Black Powder for First Carlist War

So I promised at the weekend to add more photos and let you know how I thought the rules played.

Carlist General

 First thing to say is that I do like Black Powder and in particular think they suit the First Carlist War with the mix of troops and generals concerned. Some of the guys I game with have had less happy things to sy about the rules but have persevered non the less. The most recent game has allowed me to see where we might make small changes to improve the flow of the game. 

 Isabelino Grenadiers of the Guard

 

The first thing we discussed was the potential for units to march up to an enemy volley them and with a good first round simply destroy before they can do anything at all, the defender remaining passively standing by whilst they are marched upon and destroyed. This didn't actual happen in the game (except to a Carlist gun that was wiped out before it could fire) but is none the less a concern.

Provincial Guard Grenadiers

 

 Our simple answer to this problem is to ensure units fire before they move. It will be interesting to see how this pans out, it will allow units to march up to close range, taking casualties along the way and follow a close range volley with a charge. A tactic often used by the Carlists, the British in the AWI and the Swedes in the Great Northern War. I will let you know how we get on with this one in particular.

Foreign Legion Mountain Gun

The next question was the orders section. Most Generals have a rating of 8. Needing an 8 or 7 to get one move, a 6 to get 2 moves then  5-1 gets 3 moves whilst a 9-12 gets none at all or a blunder. This feels dramatic at both ends you are far more likely to get no moves or 3 than to just get one or two moves. I don't have all the answers but there are a couple of things we will try. Firstly making it more likely to move once or twice so 8-7-6 move once and 5-4 move twice. Then considering higher staff ratings so no moves is slightly less often. I have also introduced the rule that if in attack column a unit always gets one order.

Carlist Grenadiers Courtesy Chris Charlton

Isabelino Guards Brigade

Navarese Guides above and Below 

The last thought then was around Brigade moral. Currently this kicks in at 50%. This is fine if a brigade is 3 battalions as 2 will have gone before the third follows. But with two battalion brigades or a brigade with a small cavalry contingent these could become very brittle. This is more about how I approach a scenario. So for future I may use two battalion brigades but only where I want them to be particularly brittle. For attached small cavalry units these will mostly not count towards brigade morale.

Legion Lancers in front of provincial Militia 

The Legion Advances with Elan 

 Legion Lancers charge the flank of the Carlists

Madrid Volunteers from Chris Charlton Collection 

Marinos lancers clash with Isabelino Line cavalry 

The Navarese brigade sees off the guard cavalry

Other than that we all agreed the rules played very well indeed. We will play again in early June where we can test the amendments and share with you on the blog.

 

Carlist Mountain gun 

The Navarese Brigade 

 Alavese marching out of the town.

The table at the start of the game 

Alavese holding the town

 British Legion from Mark Stimpson's collection

Urban Militia

That's it for now, hopefully back onto the Great Northern War next. Nearly completed my next unit of Swedes and a unit of Cossacks so watch this space.