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Hougomont finale!

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Started 1 year ago by Anonymous
Latest reply from paulus

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paulus
Member

Hi Folks ....me and Nev got back from leeds Fiasco with a good result :D ...the demo is fully completed and the feedback from the punters was spot on!....I did not realise the amount of interest in the Napoleonic period and the Lasalle ruleset :D everybody at the show had plenty to talk to us about the demo and their tales of the actual battlesite....the best bit of news was when Rob Townsend from Wargames Illustrated came over, and after taking loads of pics informed us that Wargames Illustrated could be interested in an article and more pics.

He seemed to like the tie in with the Hougomont Project and the 15mm scale as it seems that Wargames Illustrated are getting alot of feedback asking for more 15mm articles and pics as it seems people abroad tend to play more 15mm than 28mm ......when we told him of the other projects ACW, Vietnam and a secret one that is in the pipeline....he was even more impressed ....so all in all a good result and the time and effort in Lasalle and terrain making is certainly paying off .....cheers Paul :D

Posted 1 year ago #
Sgt Steiner
Member

Hi

You lot arent by any chance bringing this to Warfare next month ??

Cheers

Posted 1 year ago #
paulus
Member

Sorry Sgt....we will not be at Warfare ....very busy for the next few months ....will be at at few more shows next year! ..cheers Paul

Posted 1 year ago #
Sgt Steiner
Member

Ta for reply

Being resident of colonies (ie N.Ireland) I usually only make 1 show on 'mainland' and its usually Warfare.

Demo looks excellent please show more pics if you have any

Cheers

Posted 1 year ago #
John de Terre Neuve
Member

Very nice, would you like to post an OB and the result. I think I see 3 regular British battalions and 3 others? I really like how you did the terrain, especially the formal garden, that was sort of cool. How did you finesse the cannon.

Best wishes,

John

Posted 1 year ago #
Peoples_Republic
Member

Ye Gad's man. That looks brilliant. Really impressive.
Who won on the day. What did you do about the artillery in the end ?
Wouldn't mind knowing what extra scenairo specific rules you decided on ?
How many french battalions did u have ? The full list or did you have to improvise.

Yes, Well it will make a very good article. be Interested in reading it myself. See how they went through the design process LoL.
Theres a few people involved with Battle front on this site anyway.

Talking about Figure scales. Its really hard to decide what figure sizes to go with and they all have there good and bad points.28mm does have the eye candy effect. The people I play with always seem to have different scales over different periods.I usally end up having the other size lol Murphys law. I have a lot of home games with people not in a club as well as club games. So its a bit of a puzzle for me lol.

Posted 1 year ago #
John de Terre Neuve
Member

It will be an interesting article. The design process for this scenario is what makes it interesting. Essentially you have asymmetric forces, the same as the battle for La Haie Sainte.

The fact that Paul was able to make the Lasalle rules work for what is essentially a battle between a brigade sized force versus a multi-division force is really interesting.

I look forward to hearing from him about the actual OB, how the cannon were worked and any other scenario specific rules.

John

Posted 1 year ago #
paulus
Member

The game could not really be played to its full potential because of the amount of people who were at the show asking us questions about the Lasalle rules....the terrain/ miniatures etc ....they really like the 15mm scale and alot of the older lads seemed to have moved onto 28mm scale because they told us that their eyesight was not as good as it used to be to paint the 15mm scale .....we have been asked by a club about playing out the game in its entirety with possibly 3 people aside.....that is when we will be able to let you all into how the game really pans out!

many thanks to John...P Republic and all the other lads on all their feedback and advice .....much appreciated!

Now its down to Mr Mustafa to bring out Blucher ....Stonewall ....etc to inspire us even more .....keep up the good work .....cheers Paul

Posted 1 year ago #
Peoples_Republic
Member

"'Yes, Well it will make a very good article. be Interested in reading it myself. See how they went through the design process LoL.""

err John that was a joke. because you, me and paulus were the main designers.But we will have to read about it in WI. Oh dear never mind LOL

I've done a 3\4 of scenario write up in word to post on wiki with both the 15mm Model approach and BW scaled approach just using a Bu for the farm building complex that will fit into all scales but i can't play test it for a couple of months because I'm still doing figures so Im interested in the same questions as you John. And how the player balance goes. I have quite a few gaps to finish it

Wether to have xtra Artillery or random off table artillery. Leaning towards no and this can be explained by the woods and the fact that there was a lot of counter battery fire even though both sides were ordered not to.
What rules to give the engineer and wether to make the chaetau complex impregnable or the french the chance to change history.
How u are handling BUs for the 15mm model ?
Those things sort of depend on giving game balance. That is play testing.

Cheers

Posted 1 year ago #
John de Terre Neuve
Member

Paul, We look forward to your game report, if indeed you end up running the game. You certainly are guarded about the details!

PR, I am working away on my scenario, the 15 mm Hougoumont model is on it's way from Hovels. I use 28 mm figures, so the vertical dimension will be wrong, but I much more like the footprint of 50x30cm (50x90 with the formal garden), that the 15 mm model provides. I have been painting away and am almost done with the figures aside from a couple of units of lègére and the Nassau. I am still playing around with the OB and deciding whether I will involve the French 9th division or not. If I do so I think I will only have 1 bde from that division. I am not planning to use BUA rules, but rather the rules for obstacles and cover. I will also use the engineering rules, hopefully without modification. The only rules that I may have to modify are the artillery rules, if indeed I include cannon.

Here is the exciting part though, I am thinking about extending the scenario to include La Haie Sainte, I already have the model and most of the figures (may be short on French) and am just finishing off the 1/4th currassiers. I thought it would be fun as the 1/2 Nassau and the Lueneberg left Hougoumont and travelled to La Haie Sainte. I am looking at modeling these 2 battles from say 1130 am to about 3pm. My table is just big enough to do this, at a rough calculation of around 3mm to a metre (the buildings were about 1 km apart). I may be crazy, but it seems like it is doable. I am hoping to play test it the week before Xmas. I should have the preliminary plan on my blog within the next week or 2. But here are some early thoughts

Area of Battle to model

OB

Very Preliminary Terrain looking toward the west (area of Hougoumont model and garden with cardboard)

Posted 1 year ago #
paulus
Member

Hi John we are not being guarded its just that the demo was really popular and we spent alot of time talking to fellow gamers about it .....as you say La haye Sainte is the next step ....your OOB and table are spot on John ...are you from New Zealand as its a pity you and the other lads are not in the UK as it would have been good to play the demo together.........cheers Paul

Posted 1 year ago #
Peoples_Republic
Member

John says ""I am thinking about extending the scenario to include La Haie Sainte""
"" I may be crazy""
Do u know how many battalions are are in between there ? that really is most of the battle.
But I can't talk though I have been known to do crazy scenerios in the past on that scale.
Very nice table

Im just going to do a simple hougnought sceneario and just using a bu for the chateu buildings so most people can easily create it and it can be played at a club afternoon and will be too scale. But thats good for u if u want to put that much time into it. Show you more about that later Problably discuss your OOB later too.

La haye sainte is another good one.

The riflemen attempted to block up holes in the walls made by artillery fire but the French scaled the walls and bursted into the farmyard. Mjr. Baring gave order to retire through the house into the garden. They rushed to the rear with the French hot on their heels.
Some wounded cried out in French Pardon ! begging for life but they were bayoneted. With shouts Coquin ! the French fired after the fleeing Nassauers. Baring attempted to defend the small garden but quickly found it untenable. His last men abandoned the farm sometime around 6.15 PM and sprinted up the slope. The French caught up with some and killed. "... many of the men were overtaken by the enemy, who vented their fury upon them in the lowest abuse..." (- Major Baring, KGL).
The French were screaming at them, kicked and stripped of all they had before they were turned over to cuirassiers and escorted to the rear. The cuirassiers forced the prisoners to run, and when a man couldn't run fast enough, "they killed him with a saber blow."
After 5 hours (with interruptions) of siege the French light infantry captured La Haye Sainte. Major Baring was to receive no replenishment throughout the battle, despite 5 separate and desperate appeals !
Major Heise of II Light KGL (and ADC to Gen. von Alten) stated that the cart with ammunition was overturned on the Genappe Road during the confusion when the Cumberland Hussars fled from the battlefield. Baring reported that at the end he had only 42 men, but this also includes the 'missing'. Once these men returned to the ranks on the following day, Baring had approx. half of his troops.
cheers

Posted 1 year ago #
paulus
Member

Hi Lads we have also put the La Haye sainte action down as an extending project to the Hougomont one ....its been a good year for Napoleonics .....Lasalle as certainly inspired wargamers to look at the period again in more depth .....well done Sam!

cheers Paul

Posted 1 year ago #
John de Terre Neuve
Member

Thanks Paul, only joking about being guarded, just curious about your OB etc. My family is from Rawcliffe, Yorks, which I believe is around 35 miles from Leeds, but I live far away in Massachusettes now. Look forward to hearing further adventures of the Leeds Wargaming group, maybe I will get to stop in some day.

PR, no plans to do Waterloo, but will work toward extending the time period of the Battle for Hougomount and La Haie Sainte into the evening as I paint up more battalions. Unfortunately, the legere/ligne ratio for the troops involved in these 2 actions is a little out of proportion.

John

Posted 1 year ago #
Peoples_Republic
Member

Im just concentrating on the first attack with the french lights

Double click on it to make it bigger

But this is what happened latter on. It involves alot more artillery and units that have to be represented.
But i though u might find this helpful

As I've said in other post in the other threads. Some history paints this romantic picture of the guards holding out on its own. But as the day went on it involved most of the units from hougoumont to the british left flank.

Posted 1 year ago #
paulus
Member

Hi John ....me and Nev are Sheffield lads born and bred:) ....thanks for all the input ....let me know if you ever get back to Sheffield .cheers Paul

ps PR thanks again ....the Hougomont map looks good!

Posted 1 year ago #
John de Terre Neuve
Member

Just posted an update on my blog with my Hougoumont project.

John

http://fuentesdeonoro.blogspot.com/

Posted 1 year ago #
Ilkleylads
Member

Hi

The game looked good and thanks for spending some time chatting to me. I bought the rules at the show. We were doing the 15mm Piquet WW2 North Africa a few tables away from you.

If you have openning for a extra player in game I would be happy to travel down.

Thanks

Mark

Posted 1 year ago #
paulus
Member

Hi Mark ....hope you enjoy your purchase....not sure when we will have the Hougomont demo on the table again....but hoping to get it to the Vapnartak and Triples conventions .....

me and Nev are working on a Hundred Days linked set of Battles at the moment ...we tried out a highlight of the Quatra Bras action ....the British Guards put up a defiant stand ...but Marshall Ney was on better form:( ..Lasalle works really well when you focus on different parts of the Battle....on the list will be

Quatra Bras ...here come the Guards (Brits)
Waterloo ..The Attack on Hougomont ..La Haye Sainte ...followed by The repulse of the Old Guard ..

Its been a busy year for us and we are working on quite a few other projects ...WW2 using Spearhead in 6mm (a long lost gem!)....Kabul! (Force on Force) and then the American Civil War and Vietnam .....I don't know how we find the time! .cheers Paul

Posted 1 year ago #

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