Vintage Waterloo (Conclusion)

5.00pm (turn 7) and the Young Guard begin to advance passing to the left of  Hougoumont. Three guard horse artillery batteries are about to unlimber to their front whilst the Old Guard advances on their right. The emperor himself has come up to urge them forward.

The Old Guard pass through the French artillery line causing them to cease fire for one turn. There are no less than 7 gun batteries on this ridge and they had been pounding the allied line for hours, surely not even a rabbit could still be alive on the other side of that hedge! I think Roy's chasseurs in bicornes are another of his clever conversions.

The RHA rocket battery had also been firing for several turns. I knocked up the rule mechanism for rockets in just a few minutes (without much thought) and they proved to be ludicrously but hilariously effective. The rule allows for rockets to go astray and hit the allies own lines (the French player got to choose the targets) and they managed to take out 2 of Mercer's guns as well as some British infantry. However, the real damage was caused to the French horse artillery and heavy cavalry who were falling in complete ranks as they advanced. It gave everyone (on both sides of the table) a good laugh so the rule will probably stand.

My combined guard cavalry unit and what was left of the guard horse artillery, engulfed in the smoke of exploding rockets. Wellington claimed 2 artillery batteries, 2 cavalry units and 1 infantry unit destroyed but this may be propaganda.

Revenge is sweet! The remaining troopers ride over the RHA rocketeers, I fear there was little mercy offered to the crew members of the battery.

It was now 6.00pm and Hougoumont had fallen for a second (and last) time. The Nassauers are heading for the rear, their colonel dead and the French have occupied the farm.

The guard are now halfway across the valley between the opposing ridges. I think there were 5 battalions of OG, 3 battalions of YG plus several line battalions on either flank. They completely filled the space between La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont.

Not just rabbits but rank upon rank of redcoats were waiting behind the hedge still virtually untouched by the French artillery. I can't work out why the casualties were so light but it may be that the French gunners had been concentrating on counter-battery fire and also because a number of guns had been tasked with firing on Hougoumont.

What was left of the French cavalry was heading for the gap between the commands of Wellington and The Prince of Orange. The defending infantry here chose sensibly to form into square.

Behind the squares the remnants of the combined blues&greys were waiting. The yellow marker denotes that they are disordered and therefore unable to charge.

On the allied far right Roy's splendid Scots Greys saw off their third successive enemy cavalry unit - and all without losing a single casualty!

By now the Prince of Orange had quit the field (something about getting a new dress uniform for the victory parade in Paris) and I found myself demoted from the command of the French army to take his place. The good thing about this for me was that whatever happened next I could rightly say that I had fought on the winning side. Wellington immediately insisted that I advance my hotchpotch of Dutch-Belgians in line to re-take Hougoumont even though the French cavalry were on my flank - and to think they call ME Silly Billy!

This is a view along the main table at 7.00pm (turn 9). My Dutch-Belgians are making their tentative advance in the foreground. The Old Guard can be seen advancing in the centre of the table but I can't see much in the way of French forces remaining on the other flank.

Now this is the biggest mystery of the game as far as I'm concerned. For some reason Hill ordered Baring's KGL to withdraw from La Haye Sainte allowing the French to occupy it uncontested. There will be mutterings at Horse Guards. However, as you can see the rest of D'Erlon's command has ceased to exist, I don't know what happened to it - the second biggest mystery of the game.

Back over at Hougoumont I managed to get the rest of my men into square. I should point out that this was due to my sound tactical sense and not due to some oiyky Rifles colonel shouting "Oi, Silly Billy, you don't advance in line with cavalry on your flank ee-by-gum!"

The first line of French cavalry rode straight past the squares and were eventually destroyed by my cavalry. This is the second rather thin looking line of cavalry shortly before they were blasted away by musketry. The French cavalry was now a spent force.

8.00pm and the French drummers of the guard are getting ready to beat out the pas-de-charge. Everything now depends on the guard breaking through the centre of the allied line to win the day.

It's getting tense and its getting dark. The French come on in the same old style.

Picton rides forward, "Now Maitland, now's your time!". He orders a nifty passage of lines that puts the British foot guards into the front line just as the enemy grenadiers reached the bottom of the ridge.

The huge mass of the French guard approach the allied line. You can see through the window that it really is dark now!

10.00pm (turn 12) - the British see off the French in the same old style! We even fought an extra round of melee taking us to turn 13 but it was obvious that with the British front line almost at full strength, and with a melee bonus for defending the ridge and hedge, there was no way the French were going to break through without reserves and the guard WAS the last reserve.

Wellington raised his hat "The army will advance!" Hill's highlanders move forward in the distance while the rest of his command prepares to advance towards La Haye Sainte.

A somewhat dejected D'Erlon surveys the scene at the end of the game. What happened to his fine command? We may never know...

Credits:

Roy - for providing the venue, 80% of the figures and a fantasic lunch and refreshments.

Stuart (and the chaps from Cirencester Wargame Club) - for playtesting and refining the rules.

A small army of painters - for helping to get the troops ready in an incredibly short period of time.

To the many generous gamers who have kindly donated figures to my project over the years (you know who you are)

The Cast:

Napoleon Bonaparte - Myself (of course)
Marshal Ney - Mark F
Lt Gen Count D'Erlon - Neil
Lt Gen Count Reille - Nigel
Lt Gen Count Lobau - John

The Duke of Wellington - Stuart
The Prince of Orange - Richard
Lt Gen Lord Hill - Matt
Blucher - Steve S

Final thanks goes to eBay and Napoleon Bonaparte without whom none of this would have been possible!