The Corlears Hook Fencibles played a game of the 1815 battle of Quatre Bras Thursday night using our club rules "Bonaparte Waltz". I had intended to run Wattignies but could not find the online map I'd previously used. That will teach me to bookmark goodies.
Dice determined Tom and Rick played the French while Bill and I played the Anglo-Allies. I didn't take any pictures until after the game, sorry.
The French started the game by wiping out the garrison (a battalion – most units are brigades) of Gemioncourt. Then they played two "On the Double" cards and both divisions poured past Gemioncourt and attacked the Prince of Orange south of the crossroads where he stood with two brigades and an artillery unit. The Dutch sent a brigade back with defensive fire but were then driven back with loss in disorder by the French attack.
On my turn, the French immediately played an infantry counter-attack along with a surprise card and threw the Dutch back again. Orange himself had a narrow escape. Twice more during the game he would cheat death. I rallied a couple units, nothing more.
The French came on again and came within an ace of breaking Orange's force. Their dice came up cold and the Dutch survived, though badly shaken up. Now Picton led two brigades of British infantry onto the scene and drove a French division back.
Wellington arrived on the field from his conference with Blucher and headed for the crossroads. Pire's French cavalry moved over the creek. The French played another "On the Double" card and rode into Wellington's hex. A Chasseur shot Wellington's horse – a French die roll determined that he was picked up by an aide. He and his staff made a run for Piermont, where Dutch-Belgian jaegers held out. It was a near run thing. He hunkered down there for some hours. In future games, when he is cut off from all save a small garrison we will not let him affect the battle while isolated. This affects how many cards the Allies can draw each turn and the roll for winning the initiative each turn.
When Picton's infantry advanced, the artillery was left behind. Pire's French cavalry turned about and overran the unsupported guns. One cavalry brigade was routed by Brunswick infantry and artillery. The Brunswick cavalry was repulsed by Pire's remaining brigade but the French horses were jaded after this fight. The disordered Brunswick cavalry teamed with Merlen's recently arrived Dutch-Belgians to chase Pire's troopers. Had the French been fresh they would have been a match for both enemy brigades. Instead they fell back, pursued by the Allied cavalry. After several turns the French cavalry were finally dispersed. Wellington emerged from hiding.
Meanwhile French and Allied infantry slugged it out just south of the crossroads. Picton was badly wounded during the fight and carried to the rear. Alten's division arrived on the scene and the French pulled back behind the stream. Both sides were loaded with disorder and several turns passed as both sides rallied and reorganized.
I headed into the kitchen to attend to last minute dinner preparation. While I was gone the French played a "Blunder" card and had a brigade of Brunswickers make a lone attack on their lines. It was driven back with losses and then the French advanced and routed it, I think with infantry and a charge by Kellermann's just-arrived cuirassier brigade. An attack against the head of Alten's division in the Bous de Bossu was driven back in disorder. We broke for dinner. It wasn't looking good for the French. Though they had dealt some hard blows to the Allies and nearly closed the deal early on, the number of Allied units was increasing rapidly. Their chance had come and gone.
After dinner we resumed. The French moved to their left and routed a brigade of Dutch-Belgians in the south edge of the Bossu woods. They used an "On the Double" card to move some of the attackers back to their center. Cooke's division of British Guards had arrived and the Allied line had shaken off all disorder markers. I launched an attack all along the line.
To the dismay of the French I had been rolling hot dice all game. But this was to be eclipsed. Cooke and Picton went in against Jerome's veteran division. Jerome rolled defensive combat dice first, scoring two retreats on 8 dice (5 and 6 are re-rolled for effect). The two Hanoverian landwehr outfits were driven back disordered.
I had two veteran units (Pack and Kempt) and Cooke's two Guard brigades for a total of 16 dice. A "Point Blank Volley" card added two more. I rolled 18 dice looking for 5's and 6's. I got 8. Re-rolled dice cause retreats on 1-4 and hits on 5-6. I got 6 hits and two retreats. The retreats were moot since the hits routed both French units. Although the French weren't at their breakpoint yet, both players threw in the towel and wanted the Inquisition to look into my die rolling. I had rubbed my right hand on the Hindu war goddess "Durga" that Bill had recently given me. As a player it sure is fun. As a game designer it distorts the game tests. I'll try and control myself.
We played 9 turns (of a possible 12) in about 80 minutes, not counting dinner. French losses were some 3,525 and 12 guns. Allied losses were some 4,775, 12 guns and Picton badly wounded. A post-game die roll showed his wound was more painful than deadly. He was back on his feet six days later but would miss Waterloo – and his date with a French bullet.
The early end of the game left us with time for a post-mortem on the scenario. It is a hard row for the French since Allied reinforcements keep on arriving. They have to play well and be lucky early on to have a real shot at winning. One suggestion made was to have the French dice for the arrival of D'Erlon's corps, and also for the Allied reinforcements. That way the Allied player wouldn't be certain of having the upper hand in numbers later in the game. I think the final scenario will have the historical arrival as a default and the option of dicing for arrivals for game-balance. We also talked about linking the various Waterloo campaign battles so they would have effects on each other. Before that I have to make up and test a Ligny scenario.