Battle of Quatre Bras in 6mm - Part 2, The Battle

Previous post: Part 1, The Setup

The battle started with a French bombardment. This caused the Allies to retire behind a fold in the ground.

The French then launched a succession of piecemeal attacks on the Allied lines, but none with enough strength to break through.

The Brunswick artillery repulsed the first infantry attack.

The Duke of Brunswick was in the thick of things, but unhistrionically survived to fight again at Waterloo.

Reinforcements: The Guards arrive! At about the same time, Wellington turned up and helped rally many inexperienced recruits back to the colours!

The Allies built a strong defensive line in front of Quatre Bras. Kellermann's Cuirassiers couldn't break through and got devastated by the firepower of the British infantry. Even the poor Brunswick infantry held!

And the French didn't have enough reserves to push any more. D'Erlon never turned up! The Allies held the crossroads.

Battle of Quatre Bras in 6mm - Part 1, The Setup

Refight of the Battle of Quatre Bras using Command & Colors Napoleonic Rules. Figures from Baccus 6mm range, hex terrain from Kallistra, houses from TBM, trees by Timecast.

Details of the scenario can be found here.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s surprise march placed his army squarely between Blucher’s Prussians at Ligny and Wellington’s Anglo-Allied army assembling around Brussels. Napoleon concentrated most of his strength against Blucher, but ordered Ney and the II Corps to capture the vital crossroads of Quatre Bras to deny Wellington the chance to reinforce Blucher. Ney procrastinated and his attack did not get underway until two in the afternoon. The delay allowed Wellington to bring fresh allied troops to support the Dutch-Belgians and the Nassau Brigade that were thinly deployed south of the crossroads.

The initial French advance was greeted with musket volleys, but the outnumbered Allied troops were forced back. The Allied units in the wood, however, managed to hold. Facing three infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade, the Allied situation was fast becoming desperate, but additional troops kept arriving and Wellington, now in command, directed them to key positions on the battlefield.

Ney realized that the numerical balance was shifting in favor of the Anglo-Allies and that he could only capture and hold Quatre Bras by a desperate move. He ordered General Kellermann to lead his cuirassier brigades forward and break through Wellington’s line. The cuirassiers managed to reach the crossroads, but were driven back by close range artillery and musket fire. The arrival of the British Guards Division late in the day gave Wellington sufficient strength to launch a counter-attack that forced the French to give up all of their hard fought territorial gains.

The Battlefield from the West.

The Battlefield from the South.

The Game Layout

Let Battle Commence

The Allied Right Flank

The Allied Centre

The Allied Left Flank

The French Right Flank

The French Centre

The French Left Flank

Off Table - British reinforcements

Off Table - French reinforcements

Next post: Part 2, The Battle

Battle of Waterloo in 6mm - Part 3, The Battle

Refight of the Battle of Waterloo in 6mm (Sunday 13th December).

Napoleon retained his strategic brilliance, placing his army squarely between the Prussian and Anglo-Allied armies on June 16th. His tactical genius was fading. He allowed an entire corps to countermarch aimlessly on the 16th, denying him the opportunity for a decisive victory either at Ligny or Quatre Bras. Instead, at the end of the day the beaten Prussians escaped at Ligny and Wellington still held the crossroads at Quatre Bras. On the 17th Napoleon turned his main strength towards the British, after detaching Grouchy with two corps to pursue the retreating Prussians and prevent them from uniting with Wellington. A massive storm drenched the area on the 17th as Napoleon advanced upon the Anglo-Allied army that was deploying for battle in front of Mount Saint Jean.

The 18th dawned clear, but the rain-soaked ground still made maneuvering cavalry and artillery difficult, so Napoleon delayed the start of the battle, waiting for the ground to dry. Wellington fielded an Anglo-Allied army of 50,000 infantry, 11,000 cavalry and 150 guns. In front of his line, there were three strong positions; Hougoumont, Papelotte and La Haye Sainte. Many of his veteran regiments from Spain had been sent to Canada and the United States to fight the Americans. Napoleon’s army consisted of 48,000 infantry, 14,000 cavalry and 250 guns. Many of these troops were veterans of at least one campaign.

It was about 11am before Napoleon started the battle.

Aware that the clock was ticking, and the Prussians could arrive at any time, the French quickly advanced the corps of d'Erlon on their right flank and easily drove in van Bylandt's brigade.

With the Allies on the ridge otherwise occupied, the French took a chance and sent in an attack on La Haye Sainte.

Taking a chance, the heavy dragoons of the Union Brigade attack impetuously.

D'Erlon's advance is halted by the Allies.

Both sides retire to lick their wounds. While Vivian's British light cavalry tries to sneak round the flank.

D'Erlon reorganizes while the French bring up reinforcements from both Lobau's Corps and the cavalry reserve.

The second attack on the Allied left, by the remains of d'Erlon's Corps reinforced by Lobau's Corps and part of the cavalry reserve.

Allied cavalry advance west of La Haye Sainte in the hope of distracting the French. Seeing a weakness in the French line, the Household Cavalry brigade charges and routs the French Grand Battery.

The French Grand Battery is overrun and destroyed before the supporting cavalry could intervene, but they would swiftly take their revenge on the Household cavalry.

The French heavy cavalry led by the Grenadiers a Cheval sweep forward to take their revenge on the supporting Allied cavalry.

While all this had been happening, it was all quiet on the western flank. Obviously the French player had decided that Hougoumont with Macdonnell's Guards was just too hard a nut to crack.

The French right advances again and the Allies take shelter behind the ridge.

The French heavy cavalry keep the Allies west of La Haye Sainte too busy to come to the support of their comrades.

The engagement takes place.

The French have swept the ridge clear, but hesitate behind the crest to avoid the Allied artillery fire.

The Allies are now under serious pressure, so the French don't waste any time in sending in a second assault on La Haye Sainte, this time with General Durutte with the leading brigade.

With only a few men standing, few of them unwounded, and with only a few rounds left each, the brave KGL light infantry are in trouble.

After many hours of bitter struggle, La Haye Sainte now falls into French hands and a major objective has been taken. Could the road to Brussels now be open?

The 95th Rifles had been doing sterling work from the sand pit, but their position was now untenable and they had to retire.

The French Heavy Cavalry cleared the ridge overlooking La Haye Sainte, first the supporting Allied Cavalry

and then the Brunswick artillery beside it.

The Prussians arrive only to find the Old and Middle Guard waiting to give them a warm welcome in Plancenoit.

Result
La Haye Sainte is safely in French hands, the Allied army is decimated and there is a huge hole in the middle of the Allied lines leaving Brussels open and unprotected.

The French have won a Victory!

Although it was of course "a damned nice thing — the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life".

Previous posts in this series
Battle of Waterloo in 6mm - Part 1, The Terrain
Battle of Waterloo in 6mm - Part 2, The Scenario

Battle of Waterloo in 6mm - Part 2, The Scenario

The map shows the setup of units for the Waterloo battlefield.

The units are colour-coded as follows:

• Red = British
• Orange = Dutch/Belgian/Hanoverian
• Green = Nassau
• Black = Brunswick
• Blue = French

Hexes with stars show locations on which reinforcements may arrive during the game.

• Black = Brunswick
• Blue = French
• Dark Blue Border = Prussian

The Setup:

All figures from Baccus. The village houses are from TBM, Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte from Irregular Miniatures, La Belle Alliance and Plancenoit church from Leven and Papelotte was scratch built. Trees by Timecast.

The battlefield from the West

The French left and Hougoumont

The French centre and La Haye Sainte

The French right and Papelotte

The battlefield from the East

The British view of Hougoumont

The British view of La Haye Sainte with La Belle Alliance and Plancenoit in the background.

Special Rules:

• Each player gets four Leaders which can be placed anywhere on their map half.
• 16 Victory Banners are required to win the game.
• Hougoumont, La Haye Sainte and Papelotte are each Temporary Victory Banner objective hexes for the French player. These are Walled Farms on which (since the Austrian Expansion) a unit may ignore one flag. 
• The river is fordable

Reinforcements:

Prussian Reinforcements:

The Allied player rolls 2 dice at the start of each allied turn. For each INF symbol rolled, the timeline for the Prussian arrival increases by 1. When it reaches 8, the Prussian reinforcements may start arriving. 

At the start of his turn, the Allied player may setup any ordered Prussian reinforcement and Blücher (who may attached or setup alone) in an empty hex marked with a dark blue bordered star. They may move and/or battle normally with the marked entry hex counting as first hex of movement.

Should a Prussian unit be eliminated from the game, it returns to being a reinforcement and may enter play as normal when ordered. However its loss still gives the French player a victory banner.

French Reinforcements:

At the start of his turn, the French player may setup any ordered French reinforcement and Lobau (who may attached or setup alone) in an empty hex marked with a blue star. They may move and/or battle normally with the marked entry hex counting as first hex of movement.

Brunswick Reinforcements:

At the start of his turn, the Allied player may setup any ordered Brunswick reinforcement in an empty hex marked with a black star. They may move and/or battle normally with the marked entry hex counting as first hex of movement.


Previous posts in this series:
Battle of Waterloo in 6mm - Part 1, The Terrain