Welcome

Welcome to my wargaming blog,
I'm Dave and live in Morpeth, Northumberland in the UK.
This may or may not be a regular thing, we'll just have to see how it goes.

I am a painter/collector of figures first and a wargamer second. My thrill in this great hobby of ours is to place that final well researched & painted unit into the cabinet. The actual gaming with the figures is an important but secondary experience, we all like to win, but it isn't the be all and end all of it, being with good friends and having fun is.
Hope you will enjoy reading this blog as much as I will writing in it.
Just to remind the visitor to scroll down the various pages and click on 'older posts' to see more.
Dave.

Saturday 6 January 2018

Blucher rules - Waterloo 1815

Having got the 1815 campaign cards for 'Blucher' as a xmas gift from my son I thought I'd give them a try. Neal and I have played Blucher before and are starting to get to grips with it - a good set of rules allowing you to re fight large battles which we wargamers with more modest collections cannot normally do.
So I got out my hex mats, went over the white marking with green felt tip pen (which I'd been meaning to do for quite a while) and set out the terrain. Even without the troops on the table and the 'real' Hougoumont I must say that it looked ok, quite pleased.


I then got out all of the unit cards checked where they should be placed and laid them out:


British/allied left flank, La Hay & Papelotte.


British/allied centre and La Hay Sainte .


British/allied right, Hougoumont.


Hougoumont from the French left, P.S. The red token represents the garrison of the building which can't leave and is low strength but can on a die roll be reinforced.


French centre.


French right with Plancenoit bottom right.


A view from the French side of the table.


Now don't get me wrong here, there is no way I will ever be able to re fight Waterloo on this or any other scale with Gen d'Armee or it's ilk, but this set of rules will do the job very well for this and other battles, but man the cards look crap!
I am in the process of painting up 10mm armies of French and Russians for the mid to late Napoleonic period, if and when Neal manages to paint up his 10mm British then we could re fight battles having one base represent a division but not (as above) with each base representing a brigade.
So it's cards or nowt. Some people don't mind the cards, as you can ascertain I'm not a fan but they are a necessary evil, it's this or nothing.
I will take my time with it and follow the scenario shown Here don't know the author but I hope he doesn't mind ( his 6mm figures and terrain are stunning).
I'll keep posting the games progress.
Dave. 

9 comments:

  1. Seems to be very interesting, and tempting...and this famous battle can be played and replayed!

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    Replies
    1. The rules come with a campaign system (many different maps) which is the driver for the game, thereby creating different campaigns with many different battle situations. Simple but effective.
      Dave.

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  2. Looking forward to seeing your 10mm armies grace the hexed table.

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  3. Cheers lads, might be waiting a while for anything on this scale Norm but I will get a game on at some point soon.
    Dave.

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  4. Dave,
    Blucher are a very good set of rules with a great representation of 'friction.' Make a tactical error and it is very hard to recover from the mistake. I actually like the cards when they are placed face down and then revealed as the enemy comes closer. Its an old idea but still very effective.I have fought Waterloo many times, but in 6mm using our own rules and then Volley and Bayonet which are still a very good set of rules.Refighting the battle in 10mm is very doable using Blucher instead of Grand Armee although these are wonderful rules. Why not do Blucher in 6mm and use the 10mm for Grand Armee. I am certain a man of your abilities could crack the armies off.

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    Replies
    1. Roddie, don’t you dare tempt me into yet another scale, I won’t do it, I won’t!!

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  5. We have played Maurice and Aurelian , both by Mustafa , using cards . It’s surprising how quickly you suspend disbelief and get carried away in the game , it’s almost like moving on the map. I have the Blucher cards “ War to the Death “ and “ the Hundred Days “ as well as an Austrian set from Drive thro Cards . I have recently bought Rommel and am working up to playing this entirely with cards as I have no intention of starting to paint up figures and vehicles. Look forward to more posts .

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    Replies
    1. Cheers mate, I have the same cards as you but with Russians instead of Austrians, it does make it quick and easy.
      Dave.

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