Monday 5 March 2018

"While you see a chance, take it!"

I'm not sure what the collective noun is for a group of French Aide De Camps but I am sure its not "a patch", vegetable
patch specifically.  This colourful group certainly earned their pay carrying out D'Erlons orders in this battle. 


In the words of that great Napoleonic General Stevie Winwood, you need to take your chances!


That is certainly what the British commander was stating as the battle started to unravel before me...I mean him.  As reported in the last blog entry on this battle, the French were reeling on the hill and in the centre and a series of poor command roles prevented the knock-out punch from being delivered.


The central French brigade rally first time...of course!


Now the French had recovered and to continue in the boxing parlance, had caught their breath in the corner and were counter punching like it was the fifteenth round in a title bout!


The Rifles turn to face as the central British brigade retires through an adverse result.


"Rifles will reform to the left!"




Without the Brunswick Hussars and the Horse artillery on the allied left, only squares and a few Uhlans
remain to try and stem the flow of French.

Cavalry battles on the Allied right flank go reasonably well for the Dutch- Belgians without and major
routs of the enemy.  Breaking even will not save the battle for the Anglo-Dutch.


Did I mention that Cookie had the Young Guard come on from reserve?

Falling back in order to help preserve the centre these regiments look somewhat isolated.

The Brunswick lights line the edge of the churchyard to see if they can bring some firepower to bear
on what the consider to be the imminent arrival of a brigade of French Heavy Cavalry




This brigade unfortunately did nor cover themselves in glory on this particular day.  Hesitant for 80% of the time
and subsequently unable to advance upon the French brigade to their front they allowed the enemy
to dictate terms on this flank.  Very un-Saxe-Weimar!

This battery of Royal Artillery fires a parting salvo before needing to withdraw in order to secure a
point of entry for the Brunswick reserve that would never come.

The casualty mount

On the French left several battalions quite wisely form square however they were not to be threatened today.



All that lies between D'Erlons Corps and Brussels.


At this point the Anglo-Dutch force was down to four ADC's and the reserve of Brunswick Lieb Guard and Line were still unable to be summoned.  It was decided that the allies would look to extricate what they could off the field before a loss became a debacle in the morning papers in London!


The Brunswick light infantry brigade were in serious trouble and would struggle to be retire at all.  Too much enemy cavalry and infantry in close proximity would mean a long stay in prison camps for the boys in black.


Everything else it was decided should be able to retire with most discipline in tact albeit with a little pride dented!


Phil and I had a fantastic time and the rule system seriously is one that I could not recommend highly enough.  So much fun, the flexibility to manoeuvre and fight in the particular Napoleonic doctrine and style of the time and a superb command and control mechanism which makes every turn a vital combination of forward planning, tactics and a hint of lady luck. 


Just like the real thing.




We did do a few things incorrectly, the most pressing being the use of individual squadrons of cavalry in manoeuvre and combat when the rules clearly state that the minimum cavalry unit size is in fact TWO squadrons.  It made much more sense to us when we discovered that and we do need to keep that in mind for future games.


Can't wait for the next battle.

20 comments:

  1. Carlo,
    Excellent report and write up. Pity the allies lost 😀 Will have to have a good look at the rules since your commending them.
    Graham

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    1. Thank you very much Graham. Yes, I thought it was. Shame too😉 however it was a fun game. You will love the rules mate.

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  2. Really enjoyable Carlo

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it Kerry. The rules are a cracking set for what we like to play.

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  3. Carlo, great reporting! I do not understand why the reserves did not arrive. The dice rolls are to blame?

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    1. Hi Dmitry and thanks for the kind words. In General D’Armee your command structure relies on the availability of adc’s to issue orders from the General to the formations. Every Brigade you lose, costs you one ADC and those that remain are only aavailable if you roll 3,4,5 or 6 on a d6. It all fell apart for me very quickly as it takes two adc’s to bring on a reserve.

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  4. Sounds great, a beautiful game with spectacular pictures!

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  5. Excellent, lovely ADC's too!

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    1. Thanks Mark and now I’m off to your site to look at your casualty markers 😀

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  6. I always call a group of ADCs (or any command pool mechanic) a “meagerness.”

    (Because there’s never enough...😀).

    What an epic battle.

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    1. Thanks Stew. For a second I thought you were going to type "A waste of good horseflesh!". Cheers and best wishes

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  7. Wonderful game, Carlo! I like these rules more and more.

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    1. Thank you very much Serguiss - me too.

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  8. Hello Carlo

    Never mind. The best of them have off days on the field of battle. The important thing is to go down in style while looking good. Mission accomplished then.

    As for some of your dice. I would recommend hammering, boiling and a few minutes in the microwave to start with. It really wont make any difference to future rolls but you may feel better! 8O)

    Salute
    von Peter himself

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    1. Hello Peter. The worst aspect of it was Phil forgot his five bag and tape so I let Jim borrow my absolute unluckiest set (Russian Green cube, every one who has ever Wargamed with or against me knows the exact set I’m talking about!) and he rolled, in successive melees mind you, 11, 11, 11 on 2d6. How the heck does that happen!😉

      In contrast, my wonderful lucky “Special Red Set” was on holiday. Oh well - it was a sensational and fun days gaming nonetheless.

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  9. Great looking game, wrong result but sounds like a heap of fun!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you very Iain. We are looking at D’Erlns attack on Picton and the ridge line at Waterloo next do it should be some more enjoyment on the GdA side of things. Very good rules.

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  10. Glad you had fun, if going down to defeat this time out!

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