WATERLOO Tournament Rules and Clarifications

Amended 3 September 2021. Home

WATERLOO Tournament Rules Summary

1. Second edition rules are in effect.

2. The 10-sided die Combat Results Table (CRT) is the default for game use unless both players agree to use the old 6-sided CRT.

3. The Combat odds may NOT be voluntarily reduced to lower odds. (For example, a 1 to 2 may not be reduced to 1 to 3 or lower nor may a 6 to 1 be lowered either.)

4. A 7 PM turn has been added to each day and the game length is 28 turns – 16 to 19 June.

5. Prussian and Anglo-Allied units may NOT stack together nor attack the same French unit(s). Prussian and Anglo-Allied units in different stacks may attack different French units that are stacked together.

6. Prussian and Anglo-Allied units may move through each other with no penalty.

7. Combat retreats that result in Prussian and Anglo-Allied units being stacked together (only permissible retreat route) are allowed but the PAA player must unstack them during their movement phase.

8. In a rare situation as described below, Prussian and Anglo-Allied units may attack a single French unit. This situation could theoretically occur when Prussian and Anglo-Allied units are both adjacent to a single French unit and cannot move due to French ZOCs. They can only attack the same French unit if there is no other legal resolution.

9. The British 2-4 infantry brigade (Wissel of the Hanoverian Reserve Corps) normally arriving 0900, 16 June will instead arrive with the rest of the Hanoverian Reserve Corps at 0700, 18 June. (Rationale: Historically, the four brigades of the Hanoverian Reserve Corps did not participate in the battle. This change will show the corps arriving together.)

10. If an attack or French exit of units off the board results in all PAA units being eliminated/defected, then this is considered a French victory.

WATERLOO Rule Clarifications

1. Grid coordinates: Print letters A through WW along the east and west edges of the mapboard. Print numbers 1 through 57 along the north and south edges. Start row A in the northeast and northwest corners. Start row 1 in the southeast corner. Thus, row V bisects Nivelles and St. Gery; row 27 bisects Wavre and Quatre Bras; Waterloo is E-43, Nivelles is V-38, Quatre Bras is X-27, and Fleurus is JJ-13.

2. The PAA player enters their units scheduled to arrive that turn in one pile (one on top of the other) on the partial (non-playable) hex on the edge of the board where the designated road enters (Braine le Comte - U48, Hal - C57, Brussels - B46 respectively). Incoming units may NOT be placed on board directly into enemy ZOC. The arriving units must enter the 1st road (playable) hex (Braine le Comte - U47, Hal - D56, Brussels - A45) and if this hex is in enemy ZOC or occupied by an enemy unit, the reinforcements may delay entry on that road to a later turn when free of enemy ZOC or enter the next unblocked secondary or primary road as you move clockwise around the board. This is further outlined in the rules under “Order of Appearance”.

3. Units must stop on the first wooded hex they reach, even if the woods are on the opposite side of the river.

4. The Headquarters units have no delaying power whatsoever and need not be used in play.

5. Rules governing movement on roads and rivers are independent of the rules governing combat retreats or advances on roads and rivers.

6. No retreat is possible onto a river hex! A river hex (by definition) contains a river that intersects 2 hex sides (the fact that this hex may also be a road is immaterial). To clarify further: whenever a retreat is called for, a unit must retreat 2 hexes. If either hex 1 or 2 is a river hex, the unit is immediately eliminated. There is one specific exception to this rule: If a unit is on a river hex, it may retreat along that river and the 2nd hex may be off the river. However, you cannot retreat off the river in hex 1 and back on it in hex 2. Specifically, the retreat M25 to L26 to K26 is allowed, but M25 to L25 to K26 is not.

7. Retreats involving river junctions can be troubling to resolve. Units on a river hex may retreat along the river unless the retreat hex contains more than one river in which case, the unit(s) are eliminated. It does not matter how many rivers are in the hex from which the retreat starts. The following are examples where retreats are allowed: N24-N23, N24-N25, N24-M25, T30-T31, T30-U30. However, in these following examples the retreats are NOT allowed: N24-O24, O20-O19, W22-X21, O24-N24.

8. Any attacking units on river hexes may advance after combat in vacated clear defense hexes even if the defending units were not doubled. Attacking units on river hexes may not advance if the defending unit is also on a river hex. Also, any attacking units on slope hexes may advance onto hilltop hexes even in the defending units were not doubled.

9. On the d10 CRT, when a 1/2-Attacker Eliminated result is rolled, eliminated attack factors are rounded up and the surviving attackers DO retreat.

10. The illustrations at the end of the rules outline well permissible road movement through forests. Study the diagrams under “Special Terrain Movement” carefully.

11. Concerning road crossings of rivers, you need not enter or exit the road-bridge hex via the road hex side in order to use the bridge. Thus, movement U-29 to T-30 to S-31 is legal as is U-29 to T-30 to S-30 to R-30 and T-29 to T-30 to T-31 to S-32.

12. A unit defending east of Nivelles is doubled if attacked only from the river hex U38 and the slope hexes U37 or V36 to the north.

13. Some hexes contain a sliver of clear terrain thus allowing movement along/crossing rivers. The following are examples where such movement is allowed: GG11-FF11-EE11-DD12, S38-T37 and DD36-CC37-BB38-AA38-Z38. Note that units starting at P18 may move to O18 or O19 and continue moving per normal rules due to a sliver of clear terrain north of the river confluence.

14. The map has some ambiguities regarding doubling of hilltop hexes on defense when attacked from certain hexes. The following hexes are doubled when attacked from the noted slope hex: W37-X36, O38-O37, U26-T26, S33-T33 & S36-T35. The following hexes are NOT doubled when attacked from the noted slope hex: Y25-Z24 & R39-S38.

15. Defection hexes clarification: The DEFECTION section in the Reference Folder of the 2nd edition rules states: “Movement of French units off the board must be done through board edge squares (hexes) between those marked with an X.” French units may exit the game board from hex A46 to the partial primary road hex and from A38 to the secondary partial road hex to satisfy the defection rules. However French units at A38 and/or A46 may not exit if a PAA unit(s) occupies the primary/secondary road exit hex (A45 and A39) since the PAA units ZOC is considered to extend off board to the exit hex.

WATERLOO Side Selection Process

1. The lower rated player bids first for the side they wish to play. If rankings are unknown, then both players roll a die and the winner bids first. The bid represents the number of factors that must be removed from the at start forces and a bid of 0 is acceptable.

2. The opposing player may now bid a higher number of one or more combat factors. This back and forth “auction” process continues until the higher bid is accepted by the other player. The winner of the bid now removes factors from the at start forces. Those factors may be from the Anglo-Allies and/or Prussians in the case of the PAA player.

3. Example: Player A bids 0 for the PAA. Player B bids 3 and Player A counters with a bid of 4. Player B bids 7 which is accepted. Player B removes 5 Prussian and 2 British factors.