"Waterloo in Two" at Historicon

I was probably the most anxious about these games; they playtest had revealed that the pace needed to step up, and I had made major changes as a result of that (cutting down all the unit hots by one, and removing all the added "chrome"). Would that \be enough to finish the games in 2 hours. Would it still be fun to play?  

Game one started at 10 AM. Miles (now age 12, and very much a veteran gamer!) had the blue command (Reille). 

Mioles had incredibly hot dice the first half of the game, while his opponent... did not! He used solid tactics, too, and soon had half of Hougomont in French hands!

On the opposite flank, long time wargames freind form Denver, John Mumby, had the green command (D'Erlon). There were at least 2 small patches of woods on that flank. 

Miles and his Blue command were all but unstoppable. The French player with the white command (Lobau), fell into the trap of charging uphill with his cavalry, and advancing to point blank musket range with his infantry. 

Miles (Reille) has completely crushed his opposition!

The Guard attacks!

On the opposite flank, however, Picton (orange) has given D'Erlon (green) an equally severe drubbing. 

While Hougoumopnt was on the verge of falling, no real progress was mage at seizing control of La Haye Sainte, and the French losses exceeded 60% shortly before the 2 hour limit. Game 1 to the British!

A trench warfare game right next to us - perhaps inspired by the the Ridley Scott version of Waterloo!  :-)

Game 2 started at 1 PM - Louis (age 10), has command of the French center. The player who had that command last game has turned his coat to fight for the opposing British command of Lord Hill (red). 

The French advance, "in the same old way". 

D'Erlon (green) and Hill (orange) battle it out. The inferior troops of the allied army are concentrated in Hill's command. 

Action in the Center.

Overview from the French Left. 

The Imperial Guard cavalry charge the ridgeline!  The problem with this is that the Cavalry ordinarily hit with a 3+ on three dice in melee, BUT when charging uphill, their hits drop to 5+. The infantry, as long as it survives, cannot melee but shoots at 1 bow range with 3 d^, 3+ to hit. Not favorable math!

D'Erlon is making progress against Hill. 

A visit was paid by Jason Salkey, aka Rifleman Harris form the Sharpe TV show of years past. 

Jason hammed it up for some cameo shots; I missed the next and best one, where he was crouching behind the 95th Rifles, pointing, and looking for all the world like he was about to shout, "FIRE!"

The British infantry and cavalry of Hill's command hold of the French attacks. 

D'Erlon starts to turn Picton's flank!

Reille and the Prince of Orange battle it out; the Horse and Life Guards proved to be tough for the French light cavalry to counter. 

When infantry close to 1 box range, the casualties will soon come fast and heavy!

Picton's command is shattered!

Lobau took heavy losses in the attack on the center as well. Reille held up better, but that British cavalry is now on his flank, and looking pretty ominous!  Shortly thereafter, French losses exceeded 6-%, and once again a few minutes short of 2 hours in. Game #2 is a British victory!

Game #3 started at 3 PM; all adults this time. The French player commanding Lobau in the center was very interested in Napoleonics, and, I believe, playing in his first ever tabletop wargame. 

Initial French advance. 

Half of Hougoumont has fallen to the French!

D'Erlon and Lobau advance. After a strong suggestion that they try longer range musketry (1 D6 to hit on 3+ vs 3 D6 at 3+; Firing comes BEFORE Movement), they do so. 

The French got VERY lucky with their chance cards in this final game!

French Guard cavalry attacks, but this time with much better support; still likely a losing proposition. 

At least a monetary breakthrough is achieved in the Center. 

The longer range fire is whittling down both sides in the center, as opposed to the thumping the French have gotten when allowing the British to get that first devastating volley in. 

D'Erlon is mopping up the inferior troops of Picton!

The imperial Guard infantry attacks; can they take La Haye  Sainte?

Picton''s command is all but destroyed; on the last turn as the 2 hour mark is reached, British losses exceed 60% of their force - a  narrow victory for Napoleon and the French in game 3!

All three games played out perfectly. were a lot of fun, and reached a decision in just under 2 hours from the start time. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!  Below are the rules as used for that day:

Waterloo in Two: Based upon Martin Rapier's variant of Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames

Turn sequence.  1) Draw Chance Card   2) Shoot   3) Move, Resolve cavalry charges  4) C-in-C Rally 

Unit	Move	Combat	Notes
Cavalry	3	3D6	charge only; 2x dice flank attack or vs Light Infantry, or Artillery not in cover;    2D6 v Heavy Cavalry
Heavy Cavalry	3	3D6	charge only; 2 x dice flank attack, or vs Light Infantry or Artillery not in cover.
Artillery	1 .5	1 box range:      3D6  2-4 box range:   2D6 5-8 box range:    1 D6	2 x dice vs flanks of infantry or cavalry, or vs Squares Ignores all cover except fortifications.
Line Infantry	1.5	1 box range:       3D6 2 box range        1 D6
Light Infantry	2	2 box range:       1 D6	Firing ignores cover. No flanks. Take half hits from infantry/artillery fire but double hits from cavalry.  Rifles increase range to 3 boxes (still 1 D6).

Shooting requires LOS, may fire overhead from a higher elevation. Arc of fire +/- 45 degrees, 360 from an occupied Strongpoint/Town. Artillery may not fire from town. Units move OR shoot. Roll specified number of dice. 3+ to hit. Half effect 5+. Quarter effect 6. Reduce morale 1 for each hit. Cavalry do NOT shoot!

Morale Hits reduce morale. Units Rout and are removed from play when their morale is reduced to 0. 

Bayonet Charge  If Line Infantry musketry (1 box range) routs its target, firer may advance into the empty box. 

Movement Units face a box side; no diagonals!. May pivot at the start and end of their move only, otherwise move forward, plus or minus 45 degrees; moves on the diagonal cost 1.5. Diagonal moves cannot be made if both boxes to either side are occupied by troops or terrain the unit cannot enter. All units except Light Infantry and units in Towns/SP exert a Zone of Control into the box directly to their front. Any unit That enters a Zone of Control must stop there, and must face into a box containing at least one such unit. Units that start in an enemy Zone of Control must either remain stationary and face into at least one such unit, charge one such  unit if able, or withdraw from the zone of control without charging.

Interpenetration Light Infantry may pass through and be passed through by any troops from any angle. Other troops may temporarily overstack if they are facing in the same direction at the start of the turn, but must end the turn unstacked, (so units may swap places or pass through). 

Cavalry ChargesCavalry must have LOS to target to charge (so no charging over ridges or through friendly units). Cavalry may not pivot before charging and must have enough movement to enter the target box. Cavalry can charge over bridges or into towns or a wood via a road but at half effect due to narrow frontage. This is in addition to any cover bonuses the target may have. If the charge routs the enemy, occupy the target box, otherwise cavalry remains next to the target unit. Only the unit that charges inflicts casualties! Note that Infantry and Artillery may NOT engage in melee! Any one enemy unit can only be charged once per turn.

Square  Infantry units may go into or out of square at the beginning of their movement phase. Unit in Square

may not move or shoot, but also may NOT be charged by cavalry while in Square.

Column of Route. Line Infantry/Guns +1 box cross country, +2 boxes entirely on road. Cavalry, Lt Infantry +1 box entirely on road (no bonus x-country). Treat units as flanked for all combat, may not fight in column of route apart from cavalry. Cavalry may charge in CoR at half effect. To exit formation, move a normal move next turn. 

Roads. Roads may only be used in Column of Route, they allow units to enter/cross otherwise impassable terrain and impart a movement bonus. 

Towns and Strongpoints (SP): Towns fill a whole box, SPs are isolated farm complexes etc. All unit types can end their move inside towns and SPs; but only infantry can occupy them. Occupied towns and SPs count all their sides as “front”; they can thus shoot 360° and cannot be charged/shot “in the flank/rear”. Line and Light infantry attacked at half effect by Line Infantry. Artillery cannot fire while in a town, but fires at units in them as normal. Cavalry can only charge units inside towns/SP at half effect vs cavalry/guns (5+) and quarter effect vs Infantry(6). 

Woods: Only Light Infantry may enter. No melee. Blocks line of sight. Acts as cover from Fire (half hits - i.e., 5+ to hit.)

Hills: Can block line of sight. May fire overhead of units on slope if on hillcrest box. Half hits (5+ to hit) for units in a hillcrest box charged from a slope box . 

Leaders An Army may have one or more leaders allocated to it. Leaders move with units or as cavalry although they may enter woods. A leader stacked with a unit under their command allows it to re-roll any one die that is a miss, or force the enemy to re-roll any one die that is a hit in fire or melee combat. 

Army C -in-C: Do not act as above, but allow one Rally Attempt at the end of the player’s turn. Roll 1 D6: 1 = no effect,  2,3,4 = regain 1 hit. 5,6 = regain 2 hits.

Leader Risk  If a leader is in a box which takes a hit, leader is removed on a 2D6 roll of ‘2’. If the leader is in a box where the unit routs, or if they are overrun by an enemy unit, they are lost on a 1 D6 roll of ‘1’. If they are overrun and survive, the leader retires 1 box. 

Troop Quality Excellent units with high morale and cohesion or possibly very strong units - 6 hits. Good Units with good morale and cohesion - 5 hits. Poor Units with poor training, leadership, morale, tactics or possibly just weak  - 4 hits.  French Old Guard Units - 7 hits

Unit types

Leaders  Army and Corps commanders of notable repute 

Line Infantry Conventional infantry formations operating mainly in close order. They are assumed to have skirmisher screens and attached artillery, accounting for their long range. Represent 6-8000 men, but the size may be adjusted for different battles, but keep the 2:1 ratio with cavalry. 

Light Infantry Infantry with a much thicker skirmish screen, and a limited number of formed supports and attached artillery. The optimum units for operating in broken or close terrain. Represent 6-8000 men.

Cavalry  Close order cavalry, very effective against infantry in the flank or against guns and light infantry. 

Heavy Cavalry More effective against other types of cavalry. Have attached horse batteries. Represent 3-4000 men 

Artillery Corps/Army reserve artillery grand batteries. Most artillery is assumed to be attached directly to units.

Represent 50-60 guns. Units assumed to have around 20-30 guns each. 

Wellington  Army C-in-C

May Rally 1 unit per turn

Picton (Orange)

2 Dutch-Belgian Infantry - 4 hits 

2 Nassau Line Infantry -  4  hits

2 British Line Infantry - 5 hits

1 Hanoverian Line - 4 hits 

3 Dutch-Belgian cavalry  4 hits

Hill (Red)

1 British Guard Infantry  6 hits

1 British Light Infantry 6 hits

3 British Line Infantry  5 hits

4 British Light Cavalry  5 hits

Prince of Orange-Nassau (Black)

1 British Guard - 6 hits

1  British Light (Rifle) -  6 hits  Extended range 

1 British Line Infantry  5 hits

2 Hanoverian Line - 4 hits

2 Brunswick Line - 4 hits

2 British Heavy Cavalry - 6 hits 

1 Brunswick Cavalry 4 hits

Napoleon, Army C-in-C

May Rally 1 unit per turn

Ney - Additional Leader, can attach to any French unit. 

Reille (Blue)

1 Light Infantry  6 hits

5 Line Infantry  5 hits

Heavy Artillery  5 hits

3 Light Cavalry 5 hits

Lobau (White)

1 Light Infantry  6 hits

3 Line Infantry  5 hits

1 Guard Artillery  7 hits  +1 die when shooting

2 Guard Infantry  7 hits released Turn 6

2 Guard Light Cavalry 7 hits released Turn 3

Guard Heavy Cavalry  7 hits released Turn 3

D'Erlon (Green)

1 Light Infantry  6 hits

5 Line Infantry  5 hits

2 Light Cavalry   5 hits

2 Heavy Cavalry  6 hits