Over the Hills to Germany.

Well John and I finally fought the SYW battle that has been ready for a week. Due to unforeseen circumstances we couldnt get in last week's game. Anyway I commanded in the loosest sense of the word my French and Saxons against the Western allies of Brunswick and Hesse commanded by John.

In order to spice things up? I gave John a brigade of Grenadiers with the ability to rally from disorder on a throw of five. To offset that I allowed the French an extra light cavalry regiment and an extra half regiment of light troops. We also placed four objective markers on the table which contained various victory points but neither of us knew exactly what they were.

I seem to constantly write about my poor dice throws but to be honest they usually balance out through a game. This battle was no different except my command throws were so bad at the start of battle that I was unable to recover from John's ability to position his troops and await my advance.

I was unable to move my brigades for three! moves failing virtually all my command throws even though the commanders were mainly an 8 which is usually pretty good. So the Franco/Saxon advance was erratic to say the least. Move three was especially galling as a threw a double six blunder and watched as my Grenadiers of France and their supports head towards the river and away from where I wanted them.

                                             How not to command one's best troops!

                               My Saxons in a tactical muddle. Meanwhile the Hessians wait.

John decided to keep all his cavalry off table which had me attempting to second guess what he was up to. On my right I managed to throw forward the Polish/Saxon lancers unsupported and watched as they were shot away by John's light troops.The left initially was no better as the Arqubussiers de Grassin simply refused to budge and allowed my poor Saxons get shot up by artillery.

I finally looked like I was making progress as John failed to get his cavalry on the table through poor dice throws and I was able to thrust my centre brigade between his troops.It all looked good for the French after several setbacks.

My attack was then able to wheel left and right to engage John's off balance troops.So far so good.

The beauty of Blackpowder is the 'follow me rule' which can sometimes turn a desperate situation into a winning position. John had managed to get his cavalry on to the table but out of position on his left, meanwhile I had split his centre and just needed to push more troops into the gap. Enter the Duke of Brunswick, the allied commander, who had to take command of his cavalry after their brigadier failed his command throw. Brunswick didnt fail and led a 'follow me' onto my flank.So cuirassiers against French line who couldnt even fire at them.

 Dont be deceived by the 'steady' looking Saxon line. The far right unit was already shaken and the Von Rochow were on the brink.

One 'lucky' volley later and this was the result as both units failed their respective morale tests.

I had managed to get my third Saxon regiment to charge the Brunswickers on the hill, but only by using my brigadier. They still failed to decisively beat them and with the collapse of the brigades morale they were forced to retire.

 With my centre now pushed back and in a confused state, John managed to reorganise all his cavalry ready for the onslaught.

The hessians were by now firmly entrenched in the villages and had occupied the houses filling them with grenadiers.

 So with my left virtually gone, my centre reduced to a 'shaken' state and my right refusing to move forward even though they had forced a brigade of Hessians back, all I had left were my two cavalry brigades to cover the retreat of my shattered infantry. A conclusive victory for the Duke of Brunswick.

Blackpowder as I have described before is very much like Marmite. John and I have tweaked things a little but in essence use the rules as they are. They provide a fun game which sometimes gives a historical feel and at other times a frustrating affair. Yes I failed my key command throws which can be annoying, but to be honest it does make for an exciting game. This was an average size game for us, but contained a decent amount of units, but the game wasnt bogged down and moved along at speed. So a result was easily achieved. The moral of the story is, dont expect my French act in a decisive manner especially if I am in command.