The French full battle alternate objectives mod version 1.0

[Hook]

The attachment Frenchfullbattlealternateobjectivesv1.rar is no longer available

Mod download added.

INSTALLATION:

Open or extract the .rar file. Move the "French full battle alternate objectives v1" folder to the Mods folder in your Waterloo folder.

Start the game. Click on the Modifications button. In the list of mods you have installed, make sure that this mod is below the Grog toolbar mentioned above, drag it if necessary. Click on the mod's checkbox and make sure it is checked. Click the button on the bottom to accept the current mods.

Click on the Single Player button, select the WL10-La Bataille De Mont-Saint-Jean (F-Army)_ scenario. If there are two they will both use this mod. Run the game.

Note that this mod only takes effect for a new game, and if you load a save from that game this mod will still be active in it even if it is unchecked in the Modifications list.

It is unknown if other mods will interfere with this mod. If this mod is the last checked one in the list, then it should run but may cause problems if it overwrites changes made by any other mods.

As far as I know, if you keep this mod active while running a scenario other than the French full battle, the only change will be to the Plancenoit church where I have cleaned up the wall around the church to have less chance of units getting stuck there.

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I believe this is ready to play test.

I modified the stock scenario for the full battle played as Napoleon so that it would present more of a challenge to an experienced player. The existing objectives now give fewer victory points, and a few new objectives have been added. Plancenoit no longer gives victory points, but if the Prussians either contest or hold it the player will lose points.

I have played various versions of the modified scenario several times (I'm up to number 15 so far) and it is still easy enough to win if the player knows what he is doing. It is intended to be played on Normal difficulty, and can be played in HITS mode if desired, as I have done once so far. To get a victory it will be necessary to take and hold some objectives. While 30,000 points still gives a Major Victory, getting 40,000 will give a new level of Total Victory. There is only one level of Defeat.

I'd like to get a variety of people at various experience levels to try the scenario to see if it works for other people. If I could get a screen shot every half hour with Napoleon and selected showing the map I can see the overall situation and number of victory points and casualties and it will help even if you don't finish the battle. My only complaint so far is that I have been unable to lose... or even get a draw.

Do not take Plancenoit until you have to, because if you later abandon it you lose victory points. You will also lose points if the Prussians contest it, and the church only requires 100 men within a 200 yard radius; it is intended to be easy for the Prussians to contest. Be sure to delay the Prussians as long as possible, and keep reserves.

A hint: the Prussians are easily distracted but don't lead them somewhere that you don't want them.

The stock scenario appears to be well balanced for a new player who may not be experienced with war games, and it is probably easily winnable using HITS mode and not concentrating on VP sites. But when a player discovers the high number of victory points gained from holding an objective the battle is far too easy to win.

I will shortly post the current version of the readme file for the mod (I want to proofread it once more), and if there is any interest I will publish the entire scenario.

Hook

[Hook]

The README file:

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The French full battle alternate objectives mod v1.

This mod is partially based on the "Expanded Toolbar V - Grog" mod and requires that mod to be activated above this one.

This mod is intended to make the full battle of Waterloo played as the French better balanced in terms of victory points needed to win the battle. While it can be enjoyed by a new player, it is intended for those experienced enough in the game to realize that the number of victory points awarded for holding objectives is very high.

For example, in the stock scenario, if the player holds the La Haye Sainte objective for the whole battle, it is worth over 50,000 points, when a major victory only requires 30,000. Other objectives are either similar or higher, and La Haye Sainte is very easy to take early in the battle. It is possible to get a final score of well over 200,000 points.

I created this mod so that I could fight the battle and get a reasonable score without having to intentionally ignore objectives and let my commanders take them or not as they chose.

It is interesting to note that during the battle the victory point score will accurately reflect the tactical and strategic situation should the battle end at that point.

Description of the changes:

Grouchy's arrival has been removed. This is to make the battle play out as it did historically.

The wall around the Plancenoit church has been cleaned up a bit so that units will no longer get stuck when moving near the wall.

The "CDoneHelp" courier message has been replaced by appropriate text: "I regret to report that I am unable to occupy my assigned position and am awaiting new orders."

The Hougoumont, Woods, La Haye Sainte and Papelotte objectives are now worth a one time 500 points each which you get by holding them for one minute. There is no further victory point benefit to holding these objectives, so it is up to the player's discretion whether to keep them occupied or not. Occupying these locations does have some tactical advantages.

The LEFT and RIGHT objectives are now worth 20 points per minute rather than 200. Once you have taken La Haye Sainte, a new objective called CENTER is activated at the crossroads just north of La Haye Sainte which is worth 20 points per minute. Taking any of these triggers a counterattack, similar to the stock scenario.

Mont St Jean is now worth 30 points per minute rather than 200. Taking this objective represents cutting off Wellington's lines of communication and main line of retreat, but not necessarily the destruction of his army which is the main focus of this battle.

I have moved the Plancenoit objective from the crossroads to the church and given it a 200 yard radius to represent not just the church but the entire village. If it is approached by Prussians in force you could lose control when sufficient numbers of enemy are nearby.

Taking Plancenoit does not award the player victory points, but if the player later abandons the VP site or if it is taken or contested by the Prussians the player will lose points. Once Planceniot has been taken by either the player or the Prussians, it must be held by the player and uncontested by the Prussians for the remainder of the battle or the player will lose 50 points per minute. The total possible loss depends on the arrival time of the Prussians. The player can lose from 9,000 to 13,500 points if the Prussians are unopposed, and if the player immediately takes Plancenoit and then abandons it he can lose from 10,500 to 15,000 points. Either do not allow the Prussians to approach Plancenoit, or take and hold it yourself. Important note: The VP loss does not start until either side first takes the objective.

At 18:00 an objective called MAIN is activated northwest of La Haye Sainte where much of the Allied force is concentrated and which was the point towards which the Imperial Guard historically attacked. This objective is worth a one time 3,000 points when held for ten minutes. Taking this objective activates another objective called Nivelles Road at the crossroad to the northwest of the MAIN objective, and is worth a one time 7,000 points when held for ten minutes. Taking both of these will raise your victory level by one step. If you get as far as holding Nivelles Road, the Allied army is virtually destroyed.

It will be necessary to take and hold at least one of LEFT, CENTER or RIGHT to get a major victory. Holding all three may make it unnecessary to take the MAIN and Nivelles Road objectives.

There are several new courier messages that appear when certain objectives are taken to explain the situation and give suggestions.

I have adjusted the victory levels so that there is only one level of defeat and a new Total Victory at 40,000 points. Getting 30,000 points still displays as a Major Victory.

There are several ways to win so that the player is not forced to follow Napoleon's battle plan. It is only necessary that the player attack Wellington; there are no provisions for a French defensive battle. Can you take the objective on Wellington's left then push past his left flank and take Mont St Jean? Can you do the same on his right? Can you break through his center? The decision is yours. And remember: l'audace, toujours l'audace.

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The way I play this scenario is to leave everyone on take charge without orders and only take a unit off take charge when I am ready to commit it to battle. This will prevent corps commanders from redeploying before you are ready to use them which is especially useful for d'Erlon, and prevents Reille from entering the battle too soon. I will occasionally detach a brigade or division to give them separate orders the same way.

Most orders are given through the Command Map with the units off take charge. I usually only take charge and micromanage when I have to take and hold an objective, supervise the defense against the Prussian advance, or manage the Imperial Guard assault, and Napoleon is usually in the area for each of these. I have even fought the full battle in Headquarters In The Saddle mode.

My typical initial battle plan is to navigate to Desalle (grand battery) through d'Erlon using the arrow keys (from Napoleon it is down, right, down, left), detach him (click on the "+" button on the toolbar) so that he operates independently, then press the un-TC-all command (lowest of the three "flags" buttons) to release command of Desalle and the grand battery to the AI. Then I navigate to Jerome through Reille, detach him, un-TC his division, then give him attack orders (with the stance buttons) and a destination of Hougoumont on the command map (N key or the "CM" button on the toolbar). In the 3D battlefield I locate Charlet, d'Erlon's leftmost brigade, detach and un-TC him, then give him attack orders for La Haye Sainte on the command map. At this point I navigate through Milhaud to Watier, detach and un-TC him, and give him orders to move to a position to support d'Erlon's assault. Between 12:00 and 13:00 I un-TC d'Erlon and give him and Watier attack orders with a destination just north of the road somewhere east of La Haye Sainte. Because we have detached Desalle's grand battery earlier he will remain in place. When the initial attacks by Jerome and Charlet are successful and the objectives taken, change them from attack to defend and verify their positions with the command map. You may need to micromanage these a bit to take all objectives.

I send Lobau and Domon's and Subervie's cavalry to defend against the Prussians before they arrive. I detach Duhesmes' Young Guard from Druout and move him to act as their reserve. I avoid deploying him too close to Plancenoit so he won't be stuck there when that objective is activated with the arrival of the Prussians.

Notes: Do not send Druout's Imperial Guard to attack too early in the battle. If you do this his forces could be depleted before the clock runs out and the battle ends. The MAIN objective does not activate until 18:00 and if you send him forward about 17:00 or 17:30 he should be in position to immediately take the objective when it becomes active. I detach the Young Guard to help defend Plancenoit before launching the Imperial Guard attack.

An artillery battery commander on take charge is useful for the officer holding an objective, as this frees higher level officers to command their troops.

Expect the Prussians to attack Plancenoit much more aggressively than in the stock scenario. You will need a strong combined arms force of infantry cavalry and artillery to hold the town, and be sure to keep reserves. Remember that the victory point loss does not start until either side takes the objective, so it is better to avoid taking it until necessary to keep from locking any of your troops on that site.

I tested this scenario playing Normal difficulty with 3:1 sprite ratios, and while I have used 1:1 and it works I do not recommend it. I have even won the battle playing HITS mode.

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Hook

[Hook]

After reviewing my final scores in nine games I've decided to cut the MAIN and Nivelles Road objectives from 3000 and 7000 points to 2000 and 3000 points. After adjusting the final VP totals in those games to reflect this change I have one battle at 27901, one at 30440, the highest is 38737. The average is 34400 points. A good player will still get a Major Victory.

I had previously added a new victory level of Total Victory, but I discovered that doing this required deactivating the mod to keep the altered level names from appearing in other scenarios. I have removed this, adjusted those two VP sites, and the new winning score is Major Victory at 30000, the same as the stock scenario.

I think the numbers are more reasonable this way. I had considered making this change before I added the new Total Victory level at 40000.

I guess the good news is, if you keep the mod active and are playing a different scenario, the wall around the Plancenoit church is still cleaned up. Everything else should work normally.

Hook

[Hook]

Here is a link to a folder containing screen shots of the map from my last replay of the battle, Waterloo #15.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BKnLg ... tIRwrHIVDI

The following description is also in a file in that folder:

==================

This is a desription of a full battle I played while testing my mod. This was also the first time I tried playing the full battle with Headquarters in the Saddle mode. My options were set for Normal, then custom with HITS set to 10, so I had the normal map and didn't require couriers.

I ended up turning off the auto-display of courier messages to prevent spam. In a battle of this size, the normal map display is better, and Napoleon would have a staff to keep a map updated so it's not totally unrealistic. Besides, I needed to record screen shots.

The sprite ratio was set to 3:1 which I prefer.

The following is from reports I posted on the Steam forum.

Note that a Major Victory is still 30000 points but there's a new Total Victory at 40000.

NOTE: After this battle was fought I reduced the Main and Nivelles Road objectives to give 5000 points rather than 10000, so subtract 5000 from the final score to get the current version. I have also removed the Total Victory level at 40000.

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Waterloo #15. Headquarters In The Saddle mode.

Note: The way I normally play is to leave everyone on take charge and only un-TC them when I am ready to commit them to battle. At that point I give them a stance (usually either Attack or Defend) and a destination on the command map. I do very little micromanagement using units on TC, for example to take and hold an objective or to site an artillery battery. I will occasionally detach and un-TC units below the corps level so I can give them orders independently.

I have detached and sent Jerome to take Hougoumont, put Reille on defend. Lobau, Domon and Subervie have been sent near the five way crossroads southwest of the Paris Wood to defend against the Prussian arrival. Duhesme's Young Guard is deployed behind Plancenoit. At 12:00 I sent d'Erlon forward with Watier's cuirassiers from Milhaud, and when the ridge was sufficiently clear I moved the grand battery to the ridge.

I scripted the Prussians to arrive at their earliest arrival time of 15:30 so I can see how well they did if they have the maximum amount of time. Other possible arrival times are 16:30 and 17:00.

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Waterloo #15 in progress

14:30 - Score: 10050 - Casualties: 15000 French / 19500 Allies

I hold CENTER and RIGHT. Due to a lack of infantry between these points, my artillery has been mostly pushed off the ridge. Reille is pushing back the counterattack between Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte. I keep wishing he and the cavalry division I sent to do this would go ahead and commit their reserves already.

Because this is HITS mode and I can't get an overview of the map, Napoleon has been doing a lot of riding around to find high ground where he can see the action and still be in a position to encourage troops. So far this has been the only difference from the way I normally play without HITS.

The battlefield seems awfully small doing it this way.

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Waterloo #15 in progress

17:00 - Score: 18500 - Casualties: 26000 French / 32300 Allies and Prussians

Normal difficulty with HITS enabled as a custom setting.

Campi got pressed hard at RIGHT and I thought I was going to lose it. I sent in the Red Lancers to support him, and gave Jacquinot orders to hold at all costs on the VP site. Currently Jacquinot is getting the points but his cavalry is all still near Papelotte holding the Prussians.

About 16:15 Reille's infantry reserve got into action when a few enemy infantry battalions tried to get around the left of Hougoumont. Even Pire finally got ambitious and helped hold them. Pire takes his job as cavalry reserve Very Seriously, it seems. The extra cavalry support from Kellerman has not yet been in action. Unfortunately Reille's infantry is expending itself against the Allied right and will not be able to roll it up or to take LEFT.

The Prussians arrived as scripted at 15:30 and were held quite well for a while. Lobau was not in a good initial position because of his facing, but it worked out well. The cavalry did a great delaying job and Lobau took over admirably when the enemy approached him.

At 17:00 there are a LOT of Prussian infantry and they're starting to break through the center. I intend to let the Prussians actually take Plancenoit then counterattack and take it back. Risky, yes, but I'm also testing the scenario. I should have plenty of forces available, with the Young Guard, the guard chasseur cavalry and some of Milhaud's cuirassiers.

This is the first time in any game that I have fought the battle of Waterloo from the ground level, using HITS in this case, and it is an interesting experience. Being restricted to the view from the ground gives a whole new look and feel to the battle.

I expect to get at least a minor victory no matter what the Prussians are able to do. Since losing Plancenoit to the Prussians causes you to lose VP until you push them back out, this is probably the only way to actually lose this battle short of making some severe mistakes, at least for an experienced player.

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Waterloo #15

Final score 39538. Major Victory. *Almost* a Total Victory (at 40000 points).
(34538 after adjustment for new MAIN and Nivelles Road victory point reduction)

Casualties: 38042 French / 46061 Allies and Prussians
Men left: 17896 French / 36124 Allies and Prussians

The Prussians broke through by 17:30, and were soon contesting Plancenoit. Their initial cavalry arrived in the area but took a while wandering around before they took the church. I sent in the Young Guard and by 18:00 it was mine. They had a huge mass of infantry that for some reason decided to march south rather than directly on the town, probably chasing some artillery in the area. By 19:00 they'd turned toward the town. They were able to get enough troops to contest Plancenoit, and it went back and forth for a while, although my troops occupied the church the whole time. Note that if the Prussians contest Plancenoit I lose 50 victory points per minute.

By 19:45 seven battalions had bypassed Plancenoit in the south and three got past le Caillou farm south of Rossomme. They might have gotten to my lines of communications, but they certainly did not own them as there was a sizable artillery park in the area. I hope the enjoyed the wine they found in my supply train.

I had sent Druout's Imperial Guard (minus the Young Guard) and everyone else I could find to attack at 17:30. I was happy with the current situation at Plancenoit at the time so I sent Napoleon to assist the Old Guard. We took the 3000 point MAIN shortly after it activated at 18:00, and and the 7000 point Nivelles Road not long after that. I left Druoit to continue the attack at his discretion and returned to Plancenoit.

NOTE: MAIN is now 2000 points, Nivelles Road is now 3000 points.

At 19:50 I noticed a large Prussian cavalry force marching from the woods toward Plancenoit. I have no idea who they were or where they came from, as this was not scripted. I'm guessing they were reserves for one of the cavalry divisions. It looked pretty dicey for a while but like all Prussians they got distracted. At one point I moved Napoleon next to the door to the church, as it looked like he was going to be surrounded and might need to seek shelter.

Given how close I was to a Total Victory, I should have set someone to hold LEFT, and if I'd had anyone available I could have gotten 500 points for Papelotte, which was never taken. Some time after 20:15 I noticed I no longer held RIGHT, and I had no idea why. That whole area of the battlefield had been stable for hours. From the screen shots it looked like an extra infantry brigade I'd set to hold the area decided to move off.

I think Druout is down to one battalion made up of cooks and clerks. I probably should have changed him from attack to defend when I left. At least I had sufficient cavalry support for him in this battle, although the cavalry preferred to stay in reserve most of the time.

Strategic situation: The enemy has twice as many men as I do, and the Prussians still have a few battalions near my line of retreat, but I think this is a sound enough victory. Wellington and the Prussians have not linked up, and I have forces between them. They'll have to retreat for the night in different directions.

This was the first time the Prussians had ever attacked Plancenoit with infantry in force. I had intentionally let them approach the church before taking action, and my forces were not in good positions. If the player does not oppose the Prussians when they first arrive, it probably won't be possible to take Plancenoit back from them. If the player does not meet the Prussians far from the town, he might not be able to contain them long enough. All these options will be easier if the Prussians arrive later; I scripted them to arrive at the earliest possible time (15:30) so I could test this.

Notes on HITS. This was pretty much the same as any other battle I've fought, but I couldn't check other parts of the battlefield to see what was happening. I might have TC'd more artillery to get them where I wanted them, but not much else would have been different. A smaller battle might be fought on a bare map, but I doubt it could be done with the full battle. Requiring couriers might have been interesting, but wouldn't have changed much. It was fun and I still won.

Hook

[Hook]

Mod downloaded added in first post.

Please let me know if you have any problems. Any feedback is appreciated.

Hook

[mcaryf]

Hi
I have attached a revised version of one of Hook's modified Full Battle Scenarios to add in the 6 historic Wellington batteries that were omitted from the original standard scenario e.g. Mercer's famous battery. I have also adjusted the Allied gun crews that were set at 1/3 the number of equivalent French battery crews - this will have the effect of giving the Allied batteries the same endurance for fatigue and resilience to casualties as the French batteries. Three of the new batteries start in a reserve mode and position as they did historically but will become activated either by elapsed time or if the French capture particular objectives.

Both of these changes will make it harder to win as the French. I have only played this mod once and then using my own modified canister and shrapnel mod - I achieved an over 40k VP result. I have not included my artillery mod with this variant but you can add it if you wish. As I have only played it once I cannot promise there are no bugs.

For this variant you just need to unzip the folder into the scenario folder and it will appear in your scenario list as WL10-Hookplusguns. It should not replace Hook's own versions or the original WL10 scenario which should appear in the list of scenarios as they did before.

Regards

Mike

[Jean Lafitte]

Hi, folks, I'm back after a long break. I'm refreshing my skills by gaming vs the AI.

This mod looks great. Hook is a legend that goes all the way back to year 2002 and WNLB.

Hook and McCary, does the mod file that Mccary posted modify Hook's Full Battle mod that he posted in this thread? In other words, are the Mercer battery and other missing units from the stock scenario also missing from Hook's Full battle?

I ask because I'm looking for the most recent and most correct Waterloo Full Battle user made scenario for play vs the AI. I assume that the stock scenario for the full battle has never corrected the errors of the missing units, but, correct me if I'm wrong. Is the stock full battle scenario now corrected?

Thanks very much.

[Hook]

Hi Jean. Welcome back.

My mod only changes the objectives, not the OOB. Mike's mod handles the OOB; not sure about anything else it does as I haven't looked at it.

I have two updates to my mod that I haven't published yet. One does a bit of cleanup of the radius for several VP sites and removes the need for the Grog V toolbar. The other, which I am testing now, reduces the VP points for several sites and lowers the overall points needed for each victory level. This makes casualties a lot more important.

The version I have published is good enough though.

Hook

[mcaryf]

Hi Jean
Unfortunately there is a lot wrong with the standard OOB which is what Hook has used as his base. I only added the missing batteries but it also does not have the Quatre Bras casualties taken off the Allied units and it includes Teste's Division with the French which was of course with Grouchy. The Prussians are represented by just one of the three Corps that participated.

I published a more accurate historic scenario some while ago. I normally play it with my artillery mod but you do not have to do that if you are happy to limit canister to 200 yards and fire Shrapnel that does virtually no damage.

Regards

Mike

[Jean Lafitte]

Hook, I don't remember the old WNLB having all of these OOB errors. Did it?

Mike, could you please link me to that previous full battle scenario that you referenced?

Thank you both very much.