Black Powder Napoleonics

Last weeks game was a little Napoleonic encounter using the Black Powder rules.

With the French starting at one end of the table and the British starting at the other end both were trying to secure various terrain features. These were the hills and the towns and they varied in value from 1 to 6 points and in some cases were of different values for each side.

Cameron Highlanders lead the British towards the French.

The British end.

The French end.

 The French left got off to a good start and were the first to get to the town in the centre of the table.

 The French right were not so fast and could only manage a single move each turn.

 The British centre and right hand brigades advancing towards the town.

French left brigade.

 With numerical superiority in artillery, the French set up two batteries in the centre. These guns took a heavy toll on the advancing British.

 The French had all the good stuff. The high ground, the woods in the centre and the town. From here it was going to be tough going for the British.

 The only gun for the British was this RHA piece. Although shooting well it was outnumbered 3 to1.

 The British spent a couple of turns shooting at the defenders of the town. Unable to make any real progress they charged with the Gordon Highlanders leading the way. The high defensive values of buildings was the difference and the Highlanders were pushed back.

 The French cavalry began on the extreme left and spent the battle trotting across to the right and then charged the lone British cavalry unit.

 With casualties mounting on the British, units started to break and then Divisions.

First the British centre was reduced to just one third of it's starting strength and then their left flank brigade broke leaving the single cavalry unit to cover 3/4 of their front.

The British right was almost at breaking point having tried several times to dislodge the French in the town. There was no hope left and the British withdrawal was now underway!

Thanks to Gav for coming up with the scenario and taking the photos.

Napoleonics with Black Powder.

Last night saw the boys get out the Napoleonic troops for a wee game using the Black Powder rules,  with a few changes. The changes have been made by the guys in Wellington who are running the big Leipzig bicentenary game next month involving gamers from all over the country. We also reduced movement by half.


Both the French and the British were entering the table from opposite ends with the main objectives being the buildings in the middle of the table.

The British won the rite to kick off first and promptly failed to move most of their troops ( rolled too high).

 

After several turn the British reached the first tree line.

 French cavalry moving through the centre....

 ....and deploying their artillery in the wheat field close to the buildings.(Spanish civilians forced to help man the guns)

 The French won the race to the buildings leaving the British having to attack them. This would prove to be a tough nut to crack!

 Tried as they might, the British could not take the buildings from the stubborn French.

So as night fell...

French victory!!

Thanks to David for providing the venue, the table, all the terrain, the beer and for organising and umpiring the game!

Great Northern War

Now that Gettysburg is all over and done with we can get back to some different periods, instead of ACW.

This weeks game was a Great Northern War game between the Russians and the Swedes.

Chris provided all the troops, mostly painted by Kent from 15mm Paint Shack.

The rules used for this game were Black Powder.

Some of the Swedes. Ignore the command stand in the background.

The Russians setup along the road and awaited the Swedish advance.

Swedish army on the move.

The cavalry clashes on the Russian left resulted in the Russian cavalry being thrown off the table.

Swedes charging the Russian line.

and on the other side of the gun too.

The Swedes lost both melees and both units routed off the table. Next turn saw another two units heading home!

The End!

After the failed attacks of the Swedish foot there was only one foot unit left and a gun along with the cavalry units out on the flanks. The Swedes conceded and abandoned the field!

Zulu Attack

For this game, again fought some time ago, we used the Black Powder rules. Turned out to be one of the shortest games we have ever fought!

  The British are defending the hill with only a few stone walls, some mealie bags and a couple of wagons between them and the masses of Zulus.

 Only the left flank Zulu command managed to roll low enough to move for the first 2 - 3 turns, but it didn't take long for them to over run the camp!

 After 3 turns. The left flank is in the camp, the right flank has made one move toward the British defenders and the centre is still yet to move an inch!

 Having finished off the camp's defenders the Zulu left horn moves onto the British on the hill.

 Finally the rest of the Zulus roll low enough to move and with getting a triple move are on the defenders before they can blink.

The melees from this move more or less ended the hopes of the British of surviving this encounter. Only a handful remained and they soon ran off!