Waterloo Campaign 2.0 - First days

 

Early morning: Armies about to lurch into motion...

Early on 15th June 1815, the signal to advance rippled up and down Napoleon's columns and they began the campaign that would restore or bring down Napoleon's imperium. 

Overall situation, dawn 15 June 1815: Who, what and where

Unsure of Napoleon's plans, the Allies had rather scattered themselves along the Belgium-France frontier. The Anglo-Dutch were at Alost (I Corps), Ghent (II Corps, off table), Brussels (Reserve, with Wellington) and Ninove (Cavalry Corps). The Prussians were dispersed thus: Fleurus Ligny (I Corps), Namur (II Corps, with Generalfeldmarschall Graf Blucher), Ciney (III Corps) and Liege (IV Corps, off table).

Napoleon's plan seemed to involve a northward thrust aimed directly at Brussels. Somehow, the Duke of Wellington conceived a notion that Napoleon might try to insert his army between his own and the North Sea ports, an apprehension that lead to the scattering of his command. Instead, Napoleon had disposed of his army in a species of his customary bataillon carré.

General view looking north from behind Beaumont

The right wing, under command of Marshal Grouchy, comprised IV Army Corps and II and III Cavalry Corps. On the left, Marshal Ney commanded I Army Corps with I and IV Cavalry Corps. The main centre column comprised II, III, la Garde, and VI Army Corps. Napoleon himself could have been found accompanying his Guard.

General view at nightfall, 15 June. First battle
between Prussian I Corps against French IV Corps
(led by Marshal Grouchy)

General view, looking NW. Battle of Charleroi

As Marshall Grouchy led the IV Corps into Charleroi, they came under attack from the Prussian I Corps - or at least most of it. Meanwhile, II and III Cavalry Corps were passing through Fosse to cover the army's right flank against possible incursion by the Thielmann's III Corps. To the left of Charleroi, Reille's II Corps swung right at Binche in order to support Grouchy, and/or to take the road to Quatre Bras. Vandamme's III Corps continued up the north road to Seneffe, leading the Imperial Guard and VI Corps following on. Meanwhile d'Erlon's I Corps reaches Mons at nightfall.

The bellicose Graf von Zieten immediately engaged Grouchy's wing at Charleroi. Not all of Zieten's Corps was up, however, elements of horse, foot and guns not advancing beyond Fleurus. 

In this rule set, an attack from one hex into an adjacent counts as a hex move, even though the attacker doesn't fully enter the 'battlefield hex'. My procedure is to nudge some of the attacker's figures just over or on the battlefield hex edge. That way, at any time we know who the attackers and defenders are. Now, movement along a road is two hexes for foot troops. Although the laggards could have reached the hex adjacent to Charleroi, they could not have engaged in the battle. Zieten could have simply waited for the following day to engage in battle with his whole force, but I made Zieten a bellicose type not overburdened with patience. A bit like Blucher himself, come to think on it. I found it simplest to leave the stragglers back in Fleurus.

II and III Cavalry Corps passing through Fosse,
whilst several kilometres away, the Battle of Charleroi 
rages

Allied Cavalry Corps reaches Hal

Reille's II Corps passes close by Charleroi, as 
Vandamme leads the main column towards Seneffe

Will Reille join the action at Charleroi...
or march on Quatre Bras (the road leading off to 
the bottom right of the picture)?

Battle of Charleroi, first day. X marks the dice that cancel
each other out; R the dice that are redundant for lack of the 
enemy type to eliminate. Although the Prussians weren't too
outnumbered, the result is a heavy defeat.

Zieten's bellicosity failed to pay off. Leaving some elements out of the battle is not totally downside, as they can not be lost, and there is a chance of wasted dice. But this battle was a heavy defeat for the Prussians, losing 4 foot and a horse to a single horse element from IV Corps. 

Battle of Charleroi. The French don't have 4 horse to lose;
The Prussian have only 4 foot... So three threes and 
one five have no effect.

One 'foot' hot on the French side was superfluous - redundant, and on the Prussian side, three dice went to waste. Napoleon's campaign had opened with a great victory at Charleroi. Zieten's command fell back upon Fleurus, where they joined the three figures left behind. As this was the only battle of the 15th June, it was a simple matter to rally the stragglers - half of the losses by each arm, foot rounded up, others rounded down. So IV Corps lost its cavalry, as did the Prussians, but they got back two of the four infantry figures.

Battle of Fleurus. Following up the repulse at 
Charleroi, Grouchy scores a second victory at Fleurus

16th June:

Of course, Marshal Grouchy simply had to follow up the repulse of the night before, and at once launched an attack upon Fleurus. This fight should have been more even Zieten has lost 5 elements  from the battle, recovered 2 and was joined by the 3 left out. So once again had 10 dice to roll. The French seems to have been allocated 8 only, though there ought to have been at least one more. Nevertheless, this was a signal victory for the French Corps, which inflicted the loss of 2 infantry, one horse and a gunner upon the Prussians, for the loss of one infantry.

Reeling from the blow, Zieten fell back upon Gembloux whilst Grouchy occupied Fleurus.

Battle of Quatre Bras - and a disaster for the Allies!

Reille had meanwhile passed by Charleroi and pushed on until reaching Quatre Bras in the afternoon of the 16th. There they encountered the Duke of Wellington, leading in person, the Allied Reserve Corps. The French having slightly the superior strength, they again prevailed, though only after a stiff and costly fight. Destroying three foot elements, II Corps might have destroyed a horse, had any Allied horse been present. In return, the Allies did eliminate a horse unit, and a gunner as well. But three elements eliminated for two was another French victory.

But it got better. The two extra sixes put the Iron Duke at hazard. What happened to him? In such instances we roll two D6 dice. Double-six inflicts a mortal wound; six-five an incapacitating one. In some circumstances, e.g. a lost battle, a score of 10 might indicate the commander taken prisoner.

So, what was the roll? Double-six. The Duke of Wellington was no more. The Allied Reserve Corps straggled back to Waterloo.

The Allied Reserve Corps has no cavalry to lose, 
but they do lose 3 foot - though the French don't 
come off unscathed. Those two sixes, though...!

Such was not to the end of the tale of French victories, though they would have to await the morrow. 

Namur having been vacated by Blucher and II Corps
Exelmans's dragoons seize and occupy the town!

So would Blucher's vengeance for Zieten's defeat. As I Corps retreated upon Gembloux, Blucher led II Corps up to Fleurus. Marshal Grouchy would soon find himself in yet another battle. But behind Blucher a minor setback ensued, as General Exelmans' led his corps of dragoons into the town. What might that portend for the whole Prussian army?

I Corps on the left, with I Cav Corps and III Corps
converge upon Allied I Corps at Soignes

Far off to the west, Marshal Ney's wing took longer to see action. Nightfall of 16th June found his I Corps still well short of Soignes, where awaited the Allied I Corps. Nearer at hand was General Vandamme's III Corps, which formation had veered off the Brussels road and closed upon Soignes. To add to the tale of menace, the light I Cavalry Corps was also moving up from Binche. The Prince of Orange would find the Seventeenth a very warm June day...

General view, late afternoon 16 June.

The battlefield losses for the day were:
French: 1 foot, 1 horse, 1 gunner
Prussian: 2 foot, 1 horse, 1 gunner
Anglo-Dutch: 3 foot and the Duke of Wellington.

Overnight the half the losses are returned - stragglers or lightly scratched returning to the colours
Foot are rounded up; specialists rounded down. However, for rounding purposes specialists - horse and foot may be grouped together. So the returns are:

French get back: 1 foot and 1 horse or gunner:
Prussians get back: 1 foot and 1 horse or gunner
Anglo-Dutch get back: 2 foot.
The Duke of Wellington is not replaced.  Somebody takes over the command - probably the Prince of Orange - but, without Wellington's battlefield presence, the extra combat die is no longer available. This might prove decisive!

Despite three signal French victories, the Allies' losses don't amount to so very much. Attrition is by no means a factor yet!