A week ago Saturday, I was able to get in a game of Black Powder at
David's house. As usual, since I do not have any Napoleonic figures to
speak of, we used his figures and terrain.
In the
scenario, French and Russian forces were to meet and fight over a small
town's water supply. Dave won initiative and began to march his French
brigades on the field of battle:
David
rolled really well for his activations, and was able to advance his
infantry about 3/4 of the way across the table. In addition, his cavalry
was able to move past the disputed town:
I
rolled poorly (VERY VERY poorly) for my activations, and was barely
able to get a couple of units on the field (we were deploying from off
the table). Threatened by David's cavalry's quick advance, I ordered my
units into squares to repel the horsemen:
Meanwhile, David had split off some light cavalry to occupy the town:
David
rolled well for activations again, and was able to advance his infantry
against my infantry. My troops were still in squares because of the
threatening cavalry, and were caught in the wrong formation for taking
on other infantry:
Though
I took some casualties, the squares held, and I was able to bring on
some additional infantry support on the next turn, rolling just well
enough to advance and form a line of infantry:
David's
cavalry, which had been dissuaded from charging my infantry, had no
qualms about charging my much smaller cavalry unit. Knowing the end
result would probably go against me, I nevertheless counter-charged!
While the cavalry units engaged, David continued to advance his infantry and some supporting artillery to face the Russian line:
In the town, David's cavalry unit dismounted, and held one end of the bridge that bisected the settlement:
I
was bringing a column of infantry into the town from the opposite end,
but they took a while to get where I needed them, especially because of
my dice rolling problems. (Have I mentioned I was rolling poorly?)
Where the main thrust of the battle was taking place, I wheeled some of my infantry and fired into the flanks of David's troops:
Things
were looking decent for me at the time, until David's cavalry, having
seen off my own horse units, charged into the flank of my line. Formed
into line as they were, since they were facing infantry, the cavalry
charge proved decisive:
My
units began to break, and my once well-formed line dissolved into
individual units with gaps between them where the broken units had once
stood (Cowards!):
But
all was not lost! In the town, my plodding infantry finally came to
grips with the small unit of horsemen holding the bridge:
After several rounds of a vicious melee, my Russian infantry finally chased off the pesky cavaliers, and occupied the town:
At
the game's end, the Russians held a strong defensive position in the
town, but the bulk of David's forces, having totally scattered their
foes, was approaching and a fierce battle loomed:
Alas,
time had run out. We called the game a pyrrhic victory for the
Russians. Technically, I did hold the objective, which David had
overlooked in his zealous attempt to smash my forces. But I can't argue
with the fact that everywhere else on the field, my troops had taken a
thrashing at the hands of the French!
David and Stephen finished the game the next day. I was unable to attend, but here's David's description of the outcome:
"The
Russians continued to hold as the remnants of the defeated Russian
brigade returned to the battlefield along with a reconstituted brigade
of 2 cavalry regiments with horse artillery - this was just enough to
hold off the renewed French attack as the French Polish brigade was
forced into square and one disordered square finally broke as the Hussar
cavalry assaulting it retired after a simultaneous break test. Fresh
French reinforcements of 5 battalions made no headway in attempting to
break into the village from the south eastern corner. French forces will
have seek fresh water further downstream. The French cavalry Polish
Horse artillery battery was crushed after 3 rounds of melee as the
artillery vainly struggled to hold on to the battery."
So,
another game of Black Powder under my belt.I must say, they are very
different rules to what I am used to, since I am not a Napoleonic gamer.
There are things about the rules that I like, and others that cause my
grief. I think perhaps some of my difficulties stem from the fact that I
am not familiar with Napoleonic strategy and that definitely has an
impact on how I play the game. I am keeping an open mind, however, and
want to get in a couple more games before I make up my mind about the
rules. Of course, I will report back here and tell you all about it.
'Til next time!
