Saturday, April 23, 2016

Scourge of War Waterloo - Don't Miss the Grog Toolbar!

Back when it was released, Scourge of War Waterloo got some pushback from hardcore fans of the Napoleonics era. It was argued that not all formations relevant to the period's field of battle were featured in Scourge of War.

A full French division, with two brigades and artillery with each infantry unit in column formation. The troops simulated in this screenshot are around 5,000 men ...

Although it was no secret that not all the infantry formations were represented, I don't know too much of the missing ones were relevant to the field of battle. But one was missed by me: the ordre mixte.

But anyway, the most up to date version of Scourge of War Waterloo includes a so-called "expanded toolbar - grog" that can be loaded as a mod. To load it you will have to go to click on the "modifications" button in the main screen of the game and select the "expanded toolbar - grog". A restart is required.

I think the latest version of the game includes the expanded toolbar, but if not you can download it from this link:

http://www.norbsoftdev.net/forum/waterloo-modifications/68686-expanded-toolbar-grog

One formation that I am particularly interested in (more details later) is the ordre mixte. To deploy my division in that formation I choose the infantry tab in the expanded toolbar (top left), clicked on formations, and then selected the ordre mixte.

The troops moved under the directions of the AI brigade commanders and here is the result. This formation is supposed to combine maneuverability, depth, shock and firepower.

Here I am moving one of the brigades to the left so to open the center of the division position for an artillery line.

The artillery into the gap I opened with a simple command. Again, the ordre mixte is not a defensive formation and the overall combined arms deployment is not sound. 

Cheers.






2 comments:

Unknown said...

Pardon what might be a stupid question but what sets this apart from say Napoleon Total War scenario of Waterloo? I've enjoyed the rich and lush atmosphere N:TW had going for its battles. The Waterloo scenarios were very enjoyable. I've played SoW -Gettysburg and loved it. Thank you.

JC said...

Hi Tim,

SoW are a more realistic portrayal of operational and (grand) tactical warfare in the Napoleonic era.

You ought to try it.

Cheers,