Waterloo, 18 June 1815, refought 25 April & 2 May

 The final battle in Mark Smith's Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles is, of course, Waterloo.  Mike and I will be presenting this game on 13th July at Joy of Six in Sheffield, find out more details here.  We hope to see you on the day.

This was the first practice game - we're confident that we know what we are doing, but we need to see how it plays, make sure we've got the kit we need and ensure that participants have a great time on the day.

So, the Map:

It's portrait in the book, but plays out in a landscape format on the table.  The objectives are physical locations and also whether the French Guard survives the battle....

Set-up

Here's how the table looked at the start - I've marked the well known objectives on the first photo - showing left to middle of the table.  I was French, so all photos are from my side of the table (the South).

Here's the right hand side

Move 2

By the end of move 2 the I had started my plan, a left hook through Hougoumont, followed by an assault up the middle.  I also decided to build a Grand Battery on the small rise to the left of the middle road.  The boggy ground meant that this was slow going.

On the right flank I probed towards the British Line and secured one objective village - Papelotte.  

Turn 4

By the end of turn 4 the French left wing had enveloped Hougoumont, however Mike had re-inforced his line and used the hedges and sunken roads to reduce my fire power effectiveness.  He also tried an extreme right hook with Hanoverian Landwehr, which proved to be a nuisance.  On turn 3 the Guard lumbered into action - well the Chasseurs & Young Guard did.  The Old Guard failed to move.  Perhaps they had not switched their hearing aids on?

In the middle the French move up to La Haye Sainte, whilst on the East side of the road I didn't have enough troops to assault, so I tried shooting up the Allied line instead.  

On the far right of the picture you can see the first Prussians emerging from the woods.....

Move 6 French / 5 Allies

By the end of French move 6 the Guard Chasseurs had proved their worth, breaking through the entrenched Allies and bringing pressure to bear on the Allied defenders at Hougoumont.  The Hanoverian Landwehr is at the top of the picture - having been reduced to "spent" status.

In the centre the French took La Haye Sainte and pushed the Allied centre out of the sunken lanes.  Mike started to shovel his reserves here.  Note the massed guns at the bottom of the picture.

Move 6 complete

By the end of turn 6, things on the left were looking good for the French - the defenders of Hougoumont were being reduced, the Tricolour flew over La Haye Sainte and I still held Papelotte.

However....  on the right I had pulled back to hold the Prussian onslaught with a force heavy in Cavalry and Artillery.  They stopped the Prussian Northern advance, but at the cost of letting the Prussian Southern  column have a clear road to the French rear!  Merde!

Move 8

At the end of move 8 the French left was struggling.  Hougoumont had not fallen, the troops in the centre were under pressure and I was scraping together anything spare to get the Prussians sitting in my rear...

On the right I had received 4 new stands of infantry, courtesy of one of the scenario rules, they were immediately engaged plugging the gaping hole in my right flank, where too little infantry was being crushed by the Prussian steamroller.

Here's the close-up of the middle - the French still hold La Haye Sainte, Mike is getting ready to change that....

Move 9

On the French left the fighting around Hougoumont continued, in the middle the Allies recaptured La Hay Sainte.

On the right the French failed to make contact with the Prussian southern column, so the Prussians held Plancenoit.  The Allies drove my troops from Papelotte as well.

Conclusion

This is a tough one for the French.  They need to get a move on and break the Allies before the Prussians arrive.  My left hook was a good idea, but it took too long to develop.  The Guard Chasseurs were outstanding, but I needed more good quality troops.  La Haye Sainte fell, but was recaptured by the Allies.  I had neglected my right wing, this cost me when the Prussians arrived.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable two days gaming, my thanks to Mike for being a worthy opponent, I enjoyed the banter and bacon sarnies!

If you haven't tried this battle yet, give it a go.  Better yet, come to Joy of Six (Sunday 13 July, Sheffield Hallam University) and play a turn or two, or stay all day.  We had two players, but the game could easily take a few more gamers.

Photo Gallery

A few photos from the day:

The Guard waits at La Belle Alliance for the order to move forward

Hussars - 7th & 9th - slightly disrupted, having just seen off the Hanoverian Landwehr.

Artillery on the move, with the Chasseurs of the Guard on the left and the Young Guard on the right.

Hanau, 30 October 1813 - refight 14 February 2025

The next battle in the Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles book is Hanau, with the Austrians and Bavarians taking on the French on October 1813.  The Austro-Bavarian forces are deployed to catch the retreating French army (heading South West to France) - they expect stragglers and small forces, they get Napoleon and the Imperial Guard!

Here's the map:

Set up

Here's the table - starting with the Allied left

The town of Hanau, with forests at the top of the picture

The Allied right - the green strip marks the edge of the forest, not a strip of trees.  The troops in the forest are the French.

Turn 2

The Allied right flank.  

At the top of the photo the Allies have advanced into the wood to contain the French.  This negated the artillery (as you can only see 3" into a wood), so the combat was charging and countercharging, both sides getting disrupted, gaining cover from the woods and not winning hand to hand combat.  

At the bottom of the photo there are two units of Guard infantry who have burst out of the woods, causing redeployment of one Allied unit from the main battle and despatch of another unit to try to stop this!

Allied middle - all quiet at the moment

Turn 3

At the end of turn 3 events had progressed a little.  

At the top of the picture the Allied cavalry have forced the French cavalry to redeploy in the face of the Allied charges.  

The battle in the woods continues in a confused and inconclusive manner.  The Allied artillery, with no target to their front, turn 180 to fire on  the Guard.  

At the bottom of the picture the Guard continues its advance to Hanau.

Turn 4

On the right the battle in woods continued, with the Allied cavalry taking casualties from repeated charges against the French cavalry.  

The main Allied defensive line started to break up - to the left of the photo are disrupted cavalry and infantry, as well as two spent infantry.

At the bottom of the photo the Guard approach Hanau and a further 6 strong unit advances.

In the middle the Allies defend Hanau.

On the left Mike threatened my Cossacks, defending another two important villages, as this flank is wide open....

Turn 6

By turn 6 the Allies were in trouble on the right flank.  At the top of the picture the French cavalry are pushing the Allied cavalry back.  At the bottom of the picture the Bavarians have been pushed out of the woods and the Allied unit guarding the bridge objective (lower right) has been assaulted in the rear,

Here's the zoom shot - Bavarian line is crumbling.

On the left flank it's all wide open - the only factor slowing the French infantry is the speed of their March.

French Turn 7

By the end of Mike's turn 7 the Allied destruction was complete.  At the bottom of the picture I've lost the Bridge and the river.  At the top of the picture my cavalry is getting hammered.  In the middle are lots of Bavarians sporting "spent" counters (which are actually Bavarian blue) getting hammered by the French.

The Bavarians guarding the bridge/village got assaulted and lost - with no where else to go the survivors attempted to swim the river.....

On the Allied left / middle I still held Hanau, with the surrounding fields littered with the wiped out French attackers.

Out of troops and options, I conceded at this point.  

Closing thoughts

My strategy had been to hold the French up for as long as possible in the woods - this was an error on my part, I think.  It did take Mike time to deploy his troops and get momentum, but the woods hampered both sides, so the wood fighting turned into a battle of attrition and he had more troops of better quality.  I also kept the French bottled up so far in the woods that my Allied artillery could not see them - or shoot them.

My cavalry attack in the North did distract Mike and we had a big several turn cavalry scrap - which i eventually lost.

My concentration on keeping most of my troops in the woods meant Mike was able to send troops to threaten Hanau and to roll up my line.

Mike's numbers and quality did tell in the end - by turn 6 I had units at break point and by turn 7 it was all over.

A comprehensive Victory for Mike and an enjoyable game.  It goes quite quickly, we played it in 4 hours (having set up the previous time but allowing 1/2 to 3/4 hour for lunch).

Mike's French, my Allies all Baccus.

Dresden - 26 & 27 August 1813, refight Friday 17 & 24 January 2025

 The battle of Dresden, 26 & 27 August 1813, is the next scenario that Mike and I have tackled from Dr Mark Smith's "Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles" scenario book.  I had played it once before, a number of years ago, as French and really not done well.  This was Mike's first go at the scenario.

Mark has introduced some interesting elements to this scenario - the French have fortified redoubts to occupy, with half a gun in each.  The incessant rain on the first day of the battle means that the river that splits the French right/Austrian left area of operations becomes impassible, so on the French right flank it is about holding/dominating the two bridging points.

I chose French, Mike opted to be the Austro/Prussian/Russian coalition.

The map:

Set up

The whole battlefield - the Elbe is the wide river, lower left.  The Weisseritz is the medium sized river, this is impassible on day 2 and only has two crossing points.  The bright green rectangle is the Gross Garten.  Shedloads of French troops wait to be released into Dresden from the Eastern bank.

The French left, Dresden and it's suburbs lower left, a thin cordon of defenders in the redoubts.  I deployed a 4 block unit and gun as far forward as possible as a "speed bump".

The French right - a couple of redoubts, otherwise just empty of my defenders!

Turn 2

At the end of turn two the French have re-inforced Dresden.  More re-inforcements wait to cross into the city.

The French left wing, with French troops in the Gross Garten buying time.

The French middle - holding off the Russians in the centre, but only just.

The French right - the Austrian advance has stalled and i diverted my reserves here.  Mike has already had one unit go spent.

Dresden city hall - actually it's for a Franco Prussian game, but it gives a bit of grandeur!

Turn 4

By turn 4 the battle was shaping well for the French as night fell at the end of day 1.  On the left, Dresden is a solid wall of French defenders and Mike halts outside the city limits.

In the middle Mike did take a redoubt, but the French & Allies are now racing to put troops on the hill.

On the right, Mike took up defensive positions, whilst my French controlled both river crossings.

Turn 6

At the end of turn 6, two turns after the night interval, the battle was going well for the French.  On the left the city was well defended, mainly by the Young Guard.  For some reason the Old Guard infantry kept failing their movement rolls!

In the middle a to and fro battle developed for possession of the hill, with both sides attacking and then getting repulsed.  This is where I channelled my reserves and aggressive/killer best troops.

On the right the Austrians could only hold on, so both sides did not do much fighting.  The Austrians started to direct their attention to the upstream bridge.

Turn 8

By the end of turn 8 the French left had advanced to take on the Allied right and was regaining the Gross Garten, putting pressure on the Allied middle and trying to retake the hill.

The French right held the Austrian left and blocked the Allied advance on the upstream bridge.

Turn 9

At the end of turn 9 the French had won a decisive victory.  On the left, they were catching and destroying the retreating Allies.  Dresden is now empty of French defenders!

In the middle the battle for the hill continued as the Allies clung on.

On the right the Austrian left held on, but the troops trying to take the upstream bridge had broken and retreated with heavy losses.

Game end

In this game everything had gone well for the French.  The Austrians had low movement rolls and had not taken any redoubts or suburbs early on.  The French "roadblock" unit in the Gross Garten was destroyed, but contributed to the Allied right's slow progress.  

The French re-inforcements deployed quickly and the French right did really well, stopping the Austrian left and inflicting enough casualties early on to stop the Austrians and make them go defensive.

This secure right flank enabled the French to concentrate on the middle and left sectors, where French quality and quantity stopped the Austrians then drove them back.  The French were able to keep moving and ensure that reserves were fed into the weak-spots in the line.  The battle for the central hill was a real to and fro affair, but by the end of the game this position was in danger of being outflanked.

It was a really enjoyable game, my thanks to Mike as a worthy opponent.