HAHGS 200th Anniversary Waterloo Campaign - Endgame

More and more Prussians descend upon Vandamme's Corps.

A multitude of French troops continue to advance across the Mons table, now devoid of any opposition. 

Gerard and the French Cavalry Corps  continue to slowly push back Ziethen, whilst the Anglo Allied troops do an abrupt about face and start to return from whence they came!

The fighting commences on the Waterloo table near Nivelles.

Von Bulow's Korps still on the March on the Namur table.

a unit each of French Chevau-L:ager Lanciers and Hussars make short work of a straggling Anglo Allied Light cavalry unit, one of the few left on the Ghent table.

More Prussians put severe pressure on Vandamme's Corps, which is still holding.

Ziethen is pushed back to Ligny proper, now that the Anglo-Allied threat is gone.

With almost the entire Anglo-Allied army now concentrated on the Waterloo table, they have little difficulty containing the French. 

Vandamme is battered but holding... barely. 

Nosey turns his attention on the French, intending to make full use of his superior numbers. 

The Vangaurd of Bulow's [actually, Pirch I - see below] Korps finally appears near Gembloux,! However,  Ziethen's Korps is crumbling in front of Ligny. The fresh Prussian cavalry in the vanguard of Bulow's forces fans out to support Ziethen; Kellerman counters by sending his small Cavalry Corps of elite Carabiniers and Cuirassier to meet the threat. 

On the Ghent table, the City is garrisoned by a few Militia units. otherwise the Allies have departed. Emboldened by this,  French sympathizers give D'Erlon directions to the coastal Ports where the British Fleet is stationed.... back towards Mons. D'Erlon groans... it seems that he is destined to be remembered by history as the general who marched back and forth yet again!

The Imperial Guard could march from Mons to the Ports easily enough... but Wellington would be happy to take THAT 2 for 1 exchange!

Bulow's [actually, Pirch I - see below] infantry (being transported on the VUB lid) starts to arrive at Gembloux as well.

Indecisive fighting near Nivelles on the Waterloo table. 

Nom de Dieu! As if Thielmann's larger Korps wasn't enough to deal with already. Pirch's Korps now descend upon Vandamme from Namur. [Correction: I am told by reliable sources inside the Prussian General Staff that this was in fact Von Bulow's Korps, which bhad marched from Liege, whilst it was Pirch I who marched from Namur to Gembloux onto the Ligny table - even the GM gets confused at times by a multiplayer, multi table game!]

Bulow [Pirch I]moves to the rescue behind Ligny!

D'Erlon's Corps, and the cavalry Corps of Milhaud and Exelman's have moved to cut of the channel ports. Wellesley must remove 20 units from the field... of course choosing mostly Militia, Landwehr, and the other troops of his Duitch Belgian allies for the task.... including the garrisons of Ghent and Brussels. The entire Imperial Guard force marches across the Ghent table and onto the Brussels table. The city (above) falls without resistance, and the Guard continues on unopposed. It is ready to descend upon the the flank and rear of the Anglo Allied army at Hal, Waterloo, and Wavre. Due to the rest of the above French troops exiting towards the Channel ports, another 20 Anglo Allied units must be removed. Half of the Anglo Allied Army is now detached to regain control of their LOC!  Game called circa 4:40 PM; Major French Victory. 

A great idea of James' was a short debriefing session at the conclusion of the game. Using two large maps, one of the Player map from the Napoleon! board game, and one of the "secret" umpire's map, we reviewed the broad course of events, with each block representing a Corps, more or less (there are too many red blocks). Above are the opening moves.

Situation at mid-game. Each player moved "their" corps on the map.

Nearing the end of the game. Our Napoleon effectively employed the strategy that  the real life Wellington was originally anticipating - the Maneuvre sur les Derrieres.

My version of the End game.

I will have several player reports, messages sent during the game, and final thoughts in one or more subsequent posts.