Waterloo 2026

Last week I headed-over to Shrivenham with other members of the club to take the part of the French in a Waterloo refight using Bloody Big Battles. We were facing a tough fight against some top notch military strategists and the author of the rules. So we did what anyone do - we reached for maths and spreadsheets.

The plan

Having refought this battle a few times we had a few possible plans in mind.

• A left hook taking Hougoumont, out-flanking the ridge and taking the Brussels road.
• Grabbing the farms and then moving against the ridge.
• A right hook taking La Haye Saint and Papelotte before crossing the ridge. 

We also made a few assumptions in making our plan

• We could outshoot the Allies if we managed to mass our guns but needed to keep moving not get bogged down.
• The farms would be strong positions with the Allies best units. Hougoumont likely the toughest of all.
• Grouchy would not arrive but the Prussians would, possibly quite early.
• The ridge would provide shelter from our guns and could be tricky to cross. In fact the brief made it clear we could charge from one side to the other, making that easier.
• Our right hook plan was the most likely to be a success given the  photos we'd seen   

So having viewed the table we decided on a variant of right hook plan; 

• II Corps (Nigel) would screen Hougoumont and attack the ridge
• IV Corps (Robin) would assault La Hay Saint then attack the ridge
• I Corps (Adam)would attack Papelotte then also cross the ridge. The Guards would support IV Corps
• Much of our Cav (me) and the Young Guards would hold Placenoit and delay the Prussians .

The execution

Start positions from the Hougoumont side

Deployment on my flank

We began as planned with the right flank holding back and the rest advancing as we looked to form a Grand Battery in front of La Hay Saint to bombard it and later the ridge. This was disrupted by some accurate Allied fire but we were still able to take the farm after a couple of turns.    

La Hay Saint in our sights

II Corps ay Hougoumont

The attacking Corps then moved forward towards the ridge with Papelotte falling quickly but the attempt to exploit this being pushed back by some well motivated Militia troops. With the attacking divisions approaching the ridge we were pretty much on plan when the Prussians arrived.     

Grouchy proved about as useful as we assumed he would - few troops made it to the field (one Division) and he did little to delay the Prussians with three Corps arriving on our flanks in quick succession. I opted for a series of spoiling attacks and then some evading to draw the Prussians onto me and deny them the time to take Placenoit. 

Turn 9 was the high watermark, and last turn, with Mont St Jean falling to the Guards before they were pushed back by the British. The result was declared a draw with both sides holding two objectives, the Brussels road not cut, and the French still with a powerful army in the field.      

The day

From the French side we felt we'd exceeded Napoleons performance on the day, but did have the advantage of hindsight and spreadsheets.

 It was certainly a fun day and my first game in an active military establishment. There were some nice side chats about BBB, history, gaming, and the fickleness of dice. All seemed keen for further games, which is the mark of a successful event. Big thanks to our hosts for the venue, hosting and friendly spirit.      

Khartoum Finale - Gordon's alive!

With the Desert Column winning the race to Khartoum they had the honour of playing the British in the final battle. General Gordon is alive and holed-up in the governors residence and the Mahdi has come to watch the final assault - so its Larry vs Charlton. Each sides aim is the kill the others leader whilst keeping theirs alive.

The game used a 12' table and my entire 28mm Sudan collection plus a few figures from others.

View from the Nile with the town in the foreground

The opposite side with the Mahdi watching the action

The British made two broad thrusts; the infantry with gun boar support attacked towards town while the cavalry and Camel Corps targeted the Mahdi. The Mahdists massed a lot of troops against the town in hopes of a quick kill before moving troops back to the Mahdi's front.  

Gordon in the residence

Mahdists attack the town

Scratch built gun boat

As the British moved toward cautiously the town came under fierce attack - the Mahdists took hits but managed to occupy half the governors mansion, putting Gordon under pressure. 

 

Gordon's position under attack

Gendarmes advance

In the front liens the British continued their advanced, stopping to hot Mahdist units with heavy fire as they revealed themselves.    

The Mahdi moves to safer ground

The climax game with both the Mahdi and Gordon facing attacks; but with different outcomes. Three times the Mahdists occupying the mansion failed to charge while the Lancers attacked the Mahdi's bodyguards wiping them out.   

With the Mahdi dead and losses high the defeated Mahdists retreated into the desert to bide their time and plan their revenge. History was reversed and the Empire's honour was saved!  

The Mahdi meets his end

A tale of two games

Over Easter we fought the same battle twice but with different sets of Napoleonic rules - partly experiment and partly reuse of an idea! In this battle a scattered French force has three aims; consolidate its troops, hold the bridge separating them and retreat their siege train over the bridge and off to safety. Two Austrian forces are aiming to stop them. 

We played this at Divisional level with Lasalle 2 and Corps level with Blucher. Both scenarios are below and posted on the Sam Mustafa Facebook group.

Game 1 - Lasalle 

View from the west end

The French deployed in strong defensive positions, although crucially held back most of their cavalry meaning they did nt influence the initial Austrian advances.    

 

The Ratisbon bridge

French guarding the train

The Austrians pushed forward, cutting the road at the exit point and putting some pressure on the defensive lines.  

Austrians attack the train defenders

Repeated attacks were made on the bridge but the garrison defending the village of Ratisbon were able to hold then off. Unfortunately the rest of the division holding the road were pushed back with heavy losses.  

Bridge garrison holds firm

The game ended with the Austrians on top - the siege train had been intercepted east of the Ratisbon bridge and much of the road to the west of the bridge was in Austrian hands.  

The train under attack

Game 2 - Blucher

Austrians attacking from the east

In this version the French decided to push out from their defences and look to disrupt the Austrian attacks, especially around the bridge area. This resulted in a fierce cavalry battle near the bridge as the Austrians looked to once again cut the road near the exit point.       

Train scuttling down the road

Austrians try to cut the road in the west

The Austrian steamroller in the east moved remorselessly forward but was slowed by needing to deal with a series of French cavalry and infantry attacks.  

The Austrians were able to cut the road west of Ratisbon but made limited progress with their infantry in that area. The eastern Austrian force kept the French back-peddling but were unable to stop the siege train crossing the Ratisbon bridge. The game ended when the French hit their army breakpoint.    

Conclusions

Both games played similarly but with a few key differences:

• In game 2 the French tried harder to disrupt the Austrian attacks - this kept them further back but did mean taking losses.
• Blucher naturally has more movement in it as you tend to play more turns and usually get to activate more often if you are careful with Corps organisation / leader abilities. This helped the  French get their wagons further in game 2.
• In both games assaulting garrisons is very tough - in neither game was the Ratisbon bridge in much danger.  

 

Khartoum - Turn 8

We're very much in the home straight now with both Columns approaching Khartoum, the Desert Column is one turn in the lead. This week the Nile Column had to cross its main forces over the river whilst the Desert Column was attacking the outer defences, having made the crossing in last week's games.

Nile Column - crossing at Metemmeh

The British begin with half their forces across the river and the remainder making their way across on boats. The aim is to hold the bridgehead and see off the Mahdist attacks. The British deployed themselves on the far bank the Egyptians moving up in support in the boats.  

Bridgehead across the Nile

The Mahdists opted to surround the bridgehead and attack it from all sides - a risky strategy as they could be hit in piecemeal attack.  However their moral was high and they shrugged-off British fire and charged straight into the square.     

Mahdists attack the square

Before you could  say "Isandlwana" two units of British had been reduced to a single corporal holding the line. Things were perilous with half the bridgehead gone when the Egyptians  landed and went straight into action. 

Corporal Jones holds the line

Luckily the luck turned and Mahdists became bogged-down under Egyptian fire, eventually falling back. Remarkably the British held on but with heavy losses for an 8-8 Draw.  

 

Desert Column  - the outer defences

The outer defences of Khartoum included a small fort/blockhouse and some rifle positions on steep slopes with good fields of fire. The defenders strung some riflemen across the ridge and occupied the blockhouse in the centre of their position.

The British chose to attack the western end of the ridge with most of their forces whilst using a unit of Camel Corps to screen their flank. 

British advance

   

After a hard struggle the British were able to push the Mahdists rifles off the ridge and take the position. Most of the Mahdist strength lay beyond the ridge and so there was a fierce counter attack against the Camel Corps. They clung on but were unable to fully take the position leading to a Mahdist Win.   

The ridge falls

The ridge is retaken

Campaign Position. 

So a major struggle for the British on both fronts but they press on despite the losses. In the next game the Desert Column will lead the assault on Khartoum.