Quatre Bras - 2 January 2015

To mark the 200th anniversary since the Battle of Waterloo, Jonathan has planned a sequence of Napoleonic games.  We played the first of these yesterday - Quatre Bras.  Kieron and (another) Jonathan took the roles of the French, James the Allies with post-lunch assistance from Adrian.

We faced a roughly 16x4 feet table with Quatre Bras and the crossroads near the Allied table edge.  With troops hidden in the woods and occupying the town, the Allies initial deployment was on top of the hill to the left of QB and along the road between the town and woods.  With the exception of some cavalry, the bulk of the French army came on directly opposite the cross roads and QB.

The Allies were hampered by a great deal of second-rate troops and a series of Aides-de-Camp with shorter life expectancies than drummers with Spinal Tap.  When the concentration of French troops was clear, new orders were sent to the right flank so they could reinforce the town and attack the French flank.  Over the course of 7 or 8 turns, the Allied lost a dozen ADCs, and so the orders did not get through in time to have impact, and by nightfall, the French had occupied QB and had pushed up the hill, defeating Brunswick, Dutch and Belgian troops.

A minor highlight of the Allies was the hardy unit stationed in the building near the French table edge which took potshots at the passing French and defeated two units who tried to storm the building.  The lowlight was the charge of the Brunswick lancers, defeated by a French unit that was successful in forming a hasty square.

So a victory for the French but good fun for everyone.  Thanks again to Jonathan for all the painting and running the game for us.  Next stop Ligny...