Scourge of War Waterloo - Ligny DLC - A Virtual Tour of the Sombreffe Position

This blog post contains images from the recently released Ligny DLC for Scourge of War Waterloo and excerpts from the controversial book 1815 The Waterloo Campaign by (the no less controversial) Peter Hofschroer. Book quotes are in italics.

"The terrain around Sombreffe gave a number of advantages to the defence. The undulating countryside contained considerable areas of dea ground in which troops could be hidden"

"The tall crops, at the time often the height of a man or more, added to the possibilities for concealment."

 "The village of Ligny spread over a extent of around 1 km, with its longest axis running from south-west to north-east"

"From Ligny to Mont Potriaux, the [Ligne] brook ran through a marshy meadow which could only be crossed by troops with the greatest difficulty".

"The villages of  St. Amand, ..."

"... St. Amand la Haye and ..."

" ... Wagnelee formed a line running for about 3 km. [...] However, most of St. Amand and of St. Amand la Haye were situated on the western side of the Ligne [brook]." 

"The village of Brye, covering a front of around 800 meters, was well protected from an attack from the direction of Wagnelee to the west by hedges, undergrowth and buildings ..."

"The main vantage point of the battlefield was the windmill of Bussy to the south of Brye, the highest position in the Prussian centre, where Blucher established his headquarters." 

"The major weakness in the Prussian positions was their right flank, which rested precariously in the air, a further indication that support was expected from the direction of Quatre Bras".

"The strength of the Prussian position was not confined to the features in the front line. Behind the village of St. Amand was a long, gentle slope leading up to Brye. If the French were to size the village, then they would have to advance uphill, in open terrain, in the face of Prussian artillery."

Cheers,