HPS Waterloo - The Battle of Quatre Bras: An Opinion

By Patrick McCarthy - French Armee

18th September 2008

The Allies:

Allies turn 1

No matter which strategy the French adopt, the first few moves of the allies will be the same. Pull back to form a line, reconstitute the skirmishers, leave a skirmish company to delay the French in the chateau at Gemioncourt. Pull the artillery back to prevent it being picked off. The object of all this is to keep the allies together, to avoid being fragmented.

Allies turn 2

The line is in place, just one more turn needed to perfect the formations. Wellington has arrived and the artillery is in place.

Allied turn 3

The line is now in proper formation and in position , the Brunswickers are arriving and Merlen has been spotted to the West. On turn 4 the Brunswickers are poised to meet the French assault, whether it be a wide left hook, an assault on the left, an assault at the bridge, a short right hook east of Gemioncourt, or a wide right hook past Pireaumont.

 

The French:

So what options do the French have ?

1.) A wide left hook

2.) A wide right hook

3.) A short left hook

4.) A short right hook

5.) Route one, straight up the road

 

French wide left hook – turn 3

So what happens if the French try a wide left hook , with 9 division and some cavalry. Where will they be when the Allied line is formed on turn 3? – nowhere.

French wide left hook - turn 6

Still no contact with the Allies, infantry a long way from any attack, this is just not a valid plan.

French Wide right hook – turn 3

Where would the French be when the Allies have formed their line? This looks slightly more promising, but still no major contact. French 5 and 6 division are involved in this manouvre.

French wide right hook – turn 6

This looks very threatening. A much more worrying prospect than the wide left hook, there are only three problems:

1.) The Allies have two roads that will funnel their reinforcements to exactly where they are needed

2.) What happens if the allies sacrifice a battalion or regiment of cavalry at the bridge

3.) Six turns without heavy contact might be just too long to wait.

French short left hook – turn 1

This is interesting for the French, because if the Allies follow my prescription, they are open to a few nasty attacks on turn 2. If they amend the their(Allies) opening move they risk becoming fragmented.

Already this is giving the Allies a headache.

French short left hook – turn 3

This looks quite good from the French point of view.

Lots of contact, French artillery in good positions and 6 division (on the road) perfectly poised to take advantage of any Allied mistakes. What can possibly go wrong?

This is clearly a good solid early attack, but the French risk getting embroiled in the woods. It is so easy to send battalions in there, then to lose them for a dozen turns before they can become effective again.

Secondly, the stream on the left. This stream,in some senses, is a very minor obstacle, paradoxically it is also a major obstacle. It mostly negates the heavy French cavalry presence, it enhances the modest Allied cavalry presence (because they can't be countercharged). The French cannot cross it in line, unless already disorganised.

Third, the attack is a fair way from the bridge, making it that much more difficult to ‘unhinge'

A fourth problem here is ‘funnelling'. The further north the Allied line goes, the shorter it gets. This is because of the shape of the woods and it reduces the need for Allied line battalions by three eventually, a major factor if the French go for the short left hook.

Fifth and last, and most important. This attack brings the French eyeball to eyeball with the big Allied battalions who will be in line and behind a stream. These units can inflict 50 – 100 casualties every turn. Once the Allied player knows what the French are up to, he can ‘double up'. This can stop the French dead in their tracks. They will have no manouvre options, they will be forced to continue, head down, shoulders back, chin up. Eyeball to eyeball. The French player now relies on luck, hoping for a major allied rout, they have lost control of the battle.

French short right hook – turn 1

This attack uses a brigade of 9 div to tie down the Allied right at the stream. A second brigade attacks the chateau at gemioncourt and 5 div crosses to the right through the fields.

6 division goes up the road and either follows to the right or barrels up , depending on the situation. French cavalry makes a lot of fuss, but basically does not commit.

French short right hook – turn 2

The standard Allied defence is well suited to meeting this attack. The French push on, note the artillery is in a forward position and the cavalry is threatening all over but close to the central action if needed.

lot of fuss, but basically does not commit.

French short right hook – turn 3

At last a plan where the French force is compact, and they have a chance at an open flank. In theory the French could hit the Allied left wing with 12 battalions to three, then have another 12 to attack with the next turn. Now we all know the theory never works exactly in practice, but this looks like the best French attack so far.

Half of the French artillery is deployed, and the whole operation looks ‘tight'.

The Allies have a dilemma. They cannot shift too much to the left wing, because the French will move their cavalry across the stream on their left. If they cover both flanks they risk becoming thinned out and fragmented. Should they abandon the stream and pull back ?

Conclusion:

The Allies must form the line that I described or risk being fragmented and defeated in detail.

The best French attack is the short right hook, which is almost impossible for the Allies to stop.

 

Patrick's Hints and Tips:

Never put more than 200 skirmishers in any hex

Never put skirmishers in any open hex alone

British Form line and don't move

French light form line and don't move

French columns attack, preferably a flank or against disordered

Defender keep reserves away from the action to avoid rout communication

Defender keep artillery away from the front line

Attacker form cavalry squadrons to charge/overrun skirmishers

Attacker target defending artillery as a first priority

Attacker surround enemy then shoot, when they rout – overrun with skirmisher co.

Attacker don't be afraid to pause and regroup, its not WWII

Never mix lines with columns

Disorder is bad

When in a firefight moving is bad

Remember that this is a game, points win the game, most games are decided by cavalry losses. Cavalry are like a glass sword, very dangerous, but can shatter in your hand and cause you a lot of pain.