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Ever since I read Bernard Cornwell’s Waterloo, the crowning achievement of his Sharpe’s Rifles series, I have been absolutely fascinated with this battle. There is so much intrigue, so many mistakes, so many genius moves. The Napoleonic Era was truly epic (no pun intended) in its military magnificence. It’s almost hard NOT to over-romanticize the Battle of Waterloo.

And what Warlord Games has done in releasing the Warlord Games Black Powder Epic Battles: Waterloo is to completely rekindle my fandom for this era and pry me away from the realm of Warhammer 40k where I have been living for months and back into historical wargaming.

But there’s a flaw in the Warlord Games Waterloo plan: I have already succumbed once to the enticings of Warlord Games Epic Battles, when I bought two brigades of American Civil War–one Union and one Confederate. They sit on my desk exactly where they have sat for the past six months, and all that I have managed to paint is exactly two bases of Union troops. The last time I touched these ACW models was when I was in my rollover accident, and I haven’t been able to bring myself to get back into it.

But is this going to deter me from fixing my sights on Warlord Games Waterloo?

The thing is, they make it SO HARD not to be excited by this game.

Now, to be fair, let’s get all of the negative things about Warlord Games Waterloo out of the way right up front:

• It’s “Epic Scale” which is a problem because it’s a scale that Warlord Games kinda just made up. It’s about 13mm, which is not a standard historical wargaming scale–it’s not 15mm, it’s not 10mm. So, if you want to combine the Warlord Games Waterloo Napoleonics with your existing Napoleonics, then there’s definitely going to be a difference in appearance on the tabletop.
• It’s big. Like, immensely big, and I don’t have the attention span to paint nearly this many troops. I WANT to. I really really want to. But I just know that if I couldn’t manage to complete these two measly brigades of Warlord Games Epic ACW troops, then this mass of Waterloo Napoleonics is going to be a heartbreaker.
• To get everything–and come on, I want everything–it’s $813 dollars. Granted, that’s the whole battle. The French, the British, La Haye Saint, Hougoumont, roads, rivers, orchards–everything. BUT CAN YOU IMAGINE HAVING THAT BATTLE?

Because that’s the thing: Warlord Games Waterloo is a game that is designed for a wargaming club, or a long project of blood, sweat and tears that a lone wargamer goes through over the course of months and years. Building the entire Battle of Waterloo in all its glory is a massive undertaking.

But, man, I want to try it so much.

Take a look at all the awesome offerings below: