Waterloo 2015 - Part 2 - Around the Battlefield

For the first post in my Waterloo adventures see here: Part 1

After the Camps our group had the rest of the day to explore around the battlefield and its many historical monuments and places of interest. Unfortunately due to time constraints we were not able to go farther afield and visit the likes of Quatra Bras, Ligny and Placentoit.

So on carrying on up the Brussels/Charleroi road we stopped to observe La Haye Sainte. This pivitol building is now a working farm and access is strictly denied to the public by its owners, however access was afforded to the Allied Reenactors who had the privaledge of parading and then marching through this historic site.

All along the road just offset from the path are numerous monuments and statues, dedicated to various Allied and French units.

 

Monument to the Hannoverian Infantry of the Allied Army 

 

Fallen Eagle Monument to the French Elite Garde Imperiale

 

 

Monument to the brave stand 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot

 

 

Monument to the Dutch Belgian Forces of the Allied Army

 

 

Napoleons Statue behind his Headquarters - Le Caillou

 

 

Monument to Captain Mercer and G Troop Royal Horse Artillery who took part in conspicuosly defeating the massed French Cavalry Attack

 

 

Plaque to Maj Baring and the KGL at La Haye Sainte

 

 

Plaque to French Forces of Donzelots Divison who took La Haye Sainte

 

 

Monument to General Gordon, Aide de Camp to Wellington

 

 

Statue to the French 6th Regiment D'artillerie Pied under Colonel Hulot who supported attacks made by the French 1st Corps

 

After taking note of the various Statues and Monuments we had a quick look round La Belle alliance. This building on the Brussels/Charleroi road is reputedly where Wellington and Blucher met, shook hands and agreed upon the Prussians pursuing the defeated French forces back to Paris. La Belle Alliance wasnt open to the public, but the side doors on the road to Placentoit were open and a couple were selling some extreamly gorgeously illustrated books (similar in style and quality of Osprey but hardback) unfortunately they were all written in French.

With everything possibly seen (I think) we made our way back to the Lions Mound and Lions Village where I had arranged to meet up with Stefan Ko. Stefan had driven up from Dussledorf for the day with two of his friends and it was a wonderful experience managing to meet up with and have a very pleasant chat about hobby/history/blogging topics, we had our picture taken under the (non original) Elm Tree at Wellingtons Crossroads. Stefan was a most excellent bloke and hopefully it wont be the last time we get to meet. I didnt envy his drive back to Germany in the early hours of Sunday morning but glad he arrived home safely.

A quick look round the rest of the village souveniers and buildings, bumping into a couple of Napoleons Officers and then some very nice food consumed, whislt we were devouring our rather nice nosh the Garde Imperiale Band paraded outside the Panarama building at the bottom of the Lions Mound and proceeded to play. Most fantastic and soon the crowds were flocking to watch. We decided then to get to our watching area for the battle early to beat the crowds. Yeh us and countless thousands of others!!

Although not complaing as due to our early dash for places to watch the battle, I came across Emperess Josephine and these lovely ladies. Definately a photo opportunity and a few Ladies in waiting got my number as old Boney was going to get beat, so they would be unemployed soon ;-)

Oh whats a poor Englishman to do eh???

Waterloo 2015 - Part 1 - The Camps

What an Incredible experience. Attending the 200th Anniversary celebrations for Waterloo was a absolute privilege, and I am extremely grateful to my friend Justin for arranging this trip on behalf of our Wargames Club.

The trip last Friday to Belgium went very smoothly, travelling in comfort on a nice coach run by Ledger Holidays, a slight detour around Canterbury due to the A2 being closed didn't hinder us too much and soon we were on the P&O ferry from Dover to Calais. A nice smooth crossing but as I don't like boats it still made me queasy and I was very glad to get back onto dry land.

The rest of the trip on the continent was uneventful and we finally pulled into Brussels around 10pm and got settled in the hotel, ready for a very packed filled day on Saturday.

Saturday morning and the weather was looking like it would be glorious after a slight downpour in the night. A quick half hour drive and we arrived at the Allied Bivouacs centered around the historic farm of Hougoumont (more of this site in another post)

Being first thing in the morning the camp was just coming to life and we got to see the daily routine take place, cooking breakfast, raising the standards, parading for duty etc...

After a brief stop looking around the Lions Mound and the Lions Village (a large area dedicated to the souvenir sellers as well as an extra large tent housing a huge array of authentic weapons and uniforms (mostly French) as well as books (practically all in French) and all manner of other accouterments (again mostly French - you would seriously get the impression that Napoleon and the French didn't actually lose Waterloo!!!) we set of towards Le Caillou (Napoleons Headquarters) and the Grande Armee du Nord Bivouacs.

Le Caillou was was where Napoleon spent his last night before the battle. His officers had commandeered the farm house to serve as his headquarters.

The battlefield can not actually be seen from the farm house's front steps. Its obscured just beyond the same deceptively gentle undulations that Wellington took such good advantage of during the battle.

Napoleons Headquarters had a full company of Imperial Guard stationed in the gardens and there were also quite a few French Marshals and Generals situated around a large striped tent discussing the forthcoming battle.

Marshall Ney seemed to think that his massed cavalry charge without infantry support could be a tactical success during the battle! 

Onto the main camp of the Grande Armee and on entering their tented lines various units were carrying out drill. It was strange to see French Line units practicing the square maneuver for approaching cavalry. However these troops were extremely well disciplined and carried out their drills and duties immaculately. As mentioned in Stefans blog (see next paragraph) though, the french camp overall seemed a lot more disorganized than the Allied lines. 

After visiting both camps, I made my way back to the Lions Village to meet up with Stefan, a fellow blogger I had previously been in contact with via blog and facebook. A most excellent bloke and more of this in the next post.

Waterloo 2015 - 200th Anniversary

Today marks the 200th anniversary of one of the most pivitol battles in European history - Waterloo.

Over the last few months, wargamers, history enthusiasts and generally anyone interested in the Napoleonic period has been inundated with miniatures, books and games abouth the battle and era in general.

This weekend the bicentary celebrations will reach fever pitch with reenactment events taking place on the actual battle site. Over 5000 reenactors, 300 horses and around a 100 cannon will deploy to wow the crownds and depict a portion of what a Napoleonic battle would have been like.

Iam lucky enough to be going for the whole weekend with around 20 members of my local wargames club and will be staying in Brussels, travelleing around each day to visit the sights, including the reenactment Bivouacs, The Lions Mound, Hougomont, La Haye Sainte, Placentoit etc

Saturday night will be spent watching the Allied Counter Attack Battle and I must admit I am as excited as a 6 year old on christmas morning!!

A once in a lifetime trip and a literally geekfest as a huge Napoleonic enthusiast.

Buildings and Scenery Project

With being more involved with games like Pulp City and The Batman Miniatures Game I thought it was time to make a concerted effort to start on my numerous City Buildings and additional scenery items.

Most of the buildings are from Sarrisa Precission but I do have a great Pub building from Timeline Miniatures. 

I also have a number of street items such as dumpsters and telephone boxes from Knight Models. These should enhance the overall view of the city scape. All I need now is some rooftop terrain, skylights, aircon units and the like. 

UK Games Expo 2015

Another year another Games Expo. This year though I could only attend the Saturday as the weekend was also SWMBO birthday and I had only just earnt enough brownie points for one day out haha.

As per last year I was working with GCT Studios, demoing their fantastic Oriental Fantasy Skirmish Game - Bushido. Helping me was Richard Bowker, a cracking bloke I have known for a while now and we had an excellent day running loads of demos and persuding lots of people to part with their cash for Bushido goodness!

Because I was mostly on the GCT stand, I did not get out and about round the Expo too much but I did manage to catch up with Karl at Crooked Dice's stand Gav at Tor Gaming and picked up my pre-order Ridend (new faction for Relics) and managed to get a couple of pics of the Cosplay crew wandering around the Hilton Hotel.

I also took my lunch break to sit down with the guys from Wings of War Aerodrome and had a couple of games flying a Fokker Dr1 Triplane.

My first flight didnt even see me complete a 3 movement card turn as I ran right into the sights of a Sopwith Camel and its first shot at me caused me to draw the Kaboom card! shot down immediately. Re-Spawning I gunned my engine and gained height, before diving down on the said Camel, opeing up with my twin-Spandaus and sending the beligerant Camel spiralling down into the ground in revenge.

After this brief sortie it was back to demoing before leaving the Expo when the doors closed to the public and returning home to take the Wife out for Birthday tea.

I had an absolute blast all day and look forward to next year as I will be attending the whole 3 days.