Kings of War Historical (un-official) Napoleonic Expansion
The night before The Battle I packed the car with everything I had planned for.
Terrain
Main Table Victory
Points
La Haye Sainte 1
(GB) 3 units +2
Hougoumont 1(GB) 4 units +3
Papelotte 1(GB) 1 unit +1
La Belle Alliance 1
(Fr) 1 unit +1
Objectives 2
Neutral +2
Regiments+ leaving to flank table -1
Green Mat 3
Roads
Woods & Trees
Hills
Ridges
Flank Table
Plancenoit Houses 4
Neutral +4
Plancenoit Church 1
(Fr) +1
Objectives 2
Neutral +2
French Regiments+ leaving to main table -1
Prussian Regiments+ leaving to main table +1
Green Mat 1
Roads
Woods & Trees
Hills
Game Accessories
Tokens / Flags / Prizes
Unit Names
Maps
KOWH/N Rules
Dice
Tape Measures
Spare Unit Bases & Blu Tac
Super Glue
Scissors
Knife
Masking Tape
The various armies also had to be carefully packed in magnetised box files including some French units kindly lent by my friend Mark.
After years of toil, the day arrived. I was up at 05:00 and over to our local club venue by 06:00
I had a couple of hours to set everything up and another friend Paul arrived at 07:30 to help.
There were two tables. The flank one was a standard 6 x 4 feet for the Armies of France against Prussia.
The main table was a 6 x 10 feet for the Armies of France against the various Allied ones.
A break down of each are shown below
British & Allies Main Table = 15050 French Main Table = 15105
Prussians Flank Table = 8875 French Flank Table = 6245
British, Allies & Prussians Total = 23925 French Total = 21350
I think I had planned it all very well as the only item I had forgotten was a large hill which I dashed back home for. The armies were all deployed as per the plan which was based on the historical records.
There was a slight delay in starting as it took slightly longer to ensure all units had a unit name to assist the majority of players who had not played this game before. All the players had played Kings of War in various flavours before but to most the Napoleonic version was new.
As part of the planning I had the rules briefing and unit lists printed in separate hand-outs which had also been bound in colours for each army. The remaining players arrived by 09:00.
A verbal briefing was given and commanders were picked by dice roll. Each team consisted of 3 players with 2 v 2 on the main table and 1 v 1 on the flank table.
French Team
The game as scheduled to last the standard Kings of War Historical six turns with a seventh on a dice roll of 4+.
The battles on both tables in my opinion followed the main phases of the historical battle albeit in a curtailed manner.
The salient points of the main table included the Grand Battery suppressing the Allied Artillery, followed by the aggressive assaults on Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte. The charge of the British heavy cavalry followed by a tremendous counter-attack by the massive force of French cavalry. Although it was not necessary to use a turn 7 the Allies claimed a Victory on the main table.
In the meantime, on the flank table, the French were had pressed to stem the flow of overwhelming Prussian aggression. The French held out almost to the end of the battle but the Prussians captured all bar one of the buildings within Plancenoit. Only a minimal number of Prussian units exited the table and joined the main table but it was enough to claim a Victory.
All told with the Allied Armies having Victories on both tables the Battle was awarded as a Major Victory for the Allies. Prizes were dually awarded to the Victors! Everything was packed and we were away by 18:00, what a day!
Everybody is up for another re-fight in 2019.
