Russian soldier is killed in close combat when Marc charges in (red dot). Both the new recruits have shown their bravery. The two Russians move from the top but their musketry is lacking and they hit nothing. Four more Russians appear on the right hand side but they are well away from the rapidly evacuating French. 

End of turn 5. The first French soldier reaches safety and the others are close behind. Marc throws his gold coins to the closest Russians and this will delay them two turns as they dig them out of the snow.  More gold coins and firewood is found and Luc takes pity on one civilian and brings him along. But his kindness is not rewarded and four Russians appear just to his rear.

End of turn 6 - Five French soldiers have made it off the board and only Alain remains, slowed down by searching a house and finding some blankets to stop the cold, will it be worth it. The four Russians shoot at him and cause one wound. He will make it off just in time.

The post game examination of the loot. Two food, three horse fodder, bag of gold coins, firewood, a green hat, and some blankets. Oh, and one civilian.
But importantly only one more wound and no one lost.

Campaign Phase.

Food

Their luck continues and the civilian they rescued is Margurite the cook, who can make an additional three food points, giving them an automatic six food points before they see what the food they looted is worth. The food they looted becomes another 3 food points so now they have 9. What to do with the additional points? They decide to recruit another infantry man (Louis) and another Lancer (Francois on the condition that they can always eat his horse - both being hungry they agree, although his horse is not very happy about it!)

Frostbite.

The two wounded are let closest to the fire as is Marc who found the firewood. Benoit, Luc, Christophe, and new recruits Louis and Francois brave the cold. Luc and Francois both end the night with frostbite, one wound each.

Morale

Plus one for the two new recruits. (But Morale stays at 5 as I added two for the two new recruits at the end of scenario 1 instead of just one)

Will the next encounter be so easy? Let's hope so for our starving desperados, but the reality is that it can go from bad to worse. 

1812 Retreat from Moscow - Scenario 1 - The Barn at Dawn

 So I have made it through the first scenario on my second attempt.

Got off the end of the board with my food and only lost two men,(the minimum requirements) plus got some firewood, bandages, fodder, clothing, and a sword.

On my first attempt, I only found some food at the last loot spot, at which point the table was crawling with Russians and five of my men were dead.

So some photographic evidence of the successful game.

End of turn 1. I decided to split the group in two, to reach the loot points as simultaneously as possible to reduce the number of Russian reinforcements - the more loot discovered the more Russians turn up. Firewood was discovered at the first loot point. Two Russians have come on at the right side.

End of turn 2. One more loot point is discovered, fodder. This was worrying as I need food! The Russians reach the edge of the wood and open fire but miss. Two more Russians arrive on the left.

End of turn 3. Benoit discovers food at the bottom of the field near the exit. Unfortunately five Russians turn up next to it. Elsewhere, a Russian is killed in melee but Edouard receives one wound, luckily he has found some bandages. In the top building Luc has discovered some clothing.

End of turn 4. Benoit makes a bee line for the exit. Christophe finds some vodka in the bottom building but is caught by the Russians and suffers 3 wounds. Alain and Luc head to the exit, Alain shoots one Russian on his way as well as discovering another food package. Edouard kills another Russian but Gaspard needs to fight off two of them. More Russians appear on the right.

End of turn 5. In this turn the choices got nasty. Alain, Benoit, and Luc exit the table to safety, Edouard nearly makes it.  Christophe and Gaspard remain to hold off the Russians to allow Edouard to escape  next turn. Gaspard is cut down but Christophe managers to survive. More Russians appear at the top.

End of turn 6. Edouard escapes, Christophe can't make it to the exit and is cut down just short of safety.

A difficult game with some difficult decisions to be made. The scenario teaches that you need to be utterly ruthless to live through the retreat.

The campaign phase.

The food points fed everyone and allowed me to recruit one more infantry (Marc) and one Lancer (Christophe) I chose the Lancer as we can eat the horse if we need to 😢 Hopefully the two remaining fodder points will help.

The bandages healed Edouard's wound but then he got frostbite! Having lost two men morale went down 2 but then rose 2 from our new recruits.

So stay tuned for scenario 2, Through Frozen Streets. 

A few final thoughts. I expanded the QRS so I didn't need to flick through the rule book so much. It all fits on one page. As food is vital I think I may choose loot points items in advance to ensure that there is at least 2 food points hidden on the board. Otherwise it can be impossible to win if food does not come up when rolling for the loot point contents on the Loot Table. Although food becomes more plentiful in the next game so I may just see how I go. 

1812 Russians

 The Russians are coming, the Russians are here!

All the Russian troops that came with the 1812 Retreat from Moscow purchase are now painted.

In the foreground French infantry trudge down the road while chased by the Russians. On the right French lancers try to slow down the Cossack horde.

Cossack horde

Russian line, just as cold and miserable as the French.

Russian Jagers taking pot shots at the French column.

Well, that is all the painting and terrain completed for the 1812 Retreat from Moscow campaign. Now to play the game!  I just have to clear the table of another project, print out the campaign documents, and then off we go to see if I can make it out of Russia alive!