Description[]
The Battle of Waterloo is the eighth and final scenario of the English Campaign in Empire Earth. It is also the most difficult, so good strategy is essential to success. It serves as a reenactment of the battle of the same name, along with the battle of Quatre Bras.
Briefing[]
The Battle of Waterloo: 1815
Following Napoleon's defeat in 1814 and subsequent exile to the island of Elba, the corrupt Bourbon regime was restored to the throne of France. But they didn't hold on to it for long. Escaping from exile, Napoleon returned to Paris and in three short weeks raised an army that forced the Bourbons to flee to Brussels.
Stunned by the rapid turn of events, the other major powers of Europe rallied to form an alliance. Sir Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, was called upon to lead the main thrust of the allied forces against Napoleon. It was the first time the two great generals were to meet on the field of battle.
The Duke of Wellington was eager to assume command, though the irony of the situation was not lost on him. Napoleon believed they were fighting for liberty, fraternity and equality. The Alliance, on the other hand, were fighting ultimately to restore a dying aristocracy to power. But whatever the motives, Sir Arthur had every intention of winning the fight.
Starting Conditions[]
First stage[]
In the first stage of the scenario, you have control over a messenger (an Imperial Cuirassier). You must bring the messenger safely to General Blucher of Prussia. Once found, you will gain control over Prussian forces, and deploy them against a French assault at Wavre. When the French retreat, control over the Prussian forces defaults back to the computer.
Second stage[]
In the second stage of the scenario, you have control of Sir Arthur Wellesley and his forces, situated in the north of Brussels.
You also have the following initial resources:
You also have control of eight engineers (Citizens), who can build Settlements, Towers, Barracks, Stables, Siege Factories, Farms and Hospitals. You cannot populate these units to create new Town Centers, so you cannot create more Citizens. The engineers can also gather resources, but the only resources on the map are Wood, Food (via Farms) and Stone.
Objectives[]
- Join the Duke of Wellington in Brussels to get your briefing on the impending French attack.
- The Duke of Wellington must survive.
- Your messenger must locate General Blucher and the Prussians at all costs. If he fails, the Allies will lose the war.
- General Blucher has been pursued to Wavre by a French detachment. They must be defeated.
- Build up your forces and prepare for the French assault.
- The French attack will come through the area around Monte St. Jean. You would be wise to build Barracks, Stables, and other support buildings there.
- The French are attacking Quatre Bras, and then Brussels. If even one French soldier is seen in Brussels, the Bourbon royalty living in asylum there will panic, and surrender to Napoleon - and you will lose!
- The main French army under Napoleon will attack at dawn. His soldiers must be kept out of Brussels at all costs.
- The French army is attacking. You must keep them from passing through Monte St. Jean and entering Brussels. If even one French soldier is seen in Brussels, the Bourbon royalty living in asylum there will panic, and surrender to Napoleon - and you will lose!
In the first stage of the scenario, your messenger must travel safely from Wellesley in Brussels to Blucher in Wavre. On arriving in Wavre, you have the optional objective of assisting to defeat the French assault at Wavre.
In the second stage of the scenario, your goal is to prevent any French forces from entering Brussels. If any French units enter the central part of the city, you are defeated.
History[]
Although he defeated Napoleon's army in Spain during the campaign of 1808 - 1814, The Duke of Wellington had never encountered the great French general himself on the battlefield.
Instead, the surrender of Napoleon at Fontainebleau, and Wellington's victory over the French troops at Toulouse, propelled the "Iron Duke" into a brief political career. Newly raised into the peerage, Sir Arthur was finally able to return home and be received into the House of Lords. Numerous honors and titles had been bestowed upon him during the campaign in Spain, but he had never had the time to receive them with the proper ceremony.
Then, from August 1814 until March 1815, he served as British Ambassador to the Bourbon court in Paris.
Napoleon, meanwhile, was exiled to the island of Elba, off the coast of Italy. There he bided his time. Although he was penniless, a prisoner, and a general without an army, he knew full well of his countrymen's dreams. All he had to do was to appear in France and call on those who believed in fraternity and equality to gather around his banner, and once more Bonaparte would stand among the greatest men of Europe.
In February 1815, that is exactly what happened.
In less than three weeks, whole divisions of the French army had deserted to join Napoleon, and the French king had fled for his life.
Shocked and alarmed, the European allies who had defeated Napoleon the previous year had hastily re-grouped to form a plan. Russian and Austrian troops would invade France from the east. British, Prussian, and Dutch troops would invade from the north. Together, these forces constituted an overwhelming numerical superiority, Napoleon could not afford to wait until they were drawn up against him en masse.
Instead, he struck first.
Launching a surprise attack on the Anglo-Dutch forces in Belgium, he hoped to wipe them out before the Prussians under General Blucher could arrive. The fateful day had come, as predicted by Tsar Alexander I of Russia when he had said to the Duke of Wellington in Vienna: " It is up to you to save the world again."
Hints & Strategy[]
- If the French are not stopped at Quatre Bras, it will be extremely difficult to keep them out of Brussels. And the appearance of even one French soldier in the city will cause the Bourbons to panic and surrender.
- It would be wise to heavily fortify the hill of Monte St. Jean. The French will have to pass this way to reach Brussels, and you can have the advantage of fighting from the high ground!
- British watchtowers have been placed on the roads leading into Brussels to give you advanced warning of any invading French soldiers.
- You have been given a lot of Gold and Iron with which to defend Brussels, but once they are used up, you won't be able to get anymore.
- Stone can be located at several points around the base of Monte St. Jean.
- To defeat Ney's army at Quatre Bras, eliminate either all his cannon or all his infantry.
- To defeat the main French Army, eliminate all dark blue cavalry and cannons.
- Being prepared to mobilize your troops and move them anywhere should be a higher priority than exploring the map
Storyline[]
Sir Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, is seen at a Palace in Brussels.
Duke of Wellington: War is about to return to Europe, yet inside this Palace, the exiled nobility of France amuse themselves at a grand ball. To think my men will die to restore them to power. Yet, nevertheless, how I long to return to the battlefield, to cross swords at last with Napoleon himself.
A messenger shows up.
Messenger: Sir, I've come from the Belgian frontier. The French forces are assembling across the border. They appear close to launching their attack.
Duke of Wellington: Do we have any word concerning our Prussian allies? We need Blucher and his troops as soon as possible.
Messenger: Sir, according to the last report, they are advancing from the northeast. That is all we know.
Duke of Wellington: You must locate General Blucher at once. Seek him out in these areas, east of us. Determine his position - and then report back to me. Quickly!
The Messenger heads on his way, till he eventually finds General Blucher and the Prussian reinforcements.
Messenger: Excellent! I have located General Blucher and the Prussian reinforcements.
If the forces are sent the wrong way.
General Blucher: That is the wrong way! We must defeat the French forces pursuing us!
General Blucher: We are fighting for our lives! Napoleon has driven us out of Ligny. Now we must counterattack the forces that followed us. To arms!
The pursuers have been defeated.
General Blucher: We have beaten back our pursuers! A messenger must ride to General Wellington at once. Tell him we'll come as soon as we have re-grouped.
Narrator: But the messenger from Blucher never arrived. The Duke of Wellington had to prepare for battle, not knowing if the Prussians were ready.
Duke of Wellington: We can wait not longer. Our own forces must be mobilized. I will ride to our encampment at once to rally the troops.
The Duke of Wellington arrives at the encampment.
Sir Rowland Hill: My lord, the small force we currently have will be no match for Napoleon. We must enlarge our infantry and dragoon divisions and assemble a suitable number of cannon.
The Engineers have been highlighted.
Narrator: These civilians are the Allie's Corps of Engineers, who handle construction jobs. Guard them carefully, for there is no time to call up replacements.
A potential position for fortifications has been revealed.
Sir Rowland Hill: May I suggest that while building up our forces, we fortify our position on the hill of Mont St. Jean, outside of Waterloo? It is here, on the map. From this hill we will command all the approaches to Brussels.
Fortifications have been made at Mont St. Jean.
Messenger: Lord Wellington, we have just received word that the French are marching on Quatre Bras with a large force, under the command of Field Marshal Ney.
Duke of Wellington: Quatre Bras controls the southern road to Brussels. We must make certain the French are stopped there. If their army should reach Brussels - all will be lost.
Field Marshal Ney's forces make their attack on Quatre Bras.
Field Marshal Ney is eliminated.
Duke of Wellington: Marshal Ney has been killed! Victory is within our grasp!
Messenger: Marshal Ney and his troops have abandoned Quatre Bras! They are bypassing Brussels and moving to join Napoleon's army in Ligny.
The attackers on Quatre Bras have been defeated.
Narrator: The English have won the battle of Quatre Bras! ...as night falls, the English army has a chance to regroup and reorganize. But they must stay alert, for who knows where the French will attack in the morning?
The Duke of Wellington and his troops return to Mont St. Jean.
Messenger: Sir! The French army under Napoleon's direct command is preparing to assault Mont St. Jean!
General Blucher's army arrives.
Duke of Wellington: At last! The Prussian army under General Blucher has arrived!
The French army makes their attack.
Napoleon is eliminated.
Narrator: Napoleon Bonaparte has fallen on the field of battle! How much longer can the French troops hold out?
The French army is defeated.
Duke of Wellington: The French army has been crushed! Napoleon has been beaten!
The Duke of Wellington has a glance over the battlefield.
Duke of Wellington: Another generation of European aristocracy has been preserved, but it is only temporary. Napoleon was surely right: their privileged status cannot survive forever, though sadly neither he nor I will live to see the change.
Walkthrough[]
Warning: Do not read through if you wish to figure the scenario out by yourself.
This last scenario of the English campaign is perhaps the most challenging scenario until now. Nevertheless: if you know what to do, you can win it with minimal or even zero casualties.
This scenario has two phases. The first phase can be short, but is important. The second is the actual battle.
First phase
You first control only one unit, a Cuirassier that has to act as scout and messenger for Wellington. He has to find the Prussians under Blücher and call them to action. The dialogue suggests urgency and time pressure, but in reality you do not have any pressure at all. You can idle hours in this phase and there will be no change in the outcome. So our Cuirassier has a lot more tasks to do for us than to be simply a messenger:
- Firstly, give him the resource upgrades reserved for Cuirassiers (see below), so that the Cuirassiers we can control at the end of this phase are strengthened and the ones we build in the next need less micromanagement
- Secondly, use him as a Scout and explore around 75% of the map. It is important to familiarize yourself with the terrain in which you have to act fast in the next phase. Most important are the two big roads from Brussels (the western and eastern one), the possible locations for our forward bases and the two attack routes of the French army (the western and the eastern one; see map above or in-game).
- Thirdly, kill all French sharpshooters (around 20) to clear the map from any later distractions. For our Cuirassier, this is very easy, but if you have problems, heal him at the Hospitals in Brussels or the English camp.
When you are done, go to the (yellow) village of Wavre in the east. You get to control the Prussian troops that are about to be attacked by the French. Save the game. The battle is not hard, but every casualty you have now means one unit less to support you in the next phase, so you want to minimize losses. The Prussians are already in a reasonable (although not optimal) formation. There are at least two strategic options:
- The first: Pause with F3. Immediately send the Cuirassiers in the rear to the front. Set the first line of Cuirassiers to stand ground so the French infantry wastes its time attacking them. Send your cannons with the move/attack order (Ctrl+right-click) a little bit forward to make sure the French infantry is in their range, so you can destroy them fast. When the French Cuirassiers appear, attack them with your Dragoons. When your rear Cuirassiers reach the front, you may want to send all Cuirassiers to attack the remaining enemy units. It is possible to win this battle with zero casualties.
- The second: Simply go immediately all-in with the move & attack order for all your army. Less micromanagement, but more casualities.
When the last French unit falls, you get 5 civ points and the phase ends. You lose control over all units.
Second phase
In this phase you have a high time pressure and you want to use every option to act fast and efficient. You can minimize game speed (- key on the Num Block) and use F3 to pause the game often. You now have control over Wellington and his troops:
- 10 British Infantry
- 5 Cuirassiers
- 4 Bronze Cannons
- 8 Citizens
The unit called Rowland is there for purely atmospheric purposes, acting as Wellington's adjutant. It cannot be controlled and will not fight.
You can gather stone (important) and wood (irrelevant), but not gold or iron, so it is important to spend your initial budget wisely.
Pause with F3. Before moving even a single unit you will want to make some important decisions.
Strategic decision 1: army composition
There are the following criteria for your decision:
- Balancing: The enemy attacks with a more or less balanced army: infantry, Cuirassiers, Field Cannons (though no Dragoons, which is nice). You have very limited time to build towers and no chance to use the lure tactics, so it will be essential to use the appropriate counterunits. You want to have an even more balanced army than the French:
- Cuirassiers against infantry and Field Cannons
- Dragoons against Cuirassiers
- Infantry against all that comes near your towers
- Field Cannons and some Bombards against mainly infantry, but also all what comes near your towers
- Numbers:You have limited resources and have to balance quality and quantity: you really need a lot of units, so you have to calculate the costs of resource upgrades against the costs of unit training.
- Concentration: To have enough of the right units and strong enough, you cannot waste resource upgrades for too many different unit types. It pays off to concentrate on a few unit types, so you have them as strong as possible.
- Use what you already have: Overall, stick with the unit types you already have and complement them cautiously - no Hand Cannoneers, no Halberdiers and so on. No Medics – they cost valuable resources and heal neither heroes nor cannons. A Hospital will do the job better.
It is recommended to build the following army:
- British Infantry: 20 (perhaps 25, that depends on your other calculations)
- Cuirassiers: 10
- Dragoons: 10
- Bronze Cannons: 5
- Bombards: 2 (perhaps 3)
No other units.
Strategic decision 2: civilization point upgrades
If you calculated your civ point investments wisely in this campaign, you have enough left for the following last investments:
- Cavalry (ranged): attack, range, armor, hitpoints, speed. Your Dragoons will thank you for that
- Buildings: Cost reduction! Very helpful for the towers you want to build
These are the most important. If you have some points left, you can invest them in your remaining units (perhaps splash damage for the cannons).
Strategic decision 3: resource upgrades
Because of your meager resources you can afford only some of the cheapest upgrades – but they will be enough:
- British Infantry: 1x attack, 1x range, 1x hitpoints
- Cuirassiers: 1x attack, 1x range, 1x hitpoints
- Dragoons: 1x attack, 1x range
- Bronze Cannon: 1xattack, 1x range
- Bombards: no upgrades (unless you train 5 Infantry less and decide to invest the resources here, but perhaps 1 more Bombard is more useful than 1 upgrade)
- Tower: range – but not too early! See below
Do not upgrade speed, that is not necessary and costs valuable resources.
Strategic decision 4: locations and structure of the forward bases
The decisive criteria are on the one hand the attack routes and strenght of the French armies and on the other hand the position of the only resource you want to mine: stone.
- The French will first attack via the western valley in which lies the village Quatre Bras (after ca. 16 minutes after the start of the phase). You do not want to fight in Quatre Bras because it eases the fight if you let the enemy spread out his army so you can fight the unit types as separated as possible. Your main base will be near the walled castle north of Quatre Bras. There is also the only stone field that is simultaneously secure and near a base location. You build first with all Citizens a Barracks, then a Stable, then a Siege Workshop slightly north of the western base, near the forest. Then a Hospital slightly east of the southern entrance to the castle walls. Split your Citizens: 6 can build a settlement near the stone field and mine stone until the end of the scenario. Two Citizens should build the rest of your defense. Build 3 towers, beginning with the spot between the southwestern tip of the walls and the southern wall entrance. Leave two spaces empty and build the second tower, then 1-2 spaces and the third tower. You can experiment with building a Barracks directly south of the middle tower, as it can soak up a lot of damage and distract the enemy, but it also can let the enemy stand slightly far from your ranged units. After this, send your Citizens immediately to the second base.
- The second attack begins 5 minutes after the retreat message of the first battle. This time, the French will attack via the eastern road that passes through Mont-Saint-Jean. At this position, build 4 towers and nothing more. 4 towers are possible because of the construction cost bonus via the civ points upgrade, and because you don't build a second Hospital. Build them at the edge of the hill plateau to have the mountain battle bonus and to deny it to the French. Build 2 to the north of the line to the main road to Brussels and two to the south, and leave 1 empty space between them.
Your steps in the right order:
Preparations
- Pause with F3
- Group your units
- invest your civ points, if not done already
- start the resource upgrades
- give the Citizens the build orders
- give the military units the move order for the main forward base
- unpause with F3
- when the Barracks is ready, queue 10 (or 15) British Infantry and set the rally point at the main base
- when the Stable is ready, queue 5 Cuirassiers and 10 Dragoons, and set the rally point at the main base Hospital. when the Cuirassiers are done, change the rally point to a point west of the main base
- when the Siege Workshop is ready, queue 1 Bronze Cannon and 2 Bombards (or 3 Bombards, depending on your calculation)
- when the Hospital is ready, research the range/healing rate bonus
- split the Citizens: six build the settlement at the stone field, two build towers
- Group your units, position the Dragoons slightly west of your westernmost tower in good formation, the ranged units behind your towers, the Cuirassiers slightly right of your towers
- when the third tower is ready, do the tower range upgrade
- decide if you want to build a Barracks before the towers or not
- send the two Citizens to the northern base at Mont-Saint-Jean and start the first tower there, and continue building even during the following battle
Battle of Quatre Bras
This battle starts 16 minutes after the start of phase 2.
- When the French Cuirassiers arrive, they want to break through to the west road to Brussels. Your Dragoons will destroy them fast and with ease – you will probably have to retreat one wounded Dragoon to the Hospital. When they are done, retreat the whole group so that the infantry don't spot them
- When the French infantry arrive, wait some seconds to make sure your towers (or the Barracks) have their attention and your cannons/Bombards are doing their work, then send your Cuirassiers in, bypassing the infantry and attacking the cannons. If you can, afterwards let them kill the French Marshall Ney, but that is the lowest priority, you can correct that soon
- When the French retreat order sounds, do an all-in-attack with all your units to pursue the fleeing French and kill them all – every unit that survives will attack you later during the second attack, and you don't need that
If you have casualties in this easy battle, you have done something wrong and should consider reloading. For killing Marshal Ney, you get 5 civ points, for the French retreat 10 civ points - use them wisely.
Battle of Mont-Saint-Jean
After the French retreat order, you have 5 minutes until the second battle starts, that is more than enough:
- Heal all your units at the Hospital. With the improved healing rate that happens fast. Send them to Mont-Saint-Jean
- Position your ranged units behind the 4 towers of Mont-Saint-Jean
- Position your Cuirassiers slightly south of the towers
- If you could not kill Marshal Ney in the previous battle, position your Dragoons slightly north of the Hospital at the forest, and Wellington in front of them. When the second attack starts, Ney uses his previous route through the valley of Quatre Bras to meet with his troops at Mont-Saint-Jean, usually with a Cuirassier as bodyguard. Wellington distracts Ney, who attacks him, so your Dragoons can easily kill the Cuirassier first and then Ney. After that, immediately send the Dragoons to Mont-Saint-Jean to meet the French Cuirassiers
- When the French attack starts, the Prussians arrive, coming from Wavre
- The French infantry will be the first to arrive at your towers. Let your towers and ranged units (and the Prussians) do their work
- When the French Cuirassiers arrive, send your Dragoons to meet them, but let them take a distance to the French infantry
- Send your Cuirassiers to crush the rest of the infantry, then let them advance to destroy the French cannons. Do not attack Napoleon, he hits hard and is only a costly distraction. The battle ends after the last cannon is destroyed. Retreat wounded Cuirassiers if you want to reach the goal of zero casualties.
Congratulations, you won the scenario and the English campaign.
See also[]
- Battle of Waterloo (Wikipedia)
