Waterloo - Another Go At D'erlon's Attack (Part 2)

 The French columns have started to engage the whole of the allied lines 

The Dutch Belgian line is beginning to buckle

If they break, cannister awaits the French columns

La Haye Sainte is being besieged on three sides

My (very) vintage Hinton Hunt fusiliers taking on Kennington riflemen masquerading as KGL

The grand battery is able to fire off some shots where gaps appear between the columns

                         

No breakthrough yet

The 95th rifles are beaten back from the sandpit 

The  Austrian and Russian attaches in the middle of the cross roads stand their ground! (or I forgot to move them out of the way!) 

Alten's men start to advance in support of the beleagured defenders of LHS. 

The rest of the allied line still looks strong despite the rupture at the crossroads

Lots of melees to resolve!

A Dutch battalion has been beaten back behind Best's Hanoverians 

Picton's troops in line on the road and ready to receive

Will Kempt's brigade plug the gap in the centre?

At this point in the battle half of Quiot's Division are bogged down at La Haye Sainte but the rest are breaking through at the cross roads. Donzelot's Division are looking very threatening to their right. Marcognet's Division are less cohesive but are still a danger on the right wing.

The conclusion in the next post.

Waterloo - Another go at D'Erlon's attack. (Part 1)

 After my first restaging in January I quickly decided to do it all over again! I still had a lot of victorious allied troops on the table and it seemed a shame to put them back in their cabinets so soon. This time I wanted to better represent the strength of the French line battalions. I could just about field the number required using the remainder of my French line collection plus a couple of stand ins.   

To speed up the game I put all of the now augmented French Line battalions on the table from the start. This stretched their frontage beyond the grand battery which was already deployed. 

  

. Young Guard tirailleurs in the foreground were rebadged as line. 

En avant!

The starting positions viewed from the French lines

Quiot's columns starts to engage with the KGL in the La Haye Sainte orchard

At the top of the picture Marcognet's men are being staggered by artillery fire

Alten's KGL represented again by British figures

The disruption to Marcognet's columns from gun fire is evident to the right

The Dutch Belgians holding firm at the moment

Alten's Division have moved into line along the ridge in anticipation of an infantry assault

The French columns fast approaching the allied line. Quiot's troops are behind the rest due to manouvering around La Haye Sainte  

 

Surely the French Columns must succeed this time!

But this is what faces them

Melees begin across the line

The effects of allied artillery can be seen by lack of cohesion of the columns on the left and right of the picture. The Dutch Belgians are the first to meet their foes.

See how they get on in the next post.

French 2nd Line

 I've been taking my time with these guys but here they are ready for action.

The 2nd's first appearance on my gaming table may be some way off but I'm probably going to have another go at the battle for Hougoumont. The 1st were part of Reille's Corps in that action. 

I've used many variations of voltigeur cap lines and epaulettes over the years but went for plain yellow this time

I fashioned an Eagle from the corner of a scrap base (looks ok from a distance!)

I had a couple of goes at painting the grenadiers' greatcoats as my pot of light brown ran out at a crucial time. Dark flesh was a very good substitute.

Two battle honours on the wine foil flag: Essling and Wagram.  

The Final French?

I'm part way through painting what I'm expecting will be my last Hinton Hunt French infantry battalion. That makes 14 line all together including one all voltigeur regiment and one painted as Swiss. The rest of my line regiments are all Kenningtons. This battalion comprises second hand figures gathered over many years and are a mixture of vintage and Clayton castings. The final piece in this jigsaw was a recent kind donation of an FN3 (grenadier firing) from a fellow blogger (you know who you are). A few bayonet repairs were required to the marching figures and an officer will be converted to an eagle bearer.  

All ready for the undercoat

                                        

Out of habit I paint the shakos first, followed by tunics, then equipment, straps etc, flesh last. 

I've decided that these will be the 2nd Line Regiment. I have stuck with my original aim of naming all my French regiments as those present during the Waterloo campaign. The 2nd were part of 6th Infantry Division and saw action at Quatre Bras and the attack at Hougoumont. Interestingly they fought as marines at Trafalgar.

 The FN3s are all to be painted as voltigeurs and the FN12s (greatcoats) will be grenadiers. 

Waterloo - D'Erlon's Attack Part 4

 The Allied line is still holding against the massed French columns 

13th Light Infantry about to come face to face with the 42nd Black Watch

Targets are limited for the French guns now that the columns are climbing the opposite slope  

No headway at La Haye Sainte orchard

Quiot's and Donzelot's Divisions as seen from the Grand Battery

Kennington artillery

19th Line blasted by canister

Ney looks on as his soldiers doggedly continue their siege of LHS

Here come Somerset's brigade to take on Delort's weakened cuirassierss

5th KGL wisely remain in square for the time being 

55th now face the guns 
 

Charge!

                                        

5th KGL have now reinforced LHS as the cavalry prepare for their almighty clash   

Multiple melees now taking place across the whole line

The battery in front of the 92nd has lost half it's capacity but continues to wreak havoc

Ney has gone back to personally request Napoleon to send in the Guard (refused!)

Things definitely looking shaky for the French as 95th rifles rally and repulse 105th

Somerset's chaps have successfuly forced the cuirassiers back

95th move back into the sand pit

Kempt and Pack's brigades remain rock solid...no need for the Union Brigade to intervene.

At the top of the picture Marcognet's men make a concerted effort to break Best's lines but fail.

Jaquinot's 7th Hussars and 3rd Chasseurs move across to take on the British cavalry.

There are now multiple French columns broken or staggered so the order is given to commit the Guard to attack the centre (at the third time of asking!)

But it's too late....the fresh French cavalry have been beaten off and the infantry has lost half it's strength so withdraw. 

Sacre Bleu....lost again!!

The whole game took 22 moves. The French were very unlucky in the melee results taking multiple hits and often failing to rally. Had the Guard been committed earlier it might just have prolongued proceedings. Always one for the spectacle I was disappointed that the Union Brigade didn't make an appearance or for that matter, Jacquinot's lancers. So.........I decided to do it all over again but with D'Erlon's Corps much better represented. I'll post that game very soon.