"Black powder Rules an Introduction" Topic

The black powder rules set isn't the most 'realistic' Napoleonic rules set out there but in my opinion, it is one of the most accessible and playable. If you are new to Napoleonic Wargaming,this review might help:

link

i like them. as far as realism. Played those rules. takes an hour to get a turn done. It is a good compromise to realism and historical fact. Played South cavalry battle. It almost matches with historical fact. Need to use the special officer attributes. The only tweak I did was Made General McIntosh aggressive also.Gen. Custer wasn't the only aggressive general there. He just had a better PR Man. (his wife)!

Interesting piece. I have only played a couple of Napoleonic games with Black Powder, but enjoyed both. I think as long as you are prepared to do a bit of work using some of the " Special Rules", you can create a game with a genuine Napoleonic flavour. We use armies originally based for FoGN, but they work fine with BP.
We also play ECW with Pike and Shotte, again pretty generic but rules have flexibility and can be given the right period flavour. I particularly like the uncertainty attached to the command and control mechanism. We usually make it more interesting by rolling a D10 for commander level, with 4s and below re- rolled; inevitably someone ends up with a " blithering idiot" as their commander, so there is much hilarity as their command sits and has a brew, whilst the rest of the armies get stuck in. The triple move possibility means you really have to be thinking ahead as to the possibility of a cavalry regiment suddenly materialising and runing over your infantry line.

From Pike&Shotte, you definitely want to delve into some of the special rules or even create your own, to get "flavour" but I liked the rules a lot.

I've only read BP but it seems like it plays very similar to P&S

same company pike and shot / black powder. both by warlord games.

The key is using the available "toolbox" of rules and special rules for the armies. I've played quite a bit of Napoleonics with them and been happy with the feel of the period with appropriate adjustments.

At the same time, and to the point of the "toolbox" concept. A friend of mine used them for colonials in the Sudan, again with appropriate adjustments. At first I thought It would play like Napoleonics, but it didn't. There was a totally different feel.

It just requires some time, effort, and understanding of the historical period/armies you're portraying to get it right.

Of course, you can play them pretty "plain vanilla" and they're still a pretty good set of Napoleonic rules.

The club play BP .To get the best out of them you need IMO the supplement for your chosen era .The Naps supplement for Naps armies like the Ausrians and Russians is still in the pipeline.

I've collected some Black Powder Rules Amendments which may be of some help. Downloads are at the bottom of the page.

Take care

Andy

Agreed, with some period knowledge and the proper use of the supplements to tweak unit stats and create scenarios these "tool kit" rules can give a good Nap game.
We have used them for smallish division vs division size pick up games up to the full battle of Talavera.