Napoleonic solo action - using Black Powder (and Clash of Eagles)

Got in some action on table with solo Napoleonic game.

I started of using General D'Armee rules but found those difficult to use in solo mode so after some deliberation I decided to use Black Powder (a 'Marmite' set like Piquet) with add-ons from the excellent Clash Of Eagles supplement.

BP works pretty well for solo play as each side completes its turn in its entirety before other acts with only minimal interaction such as Closing Fire (if charged) and fighting in Melee.

Not a big fan of the 'buckets of dice' melee system but to be fair it does make things exciting to a degree.

I used 2/3rds of written ranges so Infantry shoot out to 12" and Field Artillery to 24", I think I would reduce the maximum Musketry range to maybe 6" as 12" just looks too long on table with 15mm troops.

Most certainly a fast playing game with BP (at its core it is a very simple game) and the Clash Of Eagles supplemental rules go a long way to generating decent period flavour, if one can remember them all in heat of battle !

I would personally place it well behind Piquet/FOB, Shako and GDA/GDB in pecking order but it does appeal for large multi-player games as very free and easy gameplay 

Couple of pics from session with Gen D'Armee, note Hesitant Marker on Brigade at stream and Brigade Skirmish Screens deployed (a system I stole for FOB).

And from the Black Powder sessions:

French push forward on left

Action in centre (note French Lt Inf in Mixed Column formation (ie with skirmish screen)

French Brigade crosses stream under fire from Prussian artillery

French pushing forward across the field

Prussians hold ridge line as French push in centre

Prussian Dragoon reserve committing itself to right flank as a unit of Uhlans were overrun

Victorious French Chasseurs force Prussian foot into square as they advanced after melee

Prussian line under pressure

French have taken the village

Prussian holding on left

A Blunder sees French Brigade Retire one move after crossing stream !

But they then get a double move and push forward

Exchange of musketry and casualties mount on both sides

Prussian Reserve Battalions arrayed as French Columns advance

Prussian Dragoons tackle more Chasseurs (after destroying a unit) but melee is indecisive (both units Shaken)

French Column shaken by artillery but survives Break Test 

Another French column Shaken and forced to Retire behind village (In BP units Retire 1-3 moves or are Broken and removed instead of Routing on table)

More Shaken French in centre

A unit of Prussian Hussars broke themselves against a 'Hasty' square on left but the square now charged by fresh Prussian foot.

Overview

Malburian game with Black Powder

Game at Billys tonight with Bryn and Shane using his excellent 15mm Malburian troops and Black Powder rules (they use original version).
Big game with 8 Allied Brigades against 6 Franco-Bavarian Brigades.
Franco-Bavarians (Bryn and Shane) where set up in nice defensive posture behind a shallow with a few walled areas as well and some 'Forlorn Hope' units of dismounted Dragoons occupying 3 Town areas across the river.
Billy took the British contingent with a Danish Brigade whilst I commanded a Dutch and a German Infantry Brigade with 2 Brigades of Dutch Cavalry.
Being Black Powder it was a fun fast and furious game with Allies coming a cropper on the river banks and being overwhelmed on our left by 2 large French Cavalry Brigades.


For the period I personally would have a couple of house rules especially regarding shooting ranges and arcs of fire, and I still dislike the standard Black Powder charging through units system.
Billy had given Platoon Firers +1 dice shooting which is quite powerful (at least potentially !) I would have made a bigger difference between 'Shock' doctrine Cavalry and 'Firepower' doctrine but not sure how best to do so ?

One nice house rule chaps use I would use for all games is that Cavalry that charges takes a minimum of 1 hit (to reflect Blown Horses) which works quite well meaning mounted essentially only have 1 fresh charge per game.
The game certainly flowed well with minimal issues arising despite ALL of us forgetting the -1 to Command Rolls when close to enemy !!!

One odd occurrence I have not seen before was a unit charging but being forced to do a Break Test from Closing Fire and being destroyed but this has no effect on nearby friends, whereas if it had closed to combat and been destroyed all nearby friends would suffer a Break Test.
Seemed tad odd but maybe with the brutality and all or nothing nature of Break Tests its just a game balancing issue ?
Easy to house rule of course and bend things to your own ideas for any period (pretty much as I do for FOB).





Dutch horse on right wing with German Infantry

Dutch Infantry in centre

Billys Brits on our left

Centre of French deployment

Shanes formidable defence lines (Brigade of Swiss in red)

Dragoon unit in town which took 5 turns to be turfed out by Dutch Guard !!

Approaching town on right

Billy advances but note massed French mounted array on their left.

The Franco-Bavarians (Shane and Bryn)

Overview of Allied centre and left

Assault goes in on town

And I try to turn French left

Bavarian Infantry move to support their left wing

Still fighting for that damn town !!

Game tomorrow evening at Le Ducs with Mr B using his 10mm WW3 kit and Seven Days To The Rhine rules then its Battle of Kolin with Warfare In Age Of Reason rules at Mr B's on Thursday and Elimination Club begins again in Friday, tis a hard auld life being retired and a war gamer :-)

  

Zorndorf with Black Powder 2, very quick and very brutal

Black Powder game of Zorndorf played today and a very brutal affair it was for Russians !
Frederick (Mr B) set up his 5 gun batteries in a line opposite Gallitzins Brigade (thankfully at long range) and managed to destroy one opposing gun battery and putting a couple of hits on my Infantry.
On my left Prussian Hussars targeted some Cossacks but pulled back once a unit of Horse Grenadiers crossed the stream.
On my right I advanced my Cavalry en mass against Schlorlmers 2 Cuirassier which saw Frederick try to move some Dragoons over from other flank.
However these were not needed as the Prussian horse destroyed 2 Russian Cuirassier in short order (the better 'saves' for Prussians was key) which broke the Russian Brigade (Brutal event number 1).
I had brought up an Infantry Brigade in support but this now had to use the stream as defence whilst facing off the victorious Cavalry instead of attacking.
I then managed to charge the Hussars with my Horse Grenadiers but of course they lost that combat and wavered which saw my right wing Cavalry Command break as well as only the Horse Grenadiers are 'Battle Cavalry' (Brutal event number 2)
The Prussia Infantry then advanced through the Stein Bruch and a wild fire fight ensued between 2 lines of Infantry but with Prussians re-rolling 1 miss per volley whilst Russians re-roll 1 hit it was the Prussians in ascendancy.
After 2 rounds of firing by Prussians I had 4 out of 5 Infantry wavered breaking my central Brigade (Brutal event numero 3) and therefore Russian Army retired from the field.
Certainly a quick game (4-5 turns) with decisive outcomes galore !



Black Powder certainly does 'what it says on the tin' generating a very quick and easy fluid reasonably fun game.
I do think it is essentially a 1970s style game (ala Don Featherstone) with a modern veneer (ie the use of standard units, morale hits rather than casualty removal and replacing written orders with 2D6 on the fly rolls) with its buckets of dice and basic 4+ hit systems, but not necessarily any the worse for that.
There are deeper more dramatic rules (I would include my favoured FOB in that) but not many that can handle big numbers of units with such minimal rules overhead.

Prussian left wing with massed batteries

Central Prussian deployment

And their right wing

Impressive line of cannon

Prussian foot begins to advance through Stein Bruch

Emerging to engage Russian foot

Disaster strikes on Russian left

As Horse Grenadiers target Prussian Hussars on right

However twas not to be as right wing also defeated

Firefight in centre, note lots of hits on Russian units (couple already Shaken)

Prussian Dragoons and Cannon keep my supporting Infantry Brigade in check

Russian left shoring up exposed flank