Scenario: The Hunters - advice sought

[Russkly]

I've recently bought SoWWL having only ever played TC: 2nd Manassas from this series previously.

After reading the manual and playing the tutorial a few times, I went for a small, brigade-level scenario to really kick-start the whole experience.

So, finding defence often easier than attack during the learning phase I opted for The Hunters scenario as the allies, which focuses on the defence of Hougoumont.

The objectives are twofold: defend the woods south of the farm and defend the farm itself.

You get about 1,000 mainly Dutch light infantry plus some British Guards to do this.

SPOILERS:

Problem is that both the woods and the farm are in arty range and the French have seemingly much more than a Brigade committed to the attack.

So, in essence, I got dicked. Not once but several times.

I tried retreating to the farm immediately. No dice.

I tried retreating to the orchard behind the farm. No dice.

I tried calling up inf support on both flanks. No dice.

Nothing I did prevented me losing much of my force and losing the woods objective, which signalled an immediate defeat.

Can anybody help me, please, or is this scenario simply not winnable as the allies (it was a an easy win playing the French in the mirror scenario btw)?

Cheers,

R

[Little Powell]

Sorry I missed this post.. Have you been able to beat it yet? Yes I designed it, but the testers have played it the most and would be better to respond..

Give me a day or so and will can go back and check it out.

[Russkly]

Ths for replying, Little Powell.

No, I certainly have not beaten it yet, even having tried various tactics (see above)! Haven't even come close.

I simply can't see how such a small detachment of 1,000 soldiers is supposed to hold the woods and the château against a full French brigade with plentiful arty support.

I'd love to hear how to do it, I really would!

R

[Little Powell]

Keep in mind, you're only supposed to hold the woods as long as you can, then perform a fighting retreat to the chateau. So a general tactic would be, hold the woods to gain a few points, but then fall back to the chateau before you take many losses. This was basically what happened in the real battle. Once you're in the Chateau, you should be able to hold it the rest of the scenario to gain enough points for the MV.

[Russkly]

Thx, again, Little Powell.
I'm just beginning to get to grips with the whole objective points thing. Watch the timer and accumulate the points by having enough chaps in the right area, and then withdraw once it gets too hot.
I'll post again, if I get a Major Victory (is that what you mean by MV?).
Cheers,
R

[Little Powell]

Thx, again, Little Powell.
I'm just beginning to get to grips with the whole objective points thing. Watch the timer and accumulate the points by having enough chaps in the right area, and then withdraw once it gets too hot.
I'll post again, if I get a Major Victory (is that what you mean by MV?).
Cheers,
R

Exactly.

[con20or]

I have rummaged through my drawers and found the testing reports for that scenario. The best approach seems to be:

- putting up a stubborn resistance at the woods for max points
- carrying out a fighting withdrawal to Hougomont
- followed by a last ditch defence there..

[Russkly]

Thx, I'll try that.

[Russkly]

Got it!

Major victory - 2283 points (on normal difficulty).

SPOILERS!

Stubborn resistance in the woods employing all 1,000 men whilst the objective points built up, and then fighting withdrawal to the château for the last minutes worked a treat.

Felt a bit gamey hanging on to the woods objective whilst casualties mounted, and normally I would have bugged out sooner, but it worked in game terms!

Now I'm struggling with WL18 General Bayonet. It seems hard to get the required 500 points for a MV through combat alone when the French Garde battalions are outnumbered and in square. Even destroying them with arty and musket fire doesn't generate the required points, so I'm unsure how to win this one. There don't appear to be enough Frenchmen to kill in this scenario!

Any clues, devs?

[Russkly]

OK, sussed it myself:

SPOILERS:

Bring the horse arty battery into a good position out of musket range but within cannister range and blast the Imperial Guard squares until they run away.

That'll get you the 500 points to win a MV and achieve 'Promotion' (I still don't understand what this gives you btw!).

Keep the inf. out of musket range though, because they don't fare well in a shoot-out with the Guard.

A bit gamey, but hey ho.