Early Saturday morning I woke up, made my way down to the miniatures hall and started setting up Waterloo. I knew it was going to be a full day of gaming. any Napoleonic rule set I had played or read before would require 2 days if not a week to play this size of a game. That being said, I knew we could get through the entire battle in one day using Empires at War.
The game had 10 players and everyone powered through the entire game. We kicked off at 10AM and - with a couple of breaks for food and such - we had a result by 10PM. 12 hours. Add about 1/5 hours before for setup and about 1 hour for cleanup and that makes for a long day. This is by far the largest wargame I've put on or played in. More than 4,500 28mm figures and 12 hours of gaming.
You can see the table setup below ...
8 foot wide by 18 foot long. A monster of a game! I was shocked by how close to history this all played out. The French darn near broke the allied center. Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte changed hands several times. The Imperial Guard has to be committed to try to break the allied center before the Prussians broke through at Papelotte. All across the table it was intense action on both sides of the table. Lots of pictures below ... while I took lots of pictures with my phone, John Lantz and Federico Casali also sent along pictures they took.
A quick video below shows the Volleyfire lights in action ...
On Sunday Matt Hilzendrager ran a fun AWI game using Brother Against Brother. I played on the British side. I had a lot of fun playing through this game. While the British has some successes early on, ultimately the Americans managed to pull out a victory.
Well, I can say I had a great weekend of gaming. I'm left with a lot on my mind for KublaCon. I don't think I can run Waterloo again so soon - I need a break before running it again. As such, for KublaCon I'll be likely doing one or two other games - right now I'm thinking of a French and Indian War game and perhaps a Bolt Action Modern game (Europe - Russia Resurgent). Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
Well done on an excellent looking game...
ReplyDeleteAnd quite a marathon... I think your game lasted longer than the actual battle.
All the best. Aly
Lol, funny enough I said the same thing at the end :-) Thanks Aly!
DeleteWOW!
ReplyDeleteThanks mate! :-)
DeleteDouble WOW!
ReplyDeleteThanks :-)
DeleteWaterloo looked absolutely stunning a superb effort. Bet it was good to see it all come together?
ReplyDeleteMy picky head would say Agh! the British flags! but given that display that would be ungracious.
Once again, well done.
Tony
Thanks Tony ... still in the process of rounding out the allied army ... adding Havoerians, Nassau, etc. To reduce the number of British units in play. :-)
DeleteAnd that looks like a fabulous success story! It is awesome to see it all together. It is great to see that everyone had fun! Great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks David ... everything came together nicely! As it turns out the road to the front gate of hougoumont ended up being in the perfect spot :-)
DeleteJay, all the hours that you have put into this project, along with the planning and expense has marked this game in wargaming history. Your table would be the highlight for any convention or wargames show in the past, present or future.
ReplyDeleteWell done mate, I think you deserve a well earned break.
Pat.
Wow, thanks for the kind words Pat, I really appreciate that! Will be attempting to get this into Wargames Illustrated. It was been a long road but well worth it :-) Btw, love your Setting the Scene book ... absolutely awe enspiring!
DeleteAside from an obvious lack of ADC's on the French side, it was a grand site! Totally WI cover worthy. Really looking forward to jumping in at KKC.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Ths
lol ... well, the guy with the ADC's couldn't make it ;-) Thanks for stopping by Thomas --- looking forward to seeing you change history at the next one :-)
DeleteJust absolutely stunning, a pleasure to review indeed, thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :-)
DeleteCongratulations Jay, and to all who helped you pull off this Herculean project. Thanks so much for sharing pictures and video. I wish I could have been there in person. What a joy this looked like by the photos.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Kevin
Thanks Kevin! Wish you were there. You would have been exhausted by the end ... but happy :-) Definately a team effort ... got a great group of guys here.
DeleteVery impressive, beautifully done and immediately recognisable from the first photo as Waterloo. Are the building from Hovels?
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes, all buildings are Hovels :-)
DeleteIt’s looks so massive! Great layout! One would think it was 6mm bc it’s so huge if I didn’t know better. Clearly an awesome production!
ReplyDelete10 hours IS a long time, no wonder you need a break. 😀
lol, thanks Stew! It was one of those "epic tired" things ... tired but in a good way :-)
DeleteNow that's a game! Utterly mesmerizing and one of the best layouts I've seen. If you're suffering from emotional/Napoleonic fatigue, my vote's for the French and Indian Wars as that's a great change of pace and style of game. Can't wait to see what you come up with!
ReplyDeletelol ... I've putting together a F&IW game for KublaCon next :-) Thanks Captain! :-)
DeleteIt'll be awesome as always! Not much matches up to the spectacle of the FIW (except maybe those Napoleonics ...)
DeleteCame here from LAF. This is a truly stunning game. I can't imagine trying to put this all together and run it. I really like some of the vignettes within the battlefield like the ambulance and surgeon. Excellent and impressive effort.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've got just about fvery vignette Perry has and stuck it out there ... along with >60 casualty figs per side ... hard to spot some of them in the masses though :-)
DeleteSheesh Jay. The Perry's must have a bronze plaque with your face on it at their homes :) superb! And tell that old white guy to get off the table!
ReplyDeleteLol, thanks Steve!!
DeleteThanks Paul! :-)
ReplyDeleteBlogger needs to fix the comment section so I can post that GiF of the close up of the guy in shock blinking and shaking his head lol! Wow! I'm not sure I could add anything that already hasn't been said. Remember, when someone asks you if you are a God, you say YES! And show them this post :)
ReplyDeleteLol ... but I've always wanted to meet Mr. Staypuff ;-) Thanks Ivor!
DeleteFantastic post Jay and an incredible array of glorious troops, terrain and gamers enjoying themselves. Sensational spectacle!
ReplyDeleteThanks Carlo! :-)
DeleteFantastic spectacle Jay! Beautiful figures, buildings and terrain - a marvel to behold.........and completed in a day!!!! The use of faux fur for terrain is terrific. So re;fistic and easy to layout quickly too; wonderful! I would appreciate pointers on how to achieve it. Any suggestions on where you gained the knowledge?
ReplyDeleteHello Kevin! So far as just the fur tabletop is concerned, that is from the very talented David Skibicki > see his blog here: http://spudnick080.blogspot.com/ This type of game is very much a group effort :-)
DeleteYour whole project is very impressive and I can see takes dedication, perseverance, attention to detail and a lot of energy - well done Jay! Thanks for the blog lead on the terrain Jay! I am hopefully looking forward to getting my teeth into some terrain making in the future so hopefully David might like to guide me.
DeleteI too enjoy large games with multiple sources for the figures, rule testing, scenario creation, gamers, etc. It's with that in mind I wish to plan terrain making.
If you're interested here's an example of our local group of 6 contributors putting something together: https://notjustoldschool.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/west-country-waterloo-project-la-haye.html
All the best and thanks for inspiring me further.
Wow! That is IMPRESSIVE! Very well done sir! I'll be following along on your blog :-)
Delete