Control Of The River Crossing - A Black Powder II AAR.

So with the table set up it was a bit of a toss up as to which ruleset and figures to use for my inaugural game in my games room. In the end I plumped for Black Powder II (with the Glory Hallelujah! supplement) and my Commission Figurines mdf miniatures, as I wanted to get au fait with the rules in advance of the CWD and the mdf figures allowed me to field plenty of units to get a good feel for the size of action planned for the show.

To keep things simple, both sides had equal numbers of troops, namely 3 Infantry Brigades and some supporting Cavalry. To speed things along I upped all the CV's to 9, which proved to be a good move as the game moved along at a good pace and didn't stall, which can be a tad frustrating. Again a simple scenario with both sides sending an advance force to seize control of the river crossing. To stop it being a slug fest by the bridge, I made the river low and passable everywhere, but with a movement penalty for crossing, which proved a good move too.

So onto the action!

A broad overview of the table, with the Blue forces to the left, Red to the right.

The Red left flank whose aim was to march to the bridge and take control of the sawmill on their left to anchor their flank.

The Red right flank with supporting cavalry, with the cavalry to advance to cover the flank whilst the infantry aimed to flank the bridge and advance towards the farmhouse across the river.

The Blue left flank whose aim was to march towards the bridge whilst securing the farmhouse on their left to secure their flank.

The Blue centre and right flank with cavalry, their aim to cross the river to flank the sawmill to secure the bridge crossing.

The end of Turn 1. Both sides pushed forward quickly, with the Blue forces reaching the river, whilst Red neared the sawmill.

Red troops march quickly towards the bridge and sawmill.

Covered by the cavalry, the Red right flank moves towards the river.

The Blue left flank near the bridge.

The Blue centre has their light infantry deploy by the river as the rest of the troops advance.

The end of Turn 2. The Blue troops move more quickly towards controlling the river crossing, with both sides begin to exchange fire. Red is slightly behind where they would like to be, but are still in a good position.

The Blue left and centre begin to cross the river and attack the sawmill.

Blue attacks begin.

The Blue left flank begins to shake out as a threat develops on their left.

Red troops arrive in the nick of time to take up positions in the sawmill.

The Red centre begins to shake out into line as Red light infantry makes a disorderly retreat to allow fresh troops to pass through.

The Red right flank has crossed the river and is beginning to pressure the Blue left flank.

The end of Turn 3. Both sides begin to jockey for position as further exchanges of fire take place.

The Blue right flank moves forward as the Red infantry in the sawmill come under concerted pressure.

Blue troops alogn the river take return fire, with disorder the name of the day.

The Blue left flank is in position, but it too is under fire and taking disorder.

The Red cavalry moves round the flan to threaten the Blue LoC.

Red cavalry moves back into the woods for safety and the possibility of launching a flank charge...

The Red troops are still all a bit strung out compared to the Blue lines.

Red troops on the right flank begin to press forward towards the orchard.

The end of Turn 4. Pressure mounts on both right wings, with neither side able to make a telling breaktrhough yet.

As the cavalry covers the Blue right flank, the attacks on the sawmill have forced a Red infantry unit back who passed their break test with ease, despite being in a rather poor state.

The Blue positions along the river are coming under sustained fire, especially the artillery who are rather close to breaking.

Blue have had an infantry unit that has had to retreat from the orchard, leaving a small gap in their flank which Red might be able to exploit.

The cavalry clash has gone in favour of Red, who have pursued Blue as they retreat after the first round of combat.

Red are holding on at the sawmill, but only just.

The centre is still happy to hold and pour fire towards the Blue positions by the bridge.

With the orchard vacated, can Red exploit this opportunity?

The end of Turn 5. The pressure begins to tell on Red by the sawmill, as an artillery and infantry unit are forced back 'whipped'. The same happens to Blue on their left flank with an infantry and artillery unit becoming 'whipped' too.

Blue light infantry move to threaten the Red cavalry in the woods as Blue's cavalry looks on.

Blue are in an excellent position by the sawmill as there is only a unit of light infantry defending it now.

Blue has superior numbers across the river from the sawmill which must surely fall soon?

Blue's left is looking vulnerable as two units retreat 'whipped' (yellow dice).

Their is a big gap now on Blue's left flank.

The Red cavalry has defeated their Blue opponents, but have been forced back to reform after the fight.

The sawmill is ripe for the taking.

Red's own 'whipped' units.

The Red right flank moves forward to exploit the gap.

The end of Turn 6. Blue moves its units back on the left flank to try and prevent a breakthrough by Red. At the sawmill some shockingly poor shooting from Blue somehow sees the Red light infantry hold on and only disordered! The Red cavalry turn the Blue left flank and attack the 'whipped' units, as Red advances through the orchard, leading to another unit becoming 'whipped'.

The Blue cavalry moves past the Red on their right flank to try and turn the Red position and threaten the 'whipped' units on the road.

Somehow the Red light infantry survive a storm of lead and shot!

The Blue centre has to offer a refused flank as the position on the left begins to collapse.

The Red cavalry charge the Blue 'whipped' units who are in no real position to offer any meaningful resistance.

The Red cavalry charge in.

Red breaks through Blue's left flank.

An overview of Red's positions at the end of Turn 6.

End of Game

With the Blue left flank gone, 'whipped' units in their rear and Red cavalry ready to create havoc, I called the game at this point, as Blue could no longer offer any meaningful resistance.

Post Game Thoughts

Well that was a cracking game and nice to be throwing dice again in my own dedicated games room. I am indeed a lucky man! Yet again BPII provided a cracking game and whilst I'm sure I made the odd mistake here and there, there was a lot of action and fun being had in the 2 1/2 hours or there abouts of game play. I know they are not everyone's cup of tea, but like any ruleset, used wisely they offer a cracking game, especially for the solo player. So as always some post-match musings:

• The Disorderly Retreat rule came in very useful for both sides, but especially Red, allowing them to vacate positions for fresh troops to fill.
• I did remember to use the Rally rule when I had the chance that certainly kept some artillery units in the game.
• Their was a lot of Disorder this game that hampered both sides pretty equally I thought and added a nice level of friction, stopping units moving or being rallied when you really needed them to.
• I'd not used the 'Whipped' rule before but it was pretty good and certainly added something to the game and felt right for the ACW setting. I need to try some of the other rules from the GH! book to see which ones would work for our CWD game but without adding too much complexity. The 'KISS' principle works well for show games we've found.
• The cavalry worked well when they had the chance and I certainly didn't want to risk them too early and leave my flanks wide open. For the show we will be using them mainly as Mounted Infantry as per the GH! supplement, but might add in the odd purell Light Cavalry for a bit of fun. Some testing needs to be done first though.
• As the games room is North West facing, I found the light to be much better and certainly easier to take photos in. Having space to easily be able access to both sides of the table really did make a difference, as I could see each sides positions and make decisions accordingly, rather than before where I had to try and squeeze in to get a view which was not great. The height of the table was more than our dining table which was great for my back!

What Next?

Well as always after a game time to have a read of the rulebook to get back into the nuances contained therein as well as into gaming itself. With the leaves beginning to turn here it does feel like Autumn is on its way, even though it is early August! 

Alongside more scenario prep and testing, I need to make a start on painting a few more units for the CWD game as well as some scenic items to dress the table and to possibly feature in the game. Again some testing required on some of the dieas I have.

Well I hope you enjoyed that so until next time!

TTFN.