"Black Powder for the SYW" Topic

I'm thinking of using the BP rules (which I use for Colonial gaming) for the SYW.

Does anyone already do so & how do they handle battalion guns?
You can't use them as field artillery or the game would be horribly skewed – too much, too powerful.

Do I field them at all?

BTW any other SYW tips & House Rules will be welcome.

We tend not to use battalion guns but if you do I would add one die to the fire phase (i.e. instead of 3 die, roll 4)

Two house rules we use; i) all fire must occur before movement and ii) once artillery unlimbers, that's where it stays – there was exactly one horse artillery battery in the SYW (Prussian) and for the rest, when those drovers unlimbered the guns, off they usually went

We have also been trying out a "bathtub" version with half the number of stands per unit – mostly because we have a lot of units but don't have a Perry bros sized 15 X 18 table!

"Two house rules we use; i) all fire must occur before movement and ii) once artillery unlimbers, that's where it stays – there was exactly one horse artillery battery in the SYW (Prussian) and for the rest, when those drovers unlimbered the guns, off they usually went"

First mod. – I've seen this on blog reports. Also, some have the alternate house rule that if you get 3 Actions, you can't fire. Obviously, I'll need to use one or the other.

Second mod.- this is worth considering.

Thanks.

Hey Donald! I have used Black Powder a number of times for the SYW. One strong suit of Black Powder is that it is tool box game system and you are free to add or subtract things that you like and discard things you do not like. As Frederick said above I do not use battalion guns just muddies the water. I also use his rule that once guns are deployed they cannot limber back up. Once deployed that is where they stay. I believe in The Argument of Kings supplement if you move more than once you cannot fire. I could be wrong on that one. Also it is probably worth remebering the section of very useful rules as many troops will need specialty rules. Black Powder are easy to teach others fast but for me always seemed to lack just something. Which I can never put my finger on!
Good Luck!

Hi, Paul. I don't have that BP supplement.Yet.
James Roach left this blog post that I found very interesting, on Zorndorf:
link
It details "Useful Rules" he uses to give the game an SYW flavour. My first BP game is in about a month, so I have time to go though the Useful Rules & think about what to use.

As I have various battalion gun models & figures, I want to use them – childish, I know.
So, how about re-rolling a missed shot if a battalion has a battalion gun? Not too powerful?

So, how about re-rolling a missed shot if a battalion has a battalion gun? Not too powerful?
Sounds good let me know how it works.
As I strain my underused brain I actually do not think we limited the movement and fire rules. We used the regular stuff in the original rules so 3 moves and fire no problem. I can't recall any "Howls of Anguish" when that happened.
The only rule we as a group we have questions about is the Proximity rule. If you are 12" away from an enemy unit but a friendly unit is in front of you are you bound by the rule? Movement to the front and rear quadrants has vast degrees of flexibility in it was that the intent of the Proximity rule? Only forward and backward movement. Can get very "Gamey"

I think there is a blog 'Road to Blenheim" which has house rules for WAS/SYW

Is quite good if I recall correctly

We used BP with the "Argumnet of KIngs" supplememnt, worked very well

Need to consider cavalry v infantry. BP tends to work on assumption infantry will form square. So need to play around with combat and morale factors to allow infantry to blast away.

(Edit). Having read the link the steel wall rules seem to cover that concern. And regarding the supplement, my friend has it and we found it underwhelming)

Page 18 of Last Argument of Kings has all the specifics for Cavalry vs Infantry that encourages keeping infantry in line vs cavalry.

Last Argument of Kings accurately allows only Prussians to deploy from Column to Line to their front (the Prussians invented the drills for this during the war). Other nations need to turn 90 degrees in column, form a Line facing their flank and then wheel that line across their front to form a line facing their front. That accurately takes time, so needs to be conducted some distance from the enemy.

Rod

To explain this better, here is the section from Last Argument of Kings:

All the formations for regular troops listed on page 14 of the
Black Powder rulebook are allowed during this period except the
attack column. This was the era when linear tactics ruled
supreme and armies did not attack in column in the way they
did during the later Napoleonic period. In addition, march
columns may only change formation into line by turning to
their left or right. in other words, turn the bases or miniatures
in the column to the left or right (depending on which
direction they want to form a line in), thereby forming a line.
Players need to be aware that they will have to present the
flank of a column to the enemy before making a right or left
turn into line. for this reason, a unit should perform this
manoeuvre well away from danger, because if it is charged in a
flank whilst in column it will be in very deep trouble!

Only Prussian armies of the Seven Years' War may form lines
on the leader or front base at the head of a column (see page
18 of the Black Powder rulebook). in this case, the colours at the
head of the column remain in place and the other bases form a
line alongside the colours. the ability to form line whilst
advancing towards the enemy was a huge advantage that often
caught Frederick's enemies by surprise.

I buck the trend and deploy my battalion guns as separate two gun units that move with their parent units but fire separately albeit with restricted stats. Battalion guns faded away because of the advent of horse artillery but also because they were a nuisance to their own side, so you need replicate this. Providing extra dice or merging them in batteries of 6 guns tends to detract from the disadvantages of their actual performance. I describe my house rules in my book Throwing Thunderbolts. You can find them on this page of corrections and extra information on my website; link

Thanks for the update reference. I had no idea it was there.