Mike Reed - 07:16pm Jun 29, 2003 PST (#982 of 1002) 

Advice for Topic Police, from Mike Brady: "You know by tattling on your
friends, you're really just tattling on yourself. By tattling on your
friends, you're just telling them that you're a tattletale. Now is that
the tale you want to tell? " 

Kevin, I could see the convention center from my window at work. Sigh.
Did see an open copy of NERO this evening, up to the typical Phalanx
graphics standards. 

Yep, I think that was my copy of NERO you may have been perusing. Lots
of folks took a gander whilst I was playing WATERLOO @ the table next to
it. 

Which, brings me to an after-action report on said Waterloo game. To sum
up, my opponent & I played to a 28:28 VP tie in the long game. We used
the set-up with the unit in La Haye Sainte, and used the 'correct'
interpretation that playing a card for movement/action allows a battle
each time, therefore up to 5 attacks per turn possible (more if you use
cav charges...which we did to good effect). As Wellington, I was able to
create an 'L-shaped' line cornered on La Haie Sainte and the hill after
being flanked on the left. The elite Brits moved into Hugomount, and my
cav fought off any attempts to run around that flank (or the other, for
that matter). My opponent didn't make any attempt at Hugo, opting
instead for the bounty that was Mount St Jean, and killing my small
pathetic 1- and 2-point units by the bushel. While I was definitely
hard-pressed as the British, I certainly didn't get the impression that
my opponent was under the same pressure as the French. Not a 'bad
thing', just an observation. Also, there's no way in hell all the
Prussians can make it on the board. It seems a waste. I pinpoit the
trouble being that damned woods hex right next to entry square 'C'.
Creates all sorts of idiotic traffic jams, can't get enough on with the
cards. If Entry B is chosen, forget about taking back Placenoit. 

The end game position was the Brits in Hugomount and Mt St. Jean, the
French had La Haye Sainte. The British Army was nearly decimated (23
points of dead Brits). Meanwhile, the Prussians took all of Placenoit,
pushing the Young Guard out with ease. French losses stood at 8 points
of dead units (mostly cav). In the last turn, after the French ran out
of cards, we tallied up VP, and it was 28-24 French. The Prussians still
had 7 cards to play. It was late, we had been playing for five hours.
Given that, we decided that the Young Guard that had just been pushed
out of Placenoit by the Prussians was toast, awarded the 4 points to the
Allies, which brought the game it to 28-up. Fitting, because that's
about how the game seemed to be. Neither of us felt like we won...near
run thing, indeed. 

Oh...that '60 minutes' play time on the side of the box? I don't think
so... :-) Though I knew the rules well, had played solitaire and
followed the discussions, I was playing the first time vs a live
opponent, who was also playing for the first time. As I mentioned, the
game took about 5 hours...that should improve some, I'd say 3 hours is
probably 'right' for the long game. 

Interesting decisions to make on the cards, however. Awful easy to be
flank attacked, I see. No 'pinning' units adjacent leads to some awful
gamey tactics...still, it was enjoyable. 

As for the 'short scenario', I can see that a Brit win will be EXTREMELY
hard to pull out in the time alloted. I was extremely fortunate in
drawing Nappy's health each of the 3 first turns, and 5 total in the
game, I shudder to think what the French could have done to me with all
their cards on even one more of those turns. Basically, without having
to worry about the threat to the right flank, the French can roll things
up with impunity...and giving an open Frischermont to the French to just
take, with its associated VP, seems a bit steep. Perhaps the 'fix' would
be to move that VP marker to Mont St. Jean, with an attendant value (2
VP for French, 1 for Brits, perhaps)? That, combined with the setup in
La Haye Sainte, should go a long way towards balancing the short
scenario without getting 'fiddly' It also forces the French to have to
take at least one of the Chateaux for a win in the short game (bypassing
to take MSJ would only result in a draw...). 

Just some thoughts...I'd definitely play it again. I figure I'm now a
'qualified British player'. It definitely takes a different mindset to
play the Brits than it does the French...reference my comment about
'pressure' differential above.