Hougoumont - 18 June 1815
Historical Background
At Waterloo, Wellington had little choice but to occupy Hougoumont, for it would prevent the French from gaining the heart of the British position along the ridgeline. In fact, Wellington came close to losing the battle by undergarrisoning Hougoumont.
Opposite Hougoumont stood General Foy and Jerome Bonaparte with three divisions of the French II Corps. The initial attack began around 11:30 AM. The first assault met resistance, but the French infantry forced their way into the woods. As they came out on the other side, they were forced to fall back from the intense fire from the buildings and walled garden. The second assault gained a small lodgement, but the attackers again were driven back. A third attack breached the gate of the walled farm, and only the heroics of local Guards commander MacDonell and a small force succeeded in closing the gate and wiping out the attackers. Despite the success of the defenders, the crisis was not over yet, for Foy’s Division joined the attack around 1 PM and gained the orchard. The Scots Guards then counter attacked from the ridge and drove the French out of the orchard. The orchard was attacked again in the late afternoon, but the British had reinforced the position and the attack again failed. The battle for Hougoumont was all but over by 7 PM.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. Can you change history?
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Set-Up Order
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Battle Notes
British Army *
• Commander: Wellington
• 6 Command Cards
• 6 Tactician Cards
* Use brown blocks for Nassau and Hanover units, use Portugese National Reference card with two exceptions: line units retreat 2 hexes for each flag and light infantry have 4 blocks.
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| 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
French Army
• Commander: Reille
• 5 Command Cards
• 4 Tactician Cards
• Move First 
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| 11 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Victory
8 Banners
Special Rules
• The orchard is a Temporary Victory Banner worth 1 banner for the French, when at least 1 orchard hex is occupied by a French unit at the start of the turn (Temporary Victory Banner Turn Start)
• The British player gains 1 Temporary Victory Banner at the start of the turn, if the French do not occupy any of the 3 Hougoumont walled farm or 2 walled garden hexes. The British start the battle with 1 Victory Banner (Temporary Victory Banner Turn Start)
• The French player gains 2 Temporary Victory Banners at the start of the turn, if the British do not occupy any of the 3 Hougoumont walled farm hexes (Temporary Victory Banner Turn Start)
• The French player gains 1 Victory Banner if 3 full strength British units do not occupy the British baseline (Temporary Victory Banner)
"The French player gains 1 Victory Banner if 3 full strength British units do not occupy the British baseline"
Does this mean, that only british unit counts or also british allies (brown blocks) ?
- British allies units would also count.
(Richard Borg: 2016 - 05 - 16)
