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After-Action Report (Notes)
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 | Opened with attack of a brigade or two of II Corps upon Hougomont, fed in more brigades as day went on |
| Moved to grand-battery bombardment followed by attack of I Corps upon Allied left |
| Upon arrival of Prussian IV Corps, sent French VI Corps to hold right flank along with I and II Cavalry Corps |
| Committed Guard around 1700 as Prussians pressed in upon right flank and II Corps attack had bogged down |
Results
Generally, the results were pretty darned historical.
The ridge-line helped the Allied line against the artillery bombardment (and later in game, British II Corps came out from behind ridge to scare off French II Corps advance east of Hougomont; as a result, the British II Corps took a brief beating from grand-battery fire after British II Corps had come out from behind the ridge).
The French I Corps became shaken in attacking the Allied left, managing in the process to shake the Artillery Reserve but not much damaging the Anglo-Allied I Corps.
The French II Corps eventually captured two southernmost hexes of Hougomont at significant cost, wavered on border of being shaken for a few hours, and then went over about 1800.
The Prussians didn’t come seriously into action until around 1600 or later, and then mostly just drove French back hex by hex in good order until about 1830, when the French VI Corps and Cavalry reserve became shaken, at which point things began to look quite a bit worse owing to the shaking as well as the fact that the Prussians were now more or less completely on the line of battle.
The attack of the Guard was last hope of French, as I Corps was shaken, II Corps was very close to being shaken, Cavalry reserve was scattered all over (and anyway, British have high cohesion ratings making it easy to form square as charge develops), and VI Corps was detailed to right flank. The attack of the Guard carried La Haye Sainte and opened a small hole in the British line, but the Guard had by then taken too many casualties (all infantry reduced except one Young Guard brigade) for its infantry to be effective. The hope had been that the British would become so disordered that the Guard cavalry could exploit the resulting disorder (since D-2 units can’t form square), but the British were still pretty cohesive when the Guard infantry was all reduced save one. At this point, two Guards cavalry brigades charged a D-2 Brunswicker, but the British drew the Orders LIM immediately afterwards, and a British cavalry brigade swept in to reduce a Lancer brigade, shaking the Guard. (The Brits then swept forward to attack both the Lancers and some nearby cuiraissiers, which blew all three units.)
With all but one of its commands shaken , the French were in a hopeless situation. All the Brits and Prussians have to do is withdraw, and then the shaken units can’t enter their ZOC. The Cavalry reserve by itself can’t do much given the ease of forming squares. So the French resigned.
Outcome
French held two hexes of Hougomont and the La Haye Sainte hex, so no decisive or massive Allied victory is possible. The French had four shaken commands (I, II, VI, Guard) and the Allies two (II, AR), so the Allies handily won a marginal victory.
Evaluation
Historical grand tactics produce historical results.
There's not much room for extended lines on the crowded Waterloo battlefield.
The Prussians are fairly brittle or frustrating to use, owing to low cohesion ratings. You have to be especially careful about forming square with the Landwehr, as they may never get out (not that you care, in some respects).
The Guard is in fact a superb fighting force, owing to both its commitment and cohesion ratings. The ultra-high cohesion makes the Guard extremely difficult to disorder, which gives it an important advantage against most units. For example, most British artillery is only 1 or 2 points, doubled in an assault to at most 4 points, which basically can’t do a thing against the Guard. The high commitment rating makes shock nearly a sure thing. The elite bonuses don’t hurt in shock combat, either.
Losses
(Unless otherwise noted, all units mentioned are infantry brigades.)
FRENCH Losses
I Corps:
2 brigades completely destroyed, 3 reduced w/step loss, 1 reduced, 1 w/step loss, 1 cav brigade w/step loss, 1 arty w/step loss.
II Corps:
1 brigade completely destroyed, two reduced, three w/step loss, 1 cav brigade completely destroyed, 1 cav brigade w/step loss, 2 arty units destroyed
VI Corps:
2 destroyed, 1 reduced
Guard:
5 reduced brigades, 1 reduced cav brigade w/step loss
Cav Reserve:
1 cav brigade reduced, 1 cav brigade reduced w/step loss
III Cav Reserve: 1 cav brigade reduced, 1 arty unit reduced.
IV Cav Reserve: 2 cav brigades w/step loss, 1 reduced w/step loss
Miscellany:
III Corps cavalry units completely destroyed.
Total New French Losses
70 (app.) - 10 original losses = 60 NEW losses
PRUSSIAN Losses
II Corps: 2 cav brigades w/step loss,
IV Corps: 2 cav brigades w/step loss, 2 reductions, 2 w/step loss
Total new Prussian infantry and cavalry losses (in steps): 10
ANGLO-DUTCH-BELGIAN Losses
Army Reserve: 1 arty destroyed, 1 reduced w/step loss, 2 reduced, 1 step loss
I Corps: 1 arty destroyed, 2 reduced, 2 w/step loss
II Corps: 1 arty destroyed, 1 destroyed, 1 reduced, 1 step loss
Brunswickers: 1 reduction, 1 step loss, 1 cavalry step loss
Belgians: 3 destroyed (1 a one-sided unit), 1 reduced, 1 cav step loss, 1 arty reduced
Cavalry: 1 cav reduced w/step loss, 1 reduced, 4 w/step loss
Miscellany: Nassauers completely destroyed
Total Anglo-Dutch-Belgian Losses:
50 - 6 old non-arty losses = 44 new Anglo-Dutch-Belgian new non-arty losses
Total Allied losses: 54 NEW losses
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