Hard to believe I last did this scenario in 2015, especially when I went to the trouble to make up the terrain mat for it. So it goes. Good to get it out again and use my collection to make up the armies (had to have some Prussians stand in for the Brunswickers). The biggest challenge was reviewing the scenario, particularly the OOB and order of arrival.
Stefan took command of the Allied army.
Stefan ignored the scenario set up and placed the 2nd Dutch Belgian division
around the Gemioncourt farm, so as to keep them all in command.
We let the farm hold the three stands of Jagers plus the artillery,
although strictly speaking it is too small.
The 5th and 9th French division plus II Corps cavalry arrive.
They are in command for the turn they enter,
after that Ney has to roll (4 or less on a D10).
14:00 The French 6th Division arrives in march/road column.
Ney failed his command roll, the French only had half move,
not enough to change formation
(whoops - something wrong there).
2nd Nassau immediately attack,
hoping to drive the French back in to their newly arrived troops.
The end of the 14:00 turn
The French centre has been disorganised but has held.
Kellerman to the rescue with the cuirassiers.
End of 14:30
The Dutch Belgian cavalry has started to arrive.
II Corps cavalry is working around to the Namur Road.
Progress has been slow as while Ney has taken himself out of the command loop
by attaching to the light infantry of Foy's division, getting them ready to attack the farm,
Reille who took over is only a slightly better commander - a 5 to Ney's 4.
Regardless, Kellerman has cleared the way
Again, Kellerman and the Cuirassiers charge,
this time against the Dutch Belgian militia.
At the end of 15:00 the 2nd Dutch Belgian division is in trouble.
II Corps attempts to finish off the remaining Dutch-Belgian troops.
At the end of 15:30 the French could see the way through to Quatre Bras,
but are those fresh Allied troops about to arrive?
(The entry of Picton's division was delayed one turn to allow it to enter deployed
and thereby avoid the risk of embarrassment in the face of the French cavalry).
By 16:00 the French can see that Wellington
along with Picton's 5th Division (hear those bagpipes)
as well as part of the Brunswick Corps,
have arrived to support the 2nd Dutch Belgian Division
now taking refuge in the Bois de Bossu.
Kellerman again goes into action, this time against the Dutch Belgian light cavalry.
It has taken the French a while to get into position,
meanwhile the Dutch Belgians have mostly rallied.
Then the II Corps cavalry battle the Black Hussars
(my Prussians being a handy substitute).
It got a bit messy.
The French chasseurs went uncontrolled, the Scots formed square,
the French chasseurs will bounce, messing up the French lancers
and it was getting late
so we called it quits.
How the game finished up.
Issues
Order of Battle
French
Arrival times
TBC = To be confirmed
Deployment
I prefer a fixed deployment. It does limit the Allied player however as much of their force will be out of command, but maybe this reflects the Prince of Orange's situation.
Command
Chain of Command
Should it be possible to take Ney out of command by having him attached? This is an issue caused by using his base command rating of 4 (an alternative would be to shorten his command span). Having to roll for command really limits play.
Attached
If a commander is attached, should that automatically put the unit(s) in command? This could be open to abuse. But if it was a higher-level commander (i.e. Corps or Army) then it is possibly reasonable.
Half Move
When the Corps or Army commander fail their roll, their troops get a half move. This means for some units they can't change formation. This is fatal for troops in march/road column. Options would be to allow a formation change if a unit is not disordered and uses all its movement allowance, alternatively allow a partial formation change, but mark the unit disordered; or even use the forced march mechanics. This problem also applies to being able to put cavalry on react (which requires a full move).
Map movement
This is an idea for the future and would add a pregame a bit similar to the Scharnhorst method in the Blucher rule system. It could also extend to the French I Corps maneuvers.
The march/road column movement rate in Napoleon's Battles is roughly equivalent to the average of 2.5 miles per hour or 30 hours per day (based on a quick Google search - what I was interested in is if there was a distinct difference between on table movement rate in proximity to the enemy, versus movement when there was not such concern in imminent combat).
Footprint
This is a perennial problem with these rules and many others. What to do when general's base takes up so much space? When a unit's footprint is too large to fit into an otherwise perfect combat opportunity (a classic situation where unit sizes can now vary from 2 to 7 stands). As a unit represents a brigade or large regiment, why not allow a partial commitment of just a few stands representing some of the unit's battalions or squadrons.
