Milton Hundred Wargames Club

Black Powder has been a strange addition to the wargame rule set library. At the time of  writing this I understand that Black Powder has sold over 5000 copies! That in itself is notable, I doubt few other sets of wargame rules other than DBA can make such a claim. And this is part of what makes it so odd, the bool itself is a book and not the more usual magazine style set. It is in hardback and packed with pictures that can only be described as wargames porn; beautifully painted figures in grand, sweeping games. It is an impresive tome to say the least and therefore understandably expensive (RRP £30!), yet even in these tough economic times the rules have been selling like mad. The other odd thing worth mentioning at this point is that the games the rules play are the large, mass figure games reminiscant of a different age, very Grand Manner. It uses 28mm figures as the standard with average sized units of 24 to 30 odd figures, then you will need several brigades of course meaning, potentially, hundreds of figures a side! Once again the tough economic times seem to be forgoten as plenty of wargamers continue to buy these rules to fight with large expensive armies. So why?

I love these rules. They are straight forward, once you have worked your way through the writing style and lack of index, and provide an enjoyable game that can be played out in an evening; even with the huge armies arrayed. Add to this the fact that they are designed to cover a huge two hundred year period, 1700-1900, (sheer madness! I hear you cry) but it actually works. The basic mechanics are very transportable and straight forward but they are briliantly supported by a series of 'bolt on' rules that tweek the abilities of individual units. This is where you will find the rules that can make your units and army better match their historical counterparts, things like Ferocious Charge bonuses or an extra shooting dice First Fire trained musketeers. This is very much a simplified look at a deceptively simple and elegant rule set and I urge those interested to have closer look for themselves. yes, they can be annoying when you are trying to get to grips with them, the rule book is not helpful when you are trying to find a specific answer to a table top question in mid game; but the effort is worth while.

The game is written by people that love to see their figure on the table....lots of them, and they do not like to see those figures being removed piecemeal over the course of the game; so they dont. With Black Powder a unit gains markers to denote damage. All of your painstakingly painted figures remain as units until they break and disapear off the table. This does take a while to get used to but it works well. Units need to accrue three such markers to become shaken. They can receive further markers during a turn as the enemy presses home their attacks but, these only count towards morale tests in the turn they were received and at the end of that turn those extra markers are removed. It all sound quite different to the traditional WRG style rules but they do, in my opinion, provide a much better game.

A good feature of the rules is that author makes a point of telling the reader that the games played are the property of the gamer, an obvious point you would think but too many people become fixated on rules for rules sake. In Black Powder, if you dont like something the author tells you to change it. The game is king here, not the rules; they are only there to assist the game. Whilst the rules advise what the author uses for unit sizes the reader is told to use whatever suits the players. If you want a standard sized unit to be ten figures strong or a hundred, then go with it. As long as the rest of the units match then do what you want. It is quite empowering, and perhaps that is what wargamers used to more traditional and dictatorial rules sets cant get their heads around?

Yes, they are expensive and yes you could well end up buying massive armies, but you WILL get a good game....and it WILL look fantastic too!