Did Napoleon lose or Wellington and Blucher win it? Napoleon certainly did not fight a very smart battle - he came on in the old fashion and was driven off in the old fashion, as Wellington said. But the odds were against him on the day. Try most wargames of the battle and it should be apparent. He did not outnumber Wellington by much and Wellington was in a fairly strong defensive position. I'm not sure about InsaneApache's claim about Napoleon's army outnumbering the enemy even when it routed - if you add Blucher's troops to Wellington's, I think there was a clear advantage to the allies.

Plus Wellington fought a pretty good defensive battle. The breaking of D'Erlon's assault and the defeat of the Guard were almost as nicely done as the French cavalry assaults were badly done. The fact is that Wellington had a pretty impressive record of defeating the French. Wellington had developed a tactical system and an army that could regularly defeat the Napoleonic style of attack. At Waterloo, the French showed none of the innovation or inspiration they would have needed to overturn that record.

Blucher, of course, did his part admirably. Whipping on his army to launch an attack on Napoleon was brave, loyal and very aggressive. I am pretty sure the Iron Duke - and perhaps even Napoleon himself - would not have done as well in his position. The ordinary Allied and Prussian soldiers also fought doggedly, while the French army rather unaccountably dissolved in adversity.