Bert Schoose (French) vs Ed Menzel (PAA)
Neutral Commentary – Joe Beard
Game Played: March 30 - May 18, 2025
Commentary compiled by Ed Menzel
Updated October 27, 2025. Home
Joe: First, a brief dose of nostalgia:
It's hard to believe that The Avalon Hill Game Company (TAHGC) originally published WATERLOO in 1962 and that, more than six decades later, it still continues to be a favorite title for a small but dedicated band of wargamers even now. Of course, today's WATERLOO – at least as it is played in contemporary tournament circles – is no longer identical to the game that first saw print sixty-three years ago. In point of fact, WATERLOO has repeatedly been improved in minor (and not so minor) ways in the decades since it first landed on game store shelves in the second year of the Kennedy presidency. This process really started in the 1970s when TAHGC – in an attempt to clarify a collection of recurring rules and map questions, and to also improve the game's play balance – tapped Bruno Sinagaglio to clean things up with a limited rules rewrite. Later, a small number of minor (but quite important) system tweaks were added (e.g.: the Anglo-Allied/Prussian noncooperation rule and the change from five "game" days comprised of six game turns, to four campaign days each with seven game turns) – all thanks to the efforts of WBC WATERLOO Tournament directors Rob Beyma and Marty Musella. Now, with a redesigned and unambiguous game map, and with more colorful counters – "hat tip" to Frank Jorden – the current version of WATERLOO now offers players pretty much everything they want from an Avalon Hill "classic" game.
Download a copy of the 2025 Waterloo Email Tournament Finals Commentary here.