We used Black Powder for a game played at a local store on Sunday. It was mostly to introduce a couple of gamers to the Black Powder rules and the Carlist War period.
For the game we had 14 Battalion of 16 man Carlist units. These were broken up into 4 Brigades, two of 4 battalions, one of 5 battalions and one of 1 battalion. There were three cavalry squadrons in one brigade.
The Isabellinos had 8 battalions of infantry in 3 brigades and two squadrons of cavalry in 1 brigade.
Neither side brought any guns to this fight.
We used the scenario Retreat from El Perez from the Black Powder rulebook, the Isabellinos had to get half their battalions off of the table to win. The table was 8x4 and the entire Carlist army except for one battalion started on the west edge. The Isabellinos had to retreat off of the east edge. There was a river in the way with two crossing points: a bridge and a ford. The ford required units to take an order to move into it and to cross in column. The bridge was wide enough for units to cross in attack column, which was good because the one battalion of Carlists that wasn't on west edge of the table were guarding that bridge.
The Isabellinos had just suffered a defeat, which is why they were retreating, and were not in good spirits. They had Ld 8 for the game. The Carlists had Ld 9. Also a few Isabellino units started the game with one casualty marker.
The Carlist took the first turn and made a rather modest advance.
The Isabellinos tried to move some units towards the bridge and kept a back line in place as a bulwark against the coming Carlist tide.
On the second turn the Carlist made more rapid progress and were able to engage the Isabellino rear guard with some fire.
The Isabellino second battalion still grudgingly refused to move despite being in column and seeing the enemy rushing upon their rear. The first battalion did engage in a contest for the bridge with the single Carlist battalion on that side of the table.
Fire was exchanged for a turn and then a battalion formed up and stormed across the bridge. A stalemate ensued as men struggled to make their way through the stubborn Carlists at the river's edge.
The cavalry made their way toward the ford.
That is when the Carlist attack hit, the Isabellino rear guard stood, then wavered, then fell in full retreat. The second battalion was caught in the rear, in column and were anhilated.
The first brigade was still trying to force the bridge and the Carlist cavalry caught up with it and wrecked one battalion and caused another to form square. That unit was immediately pelted with fire from the successful infantry units coming up.
Just at this moment the Carlist battalion on the opposite side of the bridge gave way allowing one battalion of Isabellinos to escape the destruction of the rest of the army.
It was a pretty fun game to run. The table could have stood to have been a bit bigger but we played on what was available.
Everyone seemed to have a good time.
now paints and bases the model.
