Club Night - Some 1815 Action

Yesterday evening at Maelstrom Games Quinton and I gave an introductory game of Black Powder to Mick, Steve and Pete.

Now, Mick, Steve and Pete are not Napoleonic Greenhorns, they already play a lot of Sharp Practice and have an extensive collection of 28mm Napoleonic figures. You'll see a lot of new troops in the images below.

We set up a couple of roughly equal forces, the French were:

• Divisional Commander: CV8
• Brigade Commander: CV7
• 4 Light Infantry
• 1 Foot Battery
• Brigade Commander: CV7
• 4 Line Infantry
• 1 Foot Battery
• Brigade Commander: CV7
• 4 LineInfantry
• Brigade Commander: CV7
• 2 Hussars
• Brigade Commander: CV Unknown - these were not committed
• 1 Dragoons
• 1 Cuirassier
• 1 Horse Battery

The British and Allies were:

• Divisional Commander: CV9
• Brigade Commander: CV7
• 1 Line Infantry
• 1 Rifles
• 1 Prussian Landwehr
• 1 Foot Battery
• Brigade Commander: CV8
• 3 Highland Infantry
• Brigade Commander: CV8
• 2 Line Infantry
• 1 Small Rifles
• 1 Foot Battery
• Brigade Commander: CV8
• 2 Line Infantry
• 1 Small Rifles
• 1 Foot Battery
• Brigade Commander: CV8
• 1 Line Infantry
• 1 Prussian Landwehr
• 1 Small Light Infantry
• 1 Foot Battery
• Brigade Commander: CV7
• 1 Heavy Dragoons
• 1 Light Dragoons
• 1 Hussars

Steve and Pete would take the British and Allies and would be aided by Quinton, Mick and I would take the Frenchmen.

The command values were done by rolling a D6 on a 1-4 a Brigade Commander was a 7 and a Divisional Commander an 8 and on a 5-6 were an eight and a nine respectively. As you can see the French rolled poorly for this and the British very well.

Steve, Pete, Mick & Quinton in the pre-game preamble. It's all sweetness an light now.

The British opened up in true fashion and their Heavy Dragoons charged straight into a unit of French Hussars on the first turn. The Hussars recoiled shaken and the Heavy Dragoons pursued into them only to lose the combat badly, roll really low and be removed.

Gentlemen, I give you today's fox

And then I hit him like this

The French beat the British to occupying the village on the British left, this tied up a lot of British troops trying to clear it.

"And your mother smelled of elderberries"

The French were still holding this town at the end of the game.

The 95th Rifles pour fire into the village.

The British Cavalry was eventually broken by the French Hussars. In the center six British Battalions were up against eight French and the numbers were soon telling.

Hold fast my brave laddies

The British center and right flank soon collapsed leaving the French to take the day.

Valiant French Hussars

The British Center under pressure.

At the end of the game three British brigades had been broken to a single French one. The French had carried the day.

I hope that Steve, Mick and Pete had a good first game of Black Powder with us.