The second day was just as bloody, the deployments were fairly historical with some minor changes.
Nansoutys Cuirassier of French I Cavalry Corps.
The VIII corps under Junot supported Poniatowski’s V corps and on the Russian side the twelve pounder batteries from II, VIII and V corps occupied the ground to the south of the redoubt with II corps infantry occupying the redoubt itself.
The Westphalians begin the assault on the Ochard west of Utitsa.
The Russian III corps under Tuchkov was allowed to deploy two of it’s Elite Battalions within the Orchard in front of Utitsa, this mean’t that when the Westphalian VIII Corps started the battle it would be in combat very quickly. Also the aggressive moves by the Russian commander in Utitsa saw Ponoatowski’s Outflank manouvre falter due to the amount of decent cavalry the Russians threw at it! (It turned out that there was only the III Cavalry Corps under Kreutz, just the amazing dice rolls saw it doing great service for the Russian cause).

The view of the redoubt from Borodino.
The view from the Russian side, it was about to get very messy.
This time the pressure was all on the gap between the fleches and the Great redoubt. Davout massed his infantry here and with the support of Nansoutys I Cavalry Corps and the III Cavalry Corps they hoped to punch a hole through the Russian lines here.

The view south of the Great Redoubt
Montbruns Cuirassier of French II Cavalry Corps!
After the tiles were revealed it became apparent that this would be harder then anticipated, as the afore mentioned batteries of twelve pound guns were deployed here. Still the attempt was made, Neys III Corps went up the slope before the Great Redoubt, taking considerable punishment! Eugene began weedling the skirmishers out of the suburbs of Borodino, moving on to the town itself eventually, here the fighting was intense, with the final throw of the dice seeing the Guards flee out of the village before the victorious Italians.
The view of Borodino from east of the Kolocha River.
The battle for the village of Borodino rages!
Around this time the supporting gun battery and infantry fled from their positions on the east side of the Kolocha.
Outside Utitsa the Poles ground to a halt, letting Grouchy’s cavalry through to deal with the dreaded Russian cavalry that had seen off their own cavalry escorts. The Westphalians entered the Orchard, which is deemed to be an open wood and immediately became Unformed. The skirmisher duel was quick, nearly all the Westphalian rifle armed skirmishers being put out of action straight away. A morale roll of three ones for the Veteran battalion that had just lined out mean’t that there was a retreat before the fight really got under way. The punishment for the Westphalians was bloody after this, with one battalion being reduced to just seven figures from full strength in one round of shooting! Let Latour-Mauburg through with his Saxon heavies, they will smash through the Russian battery and break the line. Grouchy had engaged the Russian Cavalry corps and while it had suffered lots of casualties, the Russians had to retreat to re-group.
On Rumbles the Saxon Guard du Corps, the whole regiment, supported by the Zastrow Cuirassier regiment, surely this would do it! The screening Polish lancer squadrons began by charging one of them into the battery, this was wiped out in the resulting fire. The second squadron moved further forward to get a better position for it’s charge. At this point an Elite Russian battalion appeared on the left flank of the Saxons, emerging from the cover of the Orchard. It was thought that the Russians would be too busy with the Westphalians in the Orchard to bother with the Saxons.
On rode the valiant Saxons! Surely nothing could stop this tide of horse flesh?
How wrong they were! Five figures were blasted off at close range, the remaining squadron of poles was annihalated by the six pound gun battery. The decision was made, go for the guns next turn. The Poles returned to own lines and the trumpets blared!! The Saxons charged, thundering toward the guns, the gunners began to panic, but the die roll proved to be exactly what they needed, the guns fired, canister flew and horsemen crashed to the ground. ( well they did in my head….) The Saxons Guard du Corps lost eight figures from the regiment. They were now just over fifty percent, needing a thirteen to continue into the guns, being Elite they needed a twelve. Rolled eleven, it must just have been too much for the plucky Saxons!
Davout plodded on into the hail of canister and shell, his supporting Cuirassier attempting to get to the gun line in their support, all failed. The corps artillery finally fleeing from in front of the massed Russian gun line, just as the guard cavalry drew up into lines to throw their weight into the fray. All to no avail.
So in summary, the French captured Borodino, contested the Great Redoubt, but didn’t get into the Fleches, Utitsa also remained firmly Russian.
So in two days we had a right ding-dong, with the Russians winning once and the French winning once. A great weekend was had by all!