Using Black Powder for 10mm Seven Years War Games

[T13A]

Hi

I'm thinking of trying Black Powder wargame rules (having just downloaded them for free is of course pure coincidence) with the supplement 'The last Argument of Kings' for my 10mm games and was wondering if anybody has done this? I would be very grateful for any views, thoughts etc (both positive and negative) on the rules for this period.

Cheers Paul

[fred.]

I'm not a fan of BP (but do like Hail Caesar).

Problems with BP, movement distances are huge, and quite random due to the command mechanism. This means units tend to run up to each other, then engage rather ineffectually. Shooting is quite luck driven, if you get 6s and cause disorder, or the defender fails their save then there is an impact of the shooting otherwise there isn't. This can give a period feel, with a degree of attrition then units breaking. Melee is very random. Ultimately there isn't actually that much to the rules, you end up plugging quite a lot together.

The command mechanism is something you like or loathe. Our group likes a command mechanism that adds some friction. But in BP (and HC and WM) it feels too random, you can easily have brigades do nothing, or surge forward.

The good news is it works great with 10mm - choose what size frontage you want to use for a normal unit, I think we used 120mm. And then scale up or down for large or small units. Having units with matching frontages isn't essential, nor is the size of the unit of the figure count, which gives you lots of flexibility on using figures you already have.

[kustenjaeger]

I tested it out a few years ago with about 7-8 battalions, 4 mounted regiments and 2 guns a side. It worked OK.  I think we rounded up the brigade break limit, prohibited 3 moves and firing, limited artillery movement and a few other bits and pieces.  I'll look up my notes and have a look.

Edward

[Sandinista]

We played this a lot at the Molesey Club when I was still in London. We used the supplement Last Argument of Kings, we went from 1 player having some small armies to half the club having a lot of larger armies. It is a great game and the period supplement does the job well in setting the tone and feel of the period.
I thoroughly recommend it. If you have half as much fun as we did you will love it.
Cheers
Ian

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

We use t at MK an awful lot, though we tend to use more negative rather than positive rules...

[Last Hussar]

1) Make it so brigade have lose OVER half the strength to become broken.
2) Allow rallying of Shaken units in broken brigades, so you can "unbreak" them.
3) Fire BEFORE movement.
4) 3 moves require command of 3 better AND half or less (so command of 8 needs roll of 4)

[Bunny]

I'm liking the ideas for adjusting BP to Seven Years War.  I have Austrian Russian and 'soon' Prussian armies.

I did hear rumors that a Seven Year War supplement may be out this year??

[T13A]

Hi

Many thanks for all the replies and useful information.

Cheers Paul

[Norm]

One of the ammendments that a few of the supplements are coming up with and seems a good idea to apply to the base rules as a give, is that units that move more than once in the movement phase andnot fire in the following fire phase. So when giving orders, decide whether you want to give priority to firing or moving.

[T13A]

Hi Norm

Thanks for that, sounds very sensible to me.

Cheers Paul

[Norm]

Sorry for that gobble-de-gook, I should have checked before hitting the 'post' button. Basically a unit can potentially move three times if it rolls well on command, the amendments are saying that should a unit choose to move more than once, then it cannot fire in the upcoming fire phase. Move just once (or not at all) ad you will then be able to fire in the fire phase.

[Leman]

I moved to BP from Minden Rose about 8 years ago, mainly because the Minden Rose close combat was very clunky. They gave an ok game, but my rules of choice now are the period specific Honours of War published by Osprey. A cleaner, more satisfying game giving excellent results, which also takes account of army differences in a more efficient way than Last Argument of Kings. It is also a much shorter tome so rules are easier to find, and it has scenarios to get you started and a free supporting website run by the author. And the final beauty is no casualty removal. Battles look great in 10mm with as many figures as you can get on a 1" square base ( 8 infantry and 3 cavalry by Pendraken)

The rulebook also gives a variety of scales to play in. I have actually found that the 15mm scale version works best with my bases, which has the added advantage that the battles can be fought in half scale, as all the examples in the book are for 28mm games. The different scale QRS sheets can be downloaded from the HoW website.

[T13A]

Hi Lemen

Thanks for this. Actually I have 'Honours of War' (HoW) and have had five or six games with them (using the 15mm scale for my 10mm figures as you suggest). It's one of those rule sets that I really want to like but for some reason they just do not work for me. Funnily enough one of the things that prompted my original post about Black Powder (BP) was similarities between the two rule sets (e.g. standard size units, support units in melee).
Also, I like casualty removal (actually 'base' removal rather than individual figures) when I am playing battalion/regimental level games; I like to see my regiments shrink in size as they are whittled down! One of the issues I have with HoW is how they handle the concept of 'small' and 'large' units as opposed to standard ones. I feel that under HoW this was a bit of a last minute add on and 'bodge job' (which I think it was as I followed the development of the rules on-line some years ago) and does not work very well (IMHO). After reading through the BP main rules (haven't actually played them yet) they seem to handle the concept of small and large units better (still no base removal of course).
Conversely, one of the things I did like about HoW was the link between musket range and the recommended frontage for a standard infantry battalion.
Anyway, just my tuppence worth of course and thanks again for replying.

Cheers Paul

[Orcs]

Drop all ranges and movement to Cm.

I believe LH also says only one move if they fire