Hasay Captures Waterloo Title!

The 2025 World Boardgaming Championships (WBC) convened again at western Pennsylvania’s Seven Springs Resort. The 5th level Winterberry room, as usual, served as the main competitive arena with a wide array of game kiosks showing the gaming tables for each game. This room continues to be the unofficial room for Bruno Sinigaglio’s Grognardcon where several of the “classic” wargames (Africa Korps, Bitter Woods, Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader, The Russian Campaign, and Waterloo) are conducted. Also, this room is home to Mark Miklos’s Battles of the American Revolution (BOAR) series so ably assisted by assistant GM’s Dave Stiffler and Don Hanle. In addition, one corner of the Winterberry room is occupied by the World at War monster game (World War II) and this year they were adjacent to a multi-board monster game of Memoirs “44” depicting the D-Day landings with hundreds of tanks, infantry and arty pieces! Another corner is dedicated to a group of monster game adherents who always have huge new games of various battles/campaigns that are different each year! I don’t know how they do it!

The third corner of the Winterberry room is dedicated to recording and posting the standings so ably administered by Bill Morse. Every Game Master (GM) on this level is indebted to Bill as his prowess and expertise on his computer keeps the Grognardcon on schedule and accurate. Bill’s job this year required him to be present for only the weekends, which forced Bruno to fill in. This required Bruno to miss a lot of sleep and disrupted the normal flow of daily game standings, demonstrating how critical Bill’s performance is. Thankfully, Bill was back to his post on the second Saturday in the morning. The Grognardcon‘s GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), Bruno Sinigaglio presided over events for another spectacular year. He is an icon in our community and if you want to know anything about classic (or any other) wargames, just come up and ask him. He is living oral history!

Last year’s After-Action Report (AAR) referred to the fourth corner of the Winterberry as the “Edge of Darkness” since the lighting was inadequate for any gaming. However, this year the poor lighting of Winterberry was certainly rectified by the dedicated efforts of the Seven Springs and BPA management teams. The entire room sparkled even during the darkest of thunderstorms and at night. Accolades to the BPA Convention Director and the BPA staff who enabled lighting improvements to be purchased and obtained Seven Springs staff approval and help with their mounting. Well Done Ken et.al.! There is a high level of confidence that this issue will no longer be mentioned in future AARs.

Waterloo’s continuation at WBC has been jeopardized by the campaign games (4 days, 28 turns) long play time that could consume the better part of a morning or afternoon. Almost all WBC attendees play more than one game, so the introduction of shorter scenarios was the logical measure to address this concern. The resulting three scenarios, added over the last three years, are presented below with a short description of each:

• Scenario #1: The Battle of Ligny, deals with 16 June 1815 (7 turns) when Napoleon tried to defeat the Prussian Army before it could be joined by Wellington’s Anglo-Allied Army farther west. Napoleon succeeded and assumed that the Prussians would retreat eastward toward their supply lines. However, Blucher’s chief of staff, General Gneisenau, who was in command since Blucher was unavailable having been unhorsed during a cavalry charge earlier that evening, made a fateful decision regarding the Prussian retreat. He ordered the Prussian Army to retreat toward Wavre to maintain contact with Wellington’s army. Special rules for this scenario address this retreat path and the use of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard, historically his only reserve. Victory points for losses and possession of Ligny and Tilly determine the winner. The Prussian “At Start” forces are used along with the entire French Army minus I & II Corps which are not used.
• Scenario #2: The Battle of Waterloo, covers 18 & 19 June (14 turns) and starts with the arrival of the Prussian IV Corps on the east edge of the board. The bulk of the French Army is arrayed in the middle part of the board facing an array of Prussian Anglo-Allied (PAA) units south of Mont St. Jean. The normal victory conditions of the Waterloo campaign game are in effect.
• Scenario #3: The Battle of Waterloo Conclusion, covers only 19 June 1815 (7 turns) and features much reduced armies closer to Mont St. Jean. Again, the normal victory conditions of the Waterloo campaign game are in effect.

Waterloo continued its resurgence for the 2025 convention matching last year’s noteworthy 22 participants. The use of scenarios has been a resounding success and moved us back from the precipice of disaster/cancellation from the convention.

These scenarios use the existing rules, board, and components of the game as modified by the current Tournament Rule Changes and Clarifications. The 22 games played prior to the Semifinal consisted of the following breakdown: Scenario #1 (Ligny) 10 games, Scenario #2 (Battle of Waterloo – 2 days) 2 games, Scenario #3 (Battle of Waterloo – 1 day) 9 games, and 1 campaign game.

Usually, this GM is frantically hunting for players on Thursday evening prior to the start of the Semifinal on Friday. As happened last year, we climbed the “participatory” mountain by Tuesday greatly reducing stress levels for all. The next obstacle to overcome: Was there enough interest from the top finishers to enable the Semifinal games to proceed? Last year this problem forced this GM (who normally drops out of the competition) to play in the Final. No “problemo” this year as we had five eager Napoleon/Wellington/Blucher wannabes ready to lock horns. The four Semifinalists in ranked order due to their weeklong play were Ed Menzel, Bruce Cota, Mark Gutfreund, and Johnny Hasay. Special mention to Tim Miller who stood by in case one of these fine players could not continue.

The Semifinal matchups featured #2 seed Mark Gutfreund vs #3 seed Bruce Cota and #1 seed Ed Menzel vs #4 seed Johnny Hasay. The Battle of Waterloo (2 day) scenario was the default scenario. These Semifinalists represented a wide range of experience leading with last year’s champion, Ed, two knowledgeable Waterloo players (Mark & Johnny), and an exceptional rookie, Bruce. Accolades were also appropriate to Bruce for his tireless efforts to engage new players during the convention significantly reducing the stress to this GM (Well Done!). His multiple victories during the convention paved his way to the Semifinal. The uncertainties of Scenario #2 and some critical and lucky die rolls catapulted Johnny over a shocked Ed for the first finalist, while the overall fatigue of the week worked against Mark for a hard-fought loss to Bruce. The final was set with Johnny “The Hammer” Hasay versus Bruce “The Barbarian” Cota for the championship.

This championship game could be characterized by a single word – Unusual! While both players knew the mechanics of play (mostly), their strategy and tactics were nothing like this GM had ever seen before. To begin with, Johnny obtained the PAA side with an incredibly LOW bid of a single factor and deployed the bulk of the Prussian Army well forward. Bruce, instead of advancing northward, moved the entire French Army westward (!) seemingly to avoid combat while I and II Corps moved north and west toward the Nivelle corridor. The French Army massed in front of the Quatre Bras heights and began to force their way through the woods between Quatre Bras and Nivelles with four full stacks almost totally ignoring the primary road corridor east of Quatre Bras.

Inexplicably, Johnny’s Prussians still maintained several divisions and brigades near Tilly and Ligny (must have been good liberty!) out of the fighting but the bulk of the Prussian Army massed north of the woods waiting to spring the trap. He also decided to form the arriving British forces north (!) of Nivelles instead of the more restricted avenues of approach south of the town. Late on the 16th, the battle was joined in the center with heavy French losses being unable to retreat due to the woods, but several attacks also caused Prussian losses due to exchanges. Bruce’s right flank was able to push over the Quatre Bras heights and simultaneously advance through the Corridor of Death east of the town.

During the morning of the 17th, a series of battles swirled in the center between the French and Prussians while the British successfully screened the French I & II Corps near Nivelle. At this time losses were equal at 65 factors each. Of note, the French line of battle extended across the center of the board and overlapped both flanks of the PAA battle line. However, Bruce’s French never tried to envelope either one or both flanks possibly due to his inexperience. Also, Johnny’s liberty loving Prussians in the east either finally heard the “sound of the guns” or received orders to get in the fight and made their way westward. At 1PM, Johnny’s Prussians launched a major 5-1 attack against a French 5-4 infantry division with a 1-2 soak-off attack using a 6-4. The die gods frowned on him with a D back 2 against the 5-4 and an attacker eliminated losing the 6-4. The loss differential at this time was 79 PAA factors destroyed vice 71 French factor lost. The French superiority forced Johnny’s PAA armies back toward Mont St. Jean. By 7PM, 17 June the French had penetrated deeply on their left flank toward the road to Hal and the town of Braine la Leude and succeeded in splitting the British Army in half with the Hal reinforcements isolated from the rest of the PAA battleline. However, their offensive impetus was slowed when they suffered an exchange against a doubled position at the Braine la Leude River.

The game reached a crescendo and very much up for grabs by either player on the morning of 18 June as the Prussian IV Corps entered on the primary road on the eastern edge and the final British reinforcements defending the western defection hex on the north board edge! Bruce’s French had managed to infiltrate a stack of 14 factors within striking distance of the western defection hex with a 1-1 attack. In support, he launched a risky 2-1 attack against a doubled 6-4 in the Braine la Leude River bend which, if successful, would have almost isolated the primary road from PAA interference and allowed additional French forces to exit. The 1-1 attack was brilliantly successful with a DE result(!) but the 2-1 was a crushing defeat with the dreaded attacker eliminated (AE) result rolled. However, the game was still in doubt as Johnny’s British could only muster a 1-2 against the stack of 14 factors ready to defect off the board. Johnny’s luck was better as he rolled an exchange that reduced the stack to only 4 factors (8 PAA factors removed). As Bruce looked at the board even with the 8 factors removed, the large PAA factor superiority, and the French inability to exit any additional French forces, he offered his sword to Johnny. Johnny the Hammer had prevailed as the 2025 Waterloo champion!

Congratulations to Johnny on his victory and to Bruce for his determined and unorthodox play! Please return next year and bring your friends with you! Lastly, this GM offers his apologies for his bristling comments and sour demeanor on the 2nd Saturday as sleep deprivation had gotten the better of me.

The Waterloo community continues to thrive during the year thanks to the unending efforts of Greg Smith (greg.docsmith@gmail.com), who runs the Waterloo Ladder, and Ed Menzel (edmenzel@roadrunner.com), who runs the yearly BPA sanctioned PBEM tournament. If not for their efforts, I’m certain that WATERLOO would not have achieved its Legacy status! The Waterloo community supports the teaching of this wonderful game through the year to newcomers of any age and to those “retread” Grognards who played the game as youngsters!