Van den Geest: 1402 - Early Black Powder

Well you know I rave about Black Powder, I'm truly a convert, but given the rules genesis in a fantasy battle system essentially presenting medieval warfare I did wonder how far back it was possible to push the rules.

At the recent ACW game, a visit from Pat of the Harrogate club suggested to me the potential to try the rules in a much earlier time frame.

And so I mused some rules for the High Medieval period, and myself and Ross gave them a try.

More on the stats and so on later, but as for the game it seemed to work rather well. I introduced some tweaks to the command system to make the generals less able and brigades form closer. The armies were my French and Flemish troop - far more even handed opponents than the medieval machine gun that is the English longbow army!

A mass of French spears and crossbows advanced on the Flemish pike, whilst their Knights made slow work of the Flemish mounted Sergeants who were supported by a lone cannon.

In the push of pike it was mixed fortunes with the largest Flemish unit breaking swiftly, but the others proving more than a match for the French. In the end reserves and flank attacks proved telling.

At the end of the battle, the French had three of their four brigades broken whilst the Flemings only had one formation broken. Though it had been close at many points.

It served to show that with sensible amendment the rules could cover this period too! A marvellous result.

Now I hear you asking, how did I go about this? Fair enough I should tell you.

Tomorrow ;-) ...