Lines of Battle: Quatre Bras 1815

Lines of Battle: Quatre Bras 1815 covers one of the last battles of the Napoleonic wars.

In 1815, Napoleon ordered Marshall Ney to capture the critical crossroads of Quatre Bras in order to keep the Allied army away from linking up with the Prussian army. Fortunately for the Allies, the Dutch had disobeyed orders and posted a strengthened division at the crossroads. Wellington, the Allied commander, swiftly reacted and reinforcements were force-marched to aid the beleaguered Dutch. Ney also ordered reinforcements, but in his case the reinforcements were supposed to be helping Napoleon in his own battle with the Prussians at Ligny. In the end, Wellington's forces drove the French from the field, while Ney never got his reinforcements, which marched back and forth between Quatre Bras and Ligny affecting neither battle.

In this 2 player wargame, can you do better?

Each side controls around 10-20 units - these are infantry, cavalry, and artillery. The cavalry are further subdivided into 3 types: Heavy, Light, and Lancers. Each unit has a rating ranging from 2 to 4. When this is reduced below zero through combat hits, the unit is eliminated.

The scale is around 2000 men or 1000 cavalry per unit. Each game turn is half an hour. The map shows the environs of Quatre Bras, divided into areas. Between Areas are Approaches where infantry may deploy.

Each turn, a player receives a certain number of actions. These are spent manoeuvring the forces, including into combat, and rallying those with hits. Then both sides fire artillery, then the 2nd player does the same, and the turn is over. Quatre Bras has 14 turns in it, and victory is determined by casualties inflicted, and objectives held at the end.

There are optional rules and possible alternatives, such as the arrival of different French reinforcements.