Last weekend we gamed the battle of Quatre Bras. We used Bill Grey's
Age of Eagles Rules, which is the Napoleonic version of the brigade level
Fire & Fury rule system.
Darren Eisenhauer brought his collection of 15mm Napoleonic troops. I believe most of them are from Old Glory, but there are also some other manufacturer's figs mixed in. The scenario was out of the
Age of Eagles rulebook.
Darren was Gamemaster and also commanded the French left flank. I commanded the French right. Ray commanded the Dutch and German contingents of the Allied army, and Chris commanded the British reinforcements.
Here the French deploy for battle. Quatre Bras can be seen in the distance.
Ray decided to deploy his Dutch brigade in a wooded area in front of our left flank.
His Nassau troops deployed behind a stream to defend Quatre Bras.
A view of the flank I was commanding. My troops are stacked up as the battlefield was a bit narrow: one division of infantry in the front, followed by a division of cavalry, and another division of infantry in reserve.
Darren on the left with one division of infantry and two divisions of cavalry.
The attack commences! The French frontline approaches the enemy.
Fighting erupts on the left as Darren engages the Dutch brigade.
British reinforcements march to the sound of the guns. Chris moves his troops up to help the Dutch.
We concentrate artillery on the Nassau troops before throwing the infantry forward.
I begin the attack on Quatre Bras. The terrain would prove to be a bit of a problem. Ray had his troops defending the main road into the town. To his left flank was a pond that could not be crossed, forcing me to continue shifting to the right.
One of my cavalry brigades was a bit stubborn. They kept failing their reserve movement roll, forcing the infantry reserve that was behind them to sadly move past.
A hot fight around the Gemioncourt farm.
Ray brings on his Brunswickers to reinforce the Nassau troops.
Darren was going to try to outflank the enemy by sending his cavalry division around the woods, but Chris quickly deployed the Brits in preparation for such an attack.
After the front brigade receives some British lead, Darren calls off the attack, realizing it would be a suicide mission.
Hold the Line!
Working my way around the flank, I approach Quatre Bras.
Fighting erupts just outside of town. My troops are closing in, but Ray is having some of the best die rolling of his life and beats off all of my attacks.
I move one of my infantry brigades forward to aid Darren as Chris sends his Brits into the woods.
My cavalry moves around behind Quatre Bras, and Ray moves his forward to counter the move.
More British troops arrive on the field.
Chris pushes his troops through the woods and becomes the attacker.
Darren sends me a brigade of cavalry, and it appears there is going to be a showdown.
The Red Coats Are Coming!
Lancers await an opportunity to charge the enemy.
The cavalry fight commences.
Ray keeps up his stellar die rolling, and stops another one of my attacks.
Ray continues to best me in die rolls and wins the cavalry combat, so Darren joins in the fray and I urge my men forward for another try.
Darren sends in his men to try to stall the Brits.
My final assault on Quatre Bras is stopped.
The continuous arrival of British reinforcements signals that our opportunity for victory has been lost. We have run out of time.
The cavalry fight goes in favor of the French (one of the only things that went in our favor this game).
But it is too little too late as British troops swarm around Quatre Bras.
In the end, it appeared that our attack was too slow, especially with the amount of reinforcements the allies had coming onto the field. Some amazing die rolling by Ray (this was just his day) was another major problem, as well as the terrain impediments.
I don't mind losing if the game is fun. Thanks to Darren for a great game!
