Black Powder: A Review

The postman has finally delivered my copy of the Black Powder rules, and so I thought I should post a review from my first reading:

Intro
First, the basics: Black Powder is a new set of rules by the Games Workshop old-hands Rick Priestley & Jervis Johnson, and is published by Warlord Games. It covers a period of a full 200 years, broadly from 1700 to 1900. (Readers of this blog will probably be minded towards the SYW themselves, and there is certainly lots of suitability.)

Appearance
First thing is first: the actual look of the book is incredible. No stapled A4 booklet here! Hardback, nice illustrations, a colour picture on virtually every page, and usually of a ridiculously vast diorama. This is a genuine work of love by a set of enthusiasts, and easily the best-looking book I’ve ever seen in the hobby. Maybe standards are higher nowadays and this merely shows my ignorance, but this is surely excellent stuff in anyone’s eyes.

Language & Style
The actual writing is marvellously judged to suit the period, typically being rather over-polite and gentlemanly, shot through with a dry humour. For example, the Foreword advises it is “a game for militarily inclined gentlemen with straight backs, bristling beards, and rheumy eyes that have seen a thing or two … The library or billiard room will serve as our battlefield, or else some similarly spacious and secluded refuge. Ensure that children are safely put to bed and … secure the doors against the intrusion of womenfolk as yet unfamiliar with the conventions of war.” What’s not to like in that? Each topic in the rules is typically given a 2-page spread, so it’s all visible when laid open on the table for reference mid-game. There are no excessive bullet-points or quick summaries, but a discussive tone, with the same humorous style throughout. For example, when the rules mention marking casualties on units they advise using models of fallen soldiers, adding: “Some gamers will doubtless feel that this service can be provided equally well with pen and paper. This notion has a whiff of accountancy about it and can only be recommended to those irretreivably so inclined.”

Mechanics
The game itself is simple and has a no-nonsense straightforwardness. There is a standard and unvarying ‘to hit’ roll and a ‘save’ roll on all combat, and all modifiers merely increase or decrease the number of dice rolled – making it very easy to remember. Each generic type of unit has a profile stating the number of dice rolled for shooting or hand-to-hand combat, a morale value (the number of save dice it rolls) plus a stamina level. Successful hits leave casualty markers, and when they exceed the stamina level it becomes possible the unit can break and flee.
Orders are given from a dice roll, to individual units or a group, depending on a general’s ability and luck – if he fails to issue an order he must stop all other intended orders, forcing careful consideration and prioritising. Also, if he rolls very badly there is the possibility of a nasty blunder taking place!
That, in a nutshell, is it! The mechanics are remarkably close in style to Warmaster, in case any of this is sounding familiar.
For particular flavour there are pages of Special Rules listed, all of minor but telling tweaks which have quite an impact through the simple games system. Each one is not usually specified for where and when it should be used, but is accompanied by a small commentary discussing the impact it has, and the sort of rough style of troops it should be applied to. This makes the reader take up slack, judging for themselves whether they think Prussian Infantry should be given the ‘First Fire’ or ‘Sharp Shooters’ bonus, and so on.
As a final note, I should add that the book has advanced rules, covers unusual items like howitzers or rockets, personalities for generals, half a dozen played-through battle reports as extended examples, plus some appendices of advice for different scales and sizing of units.

Conclusion
The level of detail and specific instructions in Black Powder has been deliberately left low, with the writers taking long stride back from telling you how to do everything. They expect enthusiastic players to work things out themselves, and don’t spoon-feed you requirements. I would say this is as much a toolkit for wargaming as a ruleset - especially with the special rules mentioned above. It aims to point a way, accepts most wargamers rewrite things and use ‘house-rules’ anyway, and so puts much more emphasis on players to think right from the start. It’s actually remarkable to think of the ‘classic’ elements of rulebooks left out: There are no minimum force sizes, no setup zones, no army lists, and not even a points system! (Well, all right – they grudgingly and disdainfully include a “suggested” points system for tournament play, hidden away in one of the appendices. They encourage players to simply do it the historical way – fight a battle with a force you reckon is adequate to win the day against the enemy. In other words, the very thing that a points system just puts an arbitrary figure on!) This results in an Exhilirating sense of freedom and the aim is just as much – if not more – to encourage enthusiasm for wargaming. About a third of the book is example battles written up and played through, and combined with the whole book’s discussive style it is remarkably reminiscent of the 1970s books by Charles Grant or Donald Featherstone. In fact, I would suggest it is at least their spiritual descendant, owing them a huge debt.

Should you try it? If you want a detailed, scientific set of rules, I would advise “No.” If you want a playable and simple set with the emphasis on game rather than simulation, I would advise “Yes.” And if you liked ‘The War Game’ by Charles Grant, I would advise “Definitely!”

It's All About Personality

With painting proceeding apace on the 'lead mountain', I can turn my attention to the upcoming campaign. I am planning to have a more varied terrain than before, with the two armies scattered it into various smaller groups. This may make a big 'all units on the table' battle less likely in the campaign, but it should allow for lots of more varied fighting as various sub-commanders march around. I'm aiming to get a campaign focused more on Luftberg, and specifically the internal rivalries of it's characters. Fighting Aschenbach might be the day-job, but with your back-biting rivals all around you, this internecine fight is personal!

With this in mind, plus the upcoming chance of more independent action, it's probably a good idea to look over who our various personalities are - and consider how their standing has been altered by the conclusion of the Spitzplatz campaign.

Elector Ulrich Von Luftberg is top of the heap, absolute ruler of Luftberg in perpetuity, etc. etc. He did not take part in the recent Spitzplatz campaign, due to it being effectively being engineered and run by Felix Von Hentsch. However, his previous outing saw him win the major battle of Vogelhof, still the greatest battlefield defeat that Aschenbach have ever taken. In fact, he won the whole war and took over the whole province for Luftberg following a successful siege back in 2008 (well, whatever the imagiNation year-equivalent is!) He'll get brought out of his semi-retirement to command the national army again, putting personal reputation on the line once more.

Graf Felix Von Hentsch is the embodiment of supreme evil, coldly plotting to usurp the Electorate for the Von Hentsch family. As his own dynasty seemed like the only alternative to the ruling family, marrying into the royal house looked like a sure thing as long as no rivals appeared and Von Hentsch prestige remained high. Sadly for his plots, the Spitzplatz campaign came along. In the campaign, Von Hentsch aimed to loot the five cities in the province to ruin the newcomer Von Bitzhelm family. He only managed two of the five, which means that the Von Hentsch clan now has a rival to deal with. Plus, although he managed to snatch a stalemate at the end of the campaign, he lost several pitched battles to the Aschenbach army, rather tarnishing his self-proclaimed reputation as a military genius. Still plotting away, Von Hentsch is a man with enemies to destroy and a reputation to restore.

Graf Karl Von Bitzhelm is the dynastic ruler of Spitzplatz, and his family are famous for being vastly wealthy and ugly - the classic 'arrogant noble'. Although the campaign through his lands didn't kill off Aschenbach claims to it (and probably guarantees a later campaign will need to be fought,) his siding with Luftberg meant he is now highly politically favoured - much to Von Hentsch's annoyance. He's never taken the field before, but really - how difficult can it be? If that villainous Von Hentsch can do it while stealing off the Von Bitzhelms, then surely it can't be that hard!

Freiherr Tobias Ludwig is the most junior of the quartet, who shot to prominence during the Spitzplatz campaign. The great-nephew of the Tradgardland Duke, he arrived mid-campaign

and proceeded to give Luftberg's military some of it's best moments. He even led a semi-suicidal attack at the battle of Froschbach, and with the aggressive cockiness he's famous for, he doubtless believes that if he'd been given a more senior role he could've saved the whole battle for Luftberg. Clearly valued as a subordinate by Von Hentsch, it's unlikely that Ludwig sees it in quite those terms.

So, four various commanders for the upcoming campaign - all of whom like some but hate most. The summary breakdown runs as:

Luftberg likes Bitzhelm (rich, plus guarantees Spitzplatz to Luftberg); hates Von Hentsch (plotter, and nearly lost the war); and dislikes Ludwig (jumped-up swaggerer!)

V. Hentsch likes Ludwig (trusty second-in-command); hates Luftberg (as he wants his throne); and hates Bitzhelm (his rival to power.)

Bitzhelm likes Luftberg (his new political ally), likes Ludwig (arrogant aristocrat, so a kindred spirit); and hates Von Hentsch (he plundered his cities for his own wealth!)

Ludwig likes Luftberg (the head of his adoptive homeland); hates Von Hentsch (who should have resigned his command and given him the army) and hates Von Bitzhelm (older, uglier, and a new rival to this military glory-hog!)

It's worth noting that the above wasn't really 'written' by me - the relationships just seemed to form up that way as the named leaders marched around and played out the battles. It's a nice sign of things taking on a life of their own. How this dysfunctional crew will function when Aschenbach comes calling remains to be seen, but it should be "interesting" if nothing else!

New Year, New Plans

Many belated returns, everybody! I hope you had a good holiday season. I've been getting back into normal life over the past week, but I've still kept active with my wargaming plans.

First, the old campaign has come to it's conclusion at the tail-end of last year - rather good timing, as it has lasted for about a year in the real-world, as each side contested the province of Spitzplatz. I'll post shortly tying up all the ImagiNation-world changes, and rounding it off (in other words, digging back over old posts from 2008 to review who met their objectives!) Once this is done a new campaign with some fresh quirk will be launched, to let Aschenbach and Luftberg once again continue to test themselves against a new contrivance of fortune.

So, what for the new year? Well, over the holidays I did two big things. The first was to invest in a new wargames rules-set, and the second was quite a lot of painting.

First, with a bit of Xmas money as a present (I never specify hobby items as presents, as my family tend not to be too sharp on military compositions for armies in the mid/late 18th Century - bafflingly) I have bought a set of rules. It came from listening to the excellent 'Meeples & Miniatures' podcast, which I recommend if you like to hear two entertainingly affable wargamers chatter at length about the hobby. Anyway, they recently reviewed the ruleset 'Black Powder' quite favourably, and this caught my attention for several reasons:

a) it's written by Rick Priestley, who did the old Games Workshop rules that first got me into wargaming (and yes, that rulebook is still on my shelf)
b) It's a big hardback book which looks excellent
c) It's been described as having the old 'classic' discussive tone of the likes of Charles Grant and other 1970's-vintage books
d) It covers SYW, Napoleonics and ACW, which are all favoured periods with me
e) It is apparently quite similar in mechanics to Warmaster, which I always felt was criminally under-rated.

So, with that I have sent away for it and am awaiting delivery (it seems to have sold well, and stocks are currently 'on order'.) I'll post a review when it arrives. The only offputting factor was that I had heard it was a 'big battalions' ruleset, which used 24-figure units. I was a bit uneasym until my mental gears creaked into action and I realised that my existing 15mm figures are based in 24-man infantry regiments already! Ah, happy fortune!

Secondly, I have been painting a lot. As readers may know, I have been battling for months to paint flat-out, while playing SYW games along the way. For much of Autumn I managed to nearly burn myself out with frantic painting. In fact, I swore off it and decided to give myself a break. However, the old adage that 'a change is as good as a rest' proved right, and I found myself painting - just on other things. I've been busy on a 6mm medieval army (which I've mentioned on my other 'General Headquarters' blog) plus a pile of Perry ACW figures, etc. Things got encouraging however when I wrapped up the medieval project over the holidays. With this boost, plus a new-year burst of enthusiasm, I have turned back to the last remaining units in my army-expansion project. Pictured below is my 'Lead Mountain':


As you may be able to see, I have my masterplan on paper (in the "2010 SYW TO DO LIST") plus a stack of figures. Some are raw lead, totally unpainted, while others are completely finished and need merely rebased. In all, there are 18 bases of infantry and cavalry left to do.

So, that's the new year - new figures, new rules, and a new campaign!

Taurenwald Aftermath

Before the end of the year kicks off and hobby-time falls away, I just wanted to post about the results of the recent battle of Taurenwald. I played it out with the rules-set 'Table Top Battles' by Mike and Joyce Smith, and a lot of fun it was too. Not as 'serious' as the usual Might & Reason rules I use, but just as much fun, and probably concluded in about a third of the time!

So, the Luftberg attack is beaten back, but each army comes unstrung. Clearly, unless each army annihilated itself, the units destroyed in the battle are routed rather than dead, so we can check for rercovering them. Lacking any system, I decided on a straight D6 dice roll of 4+ to recover them. However, the strategic situation is a bit different for the protagonists. Luftberg is fighting with it's main supply dunp barely a few miles back down the road, while Aschenbach is deep in wooded territory with a long road, a pillaged city, a river, and a range of hills between it and home-base. It seems far likelier for Luftberg troops to be regrouped quickly after the battle, so I gave their roll a +1 modifier. Aschenbach soldiers, being far likelier to go 'missing' on the long trek back to a rallying point, got a corresponding -1 modifier.

The results of the rolls (once per regiment destroyed) produced the following armies ready for continuing the campaigh:

Luftberg: 6 Infantry, 1 Croat, 1 Dragoon, 1 Hussar, 1 Artillery.

So, not too bad for Luftberg...

Aschenbach: 1 Grenadier, 3 Infantry, 1 Cuirassier, 1 Dragoon, 1 Artillery.

Hm, Aschenbach maintains it's quality, but is painfully outnumbered. Looks like fighting various skirmishes and three pitched battles is a bit harder to recover from, when you've the smaller army!

If it was a pitched battle, then maybe it could be fought out again - except there's no chance of that. Luftberg are safely locked up tight in their fortress of Blinzburg, ready for a siege. Aschenbach have to besiege a force who outnumbers them 3:2 in infantry, in deeply wooded country while the enemy has irregular light troops to raise havoc in their rear. It can't be done! So, it looks like the campaign in the province of Spitzplatz is coming to an end, militarily a stalemate while the diplomats agree negotiation terms. We'll have to see what they come up with in the new year, when doubtless the armies will find themselves launching into some new campaign over a tiny province. For now though, it looks like a peaceful christmas - Happy holidays, everyone!

Taurenwald, Part 2

Felix von Hentsch's attack gets off to a less than brilliant start when the lines clash, and the Aschenbach counterattack through Taurenwald village blasts his centre apart. Damned cowards fled like a bunch of old women!

Von Hentsch pulls his remaining infantry regiment back into the protection of the woods, plus his cavalry begin to pressure the enemy flank. Meanwhile, the smug General Von Krumper preens himself in the wrecked village.

Over with the left column, General Tobias Ludwig shows how it should be done. Giving ground in the face of the enemy line, he works on the flanks. The Croats send one regiment reeling, the cavalry force the Grenadiers to halt and turn away, while the last remaining regiment quickly learns what it means to take on 4:1 odds!

Back on the right, the Aschenbach infantry find it just as hard to take on a defended piece of terrain. One infantry regiment is scattered by Luftberg artillery fire, while the other collapses after being fired on by invisible opponents in the woods. The Cuirassiers flee, and General Von Krumper realises the village is about to change hands for the third time.

On the left, Ludwig presses on, but the roused camps continue to produce more regiments belatedly forming to fight. His cavalry vanguard crashes headlong into the U-shaped enemy line, with his infantry following on behind.

Ludwig's cavalry get routed, but the two lines meet with one slight advantage - he's got more cavalry on the flank. Over on the right, Von Hentsch has occupied Taurenwald with his last infantry and his cavalry now push depeer into the enemy's old camp, finding more and more Aschenbach horsemen beginning to oppose them.

A terrible run of luck hist the Luftberg troops! The infantry going into Taurenwald are rapidly bombarded into a chaotic mob by the waiting Aschenbach batteries, the Croats are finally routed out of the central wood when Von Zaub manages to spare a regular regiment to clear them out, then the left-most regiment under Ludwig is destroyed by hostile fire!

And then it gets worse! Ludwig's cavalry ride down the Aschenbach flank regiment, but then his last two infantry regiments are hit by the Grenadier-fronted Aschenbach line, and flee the field in chaos!

Similar disaster on the right! Von Hentsch's cavalry are outnumbered and scattered, being broken up piecemeal by the continually reinforced Aschenbach line. Time to admit defeat, and retreat. All the damage that can be done, has been done.

So, a victory for Aschenbach again, but what manner of one? Von Hentsch's surprise attack has similarly wrecked both armies. The difference being, that Luftberg is right on the doorstep of it's main supply-base city, while the less numerous Aschenbach troops are at the end of a long and tenuous supply line. A few more such Aschenbach victories and they will be ruined!

Taurenwald, Part 1

The Peaceful camp of neat, white tents along the roadside - and then, in the pre-dawn darkness, the Luftberg army attacks in two columns from the south!


General Felix Von Hentsch oversees the right column, which hits the village of Taurenwald and scatters the unprepared defenders. The Aschenbach army raises the alarm and rushes to form it's ranks.

The scant regiments of infantry available form a line and rush back in a daring counterattack, retaking the village before the Luftberg line can advance. Outflanked by cavalry and Croats in the woods, can they hold it?

The left column, led by General Tobias Ludwig, shakes itself out into line, but is rapidly halted. The Aschenbach general Zaub has responded quickly, forming three regiments and rushing them forward obliquely to protect the disorganised camps.

It looks good, as the Luftberg line retreats slightly and reforms - but those Croats in the centre and the cavalry on the flank are a risk. Especially when the Aschenbach line's own hussars are ridden down by their heavier and more numerous enemies.

March to Battle

Following the battle of Froschbach, the remaining armies are of virtually identical size. What with Aschenbach's superior discipline and leadership, this should mean they have the edge. What can General Felix Von Hentsch do to ofset this? After much head-scratching and pondering to harpsichord music, there appear to be two options: entrench and fight from behind several feet of earthworks, or launch a surprise attack to negate the enemy advantage.

Aschenbach is marching back across the countryside and then rejoining the road to Blinzburg, the Luftberg source of supply into the province. With it's fall, Aschenbach can dictate peace terms. With the Luftberg army reformed and steadied by Von Hentsch's firm disciplinary hand, they have reassembled at their depot near the Rotenwasser bridge. Initial plans for a dispersed and low-intensity war of raiding parties have been abandoned, in the light of Blinzburg coming under threat. Taking the southern road, the Luftberg army has further to cover but makes better time, getting between the enemy and the city. A few miles short of the city, in the woodland surrounding it, the Aschenbach army encounters the Luftberg outposts and realises it's opponent is present for a fight. The critical battle, in fact - neither side can carry on the war if they take heavy losses.

They pitch camp, expecting to have to attack a defended position the next day. Because of this assumption, they make no camp defences of their own. The cunning Von Hentsch orders a dawn attack on the unsuspecting enemy, planning to rudely interrupt their dreams of a battle in the morning, and dinner in Blinzburg. He'll oblige them on the former at least, and on the latter only as his prisoners!