Saturday 12 September 2015

More from Roy on Vintage Waterloo

A couple of weekends ago Roy hosted two games of Vintage Waterloo at his house with various other wargamers, none of whom had played my rule-set before. Sadly I wasn’t able to attend myself but Roy now has so many figures painted and based for Muskets & Marshals that I doubt if he missed the presence of my own troops on the table.

The French flank - a view from just behind Plancenoit.

The French attack Hougoumont - apparently they found it impossible to dislodge the British foot guards within.

A cavalry clash at Plancenoit - I believe the Prussian lancers came off best in this encounter.

Picton's division on the ridge.

Action near La Haye Sainte - an advance by British cavalry seems to have rattled the French enough to order at least one battalion into square.

The French players look very focused!

It seems from Roy’s account that the rules were well received although the brutal nature of the firing and combat system apparently took some veterans by surprise. I was very pleased to hear that on both days they managed to play about 12 game turns with 2 – 3 players per side and Roy umpiring.

The British position behind La Haye Sainte - the terrain looks slightly shifted from the play-test game I had with Roy but at least the farm is on the correct side of the road!

The view from behind the british left - there seems to be a fair bit of action in the area of Plancenoit.

French attacking the ridge between La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont - the Duke is under pressure but still appears to have some reserves.

I’m heartened that the rules were so well received and it does seem that Roy and I have play-tested and revised them now to a point where they are giving exactly the sort of game we wanted all along. Roy and I are hoping to play our own game of Vintage Waterloo at the end of October and I am of course really looking forward to it.

All photos are by Matt B, for the latest version of my rules Muskets & Marshalls click here.

11 comments:

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said...

Love the photographs and commentary! What a delightful way to begin a Saturday here. Coffee, cinnamon raisin bread, and a bunch of pictures of lovely vintage figures. It's going to be a good day. Thank you.

Best Regards,

Stokes

Stryker said...

Mmmm... cinnamon raisin bread, what a great idea!

Cheers Stokes!

Springinsfeld said...

What a great game.... by an amazing coincidence I met Roy today at Colours bring and buy. We were both poring over a box of Lamming Napoleonics, and got chatting (neither of us bought the figures). I mentioned I lived in Bath and he said his figures often featured on your blog. Give him my best
cheers
Mike

Stryker said...

Mike - coincidence indeed! Drop me an email (my address is on my profile) and maybe we could meet up sometime?

Wellington Man said...

Roy's massed soldiery are just amazing. As for your rules, I'm planning to give them a go as soon as I can convince myself that I really don't need "just one or two more battalions". Cheers, Matt

Stryker said...

Matt - the rules work just as well with 2 or 3 units per side as they do with 30. Give them a go - I'd like to hear what you think!

James Fisher said...

How wonderful to have people actually using the rules that you have written. Having read them I do like that you have cut them back to basics only.
The photos really whet our appetites for your own Waterloo, as I'm sure that they do/did for you!!

Stryker said...

Hi James - yes, it's great to have other wargamers use the rules, in fact I think Roy knows more about how they play than I do! I'm looking forward to seeing how they work when Roy and I meet up for our own game using all the figures.

tidders said...

Lovely photos. Looks like a great game

Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com said...

Its probably early conditioning but the expression that comes to mind when I look at the pictures is "proper wargaming". Great stuff.

Stryker said...

Thanks Ross - a proper war game is what we wanted!