RBM Studio's Waterloo

I was involved in the BETA test for this game and run the YouTube channel LT Gaming where we highlighted the first game in the series. This is a wonderful evolution of the concept and we really have taken pride in supporting this project. Id like to see a lot more great games from Hexes of War in the future. Waterloo is extremely well done and makes you proud to be a Wargamer. Buy it, spread the word and enjoy it!

As someone currently embarking on an obsession with Waterloo, I feel this is worth it for the map alone. Currently listening to Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell and it's really hard to get a mental layout of where everything is and the movement of the armies. The build up to Waterloo seems to be as much about roads, crossroads and little villages as much as the day of the battle itself, and this game scratches an itch which can't be had with my other Waterloo games on Steam, I love the macro, zoomed-out level of the setting. Caveat: I am not experienced with hex wargames, I have Gary Grigsby's War in the East, and two Strategic Command games among others, and they are too much for me. For this I have only played a couple of the tutorials so far, but the mechanics seem really interesting and unlike anything else I've seen in other hexgames: detachments, HQs being more of a sphere of intent than an actual unit, units being only allowed to move towards their HQ when out of their zone of command, withdrawal, etc. Perhaps die-hard grognards will recognise these elements, but they are new and exciting for me. The programming/conversion is great, smooth zooming, a bit of inertia on the keyboard camera movement, the battle resolution screen, scripted tutorials, in game manual, etc. all really really smooth. I am really looking forward to getting deeply into this, and will report back when I know it well, but so far, highly recommended for a steal of a price. P.S. I would love it if they could add some more tracks to the music soundtrack. There's only a certain number of times you can listen to the 1812 Overture on repeat.

This game is fast to play, a ton of fun, and totally worth it for $5 ($4 if you already own the Gettysburg entry in the series). And it runs great on Steam Deck! I'd love to see more entries in this series like C3i's latest the Rome vs Carthage Baetis Campaign, or even Mark Herman's Rebel Fury (different publisher but largely the same core mechanics). Needless to say I'm always excited to see solid digital implementations of quality, modern wargames at reasonable prices.

"RBM Studio's Waterloo" ist die (englischsprachige) digitale Umsetzung des gleichnamigen Brettspieles. Der inzwischen leider verstorbene Rodger B. MacGowan zeichnete sich nicht nur künstlerisch verantwortlich für zahlreiche GMT-Cover, sondern gab auch das C3i-Magazin heraus, das Haus-und Hof-Magazin von GMT. In diesem C3i-Magazin erschien auch das Spiel "Waterloo" vom legendären Mark Herman, der zahlreiche Wargame Klassiker entwickelte. Aufgrund des großen Erfolges kam das Spiel dann auch in einer Deluxe-Box-Version heraus. Das Spiel ist ein rundenbasiertes Hexfeld-Wargame, in dem Chits die verschiedenen Truppenteile darstellen. Kommt es zu Kämpfen wird gewürfelt. Das Ergebnis wird dann noch durch bestimmte Werte modifiziert. Das Ergebnis des Kampfes läßt sich dann von einem Combat Result Table (CRT) ablesen. Dankenswerterweise übernimmt hier der Computer das Rechnen, so daß diese Digital-Umsetzung auch für Anfänger gut geeignet ist. Überhaupt ist das Spiel ein Einsteiger-Wargame. Es ist zwar komplexer als der Vorgänger "Gettysburg", bleibt aber durch nur wenige Runden Einheiten überschaubar. Alles ist sehr stark abstrahiert und vereinfacht. Auch die Spielzeit ist mit meist etwa 90 Minuten für eine Partie recht niedrig für ein Wargame. Die Schlacht bei Waterloo, im heutigen Belgien, fand am 18.Juni 1815 statt. Napoleon versuchte noch einmal nach seiner Rückkehr von Elba seine Macht wiederherzustellen. erlitt seine größte Niederlage. Der Sieg Wellingtons und Blüchers beendete Napoleons Herrschaft der hundert Tage und er wurde auf St.Helena verbannt, wo er nach knapp sechs Jahren starb. Die Schlacht forderte etwa 47.000 Tote und Verwundete. Trotz der starken Abstraktionen liefert das Spiel spannende und knifflige Konstellationen. Auch wenn wir auf einer kleinen Karte mit nur wenigen Countern agieren, werden zentrale Probleme der Schlacht simuliert. Sehr abstrakt, aber doch auf der Historie fußend. Das macht das Spiel zu einem wirklich guten historischen Anfänger Wargame. Auch technisch ist die Umsetzung gut und sauber. Schönheitspreise wird das Spiel wohl kaum gewinnen, aber das hat es mit den meisten Wargames gemein. [h1]Wertung:[/h1] 7/10 Atmosphäre -/10 Story 6/10 Grafik 5/10 Sound 8/10 Spielmechanik 8/10 Balancing 8/10 Spielspass [h1]Fazit:[/h1] Gute Umsetzung des historischen Brettspiels für Wargame-Einsteiger. [h1][b]7/10 Gesamtwertung

Wonderful board game like depiction of the battle of Waterloo. Its graphical style is nothing spectacular, but is appealing because it’s like playing the game on your kitchen table. So it works and has charm. I think the map looks awesome. The best thing is, instead of it taking up your whole table, it’s digitized, so are the dice rolls and mechanics. You can get through a game rather quickly. Game runs smooth and if there is a bug I haven't found it. Overall, for the price it’s a steal. Really enjoying playing it. Recommend to anyone who likes old tabletop war games, or to someone who would like to experiment with one thats well made. Diamond in the rough.

A Faithful but Lightweight Waterloo — Fun, but the AI Lets It Down. As a remake of a classic magazine wargame, RBM Studio’s Waterloo deserves some credit — it’s always good to see these old-school hex-and-counter games revived for PC. That said, remember what you’re getting: this was originally a magazine insert wargame, so expect light rules and a high-level conceptual overview of the battle rather than deep tactical play. This one operates at the corps level, which honestly feels like it’s stretching the design — only a dozen or so counters per side means it gives an abstract sense of the battle but not much to really dig into. The biggest issue, though, is the AI. It’s either genuinely poor or the RNG gods were simply smiling on me — after running through the tutorial, I managed easy victories as both sides. The Coalition wiped out the French in one go, and then the French crushed most of the Allied army in the next. It makes for a quick ego boost, but not much of a challenge. Still, it’s reasonably enjoyable in that nostalgic, dice-rolling, “move some counters around a map” way. I got this as part of a bundle with RBM’s Gettysburg (probably the best entry point and a bit tougher) and Rebel Fury (which looks more detailed). If you’re after a casual, old-school hex wargame that you can play for a few hours and tick off some achievements (you’ll get several just by doing the tutorials), it’s worth a go — especially on sale. But for veteran wargamers, the lack of AI challenge will be a real letdown unless you’ve got a friend for multiplayer. Overall: 6/10 — nice for a nostalgia hit, but there are better hex-and-counter wargames out there.

Oh hell yes. This game... I have a lot more play time than indicated here as I play the physical version a lot! This game... Mark Herman likes chess. It shows. There are more complex games that do battles in more detail. There are more complex games that do operational scale in more detail. No game does what this one does which is setting your mind to the mindset of what decision space the commanders of the time were working with. And it does it so elegantly and so... Fuss free. It is outstanding. One of the best game designs around imho. Deceptively simple and plays fast. Highly highly recommend. Works perfectly on the steam deck

Excellent old school war game with chits and lot of dice rolling. At this price, the game is a steal!

This is not only a great game design (I do have the board game) but also a very good implementation. I reported some issues, and the dev fixed them in an impresseive fast time. If you are an old school hex and counter wargamer I highly recommend this.

It's a nice, simple corp level simulation of the 100 Days campaign. I'm enjoying playing it.