"Somewhere in Belgium - 1st Try at Black Powder in 10mm" Topic

All,

So I finally got around to playing a game of Black Powder. I finished up the forces about a month ago then needed to tinker with the rules a bit (partly because it's who I am and partly to make it a bit more interesting from a solo standpoint) before getting a game in. Surprisingly the rules are pretty much intact, at least so far as I recall. The major changes were the turn sequence and I added a 'skill test' for closing actions.

Regarding the turn sequence, for me it's always more fun in solo games if it's not an IGOUGO sequence, so I put each side on cards, one for each brigade and CinC. It's 'Bolt Action' style, meaning a card comes out for one side or the other, and the commander chooses which of his units to activate. Changing to this meant there could be no more 'Side A moves, shoots, then melees, then Side B does same.' So 'shoot' became an order, as did reload, and when you charge into melee it's carried out right away.

But, just like there's 'closing actions' in the regular Black Powder rules, I have them too. My only change to them was to add a skill test, so that a closing action wouldn't be automatic, you had to pass a test in order to be able to form square or carry out closing fire, etc… I'm sure I screwed up the rules in places, but other than the stuff I mentioned I believe I'm playing the rules as written. I will say I screwed up the 'disordered' deal constantly; very infrequently did I check to see if one of the hits was a '6'…

So, the game was a lot of fun, but really dragged on. I'd say I had a fantastic time for the first four hours, was pretty happy for the following 30 minutes, then I was simply exhausted for the last 50 minutes. Part of the problem was I couldn't figure a spot to logically end the game; there were multiple times during the fight where I could (should) have declared one side or the other the winner, and if just one more thing would have gone right for that side I would have.

But every time one side had the advantage, they either screwed a command roll and lost the opportunity, or carried out an action that ended up being indecisive and letting the enemy back in the game. Ultimately it was a slaughterhouse and a draw, and when I threw in the towel I figured it made sense by that time that the sun had gone down and the two sides fell back to lick their wounds.

So here lies the results of 6 turns over 5 hours and 20 minutes. I started the game with Brits/Prussians owning one table edge and the French owning the other; neither side had any forces on the table, but brought them on when a card was drawn and they passed a command roll.

Overview of table looking from west to east, from the French baseline towards the British/Prussian baseline. When I initially set the table up I had a had a river running across the table, north and south (left to right), but decided to simplify things as this was my first go.

Brits getting into place for their stereotypical reverse-slope defense? Dont' count on it!

The whole table at the end of Turn 1, looking north to south. Prussians at top left, opposite French 3rd Brigade, and both sides taking up hill positions in the center.

For the rest of the write up and 60 more pictures(!), please visit my blog at:
link

I will get back to Black Powder, but right now I've got some WWII stuff calling my name! Take care, and thanks for looking.

V/R,
Jack

Good info for me, thanks for putting that up.

Yes very interesting Jack( I'm thinking of converting to 10mm and you are mking it a convincing move) Cheers

Well done Jack, a very handsome game you played there. Your solo rules are very interesting, and I may have to give them a try.

You displayed great sticktoitivness to trudge through over five hours!

Thanks for the post. It sounds like you played too large of a game.

Looking good Jack…love those minis and very interesting rules…you're just relentless right now, you're gaming the history of warfare (and doing a damn fine job I may add…)

Nice!

Thanks fellas, I appreciate it.

"You displayed great sticktoitivness…"
No one ever said I'm smart, but I'll be damned if I'm not stubborn!

"It sounds like you played too large of a game."
Do you think so? Straight out of the book is four brigades of infantry (brigadier, four inf bns, and an arty btty) and two brigades of cavalry (brigadier and four cav regiments). I used four infantry brigades and two cav, though my cav only had three regiments instead of four.

From the size of the table I thought it could have handled a lot more minis (at least in my mind Napoleonic battlefields were pretty dense), though this was have been a lot slower.

I'm on a roll! But today was another long game, I need some snappier stuff! I'm having fun, but it does get a bit exhausting.

V/R,
Jack

"Part of the problem was I couldn't figure a spot to logically end the game; there were multiple times during the fight where I could (should) have declared one side or the other the winner, and if just one more thing would have gone right for that side I would have."

The sign of a good wargame and set of rules \I think.