… to refight the Battle of Waterloo today, but due to circumstances that are outside my control, I have not been able to do so. I was going to use Old Trousers’ WATERLOO A LA CARTE as the basis for my refight, but using a version of my PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME rules. I even organised the troops I intended to use along the lines set out in Old Trousers’ ORBAT:
French
- Imperial Guard infantry: 2 units (2 x 4 SPs)
- Line infantry: 4 units (4 x 4 SPs)
- Conscript line infantry: 2 units (2 x 3 SPs)
- Light infantry: 1 unit (4 SPs)
- Light cavalry: 1 unit (3 SPs)
- Heavy cavalry: 1 unit (3 SPs)
- Artillery: 2 units (2 x 2 SPs)
- Commander (6 SPs)
- Total strength = 50 SPs
- Exhaustion point: The loss of 17 SPs
Allies
- British Guard Infantry: 1 unit (4 SPs)
- British line infantry: 2 units (2 x 4 SPs)
- British Rifles: 1 unit (4 SPs)
- Hanoverian infantry: 1 unit (3 SPs)
- Dutch-Belgian infantry: 2 units (2 x 3 SPs)
- British heavy cavalry: 1 unit (3 SPs)
- Dutch-Belgian cavalry: (3 SPs)
- British artillery: 1 unit (2 SPs)
- Prussian line infantry: 3 units (3 x 4 SPs)
- Commander (6SPs)
- Total strength = 45 SPs
- Exhaustion point: The loss of 15 SPs
I hope to stage this refight at some point … but I am sure when.
BOB,
ReplyDeleteA chap I knew had a dedicated terrain table built precisely for the Battle of Waterloo - all in 15mm. There were a number of refights - though in the end the owner sold it all off for $3000 ( Terrain and Figures)...a bit of a shame as it was a grand scheme. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteThat sounds like a massive commitment to a single project. I must admit that $3,000 for the whole lots sounds quite a bargain … although well outside my price range,
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
DeleteI think that the main reason for selling the entire Waterloo Collection was that the chap needed the storage space for other collections- the modular table for the battle was about 5' x 12'. Will you be using your Del Prado figures for the Waterloo Battle? Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteThat makes sense, but it must have been a bit of a wrench to get rid of such a collection.
My plan is to use the Del Prado figures for the refight … whenever it takes place.
All the best,
Bob
A few years ago the Washington Post ran a story about a local guy doing the battle in 6mm--on a 1:1 basis! IIRC, at that time he had about 2/3 of the 300,000+ figures painted. He didn't paint any crossbelts, he stressed; "After all, I'm not crazy!" (Um, I'll leave that to the reader to judge for himself.) The main problem he foresaw was what to do with the whole thing after it was finished. Who, he wondered, was going to buy all those figures? The Post never ran a follow-up story, so it is unknown whether the man did in fact finish the project before either his wife threw him out, or he was involuntarily committed to a mental facility.
ReplyDeleteBest regards,
Chris
Chris,
DeleteNow that is obsessive behaviour! I have enough problems painting a couple of dozen figures … but 30,000 is such a huge number that I cannot conceive of ever painting anything like that number during a lifetime!
All the best,
Bob
So many plans so little time. I have Summer now. I am two days in and apart from a few half hearted attempts at painting I have yet to get the gumption to get the toys out. I wonder what the secret is for gaining enthusiasm?
ReplyDeleteSteve8,
DeleteI used to find that once my summer break had begun, my enthusiasm to wargame began to drift away. It was almost as if there was an inverse relationship between having the time to fight wargames and the enthusiasm to do so. Don’t worry, it will return soon enough!
All the best,
Bob
I've found that I'm eager to play and build when I'm at work. Once I get home, I lose the incentive somehow.
DeleteThe solution, of course, is to game at work. It helps that I'm a children's librarian.
Jennifer,
DeleteGaming at work? Now that’s a job that I would have loved to have had!
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob -
ReplyDeleteI have/ had much the same idea! I was going to try Waterloo on my hex board, and even have the map and armies worked out. Maybe tomorrow...?
Maybe I'll do a blog posting to start with and 'do' the battle later on...
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteI have the map ready and the figures to hand … but I want to get my my FLW/PW Prussian figures painted and work on my latest book finished first.
I look forward to seeing your refight of Waterloo so that I can compare our results,
All the best,
Bob
1:1 scale? A full room and 3k spent on a single battle? What's the inverse? 2 hex Waterloo and flip a coin?
ReplyDeleteHa ha, I kid! You'd need at least 3 hexes at the least for Waterloo.
Mr. Pavone,
Delete1:1 scale does seem a bit excessive. Even Siborne didn’t do that!
Old Trouser’s WATERLOO A LA CARTE uses about the smallest grid I can imagine being used to do a refight of the battle.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
DeletePete Belli's One Minute Waterloo boardgame uses a seven hex grid.
Best wishes,
Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteI remember seeing Pete Belli’s various game designs/scenarios on Boardgamegeek, but many of them seem to have disappeared since the website was revamped. Do you have a copy that you can send me?
All the best,
Bob