The fourth game in the Marching Eagles series was recently launched. Read on to find out about the latest game in the series.

After taking the Shevardino redoubt, Napoleon spent the rest of the day and the 6th September positioning his army for the attack on the Russian left wing and centre. Davout recommended a outflanking manoeuvre to the South swinging round the Russian left flank but Napoleon was worried this would take too long and was not prepared to take the risk of letting the Russian army disappear again. So it was, Napoleon was set on a frontal assault against a tenacious enemy. Borodino offers many possible 'What-If' scenarios including the South flank attack plus the historical frontal assault.

Marching Eagles - Borodino provides a large map of the whole battlefield stretching over 7 kilometers from North to South and over 230,000 men split almost evenly between the two armies. Massed artillery plays havoc with the advancing infantry columns, sweeping cavalry charges and counter charges result in higher losses than previously seen in Napoleonic battles. The French player will soon discover clearing a way through the mass of dead, the cannon fire and battlefield smoke is a real challenge in the game. Can you repeat Napoleon's success as the French player and defeat the entrenched Russian army?

This game builds on the previous Marching Eagles games - Waterloo, Marengo and Austerlitz, providing a large scale battle between two great nations, France and Russia. Special features for Borodino include the Russian Cossack Cavalry and Sappers. Sappers can build or destroy pontoons and destroy bridges.

French Tactics at Borodino (when playing against the AI)

Historically, the battle of Borodino was a bloodbath with massive losses on both sides. Napoleon was criticised for his lack of strategic planning in the evening before the battle; the Grande Armee only performing a frontal attack on all Russian positions. However, the wooded areas and the Russian defensive positions and redoubts limited Napoleon's options. The Borodino map in the Marching Eagles game does give the French the opportunity to strike on the far left and right of the historical battlefield but unless rapid movement is employed the opportunity on both flanks will be lost leaving the player with the limited option of a frontal assault presented to Napoleon.

The tactics needed by the French player to make progress at Borodino are highlighted below.

1 - Move the French Light Infantry units in to combat against the Russian Jager in the wooded areas. Move in a support infantry unit to provide local tactical options. Place the French Light Infantry (Legere) unit in 'Unit 2' or 'Unit 3' position to avoid them being pinned down (Rotate command). This will give the Legere units action points for the French player to conduct a 'local initiative' attack during the movement phase and so a total of two rounds of combat for the French units per turn.

2- Move Nansouty's I Cavalry Corps rapidly forward and strike the Fleches with multiple units of 4 squadrons. This will be costly in loss of cavalry but take out the artillery and force the Russian Jager into square which can then be bombarded by the artillery.

The first reaction is to move forward strong infantry units but this will result in a long protracted fight for the redoubts. Even if the French infantry succeed they will be hit by multiple units of Russian Cuirassiers forcing the French infantry onto the defensive and in square. This will effectively stop the French player from making progress beyond the Fleches.

3 - On the French far right - Polish V Corps needs to risk movement out of the wooded areas into the open near Utitsa in 'March Column' and change to Attack Column or Line formation on the following turn. Again expect heavy losses initially until the Light Cavalry Division supporting the V Corps is able to eliminate the Cossacks and Russian artillery.

If the AI moves the Russian units forward before the French exit the wooded areas it will be very difficult to clear the way forward for the French player.

4 - Where possible in the Movement Phase charge in 2 or 3 units of cavalry against the defending Russians. This should wear down one of the Russian units and possibly take out the artillery. The French player needs to make greater use of the cavalry than Napoleon did on the day of battle.

5 - Once the French player moves beyond the wooded areas, particularly in the centre of the battliefield, the French units will be hit hard by the large number of Russian artillery batteries. The French player must move the units forward quickly into combat and take out the Russian artillery.

6 - From the start of the battle the French player must move the Horse Artillery into the enemy areas around Utitsa and in the area of the Fletches to cause the most damage quickly.

If you are playing the Russian side -

1 - Move more Jager units into the woods adjacent to the Grand Redoubt and slow down the French advance. This delays the French attack on the grand Redoubt.

2 - Place a heavy artillery unit (12 pdr battery) in each area of the front to maximise losses on the advancing French infantry.

3 - Use the Russian massed artillery to bombard the advancing French and weak their resolve.

4 - When French infantry advance beyond cover of their cavalry, charge in the elite Russian heavy cavalry - the 1st and 2nd Cuirassiers.

5 - Use the sapper unit to destroy all bridges over the Kolocha river as quickly as possible and slow down the French advance.

6 - Use the Cossack cavalry in multiple charges to slow down the French cavalry. To win, you need to hold off the French advance long enough for the game to complete the number of turns available.

7 - when playing the 'Command & Control' option place a leader in each area behind the front line to ensure all units are under command and therefore have action points.

8 - Russian infantry formed up on the battlefield in 'Close Column of Platoons' which is a tight formation of 24 ranks deep for 8 platoons in a battalion. French battalions moved around the battlefield in 'Column of Attack' which is 2 companies wide and 9 ranks deep. Consequently, Russian infantry suffered more losses under artillery fire than French infantry and the Russian fire power from muskets was only 1/8th the battalion strength compared with French fire power at 1/3rd the battalion strength. Hence it is better to use Russian infantry in Line when in combat or under artillery bombardment.

Thoughts by game designer Paul Bruffell

Borodino Designer Notes

1 - The Kolocha river and streams were all but dry in September 1812. There had been a very long drought period in the region and many streams had dried up. The Kolocha river is not a large river and also had little water flow. However, the French still needed to build bridges across the steep banks of the river bed as the ground was impassable to artillery and often to cavalry. The Kolocha river and the streams are still shown in blue to highlight to the player a major obstacle.

The French engineers built bridges across the Kolocha on the day of the battle within 3 hours.

2 - Due to the large number of infantry battalions employed in a small area for the French attack, the map areas marked are smaller than usual to reflect the slow movement of the infantry battalions and cavalry squadrons moving forward.

3 - Historically, the Borodino battle began at 06.00 and by 07.30 Davout's troops had made their first capture of the Fleches.

4 - Late in the day, dust, smoke, confusion, exhaustion all combined to prevent the French seeing the Russians were beaten and in retreat. This is best reflected by playing 'Extreme FOW'.

5 - Infantry and cavalry had difficulty by mid-day of moving over heaps of bodies. This is partly reflected in the congestion of multiple areas preventing ease of movement for the reinforcing troops.