Evening at Waterloo

It's been quite a while since I've posted, but then it's been quiet on the gaming front.

When last we left the Battle of Waterloo (see first part here) things had reached the moment of truth. The French right was under huge pressure from the Prussians. A mass infantry assault in the centre had been thrown back. Could Napoleon save his dreams of empire?



Napoleon finally orders the Guard forward, their intervention is needed urgently before a British counterattack drives his depleted brigades from the field.



The Old Guard march forward.



D'Erlon manages to withdraw in good order from the Prussian onslaught, with some (almost miraculous) elan and to the considerable consternation of the opposing generals.



Reille takes Hougomont, with a concerted attack on British positions there and in the surrounding area. Here, maybe the French may sweep the English from the field?



The French right flank looks terribly weak!



French countercharge English cavalry near La Haye Sainte. They are thrown back.



French guns on right taken despite a gallant defence.



In the end the intervention of the Guard was too little, and too late. The pressure of the Prussians and English on the French right was far too much.

Still the final score was 15-14 to the English/Prussian allied army (The French needed to score 15 to win!)

Sometime in June I'm planning to drop over again to fight the Battle of Wavre. Perhaps I'll have better luck then

Raid on the Blücher

After having placed the asteroids and secretly determined the location of the Blucher and the jump-in point of the Romanov ships the defending NSL squadrons were deployed.

The NSL admiral intended to have a relatively conservative deployment with the close protection squadron in proximity to the hidden battleship at low velocity and the two patrolling squadrons moving at a moderate pace back towards the same zone.

'A' Patrol Squadron moves back towards asteroids.



'B' Patrol Squadron makes contact with the close protection squadron.



Close Protection Squadron threads its way through asteroids.



Close Support Squadron.



Romanov squadron jumps in right on top of them. This threw the cat amongst the pigeons. With the opening Romanov salvo destroying a frigate and a light cruiser outright, and crippling the other two vessels in the close protection squadron with little effective reply, there seemed to be little hope for the NSL battleship to hold out before relief would arrive.



Despite the slow crawl of the asteroid the Blucher is anchored to away from the Romanov squadron their sensor sweep reveals its position. Bringing on its systems online as quickly as possible doesn't seem quick enough. Only a single '3' Battery, FTL and the engines response to the feverish attentions of the damage control parties.



Romanov squadron swarms as Blucher gets engines online. The Blucher pulls away at a snail's pace from the asteroid to bear its weapons on its attackers. Their fire severely damages its armour and super-structure.



Despite the urgency of the situation the patrolling squadrons keep their steady pace through the asteroid field, and the heavy cruisers' concerted fire on the Romanov battleship "Sevastopol" tears it apart before she can open up again on the Blucher. Fire from the accompanying destroyers knocks two of the Romanov cruisers out of action. The remainder flee.



A short, sharp battle. It's difficult to assess exactly how the scenario might be balanced better, given the deployment rules give an awful lot of scope for hugely different plays. We both felt that maybe downgrading the heavy cruisers with escort cruisers and swapping them with the light cruisers would go a long way to evening things out.

Battle of Tinian - redux

We replayed the Tinian scenario on the Sunday of Leprecon; the Japanese were thirsting for revenge from their defeat the previous day.

The Marines converge on White Beaches. This "aerial" perspective shows just how much cover the cane fiels would provide the Japanese if they decide to make their stand in the cave complex.



Corsair strafes Japanese infantry in jungle. Despite some early successes the air unit was shot down over the hills and another sortie was never launched.



Marines storm off landing craft to take airstrip. Here the Japanese would be under huge pressure, with their initial counter-attack on the other side of the airstrip being wiped out by a well-timed (and well-aimed) naval salvo.



Japanese counterattack catches Marine armour. The American armour unit made initial inroads, pushing Japanese infantry back into the cane fields, but is then caught and destroyed by a supporting attack. Colonel Ogata leads another unit to prevent a nearby Marine battalion from aiding the beleaguered tankers.



Japanese tanks ready for action as the Marines come ashore in strength. With infantry backing them up through the jungle and with artillery support, the Japanese are confident at this end of the island.



Japanese lurk in jungle to threaten Marine advance on the airstrip. A series of well-timed manoeuvres would see the Americans decimated here and without armour to back them up.



Presence of Marine General bolsters centre. With the Big Guns having come ashore, the Americans are in a position to do real damage to the Japanese in the centre.



Night falls, but the Japanese are not prepared for a night attack. Marines land on Faila San Hila Point, and begin to work their way towards their objectives. The long night actually suits the Americans, as it negates the Japanese advantage in artillery and prevents Japanese units from engaging in long-range firefights from cover.



Firefight rages in airstrip buildings. The depleted lone Japanese infantry battalion at the airstrip holds out but is eventually driven off. The subsequent assault on the artillery on the other side of the airstrip is unsuccesful and the Marines take point-blank artillery fire.



Marines take ground and push towards emplaced artillery. After their initial success here, the Marines begin to feel the effects of close-in assault by the Japanese tanks. Previously kept at arms length by the Marine armour, but now freed up. They range up and down the shore driving unfortunate marines into the night-time surf.



Marines caught in crossfire. A final concerted attack on the marine battalion in the centre ends in its destruction along with the death of General Cates brings the defeat of the Marine task force as dawn breaks.



An emphatic victory for the Japanese 21-6. As the game progressed it never seemed that decisive, and many Japanese units were on their last legs. One vital factor was the emphasis the Japanese placed on taking the Marine armour out of the game, allowing them to play to their advantages in close assault in the open.