Hard pounding at Ligny

Ligny is one of those famous battles that I knew "of "but not "about" - i.e., I knew the broad outlines of situation and outcome, but not really any details of the course of the battle itself. That was rectified by Mark's game this week.

Many readers will know Ligny well, but for the rest of us, here's the situation. It's one of the pair of battles that are the prelude to Waterloo, the other being Quatre Bras. Napoleon is trying to beat the Prussian army thoroughly and drive it back to Namur, away from Wellington's Anglo-Allied army, before turning on Wellington. His plan relies on frontal assaults pinning the Prussians in their defensive line along the Ligne stream until Ney can descend on them from behind their right flank. As Ney is unavoidably detained at QB, it doesn't quite work out like that. Most famously, d'Erlon's corps yo-yos between the two battlefields as both Napoleon and Ney send increasingly urgent messages demanding his help. In the end, although Napoleon earns a tactical victory in that the Prussians are pushed back, they are still in the game and able to rebound at Waterloo.

Let's launch straight into the photos of the game, then offer some Reflections at the end. Only five pics of the battle as it was such an intense fight.

So intense, in fact, that I awarded myself a stiff one of these afterwards! (I'd spent the day running a WWII game, Izbushenskiy, so you'll appreciate the battle fatigue was setting in by the time I fought Ligny the same evening.)

I commanded the main body of the French, facing Crispin (Mark just handling the French right wing against Dave W). Here's what I was up against: a Prussian force about 50% stronger, with some of its guns set up waiting for my advance, and ensconced in some tough defensive positions. The village on the left is St Amand; on the right, the eponymous Ligny. Normally in BBB villages are worth 1 level of cover, but in this scenario they rate 2. Likewise the steep-banked Ligne stream with its thick vegetation is double the usual stream obstacle for both movement and combat. (hence the hedges).

Figures are Baccus 6mm, all from Mark's collection, as is the terrain.

Plan view of the battle. Apart from the Prussian garrisons in St Amand and Ligny, all the troops in the foreground, south of La Ligne, are French. More will arrive but not until Turns 5+. Meanwhile, I had the tough task of trying to take some of those white Objective counters and fight across the stream. I was not optimistic, and when a few dice went wrong on the first turn or two I suggested we swap sides and start again ... but it was more a wry aside than a morale failure and we soldiered on.

Neither the time nor the space for subtlety, so in go two big assaults on the main villages. We boot the Prussians out of the southern half of each. Over the next two or three turns, with dogged determination and a bit of luck (plus superior troop quality) we get all of St Amand, but the Prussians hang on exchanging volleys with us in Ligny for most of the game.

What you can't see is some serious action left of pic. Committing so much against St Amand left my artillery somewhat exposed. Crispin took advantage by flinging a couple of cavalry brigades and a strong infantry brigade across the Ligne. He battered my one small infantry unit there and overran some guns. My reserve artillery was lucky to bring him to a halt.

Out of shot right of pic we, weren't having much luck either, as Grouchy's cavalry fought themselves to exhaustion (and then evaporation) pinning the Prussian left.

The arrival of our reserves changed things. In this pic, the Prussians still hold Wagnelé (left edge) and St Amand la Haye (next village to its right on the Ligne) but have fallen back elsewhere (that line of troops at top of pic). Those Prussians top left, heading leftward, are reacting to the arrival of a single French division (Durutte) from the Grand Old Count of Erlon's corps, which had crossed the Ligne. Durutte then unilaterally fell back again (rolled snake eyes while Passive) but he had done a useful job.

More importantly, the Imperial Guard joined in. The Old Guard (bottom right) didn't fire a shot but didn't need to. Their presence was enough to keep some of the Prussians at a safe distance and embolden my lads who'd crossed the Ligne to try and storm St Amand La Haye. It didn't work - Prussian artillery saw us off - but never mind, we could win elsewhere.

Note the Young Guard, the unit centre foreground in the Hameau de St Amand. Note also the cuirassiers, bottom left, eyeing the shaken Landwehr in Wagnelé.

The last act. As dusk falls, I mount a massed assault on Wagnelé. The Young Guard go in. They get some useful fire support from the infantry in the foreground. Crucially, although the cuirassiers failed to charge, the Horse Grenadiers of the Guard - who were out to the left of the previous pic - get the full move they need to avoid those Prussian dragoons (top left) and fall on the Landwehr's flank. That was enough to outweigh the tough defensive position and force the Landwehr out, giving the French the sixth Objective we needed for victory. Vive l'empereur!

Reflections

Quality Tells. The early turns were mutual attrition and not much progress. However, the French veterans could absorb casualties better than the trained or raw Prussians. The blue cubes in the pics above betray the growing number of Spent Prussian units. Thus, the tide turned, the Prussians getting significantly weaker while the French were reinforced.

Learning by Doing. As I said at the start, Ligny is a battle I knew of rather than about. Mark's game has now given me a good appreciation, not only of the shape and course of the historical battle, but also actually of the sheer intensity of the combat. That's quite a tribute to his scenario design.

Ligny will be added as a bonus scenario to Mark's "Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles!" BBB scenario book pdf edition, about to become available from SkirmishCampaigns ~February 2026.