Welington is beaten Prussians too late

[Jean Lafitte]

Reb, can I ask you to take a look at how my Hi Res Toolbar is showing?

I'm using 2560x1080 on a wide monitor. Is there a better way for it to display? It's showing some stretching.

Thanks.

[RebBugler]

Reb, can I ask you to take a look at how my Hi Res Toolbar is showing?

I'm using 2560x1080 on a wide monitor. Is there a better way for it to display? It's showing some stretching.

Thanks.

Since the game doesn't offer that resolution in Options, I'm guessing that's the stretched issue.
With wide resolutions the toolbar should not stretch to both sides, it sits in the middle with the sides showing game action.

[mcaryf]

Hi Jacquinot & Jean Lafitte

What difficulty setting do you use when playing the whole battle? I am trying to change my modified WL10 scenario so it can be played at a higher setting than Normal but I think that higher settings might make it too difficult to control with so much going on in different places. If you are happy with Normal I will leave it as suitable for that.

I have just had to make a change to it so that it is possible for the French to get a major victory. I did have it so the French had to capture and hold Mont St Jean for a longish time to get enough points but strong counter-attacks including later the Prussians made that too hard. It is difficult fighting in Mont St Jean village anyway because there is not much space for forming squares. I will have to run through the mod again with the new features and of course it takes several hours to get to that situation. If my changes are effective when/if MSJ is captured several units of Dutch and Belgian troops should withdraw towards Brusselles which should make it easier for the French to consolidate in MSJ before the Prussians arrive.

Regards

Mike

[Jacquinot]

Hi Jacquinot & Jean Lafitte

What difficulty setting do you use when playing the whole battle? I am trying to change my modified WL10 scenario so it can be played at a higher setting than Normal but I think that higher settings might make it too difficult to control with so much going on in different places. If you are happy with Normal I will leave it as suitable for that.

I have just had to make a change to it so that it is possible for the French to get a major victory. I did have it so the French had to capture and hold Mont St Jean for a longish time to get enough points but strong counter-attacks including later the Prussians made that too hard. It is difficult fighting in Mont St Jean village anyway because there is not much space for forming squares. I will have to run through the mod again with the new features and of course it takes several hours to get to that situation. If my changes are effective when/if MSJ is captured several units of Dutch and Belgian troops should withdraw towards Brusselles which should make it easier for the French to consolidate in MSJ before the Prussians arrive.

Regards

Mike

I played on custom settings, AI moral level 3, AI aggressive 3, but without courier orders and view from commander.

It would be cool if you add orders for Britons to counter attack with Picton division and Ponsonby brigade.

Without English counter attack it's so easy to win, because you can beat English line for pieces, they just stand like tin soldiers.

[Jean Lafitte]

I've played WL10 three times on the Normal setting, which is the default setting with which the game is shipped.

I hope somebody corrects me if I'm wrong, but, I believe that the stock WL10 scenario allows Prussian intervention with ONLY one corps, the IV Corps. I caution all who work on changes to this scenario to bear in mind that the Prussians are as relentless as Zombies -- they never stop coming after you. The Prussian battalions are very large and do not rout easily, even if charged by fresh French cavalry. When they Retreat from a cavalry charge, they do so at a run that seems as fast at the enemy horses. After that, they Rally a bit then come right back at you. My cautionary point is that it would be very easy to make WL10 quite unwinnable for the French and quite unbalanced, because the Prussians are so formidable. I really wonder whether the French can win in the historical situation in which three Prussian corps are counterattacking.

I have found a feature in the game that I hope somebody can explain. I notice that late in the game and even against weak Prussian cavalry, French elite cavalry will surrender in melee despite the fact that they are completely rested and with high morale. What are the reasons for this? Perhaps if they are out-numbered 2-1 they are more likely to surrender?

Most French cavalry is going to have taken casualties by the time the Prussians arrive. If the Prussian cavalry is able to defeat even the Grenadiers a Cheval, then I doubt that the French can hold on against two Prussian corps, much less three.

[mcaryf]

Hi Jacquinot and Jean Lafitte
Do not worry. I have certainly been able to construct a French victory myself usually on piles of Prussian dead as the French need a large points gain on casualties. The Prussians have to attack but I have made the French 12lb cannon much more formidable more in line with their historic capability shooting canister out to 450 yards so it is costly to attack. However, I have not yet managed a French Major Victory myself which takes 24,000 points in my scenario. I have severely reduced the points scored for objectives with the exception of Mont St Jean - the French forces can get about 12,000 from objectives if they do well with them. Unfortunately it has proved hard for my French forces to take and hold Mont St Jean so I am trying a further change to that at the moment. I should say it is also quite possible for the French to lose as, despite being accurate historically, there are still several different ways the scenario can play and the player might be surprised by the AI. Also of course the French attack against Wellington's army will be a costly affair as the British Shrapnel is deadly and the Allies will counter attack!

My aim is to make it possible to win but not easy.

Regards

Mike

[Jean Lafitte]

I think we should be careful with the shrapnel rounds. I know that Wellington complimented their effectiveness, but, we need to remember that shells and shrapnel depended on unreliable fuses back in 1815.
Compared to a single iron ball, I'm sure that shrapnel looked pretty good. Keep in mind that the fuses were unreliable and that the batteries didn't carry very many shrapnel rounds.

The British used Congreve Rockets for some time. I'm sure that many in the British Army thought that they were also effective, but, they weren't.

[mcaryf]

Hi Jean
Have you tried dumping the Game Data Base towards the end of one of your games with WL10? That gives you an EXCEL spreadsheet showing all the casualties suffered by units and which enemy units caused them. Unfortunately it does not show the munitions being used but it can give you an idea of the success of Wellington's artillery which is not huge in the standard scenario. If you play WL20 the whole battle as the Allied force and operate one of the batteries and switch it to Shrapnel you will find it is almost useless in terms of causing casualties.

I will not at this stage explain precisely how I have got Shrapnel to work as that could give you possibilities to counter it, however I will say that an individual Shrapnel round will appear to cause quite a few casualties but the British batteries will not usually fire too many of them. With respect to effectiveness the Shrapnel round typically had over 150 musket balls within it whereas canister only had 40 or so balls. Shrapnel could spread up to 300 yards beyond where the shell actually burst so a very large area was covered therefore fuses were not so critical. It could operate in an indirect fire mode which unfortunately I cannot simulate in this game and effectively it made the orchard by Hougoument an area that the French could not permanently occupy.

With respect to rockets they were occasionally effective - there was a reported direct hit during the retreat from Quatre Bras. The British Army continued to use them for example in the Zulu War in 1879 so they must have demonstrated some usefulness, probably the portability was of value there. From a point of view of pure spectacle it is a shame that the game does not allow for the battery that was there with an occasional pyrotechnic effect!

Regards

Mike

[Jacquinot]

I think we should be careful with the shrapnel rounds. I know that Wellington complimented their effectiveness, but, we need to remember that shells and shrapnel depended on unreliable fuses back in 1815.
Compared to a single iron ball, I'm sure that shrapnel looked pretty good. Keep in mind that the fuses were unreliable and that the batteries didn't carry very many shrapnel rounds.

The British used Congreve Rockets for some time. I'm sure that many in the British Army thought that they were also effective, but, they weren't.

Agree with you.

[Jacquinot]

I think first shrapnel rounds was just simple bombs or grenades with iron balls inside, i think they efectivnes was not much as bombs and greanades.
About rockets, i think they have more psyhological effect then real.

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