We’ve been working long and hard on a very special project and aided and abeted by the lads at Sarissa Precision and we are absolutely delighted to be able to unveil it to you in all its glory on this, the 199th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo!
Containing the farmhouse of La Haye Sainte and the troops that fought for control of this pivotal location in the midst of that great battle, our La Haye Sainte battle-set is a must-have for your terrain collection and for your Napoleonic forces!
On the evening of 17th June 1815, the German garrison of the large farmhouse La Haye Sainte (the sacred hedge) settled down to dry out. They were posted there by the Duke of Wellington who saw the solid building as an anchor to his left flank and vital communication line to his Prussian allies. As the rain poured down, cold and wet soldiers did what all soldiers do – they smashed down the large gates of the barn to build a fire, little thinking that in six hours they would desperately need those gates…
The epic struggle at La Haye Sainte is now the stuff of legend, with its small, but regularly reinforced garrison of green-clad rifleman of the King’s German Legion and their allies clinging on grimly against massed French infantry assaults.
Finally, with the riflemens’ ammunition spent, Marshall Ney ordered one more frenzied assault and this time, with Engineers led by Lieutenant Vieux swinging axes and crowbars, the French drove through the main gate. Bayonets and swords were freely used, in savage hand-to-hand fighting. By early evening the farm was in French hands and the loss of the farm keenly felt by the Allied forces. The overwhelming arrival of Blücher’s Prussian forces won the day for Wellington’s hard-pressed men who then reoccupied the battered remains, but the struggle for this key building will be remembered for eternity.
You can now recreate this epic struggle with this superb battle-set. Will your brave German defenders be able to stave off the massed enemy assaults? Will your proud French troops be able to drive the Allies from this vital strongpoint and threaten Wellington’s flank? Only time will tell…
The La Haye Sainte battle-set contains:
- Laser-cut wooden farmhouse, out-buildings, walls and pond including construction guides and acetate windows
- Laser-cut wooden tables and chairs – use as firing steps by the beleaguered German defenders!
- Two laser-cut wooden carts and plough (act as a barricade on the road outside the farmhouse)
- Six metal branches to form an abatis on the barricade
- Major von Baring, King’s German Legion 2nd Light Battalion (exclusive to this boxed set)
- 15 metal King’s German Legion 2nd Light Battalion with rifles and muskets
- 5 King’s German Legion light infantry
- 36 French Light Infantry (30 plastic and 6 metal) including full-colour flag sheet and waterslide decals
- Lieutenant Vieux (exclusive to this boxed set) and five metal French Engineers that can be armed with your choice of muskets or engineering tools!
- 12-page scenario booklet written by Albion triumphant author, Adrian McWalter
Like our previous battle-sets (Rorke’s Drift! and Pegasus Bridge) La Haye Sainte comes in two forms – a glorious boxed set full of Napoleonic loveliness, and a collector’s edition containing stacks more goodies and expands on the contents of the main box. Here’s what you get in the collector’s edition, Farmhouse Assault:
In addition to everything mentioned in the La Haye Sainte battle-set above, the Farmhouse Assault Collector’s Edition also includes the following:
- 1 resin sandpit (where the 95th Rifles were deployed)
- Resin pile of dead Frenchmen (used by the King’s German Legion to block the gateway after they burnt the gates for warmth the night before!)
- 6 French Voltigeurs skirmishing
- Marshall Ney (Bravest of the Brave)
- 4 French casualties
- Mounted French Officer
- 36 plastic French Line Infantry (6 metal command and 30 plastic infantry)
- 6 Luneberg Light Infantry
- 6 British 95th Rifles
- 1 British Rocketeer and a horse.
- 1 Nassau officer using cooking pot to extinguish the barn fire
- 6 Nassau infantry
- 36 plastic Hanoverian Infantry (6 metal command, 30 plastic infantry)
- Farmer’s wife tending young calf ( she refused to leave the poor newborn and stayed with it during the battle…)
- Abatis branches
The set can be used as more than just La Haye Sainte though! We’ve designed this set to be modular – meaning you can pull the buildings apart from one another and create a different configuration of buildings or even make them into a hamlet. The style of architecture is fairly timeless and these buildings would be great for any period of warfare from Marlburian right through the the Second World War! I’m sure many of you have already identified them as ideal for games of Bolt Action set in France!
These amazing sets are available in our webstore, or you can take advantage of our new Pay by Installment offer.
Meanwhile, you can read the full story of the Battle of Waterloo in our 5-part article, starting here.
Tom Mecredy
Dan Hewitson
