Fred Hubig appeared with what seemed to be a barrelful of 15mm Napoleonics; he indicated he wanted a test run of the game he was to present at the COLD WARS convention. The scenario set up a French attack, a generic French attack, on a ridge line held by the British, a generic ridge with generic British. BLACK POWDER was the rules set, and it has changed mightily since its debut. DESTINY & GLORY was the original name, stylized for the Seven Years War, since faded into oblivion. The finalized format of BLACK POWDER was derived from a set for the ACW described in the December 1991 REVIEW. Fred's variation for Napoleonics was discussed in the following issue and the current BLACK POWDER incorporates a number of changes suggested by previous playtests. I must first note that to set up a game on the Simon ping pong table requires true grit. Our group will deride, denigrate, castigate, mock, taunt, poke fun at, etc. , just about every hole we can find in the rules. Nor do we spare the author, he who chooses to run the gauntlet. No one is spared, no one is above the law... And the law is that, like buzzards, we will pick and gnaw and chew at the carcass... any available carcass. The object of the exercise, of course, is to drive this bold aspiring author over the edge, into temporary insanity, to cause him to burst into tears and break down completely, at which time we surround him and, in a brotherly way, we pat his shoulder: "There, there, little fella, you did your best..." In keeping with our philosophy, we beat Hubig to his knees a couple of times, we almost had him, we surrounded him for the kill... but no! ... Fred is tough, and like the phoenix, he arose to fight on. BLACK POWDER commences each turn with the distribution of two sets of cards: a.The active side is given one Action Card for each division. The card lists five functions: fire, rally, close to contact, advance, change formation. Any unit in the division can perform any one of the actions listed, provided the function is checked. If it is not checked, then no unit in the division is permitted to perform that particular action that turn. Each function has a check mark on about 70 percent of the cards, so that most of the time, you can do pretty much what you like. b.Both sides, phasing and non-phasing, are handed either 2, 4, or 6 Reaction Cards for each division, depending upon the grade of the division commander. These Reaction Cards list five functions which can be targeted against the opposition. For example, one function is "Defensive fire", which can be used to blast away at a charging enemy unit. Another function is "Enemy test morale", which permits the card holder to point at an opposing unit and force it to undergo a morale test. The scope of a side's reaction is limited, in that once a card is played, it is discarded, and is not replenished until the start of the next turn. In the original scheme of things, use of the Reaction Cards was restricted solely to close combat, solely for defensive purposes. In other words, only when the enemy charged home could you play a card and fire, or have him test morale, etc. But when the game was demonstrated at one of the PW meetings, it was decided to "loosen up" on the use of the cards... and so it was decreed that, f or example, a "Defensive fire" card could be used at any time by the non-phasing player during the active player's half of the turn. 'Tis fascinating to me to watch a set of rules develop. A concept is presented via a table top game, and everyone says "This is the greatest thing since sliced bread, so why don't we... ?", the rules structure is broadened as ideas come pouring in, and as each idea is tested... and most jettisoned... the structure narrows again... BLACK POWDER is no exception. Consider the subject of artillery fire. Artillery batteries turned out to be far too powerful in that they could blast away during a side's active phase, and then again during the side's inactive phase by playing a 'Defensive fire', card. Two BOOM's per turn were too much. Each field gun is initially manned by 8 figures, and the chance, P, of causing a casualty at long range is: P = 10 + [ 10 x (No of artillerymen) which gives a basic 90 percent probability-of-hit, pretty much a certainty. Firing twice a turn definitely puts a crimp in the opposition, and firing at short range is even worse, for the probability is doubled. And so, several turns into the game, the defensive fire capability on the Reaction Cards was restricted solely to a defensive reaction in melee. Artillery was the center of another discussion, this one not so much on the rules procedures, as on the philosophy of going BOOM! Fred Haub had placed his British artillery on a hill, and was doing wonderful things to the advancing French infantry, when he asked: "Must I fire at the skirmishers or can I target the massed troops just to the rear of the skirmish line?" This started a half-hour debate. Everyone kicked in his two cents. Someone knowledgeably spoke of plunging fire. Someone knowledgeably mentioned the ricochet effect. Someone, even more knowledgeable, thought that skirmishers were paid to sop up cannon balls, thus protecting the troops behind them. Yet a fourth expert voiced the opinion that roundshot should plough through both types of advancing units. And a fifth savant thought that the dice should be thrown to decide which unit was hit. On and on and on... The center units of the advancing French line were commanded by Bob Hurst. Despite horrendous defensive fire, Bob's boys made it up to the British ridgeline, and Colonel Bob, up for a Marshalls baton, was ready to thwack the Brits unmercifully. The British commander was Brian Dewitt, and General Dewitt had a surprise or two for the unsuspecting French. "Take that!" cried Dewitt, and he played a Reaction Card which stated "Enemy unit test morale". "Easily done", replied Colonel Bob... he tossed the dice... sacre bleu! ... one of his units took off for Paris. "Take that!", repeated Dewitt. . . another card, another morale test, Sacre' bleu! ... another French unit took off. "Take that!", and the episode repeated itself. Colonel Bob saw his Marshall's baton evaporate before his very eyes. End of French attack, end of game. General Dewitt lucked out, as we say, because he happened to draw a number of appropriate Reaction Cards. In playing each card, and in choosing the "morale" option, he had to forego the other options available. one listing, for example, on the Reaction Card is "Bring up a supporting unit", and by selecting "morale", Dewitt was denying his own troops support in the impending melee. He gambled and won. On my end of the field, which constituted the British left flank, Jack Culberson's French charged home against my troops, and I gambled... and lost. I had four Reaction Cards, and I played them all as the first French unit charged in. I fired, I had the French take a morale test, I brought in supporting units, etc. No use. And then, after I had disposed of my cards, 4 in number, a second French unit charged and I was caught with no defensive reaction whatsoever. In my considered opinion, I think the Reaction Card concept is an excellent way of permitting a commander on the field a restricted number of available defensive options. Within his limitations, those imposed by the cards, he does the best he can, selecting those options he feels are most appropriate. At the same time, he must plan ahead - something that I, obviously, did not do, but should have done. Way over on the British right flank, Generals Hubig (French) and Haub (British) were engaging in a series of cavalry melees, when suddenly a discussion arose concerning what I term the Spawning Herring syndrome. As we all know, Spawning Herring invariable know which way is north and which way is south and which way they must travel to spawn properly. General Hubig's cavalry had evidently been beaten, they were about to run away, and General Hubig insisted they be treated the same way as Spawning Herring. Obviously, argued the General, obviously, my cavalry, like the Spawning Herring, instinctively know the proper direction in which to run. And that direction, he continued, is certainly not off the board, but toward my baseline. A close survey of the field and of the situation which precipitated this scientific discussion showed that Haub's cavalry had caught Hubig's horsemen just on the side edge of the table, the "end of the world" as it is known. If the Hubigian cavalry retreated "straight back", then off the field they'd go, out of the game forever. General Hubig didn't like this prospect at all. Once again, an avalanche of wisdom poured forth from the assembled throng. "Off the table!" cried some. "Dice for it!", cried others. My own thought, unvoiced, was that the cavalry should follow along the earth's magnetic lines of force. I think I'll put this in my next set of rules. I must say that General Hubig dominated the discussion. He is a Tall Person to begin with, and he was not going to let his cavalry disappear POOF!, if he had anything to do with it. He argued loudly, he argued vociferously, he advanced the Hubigian Spawning Herring Hypothesis time and time again. He wore down all his opponents. He won. Back to his baseline scampered the Fourth Spawning Herring Cuirassiers, a unit which will go down in history as always knowing the most direct route to its baseline. In melee, BLACK POWDER assigns each troop type a number of points, which I think ranged from 5 for infantry to 8 for heavy cavalry. Then it adds a bunch of 11+21s" for "good things", such as having a second supporting rank, or being elite, or being behind works. This total is multiplied by the number of stands in contact to give the unit's combat points. Each unit then tosses a 10-sided die and multiplies the die roll by its combat points; the winner is the higher product. The losing unit takes 2 "hits", and retreats, in disorder, a distance of 12 inches. The winner takes only 1 hit. A hit effectively puts one stand out of business... it receives a marker and, until it rallies, although it may travel around with its unit, with the Big Boys, it adds nothing to the firing or melee procedures. What the above means is that there are two types of rallying procedures. a.First, a retreating unit must rally from its disordered configuration by passing a morale test. All units have a basic morale level of 80 percent, less 10 percent for every inactive stand. Thus retreating units, with 2 ineffective stands, have a base morale level of 60 percent, and sometimes lower, depending upon whether or not it has taken other hits. b.Second, stands that have received markers must rally, again by having the unit pass a morale test. Morale levels are seen to be fairly low, and the saving factor is that one can risk the brigade commander... he can augment the battalion's morale level by adding up to 20 percentage points. By doing so, however, he places himself at risk - whatever number of morale points he contributes is the percentage that he falls out of the saddle. And if the brigade commander keels over, there's a further penalty. In this case, the brigade cannot use any Reaction Cards for defensive purposes... they can't call on supports, they can't fire defensively, etc. They're fair game until a replacement Brigadier arrives. Remember that the Reaction Cards are assigned to each division... and the division commander, in turn, assigns them to his brigades as appropriate. But only brigades with living, breathing commanders can utilise the cards. As described above, BLACK POWDER is a tactical level "decision" game. One doesn't simply push troops around and hope for the best; there are decisions to be made about how to employ the Action Cards, when to use the Reaction Cards, whether one should toss in a Brigadier to help a unit rally, and so on. I like it. By my stating the above, it may be that I've given BLACK POWDER the kiss of doom... my likes seem to run counter to the likes of Mr. Average Wargamer. And it may never see publication in glossy form with lots of color photos. I'm not sure of how I can make this up to Fred, other than playing another game with him. Back to PW Review March 1992 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1992 Wally Simon This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com