The Battle of Waterloo is, arguably, the most famous battle in modern times.
The defense of the Chateau Hougomont was a key factor in the victory of the Allied forces in the overall Battle. Wellington, in overall command of the Anglo/Belgian/Dutch side, established a fighting line on a ridge just outside of a sleepy village called Waterloo. As was oftimes the case with armies under his command, he positioned his troops on the reverse slope from the direction of the French advance, to protect them from artillery fire. The three notable exceptions were (from left to right) a small walled Chateau named Hougomont, a small village named La Haye Sainte, and a smaller village named Pappelotte. These were occupied and frotified with the intention of breaking up a general advance by the French. This tactic certainly contributed to victory for Wellington. Napoleon was not in form the day of battle, and concentrated on the center at La Haye Sainte, to the detriment of maneover. Napoleon planned to draw Wellington's reserve to Wellington's right flank in defence of Hougoumont and then attack through the centre left of the British and allies' front near La Haye Sainte.
Wellington recorded in his despatches "at about ten o'clock [Napoleon] commenced a furious attack upon our post at Hougoumont" The historian Andrew Roberts notes that, "It is a curious fact about the battle of Waterloo that no one is absolutely certain when it actually began." The house and its immediate environs were defended by four light companies of Coldstream Guards and the wood and park by Hanoverian Jäger and the 1/2nd Nassau. Elements of the 95th Rifles were also nearby in the famous "sand pit", skirmishing with the advancing Frenchmen.
Before the battle started, Hougoumont and its gardens, located on the allies' right flank, were hastily garrisoned and fortified by the light company of the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards under the command of Lt-Colonel Henry Wyndham, in the farm and chateaux, and the light company of the 2nd Battalion, Third Guards, under Lt-Colonel Charles Dashwood, in the garden and grounds. (Both part of General John Byng's 2nd Brigade of Guards.) The two light companies of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, First Guards were initially positioned in the orchard, under the command of Lt-Colonel Lord Saltoun. Lieutenant-Colonel James Macdonnell, Coldstream Guards, had overall command of Hougoumont. It was Macdonnell's men, in the main, that would bear the brunt of the furious French attacks during the course of the day.
A VERY SMALL portion of the attack is recreated below by reenactors:
I received a very excited summons from Colonel Exrex Somme last night, to show me the new build in Antiquity Waterloo.

The build appears to be the work of Alonzo Rosca and delacanardiere Pera and is very "early days" yet-- nowhere near complete. Yet one can already see the lines of the famous Chateau taking shape in world.

The texture and scaling seem fairly accurate to me; certainly the layout is close to 1:1



One can hope that the designer's goals of a full scale inworld RP of the Battle of Hougomont come to fruition.

If wand when it does.. some of us will have already have the means of dressing appropriately. (grin)

I was quite thrilled to see this build taking shape. I can easily envision the grounds to be perfect for inworld skirmish and military roleplaying.






























