Napoleon's Invasion of Russia

In Napoleon's Invasion of Russia is a history of this campaign, but there are tables of organization and equipment for both the Grand Army of Napoleon and the Russian Army of Kutuzov not just for the battle of Borodino, but from June 24th of 1812 when Napoleon first crossed into Russia. This is one of the most valuable reference books I've ever seen! It goes to the battalion, squadron and battery level of every unit of infantry, cavalry and artillery giving the number of officers, men and guns (including the caliber of each gun)! As I am making models of both of these armies in 15mm and 28mm scales for using in wargames, I could not have a better reference! The Nafziger Collection, also available through amazon.com, is a good resource for painting the uniforms of these units. It even gives the names of commanding officers down to regimental level.I am consentrating on Marshal Ney's IIIrd French and allied Corps and the Russian units that the IIIrd Corps actually fought against. I am seeking fellow Napoleonic wargamers who have the miniatures for the other French and Russian Corps of the 1812 Invasion of Russia. They will need this book. We will then need a gymnasium in which to deploy our armies if in the larger scale and on a colossal mechanical table, preferably on tracks that can open up so we can walk between the sections to make our moves, close the table and then spend time for taking photographs of this magnificent little spectacle!Most standard 4'x6' gaming tables can barely accomodate a division-sized Napoleonics game in 28mm scale.Any takers?-- Michael G. EnglandGrapevine, Texas

From a military point of view you can not expect more.

This is primarily a military history of Napoleons ill-fated 1812 Russian venture. The author provides detailed orders of battle for both armies and much description of the actual composition of these huge forces. Nafziger's attention to deatil is truly impressive and the reader who seeks detailed Orders of Battle information will find exactly that here.What makes this book different from the standard 1812 histories is the emphasis not only on military aspects, but on the lesser known movements of the French allied Corps-de-Armees operating on the flanks of the main invasion. Here we get to learn about the fighting which involved the Austrian and Prussian auxilurary corps which comprised a significant portion of Macdonald's, Oudinots and Reynier's Corps. These formatons maneuvered extensively on the flanks of Napoleons main advance in the center. They fought a number of minor and sometimes larger engagements to secure the flanks and threaten the Russian cities of Riga and Minsk. The notable action at Polotsk which involved Oudinot's Corps gets an extensive description. This battle is usually mentioned just in passing with most histories of 1812.Again, this is primarily a military history of the 1812 Invasion. Those seeking a more general work will likely be disppointed here. The author does not spend much time with background events here believing rightly so that this has been covered extensively elewhere. There are plenty of well written, general histories on this topic. This is a work for military history buffs and Wargamers who will find an abundance of minutiae here.There is a large addenda with maps which unfortunately in this edition of the book were hard to read. The small size of map detail was difficult to trace movements at times, but to find any maps of some of these lesser known actions was interesting. A fine, detailed, even classic military history of the 1812 Invasion. Good to read after gaining an adequate background from other related books.

Nafziger has created a tome of detail, once again. The order of battles provided are very useful for doing research on the armies during the Russian campaign. The book is filled good detail and maps on many of the small clashes and conflicts between Napoleon's multi-national force and the Russians.Nafziger has included the text of some of the treaties binding his allies and an interesting account of the Prussian seperation and eventual capitulation during the retreat.For anyone simulating or gaming the period, the book contains many hand drawn maps, which are very nice, with orders of battle and narrative accounts of the minor clashes and fringe battles.I find the corps orders of battle indispensable for recreating the armies in miniature figurines. There is little or no uniform data, and some of the army descriptions (i.e. Berg, Saxon, Westphalian, etc.) are merely general descriptions, but Nafziger shows exacting and meticulous detail in providing "facts" in the order of battle and force compositions. He provides Corps, Division and Brigade breakdowns, including commanders name, unit names, number of battalions or squadrons, number and size of attached regimental guns, number of pioneer companies, nationality, etc. for the French and French allies. The same level of detail is provided for the Russian forces.