Since there are still some rumblings about the end game / VPs, especially considering things like French Guard have a very slim chance of winning currently, I've put together a proposal for a new VP structure.
Objectives
There are now three objectives on the board. The first, the defender's camp, is placed as per normal rules. The other two are placed according to one of two ways:
Option A: Each player places one objective each, which must be at least 1' from each table edge.
Option B: Each table layout from the book has set places for the two objectives. I suggest the following:
EVEN 1: Bridge; 1/3 of the way along the river from the top left.
EVEN 2: Village; Top tip of L-shaped woods on the left.
EVEN 3: Left-most Town base; Pass between ridge at top left and the small hill on the left.
EVEN 4: Chateau; Bottom right town square.
EVEN 5: Farmhouse; Bridge.
EVEN 6: Point 2' in from the left, 2' from top and bottom of table in centre; Point 2' in from the right, 2' from top and bottom, in centre.
ODD 1: As Even 6.
ODD 2: Top farm; Road between top and bottom farm openings on right.
ODD 3: Point where stream meets woods on left; Point where top stream meets rightmost woods.
ODD 4: Rightmost Rocky Ground (pale 'hill'); Point where dark top right hill meets touching rocky ground on left.
ODD 5: Building at the crossroads on left; Central town square.
ODD 6: Bottom left town square; top right town square.
These objectives are contested like the defender's camp. There is one noticeable difference: If both players have a unit within 4 base widths of the defender's camp, then it counts as a defender hold; if both players have a unit within 4 base widths of one of the 2 other objectives, it counts as contested and no-one scores. You must have a unit within 4 base widths of an objective to be able to contest it, except for the defender's camp - the defender does not need to have a unit within 4 base widths to count as holding it.
The game plays out as usual, ending either with a morale roll failure or after all turns are played out (including bonus turns). When this happens, each side counts their victory points as follows:
Game Ending:
If enemy morale has broken (failed morale roll): 6 pts to the winner.
If game has timed out after all turns played: 2 pts to defender.
Objectives:
If defender's camp is held by attacker: 3 pts to attacker
If defender's camp is contested or held by the defender: 1 pt to defender.
If other objectives are held by a player: 1 pt for each to holder.
Commander Casualties: (Only score once per officer)
If enemy C in C is killed: 2 pts
If an enemy sub commander is killed: 1 pt
Unit Casualties: (These are cumulative, and based on the table on p.66)
Enemy has lost 1/4 of unit points: 1 pt
Enemy has lost 1/3 of unit points: 1 pt
Enemy has lost 1/2 of unit points: 1 pt
Enemy has lost 2/3 of unit points: 1 pt
Enemy has lost 3/4 of unit points: 1 pt
Enemy has lost all units: 1 pt (and automatic victory (6 points, above) to the winner.
Misc:
Higher Pursuit Score: 2 pts
If enemy is subject to "Send in the Guards": 4 pts
When these VPs are totaled, if one side has 1-4 pts higher than his opponent, then he has a marginal victory; if he has 5+ pts higher than his opponent, then he has a decisive victory. If both points scores are equal, then we have a draw.
For tournament scoring: We could either use the raw scores as above, or portion the points as follows for each round:
Decisive victory / decisive loss: 4 / 0
Marginal victory / marginal loss: 3 / 1
Draw: 2 / 2
Notes:
I wanted to make sure that a morale failure would be a massive failure, one that you're unlikely to be able to win with if you fail a morale roll. I also wanted to encourage the attacker to attack, hence the defender points if the game times out (and to make up for those extra units the attacker gets - he needs to use them!). Ditto for the defender's camp. The other 2 objectives ensure that the battle won't only be fought around the defender's camp, and the need to possibly leave a unit behind to hold an objective while the rest of your army moves forward / defends other objectives. Kills for officers add a little bonus - if it's otherwise a draw, but Wellington has been knocked out of action, that should count for something. I also wanted to increase the penalty for losing units - so if your opponent is over the break limit, there's added incentive to keep at him, not pull back and hope he fails a morale check before he does enough damage to you for you to need to roll one too. Finally, I wanted to keep some form of current bonus for having cavalry superiority in place, and some form of penalty for having Guards, but ones that aren't insurmountable. An attacking French Guard army that seizes one of the objectives, contests the other, and seizes the defender's camp while inflicting quite bit of damage on the enemy can still end up with a victory over his opponent, despite not having light cavalry, and despite being subject to the Send in the Guards rule, which is currently all but impossible.
All victory points are provisional; if any is deemed to be too much or not enough, then we can adjust them or even remove them. Similarly, if another occasion / opportunity for VPs presents itself, then it can be added.
We've playtested these a few times now, and consensus is that we prefer them to the current way of doing things. Our first game ended up with a minor victory to the Austrians in the original rules, and a tie according to this proposed system, and both players agreed that it didn't feel like a victory to the Austrians, as if anything they were in a worse position than the Russians were. Our second game ended up with a major victory to the Austrians in both cases.