The Great Redoubt

Did You Know?

• The Great Redoubt was one of eight games Yaquinto first introduced at Gencon XII in 1979.
• It uses the same game system as Thin Red Line, another Napoleonic wargame designed by S. Craig Taylor.

Background

In June 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia, forcing Russian forces to retreat. By September, French forces reached the outskirts of Moscow, where the Russians made a stand near Borodino. After a fierce battle with heavy losses on both sides, the Russians retreated in an orderly fashion, giving Napoleon a Pyrrhic victory. The French briefly occupied Moscow but were forced to withdraw due to winter and lack of supplies, losing many troops to disease, cold, and starvation.

Description

The Great Redoubt is a two-player board wargame pitting French against Russian forces. It contains 315 counters, a large hex grid map, and a 24-page rulebook, with a complexity level described as more than moderate. Play proceeds through a sequence involving mutual fire or melee, routs from failed morale checks, and possible advances after melee. Morale is central, requiring each player to track every unit's declining morale on a roster sheet. Units adopt Napoleonic formations like line, column, square, and all-around, while leaders exert significant influence. A unit's zone of control only affects the adjacent hex directly ahead, except in square or all-around formation. Optional rules add further depth, covering shifting initiative, road columns, Napoleon's illness, skirmishers, cavalry reaction charges and recall, command control, and extra morale and combat rules.

Reception

Charles Vasey, writing in Issue 46 of Perfidious Albion, compared the game's effect to a metal figurine wargame, noting that Yaquinto gave it the same treatment as Airforce. He found the dark counter colors made reading them difficult and the overall effect odd, but admitted the simplified rules allowed play at brigade level in reasonable time. In Issue 107 of Campaign, John Olsen commented on The Great Redoubt and Thin Red Line, stating that Yaquinto used a first-rate system to let players experience the scissors-cut-paper, rock-breaks-scissors, paper-covers-rock aspect of early 19th-century warfare.

Bill Haggart, in Issue 24 of Fire & Movement, felt the game favored the Russians due to their higher morale and equal or superior firepower, making it hard for the French. He concluded that the system is difficult and challenging, requiring time to master. Jim Hind, in Issue 13 of The Wargamer, found the game less complex than some competitors, noting it had all the detail of Napoleonic tactics found in La Bataille de la Moscowa but in a more reasonable size.

Ian Chadwick, in Issue 53 of Moves, called it a good but long and somewhat confusing game. He complained about the difficult rules format, overly thick counters that required a sharp blade to cut free, and poorly colored map art. Despite these issues, Chadwick concluded that Yaquinto did quite well for a first expedition in Napoleonics and seemed to have learned from what had come before.