Wellington's Waterloo at HAVOC

Saturday night at HAVOC saw the big game - "Wellington's Waterloo", with the "Square Eagles" rules. These are a 3d6 variant of Neil Thomas' "One Hour Wargames", based upon ideas by Steve over at the  Sound Officer's Call blog, and also Malcom Wright (who's rules I used for my three "Waterloo in Two" games at Historicon last year).  .  

Long view of Waterloo at about the end of Turn 2 - French to the right, Anglo-Allied to the left, (10 mm) Hougomont in the foreground. The risges were custom made my be for this year's game. 

Light Infantry are especially useful combating defensive positions!  French wisely decide NOT to close within 1 box of the British on the ridge, but rather exchange longer range skirmishing fire. 

D'Erlon advances on the French right, with Picton's command in his sights. 

Action around La Haye Sainte and Hougomont. 

Ney (Mark T) and the Imperial Guard Cavalry support d'Erlon's advance, whilst Hill (James S) dispatches his cavalry to Picton's aid. 

Picton's command is being ground down.

Reille keeps Hill honest; he can't afford top strip off too many troops to succor Picton, lest La Haye Sainte and Hougomont fall (results in immediate French victory - never yet accomplished in any of these games). 

Picton was hit at least twice (he died at Waterloo in actual fact); his command is down to the Nassauers holding Pappelotte. In the event, the French ultimately decide to let him keep it!

The cards mean it is turn 9 (of 15), and Wellington has lost 10 units to 7 for the French. Scouts report that the troops advancing on the French right are not in fact Grouchy, but... Blucher!  The French need to step up the pace if they are to eliminate 

Lobau (blue command) has lost some of his infantry, and is awaiting an opportunity to charge with his light cavalry where they won't be shot to pieces on the advance. 

Uxbridge hold La Haye Sainte, but the French Carabiniers have charged onto the ridge!

Turn 10 - 12 losses apiece! Wellington exclaims, "Give me night, or give me Blucher!"

Hill has moved to hold the Anglo Allied right, but finds himself stuck between d'Erlon (green), and the Guard (white). 

The British maintain a hold on Hougomont and La Haye Sainte, but seeing the defeat of the Anglo Allied left unfolding, they now press the attack on both! It is roughly Turn 12 here...

Wellington's Waterloo - the Scenario:

The map - the table is 12 feet long by 5 feet wide, and the tabletop boxes are 6 x 6".

ANGLO-ALLLIED ARMY

Wellington Army C-in-C; 31 units - 60% losses = 19 units

May Rally 1 unit per turn

May Re-roll Firing dice for

one infantry unit per turn

Picton (Orange)

2 Nassau Line Infantry - 6 hits

2 British Line Infantry - 7 hits

1 Medium Foot Artillery - 5 hits

3 Dutch-Belgian cavalry 4 hits

Hill (Red)

1 British Guard Infantry - 8 hits

1 British Light Infantry - 5 hits

2 British Line Infantry - 7 hits

3 British Light Cavalry - 5 hits

1 Medium Foot Artillery – 5 hits

Uxbridge (Yellow)

2 Dutch-Belgian Infantry - 6 hits

1 Hanoverian Line - 6 hits

2 British Line - 7 hits

2 British Heavy Cavalry - 5 hits

1 British Light Cavalry - 5 hits

Prince of Orange-Nassau (Black)

1 British Guard Infantry - 8 hits

2 Hanoverian Line - 6 hits

2 Brunswick Line - 6 hits

1 Brunswick Cavalry 4 hits

1 British Rocket Battery – 5 hits

FRENCH ARMY

Emperor Napoleon I, Army C-in-C: 35 units - 60% losses = 21

May Rally 1 unit per turn

May re-roll Initiative Die for one Command each turn

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

giving it +1d6 in Assault combat, and may command

up to 3 French units within 2 boxes

Reille (Blue)

1 Light Infantry 5 hits

4 Line Infantry 7 hits

1 Heavy Artillery 5 hits

3 Light Cavalry 5 hits

Lobau (Brown)

1 Light Infantry 5 hits

4 Line Infantry 7 hits

3 Heavy cavalry 5 hits

1 Medium Foot Artillery 5 hits

Drouot (White)

1 Guard Artillery 6 hits +1 die when shooting

2 Old Guard Infantry 9 hits, Veteran released Turn 6

2 Middle Guard Infantry 8 hits, Veteran released Turn 6

2 Guard Light Cavalry 6 hits released Turn 3

1 Guard Heavy Cavalry 7 hits released Turn 3

D'Erlon (Green)

1 Light Infantry - 6 hits

4 Line Infantry - 5 hits

2 Light Cavalry - 5 hits

1 Medium Artillery - 5 hits

French must either take both Hougomont and La Haye Sainte, or reduce the British army by 60% without suffering the same themselves, in 15 turns. Failing that, Blucher arrives, and Napoleon is defeated. 

What's that you say?  Who won???!

    At the end of Turn 13, the Anglo Allied army had lost 19 units to 17 French, although they still held both Hougomont and La Hay Sainte.  With Blucher still aways off, Wellington commands an orderly withdrawal down the road to Brussels. "It was anear run thing", he remarks to his ADC.  Napoleon is happy to get off his horse, having suffered from painful piles (thrombosed hemorrhoids) all day long, which made riding a torture. The game was finished in 3 hours, which was pretty much right on schedule. I may have given a little too much advantage to the French. Next time, I'd eliminate the Napoleon re-roll, and maybe give that ability to Wellington instead. 

Several players and spectators asked about a copy of the rules. I am going to edit them a bit, and then post them to  the blog. When that's done, I'll add a link to this post as well  (now done): 

Square Eagles - Fast Play Napoleonic Rules using a gridded table

Finally, I found out on Sunday afternoon that the game received "The Al" award, for the game with the greatest visual appeal. My sincere thanks to the organizers, who ran a great convention this year. If you live in New England or Eastern NY state, this is a show well worth attending! It has been running for 30 years, and I have been going most years since at least 2007. I really like the new venue of the past several years (The Best Western in Marlborough, MA). Being able to stay overnight on site is a game changer for me, as the drive is about 2.5 hours. It is held in late March or early April  each year, and runs from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. 

"Square Eagles" with Will

A few weeks agio I had a new wargames freind, Will over for his first tabletop wargame. Via comments on the blog. we learned that were but 2 town apart here in NW Connecticut. For a first wargame, "Square Eagles" seemed well suited. 

We played Scenario #3, "control the River", from Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames. We added 2 infantry units each to the force of 6 generated by the OHW tables.

Will took the Austrians (white), and I took the Bavarians (Blue), the action doubtless occurring at the outset of the 1809 campaign in April, wit the objective being to control both river crossings. 

Austrian General Eisnerweiss is hit!

After dressing his wound, General Eisnerweiss returned to the fray at the second crossing, and was hit again. "I guess maybe painting those red circles on my white jacket wasn't such a great idea after all!"!" 

A little more lucky dice for combat and Rallying, and Bavarian General von Andreas has prevailed as dusk falls on the field.

We had fun with the game, which took less than 2 hours to play. Will is a very talented artist, who worked for DC Comics for many years, and now does free lance work. He later told me he was off to a big gaming convention this Spring, courtesy of one of his clients. He did the graphic work for some of their products! He is already hard at work painting up some 28 mm Piano Wargames figures!

Square Eagles: Encounter Battle, 1813, Conclusion

 We pick up the action with Turn 11:

French retain the initiative; With Victor down, his command gets only 2 orders; blue assigns one to the  Infantry unit that entered last turn but could not advance due to lack of orders. Soult gets but three orders himself. Joining the underperformance, Kleist gets 3 orders,. as does Bluchjer. 

Soult maneuvers to counter the threat of the Prussian cavalry to his Left, and Blue brings up the last opf his reinforcements.

Prussian moves; note the Cavalry to Soult's derriere! 

French infantry fire is relatively effective, with skirmish fire eliminating the 1 hit Prussian Dragoons!!

The Prussian artillery bombarded the French to its front, scoring a hit. Prussian musketry is only fair. Frederick the Great would be appalled!

Situation at the end of Turn 11

Turn 12

French maintain the initiative; The revived Victor gets 3 orders, and Soult gets 4. Blucher gets 3 orders and Kleist does as well 

Soult and Victor both flub their Rally orders this time, with matching rolls of "1"!

Prussian Orders; a shot by the artillery knocks down some more frogs,  but an Assault upon the ridge by the Prussian infantry is repulsed!

Soult's troops fire to mediocre effect at best. 

The Prussians get back their musket mojo, as nearly every shot tells, with an especially crushing volley  eliminating one of Victor's regiments! 

End of turn 12, sees Victor kissing the earth yet again. His men nickname him "le Chat", as he clearly has 9 lives!

Turn13:

Even without their General, blue gets 4 orders, and Soult (red) only 3; Kleist and Blucher each get enough orders for all of their troops, with the last of the Prussian reinforcements arriving, a tardy battery to support Kleist's men!

With the clock ticking down, the French consolidate their position on the ridgeline. One of Victor's regiments rallies without his help. 

Prussians move up to contest the ridge position, as the Prussian artillery picks off some more Frenchmen. Blucher's men are unmoved by his Rally efforts, though. The Prussian Landwehr Cavalry has shot the gap onto the ridge. The French must have sole control of the ridge to claim victory!

The French do reasonably well with their shooting; importantly, 2 out of 3 skirmish shots hit home on the Prussian horsemen. 

Prussian return fire is slightly subpar this turn!

Situation at the end of Turn 13; note that the the arriving 2nd Prussian battery has moved up. 

Turn 14:

The Prussians seize the initiative! Both Prussian batteries bombard the ridgeline, and  Kleist's remaining infantry regiment moves onto the ridge; The Prussian Cavalry charges the flank of Soult's infantry that holds the rear of the ridge; having an unused order, they take a single skirmish shot at the charging bosches, and... miss!  Sound the trumpets!!!

Von Seydlitz turns over in his grave, as the Cavalry fail to score a single hit on their 4 dice (they have 2 SP left, but get an extra die for charging and another for attacking a flank; as they were already on the hill they don't lose a die for charging up hill; they only needed a 3+; "Schreklichkeit!" The French manage a hit on their single die; the charge is repulsed! Meanwhile, the Prussian infantry all close on the ridgeline. 

A French flank assault also underperforms, and is repulsed. 

More French rallying; note the repulsed Landwehr cavalry. Note the position of the repulsed Landwehr Cavalry. 

Prussian musketry fails to impress!

The French shoot a little better this turn; the unit caught in a "croque monsieur", has, well, croaked!! 

Situation at the end of Turn 14. 

Turn 15:

The French reclaim the initiative, and roll enough orders for all of their units. At this juncture, Victor's infantry have  5, 2, and 1 SP's remaining, with 2 SP's for his Light Infantry. Soult's troops have 6 (his far left regiment),1, 4, and 3 SP remaining, with 5 SP for his guns (which have been playing cat and mouse with the Prussian Cavalry). Kleist has 5 SP's left on each of his 2 batteries, and 3 hits on his sole remaining infantry regiment. Blucher's boys have 3 SP (middle infantry), 1 SP (his far right infantry), and 1 SP (the cavalry). Time has run out for the Prussians. After the coming French moves, a Prussian victory will be impossible. As dusk descends, they concede the hill to the hated French, and withdraw! 

"Auf Morgen!", they mutter. 

Square Eagles: Encounter Battle, 1813, Turns 6 -10

Picking up the action, here was the situation at the end of Turn 5:

 

Turn 6:

The French retain the initiative.

Soult (red)  rolls up Cavalry as reinforcements, but gets a total of 3 orders for 6 units; he chooses to leave the newly arrived Cavalry and the two infantry units on his flank unordered. Victor 's (blue) reinforcement roll results in no new troops this turn, but gets 4 orders, enough for all of his units. Blucher (white) also rolls up some cavalry as reinforcements, and gets enough orders for all 4 of his units. Kleist (black) gets a much needed infantry unit as reinforcements, but only gets 2 orders. "Where are my aides?!  Get my orders to my troops, you laggards!"

Sensing their opportunity (the opposing Cavalry have no Orders to use!), the French Lancers turn 90 degrees and charge the flank of the Prussian infantry. Although they only have 2 (out of a starting 5) Strength Points, they add a die for charging and another for hitting a flank; hitting on a 3+, they score 3 hits; the outflanked infantry suffer no penalty, but still only manage 1 hit, needing a 4+. 

The Prussians have 0 SP now and are eliminated! Situation after the charge; the Lancers occupy the box, and have taken their free change of facing after their victory. 

Both Soult and Victor attempt Rally Orders; Soult's unit has 4 SP left, and even with the +1 for Soult's presence, the roll of 1 fails (1,2 no effect, 3,4,5 1 SP regained, 6+ 2 SP, regained, BUT the last SP lost cannot be rallied off). As can be seen, Victor does much better, the French infantry regaining 2 badly needed SP!  "I feel much better!" The remaining French orders are used for various moves and maneuvers.

Von Kleist orders a fresh (7 SP) Brandenburg Reserve Regiment to Assault the newly rallied French, leading the attack himself (which has no effect upon the combat - Ney and a few others might give a 1d6 bonus as a special rule). They lose 1d6 for Assaulting uphill. The French unit had an order, but used it to rally, so cannot fire at the attackers (a factor in Kleist's decision, along with the big difference in SP's between the 2 units). Both sides need 4+ top hit, and score 2 hits. Ties go to the defender, so the Prussians are repulsed, although the French unit is back down to just a single SP. "We're not dead yet!"

Lots of French shooting for Turn 6, most with somewhat lackluster effect, but look at the second unit from the left - it scores 3 hits on its target! As a result, the Silesian Landwehr is pushed back 1 box before they can return fire. Ouch!

Prussian fire: The Brandenburgers score 1 hit, but that's all that it takes to eliminated the hated French to their front. The Landwehr in the center score a respectable 2 hits, and the repulsed Silesians still manage to get a hit with their Skirmish fire die. 

Overview of the battle at the end of Turn 6. Note that Victor, having been attached to a unit that was eliminated, is lost for Turn 7; a new commander (or one who recovered from his wound or what ever) will reappear at the end of the turn, ready for Turn 8. 

Turn 7:

The French retain the initiative.

Victor gets enough actions for his 4 units, including a new unit of infantry as reinforcements. Soult gets no reinforcements this turn, but does get enough orders for all 5 of his units. Blucher and Kleist both fail to get any reinforcements this turn, but do get enough orders for all of their troops. 

A full strength French infantry  regiment makes a flank assault; the Prussians use their Order to add a d6 in melee; the result is a blood bath, with the French losing 4 SP and the Prussians 5! 

The Prussians are eliminated, and the French regiment occupies the box. 

4 successful French Rally orders!

Facing annihilation from TWO French point blank musket volleys, Blucher pulls his infantry off the ridge. Other units move up in support, trying to create a new battleline. 

French Skirmish fire is on target!

Prussians even the score with their shooting!

Situation at the end of Turn 7; Victor returns now. "I feel much better!"

Turn 8:

French retain the initiative, and stay on a roll, Victor receiving another infantry regiment  and Soult an Artillery battery as reinforcements. Both Victor and Soult roll well, getting enough orders for al of their units. Both Kleist and Blucher are guaranteed reinforcements this turn, having received none last time; both receive another infantry unit. The Prussians also receive enough orders for all of their units. 

2 successful Rally orders by Victor's men (The "2" only counts because of the bonus for Victor being with the unit).

Another French Rally succeeds, as the Artillery Marches forwards. 

Prussian Dragoons Rally off 1 hit. 

Prussian Hussars charge their French counterparts; both are at full strength, but the Prussians get an extra die for charging. None of the dice miss!  Since each cavalry unit can only take 5 hits, the opposing Hussars are both dispersed!

Exchange of musketry is even on the French right...

and with a slight Prussian edge on the French Left. 

Situation at the end of Turn 8; Blucher is down now, having been attached to a unit that was eliminated!

Turn 9:

The French retain the initiative; Soult has no more remaining reinforcements, and Victor has but a single unit more, which fails to enter this turn. Both French Marshals get just 2 order this turn. Ouch! The Prussians don't do much batter - no reinforcements and only 2 orders each! Content with his position atop the ridgeline, Soult rallies his men again. 

Battered Prussian Dragoons rally. 

French skirmish fire can't hit the broad side of a Biergarten!

The Prussians get some badly needed help for the Dice Gods, with every  Skirmish shot finding it's mark!

Situation at the end of Turn 9; Blucher returns to the field, muttering something about having been impregnated by an elephant! I don't think that's what the phrase, "seeing the elephant" is supposed to mean, though!

Turn 10:

French keep their grasp on the Initiative, and Lucky Soult gets 4 orders to but 2 for Victor; a unit of Light Infantry enters to support Victor's Corps. Kleist gets an artillery battery and Blucher a cavalry regiment as reinforcements. Both Prussian Generals get 4 Orders, enough for all their men. The French battery picks off a few Landwehr cavalrymen, and Soult rallies his men yet again, this time for 2 SP (5+1=6); whilst Victor fails to inspire. Soult's French infantry line closes range to the opposing Prussians. 

Prussian Dragoons charge, scattering the French Chevau-leger Lanciers. 

Prussian Bombardment scores a hit. 

Ready, aim...

Tirez!  Victor's men (blue) continue to be plagued by wet powder, but Soult's men fire to effect, staggering one of the opposing Prussian regiments!

Prussians split the other way, with Kleist's men pummeling Victor, but Blucher's boys almost all aiming high and missing!

Situation at the end of Turn 10: Victor goes down yet again; "It's just a flesh wound!"

To be continued...