We wound up having 5 of us for the game; unfortunately. Kevin had to bow out at the last minute due to work obligations. Either that, or it was his recent election to the Board of HMGS making him feel overwhelmed, LOL!  As I wrote to him, I voted for you even though I like you!”  🙂 Anyway, on the Allied aside we had Kyle, Chris, and Thomas; it was the first visit to the Table for Kyle and Chris. Chris plays more board games, but had played miniatures with William Keyser years ago (a fellow Connecticut resident, and the author of the From Valmy to Waterloo rules. Kyle had never played historical miniatures before, but is starting a D&D Campaign which my older daughter (who likes games, unlike my wife and younger daughter, neither of which is much for games) is evidently going to be a participant!

Barry and I took the French; Barry once again drove all the way from his home in Maine and back for the game. Now that’s a dedicated grognard! Our initial advance was finely synchronized, while our artillery bombarded Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte.

Thanks so much to Barry, Thomas, Kyle and Chris for playing! I had a blast!

Rules/Scenario Changes from Playtest

Game took about 3 hours to reach a conclusion. Therefore I am going reduce the hits taken by each unit by one across the board. That should see units eliminated faster.

Add Zone of Control (none for LI and Units in BUA’s) and diagonal movement rules similar to those in To the Strongest!

Eliminate most of the special rules: the retreat from fire rule, Conscript, Steady, Impetuous, Reluctant and Shock attributes (In the end, they didn’t really add much to the game, and some were often forgotten). KISS!

Change rules for Ney so that he simply acts as additional commander who may lead units of any command. 

Earlier release of  Guard Cavalry Turn 3 vs 4), Guard Infantry Infantry (Turn 6 vs 8)

Transfer one Line Infantry from D’Erlon to Reille; that will make all 3 French commands have 10 units each. 

Finally, perceiving the grid on the hills was sometimes difficult. I had planned on making custom ridge lines for the game, and even bought a new foam cutter to do it. Barry has been doing some terrain boards and had a nifty idea about using ceramic magnets to hold the components together. Barry explains “The magnets are from JoAnns fabric, I used a 3/4” speed bit to drill the holes in the foam insulation. The metal tabs were cut from thin sheet metal(from Home Depot or Lowe’s HVAC isle) and then I cut the area they are to go into with a utility knife.  Both magnet and metal plate were hot glued in place.”

    However, I am planning to transfer the bulk of my Geohex terrain to another gamer who will pick them up at Historicon, and space in the car will be tight, so it makes sense to use the Geohex (prior to transfer) for this event at least. We had a variety of ideas for marking the grid, but I think I may just go with rocks on 1″ bases, which I already use as casualty markers for other games. I may need to make some new ones, though. That is pretty quick to do, however. If I am happy with how the game goes such that I might run it again at other and/or future conventions, I may tackle some custom hill/ridge terrain for the 6″ grid. 

Based upon Martin Rapier’s variant of Neil Thomas’ One Hour Wargames:

One Hour Napoleonic (MR 02.01.24) 

from https://tgamesweplay.blogspot.com/p/one-hour-wargames-rules-and-scenarios.html

Turn sequence. 1) Draw Chance Card 2) Shoot 3) Move, Resolve cavalry charges 

Shooting requires LOS, may fire overhead from a higher elevation. Arc of fire +/- 45 degrees, 360 from an occupied

SP/Town. Artillery may not fire from town. Units move OR shoot. Roll specified number of dice.

3+ to hit. Half effect 5+. Quarter effect 6. Reduce morale 1 for each hit. Cavalry do NOT shoot!

Targets that suffer 3 (or more) hits from shooting from a single source = retreat 1 box directly away from source. Steadfast troops ignore this effect.  Conscripts retreat one box as above when suffering 2 (or more) hits from a single shooter.

Rout Units rout when their morale is reduced to 0. Attached Leader +1. If a unit is routed by Line Infantry musketry

(1 box range), the firer may advance into the empty hex. 

MovementUnits face a box side; no diagonals!. May pivot at the start and end of their move only, otherwise move forward,

plus or minus 45 degrees; moves on the diagonal cost 1.5. Standard move rates are for units deployed for combat. 

Reluctant units- must roll a D6 and score less than their remaining remaining hits to advance or charge,

Interpenetration Light Infantry may pass through and be passed through by any troops from any angle. Other troops may

temporarily overstack if they are facing in the same direction at the start of the turn, but must end the turn

unstacked, (so units may swap places or pass through). 

Cavalry ChargesCavalry must have LOS to target to charge (so no charging over ridges or through friendly units). Cavalry

may not pivot before charging and must have enough movement to enter the target box. Cavalry can charge

over bridges or into towns or a wood via a road but at half effect due to narrow frontage. This is in addition

to any cover bonuses the target may have. If the charge routs the enemy, occupy the target box, otherwise cavalry

remains next to the target unit. Units with Shock charging units without same gain an extra D6 in melee.

Only the unit that charges inflicts casualties! Note that Infantry and Artillery may NOT engage in melee!

Impetuous units that charge MUST continue to charge on subsequent turns as long as there are any valid targets!

Square Infantry units may go into or out of square at the beginning of their movement phase. Unit in Square

may not move or shoot, but also may NOT be charged by cavalry while in Square.

Bayonet ChargeIf a Line Infantry unit routs an enemy with massed (1 box) musketry, it may advance into the vacant hex. 

Column of Route.Line Infantry/Guns +1 box cross country, +2 boxes entirely on road. Cavalry, Light Infantry +1 box entirely on

road (no bonus x-country). Treat units as flanked for all combat, may not fight in column of route apart from

cavalry. Cavalry may charge in CoR at half effect. To exit formation, move a normal move next turn.

Roads. Roads may only be used in Column of Route, they allow units to enter/cross otherwise impassable terrain

and impart a movement bonus. 

Infantry charge response vs Cavalry Line Infantry may pivot to face cavalry if charged. 

Terrain 

Towns and Strongpoints (SP): Towns fill a whole box, SPs are isolated farm complexes etc. All unit types can end their move inside towns

and SPs; but only infantry can occupy them. Occupied towns and SPs count all their sides as “front”; they can

thus shoot 360° and cannot be charged/shot “in the flank/rear”. Line and Light infantry attacked at half effect

by Line Infantry. Artillery cannot fire while in a town, but fires at units in them as normal. Cavalry can only

charge units inside towns/SP at half effect vs cavalry/guns (5+) and quarter effect vs Infantry(6). 

Morale Hits reduce morale. When a unit has lost all its hits, it routs and may not be recovered in the timeframe of the

game.

 Leaders

An Army may have one or more leaders allocated to it. Leaders move with units or as cavalry although they may

enter woods. A leader stacked with a unit under their command allows it to take one extra hit before routing and

adds a bonus to its morale roll. 

Leader RiskIf a leader is in a box which takes a hit, leader is removed on a 2D6 roll of ‘2’. If the leader is in a box where

the unit routs, or if they are overrun by an enemy unit, they are lost on a 1D6 roll of ‘1’. If they are overrun and

survive, the leader retires 1 box. 

Unit types

Leaders

Army and Corps commanders of notable repute 

Line Infantry Conventional infantry formations operating mainly in close order. They are assumed to have skirmishers screens

and attached artillery, accounting for their long range. Represent 6-8000 men, but the size may be adjusted for

different battles, but keep the 2:1 ratio with cavalry. 

Light Infantry Infantry with a much thicker skirmish screen, and a limited number of formed supports. The optimum units

for operating in broken or close terrain. They also have attached artillery. Represent 6-8000 men.

Cavalry

Close order cavalry, very effective against infantry in the flank or against guns and light infantry. 

Heavy Cavalry

More effective against other types of cavalry. Have attached horse batteries. Represent 3-4000 men 

Artillery Corps/Army reserve artillery grand batteries. Most artillery is assumed to be attached directly to units.

Represent 50-60 guns. Units assumed to have around 20-30 guns each. 

Troop quality Excellent units with high morale and cohesion or possibly very strong units – 7 hits. Good Units with good morale and cohesion – 6 hits. Poor Units with poor training, leadership, morale, tactics or possibly just weak – 5 hits. French Old Guard Units – 8 hits