Anyway, I had just about made my mind up to give the club another miss when I recieved a text from Andy inviting me to take part in a Black Powder Napoleonic game, what the hell I thought, get me out of the house, so off I trotted.
Andy and Rob enjoy the Black Powder rule sets and it does work well with Rob's Sudan scenarios, however I thought it was a poor ECW set and wouldn't touch it for ACW but then I wouldn't touch anything but Johnny Reb for that anyway, it would be interesting to see how it worked with Naps. As much as I am an admirer of the Emperor and made friends at a safe distance with the giant tortoise which knew him on St. Helena I have never really got into Napoleonic wargaming, and when I have tried it I usually retired with a sore head, really. It does look splendid though.
So on Tuesday night I found myself in charge of the British right flank with a light cavalry brigade and an infantry brigade made up of mainly Scots battalions, the centre and left were under the command of two Germans, father and son who were visiting, Daniel has been to the club in the past but not his father Hermann, who unfortunately did not speak a lot of English and was not a miniatures player. I knew right away if disaster struck Hermann was the fall guy.
The idea was that each side had to control two crossroads, one in a village and one in the open, I was opposite the one in the open, but so as I found out was the French guard units and next to them their feared heavy cavalry. As the game started I threw my light cavalry forward aggressively and mounted a nearby hill all the better to give me an advantage in the coming melees.
The brigade will advance..... |
Into ze houzes. |
Get into them! |
Oh, they'll stand Wellington. |
I held one crossroads, Herman ensured the other was in contention and Daniel and Rob had fought each other to a standstill on our left, we won and Hermann was off the hook.
A good game and I didn't come away with a headache neither did I come away any more convinced Black Powder was for me, but I appreciated the game and the work Andy and Rob put in. If I can find a route to Lancaster next week with all the road and lane closures I think it is Bolt Action.
The game look really good George. Those Nappies remind me of some of my first encounters with little meal men - fond memories indeed! Looking forward to getting some games in oop Norf mate! ;-)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to it. You're going to get a chuckle at this weeks view Dave.
DeleteI can feel a crushing defeat looming in a batrep..?
DeleteNo, it's much better, patience Grasshopper.
DeleteAre we there yet??
DeleteThat looks great! I quite like BP as it does support large multi-player games fairly easily. Like when we all last gathered for Waterloo :)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to this week's "View" as usual matey!
It does work well for the Sudan games and big games no doubt. I am happy to play it but I would not buy it. Besides the last thing I need is another set of rules.
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