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....

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!

 

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.

Leipzig 16-19 October 1813 - Birthday refight 21-24 April 2023

 As part of my recent birthday celebrations my friend Mark laid on one of the big Napoleonic Battles - Leipzig.  The real battle was fought over 4 days, our refight also accommodated other birthday related activities, so it lasted 4 days as well.

Wikipedia tells me it was the largest European Battle before WW1, so it's a must for any gamer interested in the Napoleonic wars.

Mark set up his games table and I took the Allies.  I had a number of strategic towns and villages to capture in addition to Leipzig.  There was a scenario option to threaten the French escape route over the causeway at Lindenau , which I took.

I don't have the BBB scenario map, so here's the map from Wikipedia to give some idea of the scale of the battle and the forces involved.

I opted to be aggressive on day 1, which had mixed results - Gyulai spent the day sparring with Bertrand for Lindenau, Blucher got half his army to move forward, Schwarzenberg tried to assault over the river and got rebuffed.

Day 1 pictures here:

Slightly out of focus - the battle for Lindenau.....

Schwarzenberg- held at the river line, with large numbers of troops but too small a deployment area to make their numbers tell.

 Schwarzenberg's left, with the 7 strong Silesian Landwehr in the middle attacking the aggressive Poles in the village on the river....

End of day 1 here:

Schwarzenberg slipped troops into the wood to threaten the French left.  Mark "that's an impassible river"  Colin "not according to the map - the river starts in the wood"  Mark "bring me the head of the imperial cartographer...."

Schwarzenberg's left - in the centre the 7 strong Silesians have evicted the Poles and crossed the river, but in the centre the French still hold the river line. 

A view of Schwarzenberg's gains and losses.  The French still hold the river line in the middle, but with the Allies in the woods to their left and the Silesians across the river to their right, it may be time to withdraw....

Meanwhile, Blucher's army has assaulted the French frontally (mainly shooting rather than assault) which has enabled a mixed infantry & cavalry force to arc left and get over the river line.  In the top centre of the picture Mark has sent his reserve cavalry to counter this threat.

Overall, as the sun set on the first day of the battle, the Allies had much to be pleased about.  The French river line defence was broken in three places, the Emperor has had to commit all three Guard units already.  In the distance more Allied troops can be seen.....

In the scenario the second day is a night move, as both sides in reality had some minor skirmishes as they consolidated the gains made / shored up the gaps in the line.  Mark duly readied the Grand Armee for day three......

Day three dawned with the French in new positions, hoping that shorter defence lines will counterbalance the huge numbers of Allied troops advancing from all points of the compass.

Bernadotte arrives

To the left, the French hold the hill.  The raw Allied troops occupying the lower left village have opted to "stoutly defend" rather than charge the Middle Guard and 4 batteries on the hill.  This increased their chances of getting a medal at the end of the campaign considerably.

Schwarzenberg gets more troops.  Mark is stockpiling disrupted markers in the middle of the battlefield....

The Lindenau refight starts again.  The blue and white buildings are Leipzig, now full of French defenders.

Finally, Blucher - whose army is now facing an undefended river.....

Day three saw the Allies advance to within musket range of Leipzig, which triggered a die roll to see if the French engineers, worried about the pressure on Lindenau, blow the road on the causeway over the marsh.  

The Allies assault Leipzig

The winning dice!

We fought the battle over 4 real days, it was a lot of fun and a great way to celebrate my birthday.  

We agreed that there were a lot of troops to manage - with only two players we spent a lot of time moving around the battlefield.  It would be an ideal battle for 4 or 6 players - it would probably have gone a little faster.

BBB worked well - there were a number of hand to hand battles that were closely fought, no results were wildly unrealistic.  

I would definitely play it again!