Waterloo - Another Go at D'Erlon's Attack (The Conclusion)

The French continue their push to take control of the ridge and the strategic farmhouse of La Haye Sainte

 

Ompteda's men move forward off the ridge to confront the besiegers of  LHS

But look out, cuirassiers are on the move!

Continued pressure along the whole of the allied line East of the crossroads

Despite the breakthrough at the crossroads the defenders of La Haye Sainte hold out 

The head of Donzelot's column have made it on to the road to grapple with Pack's brigade

At the top of the picture Marcognet's Division has also made it on to the road but it's ranks are much thinned. In the mid ground the 42nd are trying to stop any further break in the line

Just as Marcognet's battered men take their section of the ridge Vandeleur's dragoons are ordered forward. 

.......and the Union brigade also makes it's move

Meanwhile the cuirassiers have made made good ground, by-passing the ongoing melee between Ompteda's and Quiot's troops, only to meet the Household brigade 

The result of this melee outside LHS could be crucial 

The dragoons have seen off Marcognet's columns and now swing round to have a go at Donzelot's column. The 79th emboldened by the Greys' success move round to take on Quiot's troops in the flank

The French columns suddenly look less threatening

Will the gates hold out?

The household cavalry have forced the cuirassiers back and Ompteda's brigade has driven off the French attackers from the West face of LHS

Quiot's Division has failed to take La Haye Sainte and has stalled at the crossroads.

The French fall below 50 % strength and the general retreat is sounded.

I don't suppose this will be the last time I have a go at this scenario. It was a much closer affair than the first game due to the augmented French battalions. Unlucky dice rolls in melees and the introduction of the allied cavalry decided the fate of the French this time. 

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.