MD14 - Waterloo "La Grande Battle" - 18 June 1815
Historical Background
Napoleon retained his strategic brilliance, placing his army squarely between the Prussian and Anglo-Allied armies on June 16th. His tactical genius was fading. He allowed an entire corps to countermarch aimlessly on the 16th, deny him the opportunity for a decisive victory either at Ligny or Quatre Bras. Instead, at the end of the day the beaten Prussians escaped at Ligny and Wellington still held the crossroads at Quatre Bras. On the 17th Napoleon turned his main strength towards the British, after detaching Grouchy with two corps to pursue the retreating Prussians and prevent them from uniting with Wellington. A massive storm drenched the area on the 17th as Napoleon advanced upon the Anglo-Allied army that was deploying for battle in front of Mount Saint Jean. The 18th dawned clear, but the rain-soaked ground still made maneuvering cavalry and artillery difficult, so Napoleon delayed the start of the battle, waiting for the ground to dry. Wellington fielded an Anglo-Allied army of 50,000 infantry, 11,000 cavalry and 150 guns. In front of his line, there were three strong positions; the château of Hougoumont, the hamlet of Papelotte and the farmhouse and orchards of La Haye Sainte. Many of his veteran regiments from Spain had been sent to Canada and the United States to fight the Americans. Napoleon’s army consisted of 48,000 infantry, 14,000 cavalry and 250 guns. Many of these troops were veterans of at least one campaign. It was about 11AM before Napoleon gave battle with artillery salvoes and ordered the initial assault against Hougoumont. The battle of Waterloo is well documented, and rather than skim through the account, it is recommended that players take advantage of the numerous sources available and enjoy reading about this epic struggle between two of the greatest commanders in history.
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
Allies Army
• Commander: Wellington
• 6 Command Cards
Allies Corps Commanders
Right Center Left
Command 3 3 2
Tactician 3 2 2
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| 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
French Army
• Commander: Napoleon
• 6 Command Cards
• Move first
French Corps Commanders
Right Center Left
Command 2 3 2
Tactician 2 3 2
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| 16 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Victory
16 Banners
Special Rules
• Hougoumont, La Haye Sainte, Papelotte (with blue border) are Temporary Victory Banner Objective Hexes (at turn start) for the French player (Temporary Victory Banner Turn Start)
• The river is fordable
• Prussian Reinforcements:
The Allies player rolls 2 dice at start of each of his turn.
For each INF symbol, the timeline for the Prussian arrival, increase by 1. If the timeline reach 8, the prussian reinforcements arrive.
The Prussian Force consists of 3x LN, 2x MI, 2x RI, 1x LT, 3x LC and one LDR (Blücher) and 2 Iron Will Marker.
The Allies player must setup all units and Blücher (he may attached to any unit, or setup alone in a hex) in any of the white marked hexes of the french right flank (in adjacend hexes, if all possible marked hexes are occupied by enemy troops). All Prussians, which will ordered after this setup because of a played command card, may move and/or battle normal. Note, that the marked hexes count as first hex of movement.
NOTE (official since Austrian Expansion):
A Walled Farm terrain tile hex effect has been updated in meantime to allow a unit on a Walled Farm hex to ignore one flag. It is suggested that players replace Hougomont and La Haye Sainte town tiles, in the Waterloo scenario, with Walled Farm tiles and use the updated effect. Papelotte should be also used as fortified farm too!
