Waterloo - D'Erlon's 1 Corp Attack Part 2

 Orders of Battle for this game  

(Units marked thus* have substitute figures fielded)

3rd Div (Alten)

Ompteda - King's German Legion

1st LI*, 2nd LI*, 5th* , 8th* 

5th Div (Picton)

Kempt

28th, 32nd, 79th, 95th

Pack

1st, 42nd, 44th*, 92nd

6th Div (Cole)

Best -Hanover

Verden*, Luneberg, Munden*, Osterode*

 2nd Netherlands Div (Perponcher)

7th Belgian, 5th Dutch Militia, 7th Dutch Militia*, 8th Dutch Militia*, 27th Dutch Jager

1st Cavalry Brigade (Somerset)

Royal Horse Guards, 1st Life Guards

2nd Cavalry Brigade (Ponsonby)

1st Dragoons, 2nd Dragoons, 6th Dragoons

4th Cavalry Brigade (Vandeleur)

11th Light Dragoons, 12th LD, 16th LD

1 x battery Royal Field Artillery, 1 x Rocket Troop, 2 x Hanover Field Battery 1 x Dutch/ Belgian Horse Artillery 

Napoleon

1st Div (Quiot)

28th, 54th, 55th, 105th

2nd Div (Donzelot)

13th, 17th, 19th 51st

3rd Div (Marcognet)

21st, 25th, 45th, 46th

1st Cavalry Div (Jacquinot)

7th Hussars, 3rd Chasseurs, 3rd and 4th Lancers

14th Cavalry Div (Delort)

5th* & 10th* Cuirassiers

Imperial Guard

1st & 2nd Grenadiers, 1st and 2nd Chasseurs

Artillery

2 X Guard Foot Batteries, 1 x Guard Horse Battery, 6 x Line Foot Batteries

Shako Rules applied (but not to the letter!) The side who loses more than 50% of its forces will be defeated. 

The French Divisional artillery kicks things off before the rest of the "Grand Battery" arrives

Perponcher's men are the only ones in range so take the brunt. 7th Dutch Miltia are the first to break

The rest of the Grand Battery start to deploy

One of Perponcher's staff gallops up the road to ask Wellington's permission to move his troops behind the ridge (unfortunately for him this is decided in the negative by a dice roll). 

It takes some time for the French battery to fully deploy but when they do it's at the expense of the 5th Dutch Miltia

French Divisions ready themselves to advance

Two of Quiot's regiments move towards La Haye Sainte while the rest start to pick their way through the guns

The French battery nearest the road has taken a hit from a rocket (a very rare occurence requiring a double 6) 

In the actual battle the French columns were impeded in their movement by their gun positions 

The KGL defenders are spread between the orchard, the farm buildings and the garden

The allied artillery has had some limited success against the advancing columns and the French guns

Perponcher's Division has been decimated with only two of his five battalions holding their ground. Still Wellington refuses to let them withdraw 

5th KGL move forward (here represented by British 52nd)

French guns fire over the heads of the columns

"It's looking promising so far sire!"

Wellington's forces have begun to form defensive lines along the road

French Divisions now half way across the valley

An exchange of fire at LHS orchard with casualties on both sides

5th KGL move to reinforce LHS garrison

The leading column moves perilously nearer to the resolute 7th Belgians 

105th Line will be the first to engage the riflemen in the sandpit 

7th Belgian have some comfort from the artillery at their rear but will need to move so canister can be used.

Next post: cavalry on both sides start to make an appearance

Waterloo - D'Erlon's 1 Corp Attack Part 1

Way back in the dim distant past a teenage version of myself laid out a tiny version of Waterloo on a 6x4 piece of painted hardboard. This was either put on the family dining table or on the living room floor (I had very tolerant parents!). My newly constructed Airfix Waterloo Farmhouse aka La Haye Sainte and a smattering of Hinton Hunt and Airfix figures completed the scene. I'm sure that I did not imagine that 50+ years later I would still be as addicted.

I decided to play this game as a stand alone action i.e. not influenced by events on the Western flank or over on the East at Plancenoit. Consequently Durette's action with Best's Nassau contingent at Papelotte is not covered. I did however give a little nod to my Plancenoit game from last year by having the Imperial Guard available (all 6 Battalions in my collection) but only on the specific order of Napoleon (Plancenoit was held by the French in that game).

The Brigades on either side were not entirely accurately represented! For example, for reasons known only to myself (i.e. I made a mistake) I gave Ompteda 5 Battalions rather than 4. Somerset's Household Brigade had 3 rather than 2 regiments (because it looked better rather than substituting with a non household regiment!). The French Line regiments were represented by single battalions rather than 2 (or 3 in the case of 13th Light).  Tune in to "Season 2" when the French get their full complement (almost).

Having largely concentrated my collecting on this section of the Waterloo battlefield  I was able to represent 90% of the regiments involved. There were 900 or so Hinton Hunts available. 

I thought this was the bees knees c1973

The 2026 layout (actually constructed over 10 years ago) utilising standard hexes for the middle ground and scratch built foam slopes. The only change to the Airfix La Haye Sainte is that it is now fixed to a base. 

This 7x5 set up gives me just enough room to get around 3 sides. A scenic board yet to be added to the long side.

The North ridge looking East

LHS and the cross roads. Abatis have yet to be put across the road (garden twigs!) 

Allied infantry and artillery in their starting positions with scenic backdrop now in place.

Abatis now in place - some bushes still to be put along the road

All troops have been placed as near as possible to their historical starting positions. Cavalry are off table. 

Royal Field Artillery battery with Alten's 3rd Div King's German Legion to their rear. The KGL are all represented by British figures.

The KGL Light Infantry in LHS are represented by 60th Rifles (in my excitement I  deployed them to LHS but also as alter egos in reserve). 

95th Rifles in their positions in the sandpit and behind the hedges to the rear

Uxbridge, Wellington and ADC 

Behind the ADC the Austrian and Russian attaches: Baron de Vincent & Lt Gen Count Pozzo di Borgo 

RHA Rocket Troop (Fine Scale Factory figures)

Picton and ADC

 LHS orchard with KGL at the ready

Le Petit Caporal with ADC and Ney to his right

The French troops view when they move towards LHS

 

Quiot 1st Div, Donzelot 2nd Div and Marcognet 3rd Div with Divisional artillery in place (Durette 4th Div does not feature in this game)

French Divisional Artillery waiting for the order to open fire  

Why has the commander only given us single battalions?!

The ground is too soft for the artillery mon Empereur!

The massed Divisions wait patiently for the order to advance

The Brigades of Ompeda, Kempt, Pack and Best on the reverse slope with Perponcher's cannon fodder Dutch/Belgians at the front.  

Quiot's orders are to take LHS and the crossroads

Next post, an order of battle and the start of proceedings.

The Battle of the Chateau Sur Le Monde Part 2

This is the conclusion of my second post Christmas game. The French have secured the Chateau and are due reinforcements but so are the British and their allies. Will the chateau change hands again?

Turn 10 and the Mamelukes arrive (their very first outing).      

French 1st Hussars deploy on the following turn

as do a second KGL battery

Turn 12 and the remaining combatants deploy including French 1st Line

Over on the right: Prussian 1st Koningin Dragoons, British 11th and 23rd Light Dragoons, battery and 51st Line appear. 

The 1st Line approach the Chateau while in the rear the Prussians can be seen leading the cavalry Brigade to counter the threat from the Mamelukes and 1st Hussars   

The French battery has positioned itself behind the hedge on the slope in front of the chateau giving a good field of fire. 

51st Line moving along the line of the road to take on the Saxons

The Saxons look confident especially as they have had some recent recruits to their ranks.

French guns open fire on the allied cavalry and the newly arrived KGL battery

KGL have taken a hit but open up on the troops occupying the Chateau (they have a succession of misses!). 23rd LD have had a go at the Hussars and Mamelukes but have been recalled to lick their wounds 

51st and Saxons start to square up

The Saxons are safe in the knowledge that another French battery is moving up in support

The Hussars and Mamelukes have both been weakened in their action against the combined allied dragoons force 

The Mamelukes rally and have another attack on the Prussians

In the foreground the 23rd LD have yet to rally. The Prussians force the Mamelukes back while 1st Hussars take on the 11th LD who are beaten and broken.  

51st start to exchange volleys with the Saxons with no impact on either side

With the 28th unable to progress due to the cavalry action around them, much will depend on 51st holding up.

 

28th look on helplessly as 1st Hussars overwhelm the KGL battery to their right
 

At this stage all cavalry are weakened and blown so the 28th have an opportunity to advance at last.

But things are not looking too good for 51st who take casualties and are staggered

Meanwhile the Prussians have rallied and attack 1st Line who successfully form a hasty square and fight them off. The Prussians leave the field.  

The poor old 28th don't get very far before they too form a hasty square. The Hussars share the same fate as the Prussians.

Turn 22 and the Saxons charge the 51st who break. On the far side the 23rd LD have also come off second against the 1st Line. The second KGL battery has been destroyed by counter battery fire. Now heavily outnumbered it's all over for the Brits and their allies. 

The end of another fairly rapid game. The throwing of dice at each turn to decide deployments worked for me and I'll do that again but modify to a 6 sided dice for these smaller scenarios (otherwise it is possible to have too many units deploying late in the game).  

Next posts will feature a couple of epic Waterloo inspired games I've just conpleted with lots of Hinton Hunt figures on display.