Waterloo at Joy of Six - the AAR

 Just over a week ago I headed south to Sheffield for our Joy of Six game - Waterloo!

The Day

Mike and I set up the terrain and deployed the troops ready for action.  We very quickly got some gamers interested in playing "for a turn or two".  Some of the players were completely new to gaming - others had bought a copy of the rules, had played solo but weren't really confident that they were playing right - what better way to test your understanding than playing one of the most interesting and famous battles in history!

Mike did an excellent job of umpiring whilst I was less involved in the battle, more talking to potential gamers, answering questions and getting involved where needed.

I had forgotten to charge my phone, so my wife did an excellent job of taking photos and ensuring that we were fed and watered throughout the day.  Last year - (click here) she had come to observe, was asked to play and lead the Austrians to a crushing victory! This year she was glad to just observe...

We were really pleased that Chris Pringle, rules author (see here for his blog) had come up North with Mark Smith, who wrote the scenario book we used.  They spent the day circulating between the BBB games on offer and chatting with the gamers.

After a hard fought battle lasting eight turns with continual action from about 10.15 to 16.00, with much rolling of dice and charging of troops, the Allies won.  

Photos:

Early on in the battle - the French (to the left) are advancing.

My one usable photo.  Mike, in his brand new "Ilkley Irregulars" t-shirt, umpires the three French on the right taking on the Anglo Dutch defenders on the left.

In the background, other games were available ....

About the same time, the other side of the table.

Thumbs up from Napoleon - our first gamer to join and last to leave the table!

From the French (south) side, later in the game.  Still plenty of action in the middle, Prussians arriving lower right.

Drone shot - East at the top, North to the left.  The Allies on the left defend the ridge as the French take La Haye Sainte and swarm Hougoumont.

Conclusions, thoughts but firstly - THANKS:

1. Venue - Thank you to Peter, Lindy and the Baccus team for an excellent venue, helpful stewards and a great show!  

2. Rules - Thanks to Chris for an excellent set of rules that deliver HQGE - fast moving, absorbing games with most players doing something most of the time.  Thanks to Mark for this, the last scenario in his latest book.  We had some spare copies of the book available on the day and were pleased that these were all successfully re-homed!  Thanks for your support on the day!

3. Umpire - many thanks to Mike for ensuring that players got to have a great time on the day!  A further big thanks for making the terrain (excellent!) which contributed considerably to the visual impact of the game.

4. Players - many thanks to those of you who turned up on the day.  It was great to see you getting stuck in to the battle - played with style, banter and good humour!

Conclusions

It was a really good day and a great opportunity to show how BBB can enable a few mates to play a significant battle in an accessible manner.  Most of the players had just started, but the joy of BBB is that you concentrate on decisions, with a lot of the "admin" being done simply, efficiently and reliably within the rules and dice results.

It's been a lot of fun putting on the game and I'm pleased with the interest that we generated.

Thoughts - resources

There are a number of BBB resources that gamers can access, as follows:

1. Chris's BBB blog gives regular updates on the latest goings on in BBB world. 

2. There's an io.group for BBB - gives free scenarios, AARs, advice, clarifications, etc.

3. For figures and conversions, look at this blog and others.  Personally I really like Baccus 6mm, other manufacturers and ranges are available. 

4. There's a Facebook page here that also has plenty of material to look at and read.

Finally - all in all it was a great day - well worth it.  I guess i need to start thinking about JoS 2026....

Waterloo at Joy of Six - the second practice game - 30 May, 13 & 20 June

 Having played Waterloo once, in preparation for Joy of Six, we then replayed the battle but swapped sides, with Mike as Napoleon and myself as Wellington and Blucher.  See the AAR for our first battle here

We now had Mike's terrain and some more troops created for the game so battle commenced!

Here's the map, orientated so that it matches the pictures:

As we had recently played Waterloo on the other side, we organised our opponent's troops for them to deploy - here is the French army ready to march North:

The "drone shot"

Guard to the left, D'Erlon's I Corps in the middle

Initial deployment - The thin red line

Here's how it looked from my side - these are my troops on table but not yet deployed.  The orange roads are the sunken roads - they give some cover from cannon fire and in the assault.

The Allied right 

The Allied left

Turn 2

At the start of turn 2 (our second day of play) I had brought my stock of hedges, so I had something substantial to defend (? hide behind!).  Mike sent forward his left hook to take Hougoumont.  I appreciated how skirmishers, devastating fire, being in a fortified manor in a wood improved my chances of survival considerably!  On the right of the picture Mike pushes down the ridge towards my Brunswick & Hanoverian Landwehr...

On the left, Mike headed for Papelotte.  The Guard waited....

Turn 4

By the end of turn 4 we had achieved stalemate on the Allied right.  Mike couldn't take Hougoumont and his left hand flanking manoeuvre had not broken through.  For most of the Allied line it was a case of "hurry up and wait".

In the middle my troops were mainly waiting patiently for the French to arrive, except at Papelotte, where multiple French piled in to take the fortified village.  To the left the first Prussians arrive, whilst the French Guard, static till turn three, fill the gap on Mike's right.  Mike had learned from my earlier slow response to the Prussian threat.  Tired from their yomp through the forest, the Prussians slowly advance...

Turn 6

At this point things were going OK.  Mike still hadn't taken Hougoumont and his left hook had been stopped by various raw units - they had gone spent, but then so had Mike's infantry, so he wasn't't able to break through on his assaults.  Mike had established a gun line just out of musket/canister range of La Haye Sainte and destroyed my unit defending it.  I begin feeding units to my right as I'm not sure if my spent units will hold. 

On my left Mike holds Papelotte, however his main concern is more and more Prussians emerging from the woods.  He builds a defence line consisting entirely of Guard.  His artillery amuses itself by long range counter battery fire, which is why there are two guns in the foreground of the picture.  They will recover and return to the firing line in due course.

Turn 8

On my right I now stretched my line thinly to hold Mike's spent units at bay, whilst the survivors of the two spent units went into the hedge lines to recover.  Mike's assault on Hougoumont had been unsuccessful, so he had pulled back his troops to recover.  He had, however, removed one of my better units from the field of battle.

On my left the Prussians put pressure on the Guard.  At the top of the picture A Prussian column heads down the road towards the French rear, it looks like Mike's flank has been turned.  In the middle Picton assaults Papelotte with everything he can, Mike scrambles to react to this threat... 

Turn 9

We played turn 9 through enough to decide the key combats and determine a winner.  

On the right I advanced my line to support the gallant defenders of Hougoumont.  Mike's final assaults here were not able to break through.

In the middle Mike occupied La Haye Sainte on his turn 9.  I assaulted and won using the whole of my middle troops.  Not even the Grand Battery could save the French defenders.

On the left you see the results of the Prussian massed assault.  The Guard started to take losses, but well placed artillery meant that the Prussian column on the road went spent and moved no further,  The defenders of Papelotte did hold out, but the Prussians had broken through and driven off the French relief force.

Conclusion

I am pleased to report that it was another Allied win.  Mike, as Napoleon, didn't repeat some of my mistakes, however he was not getting high enough die scores to breakthrough at Hougoumont.

It's hard for Napoleon - as Wellington all I had to do for half the game was wait for the French and keep my troops from being blown away.  Mike had to win big against me early on and then win big against the Prussians.

When I did go onto the offensive, at the end of the game, the fragile and raw nature of much of my force showed up in failures to charge home and units quickly going spent.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the game and it's been great to play on our bespoke terrain.

All that remains is to welcome you on the day at Joy of Six on 13th July in Sheffield - you are welcome to take a turn or two or stay longer.

Waterloo at Joy of Six - the terrain

 Mike has spent the last couple of weeks creating the terrain for Waterloo at Joy of Six, Sunday 13th July in Sheffield.

Here's a sneak preview of the terrain set up yesterday, as we prepared for our second refight of the battle.

It will be nice to have purpose built terrain to fight on!  😀

  We left the gaps to help us work out how the jigsaw goes together.  Looking forward to seeing some of you on the day!

Update - here's the terrain with more features added:

Looking South from Allied position - Hougoumont chateau in the middle, La Haye Sainte farm on the road in the left centre.

Centre of the battlefield - Papelotte village on the left - it counts as a town and is an objective.

The left side - forests and trees to be added

Battle of Vittoria - 21 June 1813 - refight 17 Feb 2024

 A trip to Oxford in February was the excuse Mark S needed to gather the players for Vittoria, 21st June 1813.  Mark and I took command of the French, Chris and Crispin took the Brits.  

The British objective was to take key villages and the heights of Puebla, several river crossings and stop the French evacuating their baggage.  The French had to hold on long enough for the baggage to get away and generally slow the Brits down.

Here's the map.  

I took the French at the top of the map against Chris' forces, Mark's forces were to take on Crispin's two columns coming from the North.  

This was the battlefield as set up - my job was to hold the heights of Pueblo and the hill top middle.  Mark was in charge of stopping the river crossings and guarding the baggage.

Here's our deployment:

French South - bit of a grainy photo

French South West - French my troops facing Chris's Brits in the foreground 

The French South west looking North - Mark is contemplating Crispin's Brits arrival on the board edge in front of him.

The French defending the North Middle - yup, I can't see them either - must be camouflaged!  Actually, I think that they were held till the approaching British trigger movement.

The French defending the North East

Turns 1 - 4 saw the British, Portuguese & Spaniards deploy more and more troops.  Move 5 pics - Chris (in the foreground) sent his light division (I think I saw Sharpe there) into the woods and started sniping.

Same part of the game, looking at 90 degrees to above pic - Chris pushes onto the hill.

One move later....

Chris forms a formidable line and grinds down my French

The battle on the hill goes slowly for Chris as I stubbornly resist, whilst going slowly backwards....

Crispin's advance goes well, with too few French to defend all the river crossings.  The French column in the foreground rushes to shore up the line.

Turn 7

My French continue to battle for the hill.

In the middle, Chris's Brits, loads of skirmishers and Heavy Cavalry support in attendance, charge me off the objective hill and then repel my attempts to retake it.

In the middle, the Brits cross the river and head for the baggage.

Turn 8

By turn 8 the French baggage train has left at high speed (with the payroll) and the British surge everywhere.

My northern French (or ate least the remnant) are now cut off, but continue to battle on.

As ever it was a great game.  In the end the British destroyed the French, but in game terms did not get enough objectives to win.  The French also managed to rescue the baggage and payroll, so the surviving French will all get a pay-rise.  

My thanks go to Mark for arranging the game and being an excellent comrade in arms, to Chris & Crispin for a fun day's fighting.

BBB, as ever, worked well in that we handled this big battle without too much brain strain!

Well worth a replay at some point..... 

Last game in 2023 - Mandara 13 March 1801 (part 2 of Aboukir & Mandara)

 I outlined the start of the British invasion of Egypt in 1801 in my previous post, which you can see here.

This post covers the battle of Mandara, as the British push on to the Egyptian capital of Alexandria.  

Firstly, here's the map again:

The game uses the top 4 rows of squares, with the British deployed in three columns, needing to cross the difficult terrain and drive the French from the ridge.  If the British took casualties at Aboukir (as I did) you can recover some of these (as I didn't) when you deploy your troops for the start.

Starting positions - the British all deploy in column.  Orange cubes = devastating volleys - some British troops were ex-militia, so not as great at firing as the regulars (thus don't get the devastating volley bonus). 

In the middle of the picture you can see the British guards (green cube = aggressive, blue cube = spent, orange cube = devastating volleys).  This unit had suffered in the landing and taken 66% casualties, this did affect the British in the second game as this was the best unit.

The British slowly move forward.  The disordering terrain meant that it took forever to close with the French and start to deploy into line.  The British only have 5 turns to take the objectives, 4 turns if they had taken an extra turn at Aboukir.

The battle was then in two halves.  The British left struggled to deploy and then assault the French right on the ridge.

The British right managed to close with the French left in the ruins, but the French inflicted enough shots to disrupt the British and slow the assault.

General view at turn three/four - British advances on the right not matched on the left.

A view of the British rear, showing units that had to retreat and recover from the left hand assault.

The battle ended in a draw, the British took the ruins, but failed to take the ridge or clear the road to Alexandria.  

Conclusion

This was a really fun game, two medium sized battles setting different problems for both sides.  The British out-number the French 2:1, but need to be aggressive if they are to take objectives in the given time.  The British keenly felt the losses taken by the Guards brigade, who were their biggest and best unit.

Highly recommended and many thanks to Mark for a diverting couple of hours!