Friday, 2 November 2012

1796 Black Powder Napoleonic French vs Austrian Game or......

.....the battle of the Church and the Brothel!

Some of the Rejects turned up at Richard's for a gaming day with myself, John and Postie attending (no Ray as he was working:D), Richard started the day with an early Napoleonic game with the French attacking an area for some rest and relaxation at a house of negotiable virtue and the Austrians needing some spiritual sustenance at the local church (maybe they had already been to the house of ill repute!) and both sides stood in each others way!

I had never played the Black Powder rules before but had heard good things, there were two brigades per side plus artillery and skirmishers with the Austrians having more infantry and the French heavier in cavalry.

Let the shenanigans begin and we played in Richards basement were the lighting and my camera pictures were a little poor......

The French side of the table....

....and the church seeking Austrians side.

The house of ill repute and ladies of negotiable virtue.....

........a little bit of religion.

Austrian columns......

....ready to march!

Austrian skirmishers outside the brothel......
French cavalry......

...lots of French cavalry!


The French columns prepare for attack....

Napoleon himself, first consul at this stage I believe?

....and off we go.....

Straight into Austrian dragoons....

...and some great tactics later......

.......the cavalry break the Austrians and spot an Austrian column.....

........it didn't go well for the column, the second column formed square........

In the Black Powder rules do not and I repeat do not attack squares.......

Bloody thing...so I brought up artillery....cue maniacal laughter!

The French regiments form line and advance

"The brothel is in site my children"......

The Austrians and French exchange fire, the French are getting hammered.....

The Austrian square had to roll 8 or less to survive on 2D6 and continue the game due to artillery fire but the Austrians roll a 9......and the French win!

I believe if the game had continued the French would have had some dodgy dice rolls in their future but a win is a win, the rules were good fun but brutal as units only take 3 hits before break rolls can happen and a D6 in firing causes disorder on the units receiving the fire...and quick (the game took two hours)....

....so we had time for a game of something else and I will post pictures of that in a few days.

47 comments:

  1. Some nice pieces there. I think the lighting added to the ambience.

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  2. Sounds like a fun game - nice table & figures BTW. Trust you rewarded the boys with a few extra Sous to spend at Madame's Maison d'Shag!

    Cheers,
    Doc

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  3. Looks like you had quite a bloody fight - Black Powder battles often depend on lucky dice rolls, but the rules are fast, easy and fun so who cares? :-)

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  4. Sounds like another grand time and some great set ups too.

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  5. The French...won? I guess it's true that they will do anything for a nice lady.

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  6. Great looking game! I do like black powder good easy fun set of rules

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  7. Nice figs, scenery and a fun report.

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  8. I have heard both good and bad things about "Blackpowder" and as I have yet to try it myself I am unsure. Reading between the lines you seem to have enjoyed it, so I may have a closer look. Glad you enjoyed the game, shame Ray was not present to beat. But as you say a win is a win.

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  9. Poor Ray. Stuck at work while you had all the fun! LOL

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  10. Looks a good game!! Shame I missed the chance to beat you .........again!

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    Replies
    1. You haven't beaten ANYONE in ages monkey boy!

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    2. He beat me but we were on the same side...

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  11. hope the brothel won :) I like those houses, brilliant work!

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  12. Excellent game. Seems the 1796 is becoming very popular again..... I have been running General Bonaparte's early battle scenarios this year. Excellent paint work and the game theme made for fun reading.

    Michael aka WR

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  13. RALLY AT THE WHOREHOUSE!!! RALLY AT THE WHOREHOUSE!!! Nice game there. Im also glad you posted on 'Eastern Time'!

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  14. Nice looking game. I do enjoy a BB game!

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  15. Fun looking game with great armies. I'm happy to hear you liked the rules too. Best, Dean

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  16. Nice looking battle all the Bells and whistles...
    Cheers
    paul
    PS...wasn´t the titel Consul invented in 1799? He was a member of the directory previous...?

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    Replies
    1. Just went on information I found on the web, I will check!

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  17. "Black Powder" is really very fast, and fun also. Very interesting the AAR, Fran.

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  18. Nice pics you have here Fran. That shot you got head on of the advancing cavalry units is really, really good.

    Glad you got to have a spot of fun during the week!

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  19. It's a good thing Napoleon had that hill to stand on to make up for his stature.

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  20. Very nice AAR Fran !

    Black Powder as Hail Caesar are absolutely some of my favourite rules !

    Best regards Michael

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  21. Good write up, like the figures, love the period!
    Dave

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  22. Very interesting report. The early Revolutionary Wars are a very attractive period, somewhat negleted by waragmers in favour of the Imperial period

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  23. That looks like it was an epic battle!

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  24. Very nice Fran! Your pictures are great, as your minis...as your interesting buildings...no pictures of the inside of the first building?
    Best,
    Phil.

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  25. Enjoyable battle report. I was surprised to see a commanding officer in front of his troops waving and pointing they way to battle. Must be a rookie.

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  26. Wonderful looking pics Fran! I'm a huge fan of Black Powder rules because I can play my toys and not the rules which is important to me. I also like how the rules can handle small up to huge games without a hitch.

    Christopher

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  27. Great report, now where did I put my copy of Black Powder?

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  28. Great report and photos Fran. Looks and sounds like a fun game.

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  29. Sounds like a great afternoon out. The game looked very nice. Overall, how did you like the rules?

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  30. Looks like a lot of fun. And a lot of hard fighting just to be first in line at the house of ill repute

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  31. Great looking game and lovely figs! I always preferred the early Napoleonic period.

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  32. Great to see you getting some BP gaming in, and appear to have enjoyed the game? :-)

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  33. Mf, that church. I mean the rest of the board, all the pieces are really fine, but there's something about well done buildings that gets me.

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  34. Great looking game angry. BP is a good game.

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  35. Very nice looking game. Attractive figures and buildings as well.

    John

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  36. Nice report and pictures! Thanks for sharing!

    Wonderfull painted figures BTW!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.be/

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