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

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.

La Rothiére 1st February 1814 - refight Friday 7 March 2025

 The next battle in the BBB scenario book is La Rothiére, 1st February 1814.  Napoleon is now defending France and on French soil.  The Allies, Austrians, Bavarians, Prussians and Russians are seeking to break through the French defences and head for Paris.

Here's the map.  

I took the French army and Mike was the Allies.  The scenario is 7 hour long turns.  There are special rules to cover the terrain (awful - mud everywhere!) and it's hampering effect on movement.  

Set up

Our initial deployments looked like this.  All photos taken from the south (French) side of the map.  Red markers are objectives (victory points).  I expected a tidal wave of Allies & planned a dogged retreat to the bottom right hand corner.

Turn 2 

By the end of turn 2, things were still OK for the French.  On the left I held onto the town of Morvilliers (bottom left) as the terrain and stream broke up Mike's Austro/Bavarian V Korps assault.  In the middle of the ridge was a battery backed up by cavalry.

Top left IV Korps moves towards the undefended ridge, seeking to cross it and take the objective village of La Giberie

On the other side of the battlefield, I hold La Rothiére (on the middle road) and the river crossing town of Dienville.  Mike has struggled to move his infantry forward, his artillery need a whole move to deploy, so he's not yet got his guns into action.  At the bottom of the picture the column s my mobile reserves, the block at bottom right can't move till turn 3.

Turn 4

On the left the brave defenders of Morvilliers repel numerous assaults as the difficult terrain and disrupted results hamper Mike's attempts to bring his numbers to bear.  In the top left corner Mike has only just reached the wooded ridge.

In the middle the Allies are moving slowly forward.  The brave defenders of la Rothiére hang on despite being outnumbered.  On the right I still stoutly defend Dienville and control the river crossing.  

Turn 6

The fighting around Morviliers continues, with the town defenders confident enough to form a line holding the ridge supported by artillery.  The Allies have put cavalry in the village, but my French cavalry have faced off against this threat.  Mike's troops swarm La Giberie, amazingly the defenders hang on, despite being massively outnumbered.

Here's the close up of the fight around Morvilliers.....

On the middle and right side of the battle,  the fight went well for the French.  The defenders of La Rothiére were slowly pushed out, but there was no decisive breakthrough.  The French lost Dienville but managed to retake it.  The French denied the river crossing to the Allies.   

Turn 7

On the left the French lost La Giberie as numbers finally worked for Mike.  

At Morvilliers the French defenders broke up repeated Allied assaults and inflicted enough casualties to cause one Allied to go spent, so no more charging across streams and up hills for them!

 

On the right the French held a position just outside La Rothiére and firmly in control of Dienville.  Both sides took casualties (that's spent Frenchmen behind the frontline), however the French didn't break and the Allies started to run out of troops capable of continuing the fight.  

Conclusion

At the close of play I still had 4 objectives - Mike had taken La Giberie and La Rothiére, but this had been a slow process.  Mike had taken Dienville, but the assault unit had then received no support, so was ejected, in turn, from the town. 

I had some really good die rolls and Mike had not had the same die success.  He needed to attack, but this proved a slow business and the artillery need a full move to deploy.  

I had expected to lose Morvilliers, however against my expectations (and Mike's hopes) the defenders managed to repel all boarders.

It's a great scenario, we played it through in a day and I thoroughly recommend it!