Waterloo - Turn Two

Looking from behind the French left-flank at the end of turn one

The French grand battery again fires at my men on the hill. This time there are two +1 modifiers: artillery commander in the same hex; the same target was fired at on the previous turn. There are also two -1 modifiers: muddy ground; infantry using the ridge's reverse slope. These modifiers cancel out, meaning 5+ needs to be thrown, but the gunners come up just short with a 4.

Reg (aka Napoleon) and I then had a discussion on whether Napoleon could leave La Belle Alliance and join the artillery, providing another +1 modifier on subsequent turns.

The relevant rule in Bob Cordery's The Portable Napoleonic Wargame reads: "Increase the D6 die roll by one if a friendly commander or subordinate commander is in the same grid area as the artillery unit."

The key word, in my view, is "or." There is no mention of "and," which makes sense as too many commanders would, as it were, spoil the broth - there is a limit to how much instruction men can be given.

We dice to see who moves first, and I again win (3-2).

I start by ordering the commanders of I Infantry Corps on the Allied right around Hougoumont and III Infantry Corps around La Haye Sainte in the Allied centre to ape their colleagues by advancing to the front of their corps.

However, while the commander of III Infantry Corps obeys the order, taking a division of infantry with him, the order again apparently fails to get through to I Infantry Corps.

I also successfully order the Reserve Corps to climb on to the ridge between I and II Infantry Corps.

French staff-work continues to be shoddy, with none of their three left-flank infantry corps receiving Napoleon's orders to advance on Hougoumont.

The Imperial Guard also fail to to move alongside Napoleon in La Belle Alliance, but I Cavalry Corps does move west behind II Infantry Corps.

On the French right, IV Infantry Corps fails to move nearer La Belle Alliance, but V Infantry Corps does, as ordered, mass in a single hex.

Bird's-eye view from behind the French lines at the end of turn two