Saturday 15 June 2019

The Great Game of Waterloo Replayed

As mentioned in my previous post I ‘popped’ up to Glasgow today to visit the Great Game in progress. Personal circumstances meant I didn’t put in as a player but it was still definitely worth visiting even if only for a couple of hours. The pictures kind of say it all.......... and I suspect there will be a lot more out on the web and magazines in the next few weeks and months. Whilst the visitors ticket didn’t give you access to the gaming floor the view from the balcony was as you can see quite impressive. I had also deliberately booked a lunchtime ticket which was again a great idea as they cleared the floor for about 40 minutes.
The scene on arrival, the nearest table was the original position of the French who have now advanced to assault the British line 
The Allied far left flank Papelotte and Frichermont
La Haye Sainte 
A sense of the scale
Closer look at Frichermont
The Prussians waiting to arrive three full Corps !!
From the French view
Overhead shot of Hougomont
Placenoit as yet uncontested
The lunchtime break which made observation much easier
Massive assault on Hougomount
Allied reserves at the back
La Haye
Centre of the Allied line
An attempt at a wide angle shot full table 80 feet long
At the bottom La Belle with Napoleon, top left just in view wellingtons command position
Plenty of stuff in the way of photos from this angle but looking down the main line of assault
This is the organiser being interviewed during lunch
As I headed for my train the Prussians had started to arrive on the left edge of the two top tables
A final picture of the overall scene....from behind the advancing Prussians.

A couple of final thoughts from me. On the plus side it was incredibly impressive effort from organisers and all involved, I’m glad I went and it was quite inspirational. Challenges which I am sure the organisers have wrangled over......how to make the command structure work, the French had attacked all along the line at once, hindsight being a wonderful thing rushing in but it didn’t look like they would break through ? Discussing it with one of the organisers he explained the command structure was in place but all the individual brigade commanders were just ignoring it and charging forward. The French are massively up against it with the arrival of the Prussians as historically they arrived only in the nick of time when the allies really were just about done in. The allies didn’t look even close when I left so the French are going to be very badly out flanked. Terrain - would have been hard but nice to see a bit more differentiation in terrain especially hills ! As this is such a characteristic feature of the battle but sadly this obviously proved too much to manage. All in all a very enjoyable trip....glad I went.

26 comments:

  1. Thanks for the early report Matt, organisationally impressive. Will it make the National news tomorrow I wonder?

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    1. Two years in the making but I think all will say worth it 🙂

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  2. Replies
    1. Very.....would love to have played but the player list filled about a year ago!

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  3. That is quite an achievement!

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  4. It was quite a sight and a great effort by all involved.
    I hope it serves to bring more people into the hobby.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. They did lots of publicity so you never know ?

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  5. Quite spectacular, well worth the trip indeed.

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    1. It was this or the St Helens show and this felt like a once in a lifetime event and was definately worth it

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  6. Fantastic looking game (?) Seems more than a game but I don't know what!
    Best Iain

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    1. Yes agree it was more than just a Wargame. A spectacle it was nice to see after the event they got quite a lot of publicity which is great

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  7. Looks like so many ants really. A wasted effort if you couldn't get close to see properly.

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    1. Not so bad really the photos weren’t easy, they for practical reasons only allowed players at the tables, actually it was impressive getting the eagle eye view. A big part of me would have liked to play but all the slots were apparently booked up 12 months before !

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  8. Quite impressive overall - hope all had a great time.

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    1. All the feedback I have seen was pretty positive but an organisational nightmare !

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  9. Thanks for posting these pictures! Impressive looking set up.
    A bit envious you made it a bit far for me!
    😀

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    1. It was worth a visit although playing would have been even better. There was somebody I spoke to who had travelled from NZ !

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  10. IT WAS PHENOMENAL!!! I was so privileged to have taken part, and to have survived to the second day. I'm sure you saw that i was on the right flank of the the French army, in fact my brigade was the furthest right of all the French. Our little division of lancers, hussars, chasseurs and horse artillery (my own contribution to the 22,300 figures in play) held the Prussians up for all of day 1 and were later supported on day 2, but it was all in vain as no result was reached in the combat at the end of play which meant an Allied victory. Maybe the French'll win next time...

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    1. Yep saw you fully engaged Ian, I was somewhat jealous but it was great just to have the battle in progress.

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    2. You should have popped your head above the parapet and said hello. :)

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