Wargaming has all sorts of compromises, be it in scale, numbers, modelling, or participation. I always wanted to do the big Napoleonic battles. Especially Waterloo. I also like painting 28mm (or more to the point, the ability
to see 28mm), but I do not want to paint large numbers of them. Yes 36 figure battalions look good but you can only have so many of them on any given table and hardly enough to be considered representative of a big battle. But to get the game done and to conclusion in a few hours? Not likely sorry to say. Therefore, you have to scale down and use the right rules for the situation. I now believe the rules we use, and having one big element represent a brigade, do the trick. With my wargaming buddy, Seth, I have joined him in going the big base route.
With the French completed, for fun I laid out the historical deployment. Each infantry element is about 2,400 or so, artillery ~40 guns (= 6 batteries). Obviously massive restriction in the positioning of element artillery elements with so many batteries wrapped up into a single gun but these positions made more for advantageous tactical play than historical likeness. However the Corps deployments are accurate enough. More eyeballing than measuring admittedly.
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| Looking north along the Brussel Road. Hougomont is behind the two trees ('the Woods') at the left, Plancenoit the two houses lower right. And yes, the 'Wellington Tree' at the crossroads with the east-west track showing the crestline. The "ridge" so low and gentle grade as not to be any impediment to movement thus not shown on the tabletop lest any player get the notion of a bonus for it! I have been at the battlefield and no one would notice the gradient; it only hides any unit behind it, just as Nosey intended. | | |
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| Looking west from the Prussian viewpoint, Plancenoit is the two houses to the left, with Hougomont in the upper right with its woods in front. La Haye Sainte just off to the far right. |
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| Again looking north from above the rear of the French army, Reille's Corps on the left faces Hougomont with Lobau (aka Mouton) in
the center and d'Erlon's Corps to the right with the grand battery - one
of the Guard guns assisting- up front. In behind center is the Guard
with Kellerman's and Milhaud's heavy cavalry to each side. |
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| I added the deployment of Allied army at Waterloo. Obviously these are just the raw wood bases with only the Brunswickers[link to post ] in the upper left of the photo painted thus far. |
