Quatre Bras proves a hard nut for Ney to crack

Merlens Light cavalry brigade - 5th Light Dragoons and 6th Hussars

Following on from our delays due to Covid isolation and work schedules, the crew got together to fight the rest of our battle for the crossroads.  Well except poor John whose daughter had been out and about as young people do and had tested positive the day before. We had a number of reserves keen and ready and Phil W became our new General Byljandt.

They are coming from that way lads!

French brigades advance though as some friendly battalions are retreating from
excellent fire from the Dutch Militia

The French infantry have now pushed the Belgian line and Jagers back

The French had battled with pushing down the left flank through a combination of command hesitancy rolls as well as the extraordinary defence of the central and allied left by Byljandt, so deftly played by the now isolating John. Phil would have big shoes to fill.

Unformed columns from retreating friends get held up in the advance

French reserve cuirassiers

Still a formidable defensive line to face for  Ney

The Brunswickers finally move into position for a second defensive line

A nice view of the gathering assault that is being prepared for Saxe-Weiner

The Brunswick Avante Garde in manoeuvre mode

Within the allied ranks, the satisfaction that the French had failed to cross the stream before all their reinforcing brigades had arrived on table was quite heartening.  The British reinforcing brigades on the right were preparing themselves whilst the Dutch, Brunswicker and Belgian units are now well ensconced into position.

The French frustration with getting the worse of the firefights across the front was also starting to appear- always great yo see the Gallic tempers start to rise…in good humour of course as always.

This 12lb battery performed admirably throughout 

The French start to breakthrough on their left near the woods as they start to crack
the very well coordinated Nassau walnut

However the Allies do have a welcoming party ready for just such an occurrence 

Merlens Dutch Belgian brigade struggled to find space to effective force their way
Into the battle. Here they move again in the rear looking for a potential gap to fill

Another view of the Dutch-Belgian line

Another view of the British lines

The congestion of approach was starting to frustrate out brave French Generals.  The scenario design was working perfectly.

French lancers supported by horse artillery

Love that old Hinchcliffe caission - still looks perfect for our games alongside
all those modern figures from Perry Miniatures and Front Rank

The final Nassau battalion has retreated and the French have now taken the ridge

Defence in depth

British Regiments on the March

Across the battle front spanning the tables short width

That’s an old Hinchcliffe bridge I picked up twenty years ago whilst in Adelaide for business 
and a tabletop favourite. It still looks the part on the table.

With each passing turn that the French are unable to break through, the Dutch on the left, now well reinforced by the Black Brunswickers, are becoming tougher to dislodge while the Nassau of Saxe-Weimar are now very solidly backed up by Highland and British line regiments.

Another view of the centre of the battlefield

Skirmishers exchange shots across the stream. French and Brunswickers look for the edge

There goes those light cavalry of Merlen once again - frustrations mounting on the allied side as 
well as they still seek to impact on the contest 

The French horse artillery has now taken the advantage of the heights to reign some fire upon
the Allied formations ahead of them. Will that be enough or is time now against Marshall Ney?

Not only the allied cavalry is suffering from the tightness of the attack frontage. Here the
French light cavalry have also been looking for a way forward to try and change the flow

Turn 14 and the Allies have neatly fought the French to a standstill - almost

A great view from the allied left across the table

The Dutch- Belgians have finally faltered and headed towards their armies rear. Black
Brunswicker Hussars await any enemy brigade skirmishers who may raise their heads

Slightly out of sequence but too good a view to leave out.

As an aside, I was most fortunate to pick up all my metal Brunswickers from the wonderfully talented Perry twins in person many moons ago when travelling yo the UK from Australia on business. A wonderful afternoon enjoying a pint or two at their local pub and then back to Alan’s for tea and a tour. 

Great fun…however I digress.

Customers even liked the bare metal figures. Word of advice; always go through the channel
manned by middle aged men. They all love toy soldiers!

Some excitement in the centre as the 1st Chasseurs a Cheval, resplendent in their
1815 caskets, charge the Brunswickers who have failed to form square

Four casualties but not a rout. Good dice rolling once again from the Anglo-Dutch side

French cavalry look to exploit the success 

Bristling British Brigades - how’s that for Napoleonic alliteration?

Brunswickers prepare for action whilst the Dutch Belgians in the rear, of course, rally with
great dice rolling. On this day the gods of got tune were definitely Dutch.

The view across the centre

Those rallying troops looking good

French columns are now in fewer numbers, almost none of them fresh.  The attack starts
to lose its impetus and tun out of steam

The key aspect of the success on the French side was to be speed in the attack and hitting the allies in force before they could have their reserves arrive and tip the scales back in their direction.  They look the strongpoint very early in the piece however they found it’s positioning almost a hindrance.  The early French lancer charge on the Nassau position on the right faltered from fine fire whilst the French infantry columns found themselves  on the allied left being shot to pieces. A few terrible “Discipline Tests”  caused the flow of the attack to hit some speed humps.

The Duke of Brunswick - in this game he survived Quatre Bras

Love the old Foundry Horse artillery gigures

Another view of the skirmishing across the stream and “Hinchcliffe Bridge”

French Cuirassiers

Alas the punch through the crossroads was not to  The allies performed admirably in setting up enough delay with Byljandt and Saxe-Weimar to ensure all the reserves would arrive in good order.  Well done Peter, John and Phil of the bench.

For the French it was a battle of what might have been. They contemplated forming a Grand Battery to soften the allied line for the column assaults however that plan was not fully implemented. Angus and Martin were both playing their first large games of General D’Armee and did extremely well. However the congestion was hard got them to do all the manoeuvre they desired. Chris, a more experienced player went very well on the French left however the defence against his forces was very well handled.

We had an immense amount of fun and we were all fed far too well by the ever supportive Fiona. Thank you for that my dear.

It was such a great opportunity to get a fair few of my 1815 figures out for a game and to have so many good friends around to play with. Another one next month I think.