Very nice. Played through in one evening against myself.
French moved quickly taking Papelotte, La Haye, Chateau Hougoument, and La Haye Sainte. The French left flank with the quick capture of the Chateau charged their cavalry, rolling back the Allies' screen. The French center battered over the ridge and took the crossroads, which was subsequently lost and then regained, kicking most of the English off the ridge causing Wellington to fall back. Even with the Duke of Brunswick and the Dutch shoring up the Allies right, French looked poised to roll the English right back into Waterloo. At the crossroad the fighting had worn down both sides; neither had the strength to carry on for a few hours and so the Allies were able to shift some cavalry right waylaying the French end around. Napoleon thought he could use half the Old Guard to break the stalemate in the center and so ordered them forward, but Blucher proved too quick and the French cavalry screening the right flank at Hanolelet and northeast of La Haye were easily routed by the Prussian advance units. Very close to the front lines, Napoleon's best were order to about face and return to La Belle Alliance. About this hour, Wellington counterattacked the crossroads, taking it back for good but unable to route the French center. Over the last five or six turns the entire French right collapsed, with the Old Guard fighting a delaying action against the Prussians almost to the main road. DRAW.
I enjoyed myself; and while the end said, Draw, it was definitely a French defeat. They did better than they had historically. I'm not certain but I think the Allies did not suffer many, if any, withdraws. Perhaps if they had, they could have broken the center, had the Dutch quit the field.
The breaking of the crossroads by the French was due in large part to a key unit evaporating during the Allies' turn, allowing the crossroads to be attacked from two sides and drawing off units that should have reinforced the center.
As soon as the French took the Chateau, their cavalry bolted forward, catching the English flank offguard. Before they knew it, they'd lost the western end.
Cavalry are definitely too strong in this. If you use them as historically as you can (not that I even know what that means), they kinda work. I mean I have played some other Napoleonic era games where they have definite strengths and weaknesses. In this the infantry just can't touch them...making them seem very much like pure armor units circa WWII pitted against almost pure soft body units with very little AT. I think one might be able to game this scenario by using them the same way one uses tanks in WWII scens...by simply charging fortified infantry lines with impunity. Then again, Mark, I've always thought your scenarios required more style and understanding that I can attribute to myself--being not meant for those of us who play TOAW as if all the units are wind up cars we point in the general direction of the enemy.
And the news at 9:30 PM was absolutely awesome...
