The Great Game, a Refight of the Battle of Waterloo. Part Two.

 This wonderful gentleman commanded the troops around Placenoit and had traveled from France with his delightful daughter who was kicking Prussian ass on the centre table. The night of the ball he was resplendent in his French naval uniform. By the way, its my hat [ well actually I had half inched it from the Chancellor who had acted as Napoleon.]

After a wonderful night of alcohol, mature discussion [sic] and a kebab of very dubious origins I didnt get much sleep. Even after all these years of wargaming one still gets excited by the prospects of another crack at a large tactical problem, so between a dodgy kebab, an unseasonable hot night and numerous trips to the bathroom I wasnt feeling my most diplomatic.
The French had had some successes but we had the prospect of increasing pressure from the Prussian players and the certainty of an allied counter attack as more and more troops were being sucked into the Hougemont debacle.
 During the Ball I had met  a fellow wargamer from New Zealand, [Rob Bruce] who had made the journey to simply watch the game as he couldnt get a place. We had discussed the days battle and what we should do differently.We also had an interesting talk about wargaming in both countries, the differences and the similarities. These events are a great way to meet wargamers from across the world.
   Anyway the next morning the organisers agreed with me and allowed Rob to take over a command, and he was given a small part of the Old Garde as we were short of a player.
 The Garde commanders then had a scrum down and I was delegated to speak to the commanders around Hougemont in order to get them to release some of the 36+ battalions clustered against the walls of that damned fortress.
 I wont go into details but the three brigadiers had come up with a 'cunning plan' and after a heart to heart they decided to carry it through.

                                                           The 'cunning plan'

  The French were stretched very thinly on the left flank and our cavalry was slowly being forced back due to allied infantry pressure. To the right of Placenoit what remained of our infantry was on the point of being 'shaken' and there were no reserves covering their rear. Drastic events sometimes make for drastic decisions so the Old Garde, my half of the Young Garde and the Garde artillery moved towards La Haye Sainte to replace the badly damaged units who were to attempt to rally off their losses.
 On the French right which had done so well they were asked to peel off some of their reserve troops to face the threat of a Prussian attack to their rear. Meanwhile the remainder of the Young Garde, Middle Garde and VI corps were to go on the offensive and embroil those damn Prussians.

             The VI corps and Garde start moving against the Prussians near Placenoit. The players were excellent and tied up twice their strength all day.

 The French left flank where Kellerman and the remaining light cavalry tied up the allied forces against all odds.

 The Prussians marching towards Placenoit were struggling with failed command rolls and were coming on piecemeal which suited the French fine.

So we threw the Garde into the centre. Manhandling the artillery forward every move as the Garde advanced we started to make real inroads into the allies who took the desperate decision to replace their infantry with a series of cavalry charges.

              Meanwhile I led the Young Garde down the road past La Haye Sainte, again using some artillery at close range I started to make inroads..

For once co operation really paid off as I charged the veteran British foot whilst the cuirassiers attacked their flank and a poor British square isolated from their colleagues. We managed to remove three quality regiments. I would love to say it was down to my tactical skill but the cuirassiers deserve all the credit for their great dice rolling.

Meanwhile as lunch was called the French had probably reached their nadir. Our right wing was now on the final allied table and after pushing back the Prussians was turning left towards Mont Saint Jean. We were holding on the right around Placenoit and had blunted their attempts. The left was also holding and of course in the centre the Garde were slowly making progress even though some gallant cavalry charges had cause one old garde battalion to retire [not rout]
 Around Placenoit things were taking a huge turn for the worse as Jerome's command was rapidly disappearing and large gaps were appearing either side of the buildings as the remaining French infantry were dragged into the battle.

It was only a matter of time and after lunch a motley collection of Brunswickers, Hanoverians and other riff raff piled through the right of Placenoit and onto the clear fields behind the French centre.

All that was left to stop them marching towards the Emperor was a few exhausted cavalry units who were quickly routed. We then had to suffer the embarrassment of Napoleon being chased from La Belle Alliance by some scummy allied cavalry.  This couldn't go on and we had to send the final part of the Garde back towards the Emperor to save him.

         The game was up and the gamble had failed. The monster was to be caged again.

 A disgusted Young Garde commander looks away as those awful Perry chaps gloat at their lucky victory.

So how did my Tirailleurs actually do. Well in order to make units last the organisers had split each historical unit into three. So the four regiments of my Young Garde equated to 12 battalions of 24 figures. I added an extra company of skirmishers to bring each unit up to 30 figures. So in Black Powder one regiment was now three separate units and in order to become shaken two out of three needed to reach that status. I had one such regiment who had been used to screen La Haye Sainte which contained three units of rifle bearing Kings German Legion. These were very effective until I had the reserve artillery man handle up to close range and literally canister them into submission. As for the remainder of my units they caught the Iniskillings in square and simply rolled over them before being halted by the thick red line of Clinton's command.  I was so close to reaching Mont Saint Jean but it was increasingly obvious that the allies were rolling up the French left flank and the game was up.

 So the Great Game was completed on time and probably as was to be expected with an allied victory. There were a lot of what if's but to be honest it wasnt about winning it was about the game, the charity and just enjoying other wargamers company. Would I do it again? Definitely.
 This was how wargaming should be and was a wonderful example of what can be done with the correct amount of enthusiasts and a lot of organisation. So thank you again Tony Pollard and all your team.

                                             And finally some 'clear' images to admire.
                                   That's me [raised hand ]  still demanding a re fight