Black Powder Rules Battle Report #1 The Battle of Many Mistakes

 Hello,

I have played two battles so far between my Dutch and Bavarian Armies. Both I played solitaire for now as I want to learn the rules, record questions that might come up, and share how it went. I'm enjoying it but I think I'll love it when I get to have a player to play with.

This is actually my 2nd solitaire battle that this report is based on. I called it The Battle of Many Mistakes because as you will see. I made a lot of serious errors. However, war is like that. I'm sure Napoleon would not have interrupted me if he were my opponent.

A note for you. You will see underlined 1's and 6's in the shooting sections. These represent unmodified rolls of 1's and 6's that are always a miss or always a hit.

The Battle of Many Mistakes

Victory Points and Objectives

The bridge: 1 VP

The house 1 VP

each hill 1 VP

each unit that breaks 1 VP for opponent

Terrain

The dirt road also consists of a bridge crossing ther river. 

There are 3 hills. I may have to switch to less tall hills in the future so that I can make the slopes accommodate when the models set on them.

The tan patches represent farm fields and have no effect on movement or cover.

There is a building on the Bavarian side of the river.

The river is impassable except over the bridge.

The Armies

The Bavarians

Bavarians are commanded by COC D'Alegre  (Command 8)

Infantry X: Consists of the Tattenbach, Mercy, and Kurprinz Battalions. Each armed with muskets and bayonets. Brigadier General Bauer (Command 8)

    Hand-to-Hand: 6; Shooting: 3; Morale: 4+; Stamina: 3; Special Abilities: Superbly Drilled, First Fire

Cuirassier Cavalry X: Consists of D'Arco, Wolfsramdorff, and Wieckel Regiments. Each armed with swords. Brigadier General Weber (Command 8)

    Hand-to-Hand: 9; Shooting: 0; Morale: 4+; Stamina: 3; Special Abilities: Heavy Cavalry 1D3

Artillery II: Consists of a single battery of 8lb smoothbore cannons.

    Hand-to-Hand: 1; Shooting: 3-2-1; Morale: 4+; Stamina: 2; Special Abilities: None

Dutch

Dutch are commanded by COC Marlborough  (Command 9)

Infantry X: Consists of the Van Goor, Salisch, and Pallandt Battalions. Each armed with muskets and bayonets. Brigadier General Dekker (Command 8)

    Hand-to-Hand: 6; Shooting: 3; Morale: 4+; Stamina: 3; Special Abilities: Reliable, First Fire

Cavalry X: Consists of Oranje-Friesland, Wurttemberg, and Ginkle Regiments. Each armed with swords. Brigadier General Beekhof (Command 8)

    Hand-to-Hand: 7; Shooting: 0; Morale: 4+; Stamina: 3; Special Abilities: Heavy Cavalry+1, Tough Fighters.

Artillery II: Consists of a single battery of 8lb smoothbore cannons.

    Hand-to-Hand: 1; Shooting: 3-2-1; Morale: 4+; Stamina: 2; Special Abilities: None

The Initiative

The Bavarians rolled a 5. The Dutch rolled a 4. The Bavarians have an opportunity to take the building and bridge if they are fast enough so they decide to go first.

Turn 1

Bavarian Segment

    Command Phase

        Infantry X: Bauer gives a brigade order "Advance to the river and take the building." Command 8 - 7 roll (no modifiers) = 1 move for the brigade. They each move 12". Tattenbach is 1" from the building. Mercy makes it the rivers edge as order to the right of the building. Kurprinz makes it to just before the hill on their left.

        Cavalry X: Weber gives a brigade order "Cross the river" They will all move forward retaining their setup. Command 8 - 5 (no modifiers) = 3 moves! All regiments pass the river as ordered. D'Arco in the front, followed by Wolfsramdorff, followed by Wieckel.

        Artillery stays put. No orders given

        Generals follow their brigades. COC D'Allegre goes to the hilltop with the cannons.

    Shooting Phase

      The only unit that can shoot this phase is the Artillery. The closest enemy is the Oranje-Friesland Cavalry regiment at medium range (right at 24"). shot rolls: 2, 5 = 1 hit!.  The save roll is a 6 - 2 for artillery hit at medium range = no casualty. Cannon ball must have sunk into the ground in front of them to no effect.

    Melee Phase

        There is no melee.

Dutch Segment

    Command Phase

        Cavalry X: Beekhof gives a brigade order, "Wheel to the right and charge!".  Command is 8 - 7 (I made a mistake here. I should have deducted -1 from the command for being within 12" of the enemy. I failed to apply this. Good news, if I did apply the modifier it would have been the same result 7-7=0 1 move). = 1 move. The Oranje-Friesland "Wheels" Right (I know there isn't wheeling per say, it's "turning". It is followed down hill by two other regiments but they don't have enough movement to turn behind the Oranje-Friesland. (Also notice I made another mistake. I didn't move the other cavalry regiment into a wheel which it should have done and the other unit behind it was stuck behind it. I think it is due to being called on my wife's honey-do and came back afterwards and thought I had moved the cavalry from behind the hill confusing it for the infantry. Ugh! Imagine if Marlborough at Blenheim were to be called by his wife back in London to go fetch and fold the laundry. It would have been a disaster the Sun King would have loved. I really botched up this brigade this turn.)

        Infantry X: Dekker gives a brigade order "Flank the cavalry to shoot. Move past the hill." Command is an 8 - 9 roll (no mods) = -1 no moves! However, oh joy! Marlborough is within 12" of Dekker and can give him an order. Re-roll! command 9 - 7 roll (no mods) = 2 moves! The infantry pass the hill and turn to flank the Bavarian cavalry. However, the space between the units is more than 6" after each one wheels. I wonder how this will work out?

    Shooting Phase

        Artillery II: The Dutch cannons can fire on the D'Arco cavalry to the front. However, 1/2 of the unit is within a 6" dead zone firing over its own infantry battalion (my own unit is close to me by 6" too so I should not have been able to shoot. I did this three times in the game). I'm making a judgment call here and saying the target is unclear at medium range. 2 shots modified results = 1; 3 = 2 misses.

    

        Infantry X: The Pallandt Battalion has 2 enemy cavalry at equidistance to it. It chooses the front most unit, the D'Arco cavalry. (This was really bad mistake on my part. I should have fired on the Wolframsdorff regiment directly facing the commander and it would have been an enfilading fire attack with double the dice or at least reroll my misses, I'm still figuring that rule out! My bad). Shots fired 3 + 1 First Fire shot. Also get +1 for close range. Modified rolls are: 1; 3; 3, 6: 1 hit and disorder! Save roll (no mods) is a 5. No casualties.

            Melee Phase

                No melee.

Turn 2

Bavarian Segment

    Command Phase

        Cuirassier Cavalry X: D'Arco is in disorder and cannot receive orders. Weber orders the Wolfsramdorff regiment in the middle of his brigade to "Pass through the D'Arco regiment and charge the cannons!". Weber's Command is 8 - roll of 10=-2 Fail! The order is not understood so Wolfsramdorff stay put. Furthermore, The Wieckel regiment cannot get an order either due to failed roll. 

        Infantry X: Bauer continues to give his "Advance to the river order." to his regiment. 8 command -1 for being 12" from enemy = 7 - 6 roll = 1 move! Tattenbach takes the building. Mercy was already at the river so they stood put. Kurprinz passes the hill and lines up to the right of Mercy.

        Shooting Phase

            The Artillery II fires on the Oranje-Friesland cavalry. Oops! It should not have happened. The Kurprinz infantry is within 6" of the gun barrel. It should have not been able to fire overhead .It's very close and half the unit is in the "dead zone" for artillery firing over head their own unit. However, the other half of the cavalry is in medium range. The range is medium at about 14" but they are firing over their own Kurprinz regiment so there is a -1 penalty. It gets 2 shots at -1 each: rolls after modifications are 3, and 5(from a 6 so disorder!). = 1 hit! The Oranje-Friesland get a save roll but at -2 being hit by artillery at medium range. They roll a 3-2=1. This is less than the 4+ it needs to save. One casualty is scored on the Oranje-Friesland and disorder.

        Mercy battalion on the Oranje-Friesland battalion. They have 3 dice and an extra dice first fire. The unit is also at close range. Not only that. Kurprinz is enfilading the cavalry. They get double the dice! They are not going to make the mistake the Dutch made earlier. 6 shots plus a first fire extra shot = 7 shots at +1 = modified rolls are 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 6 (I underlined the 5's that became 6's). This is 7 hits! (Question: The BP 2nd Edition rules read to take away the double dice rolls in place of rerolling misses. However, the chart in those rules still shows the double dice for enfilading. Is the chart in error?) Ouch! Devastating blow! The cavalry get 7 saves, no modifiers: 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 6 =  3 casualties. It is also now shaken.

            Tattenbach is able to fire from it's building into the Van Goor infantry. The unit is in close range. They will only get 2 shots for the one side of the building. It is interesting to note that the Tattenbach leader is facing straight down the middle of the enemy line. Hmmm. Can a unit in a building enfilade? I'll ask later but for now I'm saying "no" They seem just like skirmishers to me. 2 shots at close range are a 4 and 5 modified. 2 hits! 2 saves are rolled unmodified: 1 and 5 = 1 casualty is made. Oops! I forgot that Tattenbach could have gotten first fire. That wasn't taken.

            Break Test! The Oranje-Friesland is shaken. It has excess casualty of 1 over it's stamina (3 from the Mercy battalion and 1 from the artillery). It has -3 negative modifiers: -1 excess casualty, -1 disordered, -1 suffered artillery casualty. The break test roll is a 6-3=3. The Oranje-Friesland has been destroyed! Although. If the artillery rule had been followed properly the unit would not have had to make a break test and would not of been removed.

        Melee Phase

            No Melee. The D'Arco regiment removes its disorder.

    Dutch Segment

        Command Phase

            Infantry X: Dekker orders the Pallandt Battalion to face the building from the river bank. Command is 8 with (It is reliable but also within 12" of enemy so modifiers cancel each other out) - 6 roll - 2 moves! Order is followed. 

            Salisch is next ordered by Dekker to face the D'Arco Cavalry. Command 8 +1 reliable = 9 - 6 = 2 2 moves! Success.

            Van Goor holds its ground. They're going to take advantage of enfilading fire they missed in the first turn.

             Cavalry X: Beekhof orders his brigade to form his regiments in line in front of D'Arco and behind the Salisch infantry battalion. Oops! another error. According to the proximity rule, the units should have only been able to go forward or back in their front/rear quarters. These units went completely to their sides. Command 8 unmodified - 6 roll = 2 moves. Success!

            

(you may notice that Mercy is marked with a first fire marker that had already been used. I removed it after I took this picture).

        Shooting Phase

            Pallandt fires on Tattenbach. They get 3 shots and First Fire, 4 shots total. -1 one for Tattenbach being an unclear target in a building. modified they are a 1, 1, 4, 6. That's 2 hits and disorder! 2 saves with +2 for being in a building. modified rolls are both 6's. No casualties.

            Van Goor fires straight down the line of Wolfsramdorff. Enfilade! Van Goor takes 6 shots (according to the BP 2nd Ed. Chart which is most likely in error, I suspect).  It also gets +1 on the rolls for close range. The modified Results are: 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, and 6. That's 3 hits with disorder. 3 saves are rolled without modifiers. They are all 2's. 3 casualties and the Wolfsramdorff is shaken!

            Salisch fire's on D'Arco. They get 3 shots and First Fire for 4 shots total. They also get +1 for close range. Modified results are 2, 2, 3, 3 = 4 misses. Oh, what horrible shots these guys are. 

            Artillery fires on D'Arco (again it shouldn't have happened for infantry being in front of the guns within 6") It gets 2 shots for medium range. It has a -1 modifier for being an unclear target firing within a less than 6" gap. Modified rolls are 3 and 6. That's 1 hit with disorder. 1 save is rolled -2 for being hit by artillery at medium range. the modified result is a 0. 1 casualty is made to D'Arco.

            Break Test! Oops! should not have been taken. The Wolfsramdorff cavalry regiment is shaken but has not yet suffered and excess casualty. Just the same. The test was taken. A 7 is rolled -1 = 6. The unit held it's ground.

Battle Over

Aw, shucks! 10:30pm. I have to work tomorrow. So, I'm ending my game. Let's see how it worked out.

Bavarians: Hold building, hill, and river crossing. They also destroyed a regiment of cavalry = 4 victory points.

Dutch: They hold 2 hills = 2 victory points.

The Bavarian's won but who is to say if the battle went on longer.

I hope my report can help your game play. Please feel free to comment.