im only 12 and you guys puled me into wargaming so thank you

I love black powder . At this point in my life with limited time I can play very large group games in a evening and complete them. Great review and I can understand how you feel about the set. Another great review, keep up the awesome content.

Do a review of the v2 for Black Powder and some of the expansion-esc rulebooks please!

Black Powder is an excellent multiplayer game. You can get a bunch of people together and easily fight out a battle with a result in three hours.

I personally like the rules and play them for multiple periods, but I can understand where the review is coming from. It is not a simulation, but a set of rules that allow you to get in the fighting early and have an end in a session of play. I like the bit at the end from the fans of the game. I honestly don't believe there is any ruleset that is loved by everyone and that is OK. Lord knows many of us had to struggle with Empire 2 back in the day. Keep up the great Channel!

In my younger days, I could not see how one set of rules could cover 200 years. Surely, to reflect the nuances of a particular era, Rules had to be more or less conflict specific? Then, as I got older, when I wanted to war-game after a hard and stressful day at work, I just wanted an easy to remember rule set that would allow me to wargame virtually any conflict within the Horse & Musket era and not do my head in with yet another period specific rule system. After all, isn't flesh, blood and mindset the same throughout time? And don't Ancient and Medieval rules cover much wider periods? Quite frankly, I don't want to have to remember about a dozen set of rules. For my limited wargaming, 3 or 4 at any one time is enough. And so, that's when I started to see the benefits (for me) in having one system like BP and Field of Battle which you could adjust to take account of evolving weapon technology and tactical thinking. Even though I have purchased one, I don't like the expensive supplements either but, let's face it, we don't have to buy these and can simply apply our own amendments based on our own research and theories. Another advantage for rules that cover wider periods is the savings you can make in only having to buy one set compared (as if we wargamers would do that, mind you) to buying multiple sets of rules for every specific conflict. Anyhoo, enjoyed the review. Thanks.

We play Black Powder a lot, primarily because we can get a big bunch of toys on the table and play it in two hours. But i'll be the first to say that the rules have some really clunky things in it. There are rules in there that scream out as being totally bonkers. We've house ruled the balls out of it and still play it a lot. However... Warlord make looooads of mistakes. The new rulebook is riddled with mistakes as well which is a real shame. But totally agree that its a blank canvas game... which at 50 bucks a shot is actually steep on reflection.

I've enjoyed a game or two with Black Powder, but it was the scenario that I enjoyed, not the rules.

Great set of rules. One of my favourites

If it’s stupid but it works then it’s not stupid. Despite all its generic nature I’ve found BP gives an enjoyable game. It’s a toolbox.

I would be fascinated to see what you all think of The Battlegroup set of rules.

They just launched a 2nd edition and you reviewed the first!

Totally agree. People often defend it as ‘ a toolbox’ system that allows you to tweak. But £50 for a product you have to rewrite? The rulebook layout is atrocious also for all its prettiness - though to be fair I dislike rules where all the rules aren’t in one section but spreads it between fluff. To me It was just an unfinished marketing product, giving you options to buy Supplements at £25 a piece that are also really not worth it. £75 for a product you have to rewrite isn’t good value for me. The other interesting thing of note is that people mainly play Napoleonics with it and it’s probably The least accurate period for it! To add some positive comments to not make me sound like a b**ch, I think the movement rules were quite good and surprising. Suddenly having a brigade march across the entire table can really speed a game up and take everyone by surprise. The blunder system can also lead to some nice battlefield moments.

Much of Black Powder's Grand Scale reflects the authors being major figure manufacturers. I play in 6mm and half distance measurements.

Hi Little war, love your posts / videos. Could explain how the dice work in Black power games please

It’s a great system for what it is. A somewhat generic fast play immersion into the era without a lot of cumbersome rules that try to replicate actual historic events. The author openly admits this, and invites players to add whatever layers of chrome they’d like to however. But as is, it’s fast and fun just as intended.

Great review

I disagree, I love Black Powder because its one rule system for my Napoleonic games, Civil War, American Revolution, Zulu Wars, and even use it for WW1. I just modify the rules a bit for each period and they even make supplemental books for each of those periods (except WW1) that focus on that period although they aren't required. The rules are easy to learn to teach new players, and I can fight battles in one afternoon and still get the feel of the period and have fun as well.

We use centimeters, not inches, and use 10mm figures,which makes for a far more manageable table top, and you can get more units on. For specific periods we put in period specific rules. The rules themselves are sort of Napoleonic, and we just amend that with period rules.

I agree 100%..Thanks guys, for not sugar coating!

Personally I like the rules - pretty easy to pick up and have a fun game. Definitely not the best if you want high end gaming but we play pickups and scenarios in our club for various BP periods and usually good fun games are had by all. I never understand the sniffyness against any rule set deemed to be like Warhammer and other GW systems. If they are fun and you enjoy them great. If not choose one of the myriad of other rules out there

I think you hit the nail on the head with this one. I, personally, think this is an ideal set of rules for a gaming group because you really need the expansions to get the historical flavour which incur additional cost but if bought by a gaming group the cost borne by subs rather than one person. The main advantages are it is quick to learn, especially for newcomers, and you can use it to play a wide period (with expansions) without have learn twenty different rules sets. Also, if you like writing scenarios that are less mainstream you can use them to make really interest campaigns come to life, I have a setup for the Vendee Rebellion and Chouan Wars which being able to make you own units really comes in to its own.

Could you make a video on what are and using the 20 rules you think you can use suggested I'd be really interested in that, thanks

Ive seen the interview w/ Rick Priestly and at least once he said himself, "its the same game" (1st - 2nd) just a few rules/situations have been "tightened down" IIRC. I have to really agree, $48 is pretty steep to me just for rules. BUT.. they does, for better or worse, it covers a variety of theaters and a fairly wide time period. Both a +/- for the game if you will. All in all, I'd say "yes" from a playing to have fun point of view, but 'no' If you really want a Historical rule sys.

Great video. Thank you. I would like to get the best, thin, and fun set of rules for AWI. Again, thank you for the video. Paul

Great review. Very thoughtful, and intelligent appraisal. The Warlord rules are very much style over content (but I think they infer that in the introductions anyway) but they are responsible for the recent surge of interest in historical gaming.

I'd really like to see a video about Blucher. I played it at a convention last year and it got me interested into historical wargames And possibly starting the hobby as a whole. I've been loving your channel so far so I'd be happy to see your opinions of it.

Love the review. Like the rules and disagree with some of the opinions but understand why you think that way.

I play modified rules with my friends when we have more time and want more realistic battles. We move all at once but shooting is back and forth and charging is at the end with an all-at once mentality. Units declare charges, all closing fire is resolved then we actually fight out charges. We do some things a little different, everything is game-turn effects for example. However, this definitely makes the game longer as armies don’t break at once.

I know a few paid for them but did any see you could freely download the rules a few months ago? I got Hail Cesar, Pike and Shot, and Black Power which was a nice way to see the rules. There all 1st editions but enough to get started.

You got this out just in time for the Black Powder 2nd Edition release 😁 I have to agree with much of what you said, but even so it's a set of rules I thoroughly enjoy. Using the characteristics, you can create units that will give an adequate 'feel' for a given battle/period, but yeah, you have to figure out what those are for yourself. It's usually my go to set for Convention games, because as you point out, it's a very easy set of rules to learn and get comfortable with. After about 15 minutes of explanation if there are any complete beginners, I usually find the players are running the game themselves by turn 2 or 3. It won't satisfy any hardcore gamer and the authors don't claim that it will. The game is exactly what they present and what you said. A good set of rules for when you want to roll dice and move models. As to scales: COMPLETELY agree. The authors are blessed with a gaming area that is more like a temple to war gaming it seems, and good for them. For those of us who have to contend with a "standard issue" (thanks 40k) 4'x6' table at the local game store, wedged in amongst the D&D groups and MtG players, playing Freeman's Farm on a fraking 12'x8' table just will never happen. One of the first community mods that came out for it were actual sensible distance scales for the unwashed masses. I'm a bit depressed now that I've written that. Any room in your club? Anyway, despite it's warts, I do enjoy Black Powder. If you have a gaming group that isn't especially interested in the horse & musket era (my group, conicidentally. I'm the only die hard fan of the era.) Black Powder is a good way to get your 7YW/AWI/Napoleonic/ACW fix since it is so easy and approachable.

Great content guys! Greetings from Allen Smith Gaming....new fanboy.....lol

Out of curiosity, just how flexible are force creation rules? Is it GW-esque army lists, or more generic? For example, if I wanted to play games during the Great Northern War (a conflict not listed on Warlord's site), could I build armies with Black Powder, or would I have to look elsewhere (Know Baccus sells a set)?

VERY GW move ;) Glad I found your channel, historicals calling...

I wish you'd been able to cover one of the supplements in a period you're both familiar with to see if it tuned the rules to a more satisfactory set.

Somehow bounced back to this old review :-) To be fair "rolling dice and moving miniatures" was exactly Rick Priestley's design goal according to interviews and the foreword (at least in 2nd edition). Still everything you said in this review is correct and justified from a historical gamer's point of view :-)

I really like Fire and Fury. Napoleonic and civil war games are really fun and great.

I have given up on any Warlord Games historical rules. From Hail Caesar to Bolt Action. As newbie gamers the rules are fine but for serious historical gamer the rules lack.

It seems like even though it “can” be used for a multitude of periods, the Napoleonic period is the “core” period it is intended to emulate-whether it does that well or not is a different question-and the other periods are modded from the Napoleonic base.

I started war-gaming in the early 70s as a young teen. I got busy with other stuff as I got older. I looked at the hobby again in the 80s and found that the word 'game' had been replaced by the word 'simulation'. It had all got very serious..... Now 2020, I am playing again (with myself, hehe) and have rejuvenated my 15mm armies (very very basic by today's standards), sadly my ex-wife gave away my Airfix soldiers and models 30 years ago. But what I find fascinating is that all these glossy rules are basically just those put forward in numerous books by Donald Featherstone in the 60s and 70s with the odd tweak here and there! Is such regression the key to success for this hobby?

Wish I had seen this before I brough BP and the Rebellion Supplement 😂 thankfully I got it in PDF format so it came to nearly half the price of both books. Honestly it is just to get me into Wargaming. I am 30 and I am just starting out. BP seems a common rule set played by most. Once I get to grips with the basics I can branch out. I love this channel and I love your table top games with the Battlefield Tour and then the battle itself 👍 keep up the great work. I'll be sure to watch your other reviews on rulesets. If you have any recommendations on AWI rulesets it would be greatly appreciated. My first two Armies will be the Battle of Trenton, Second Trenton and Princeton in 10mm, so the two armies over the 3 battles 😂 most of my focus will mainly be on AWI but I would like to do a Napoleonic Waterloo 3 Armies and a scaled down Gettysburg ACW Army way in the future. Maybe the French and Indian or Seven Years War I may do at some point after my first 3 projects but I hope to do multiple battles in the AWI throughout my time as this is by far my favourite War to study, even though I am British!

I’ve never played games like this but I’m looking for an American revolution game like this that is fun and with pre made figures because I’m bad at painting. Do you have any recommendations?

My business partner and i write wargames rules, we love the ACW period and have huge 10mm armies. I personally, really enjoy the Pike and Shotte rules, so thought i'd enjoy BP too, i bought the Glory Hallelujah supplement, put together a scenario that we had played often with our own rules and invited Patrick over to play... We got to turn 3... Patch refused to continue playing and i was pretty much at my limit too... These rules suck, lol

Hey guys, a good review. I enjoy the games n most rule sets.I ve purchased a few and so far I ve enjoyed them. Yet, I feel the games in general are rather player friendly n not to detailed. Is this a design decision? I would like your opinions of my all time most recommended Napoleonic rule set, Valmy to Waterloo. Sadly the set is out of print at this time. The rules n charts are so well written, the " cheat sheet" clearly moves the subsections along and Historical accuracy is paramont. Tactics of the period will prevail over just modern players. I hope you all can find a copy . Thanks for all the wonderfull effort.

I feel like a lot of their criticisms are answered by the supplements and 2nd edition, but I can see how the added expense would put one off.

I just found your site, did a bing watch over the 4th. Because of my blueray player I can watch KZfaq on my TV. You guy have a great formula, watch out for the haters in the comments. I'd love a full program on your opinions of FOW, Battle front, bolt action, and the like. Something in dept, very much how you review rules. Thanks for the fun so far, I really enjoy watching the posts.

Do a review of Warlord Games Black Seas rules please!

I've recently got into Napoleonic Austrians there is something so interesting about the ornateness of the period, Im painting the Perry miniatures Austrians and they are brilliant. I'm thinking about black powder but what other napoleonic rulesets would you recommend?

I agree with "most" of what was said in the review. I probably would have been a bit more harsh. But, you should check your math. In the final tally Steve and Zach gave the same numbers in each category but one ended with a score of 77 and the other had a score of 83. Minor typo but it does lower the overall score a tad.

You guys should check out Great War Salvo! The Third Edition. It is a WWI naval game and it is really fun.

Very late response. Thanks for the informative review. Just getting back into the hobby after 25 years, and heard a lot about Black Powder. I guess I'll stick with Fire and Fury unless you guys have a better plan for ACW.

never been so disappointed after buying a rule set sorry glossy mag, the cavalry rules are ridiculous.. Overall, a slap in the face for gamers , how many supplements can one rule set birth?

You pretty much summed up why I haven't become an adherent of this system and didn't buy it, though I love the historical period it covers.

So if you only rate BP as a 5 for mechanics... what rules do you rate as significantly higher?

Would you guys recommend this game for a 72 year old newbie to wargaming?

Just stumbled on this channel last night and I think I've found a new hobby I'd love to take up. Idk if you guys will see this, but as someone who's never done wargaming before, how do I get into this? Do I really have to spend hundreds (!!!!) per year to wargame? Thanks for the great content!

In a way, Black Powder seems almost like a gateway game to Historical Wargaming for fantasy and sci-fi wargamers. I know as someone who started out in Warhammer 40,000 and became very used to GW's way of things (for better and for worse), Black Powder's rules feel very familiar and approachable when compared to more in-depth systems.

I'd like to know, have you guys ever played "Land of the Free", the Osprey AWI period rules and if so, "What do you think of them?"

This is a game but it is not a tactical simulation of the any of the periods covered by the rules. These guys reviewing it refer to the Warmaster system which I am unfamiliar with, but you can go back even further to Wargames Research Group's Horse and Musket 2nd Edition rules of the 1970's - 1980's which this is a simplified version of. The only thing that gives this game any historical flavour are the figures you play with, it is totally devoid of any tactical nuance from any of the periods of warfare it covers and some of the basic formations are more for look than historical accuracy. That said, I think it is OK as a game but pretty hopeless as a tactical simulation, I imagine it makes the creators a lot of money just like games made by Games Workshop did and I would estimate that is the main reason these have been written and all the add-ons created. The review given bythese two is in my opinion quite fair and accurate.

What might anyone from Little Wars or the comments recommend for AWI or Napoleonic Wars in this case? I have rank and file crusader, and I'm interested in the osprey games like rebels and Patriots if those are any good

How is it possible to even reach into the middle of an 8ft table ?

Planning on a review of warlords acw epic system? I'd like to jump into acw and have zero interest in painting anything anymore. The concern is a rule set. Nice figures dont overcome crap rules but great rules negate (for the most part) well painted figures IMO at least...thanks guys. Keep up the great work!

My first comment after checking these rules out for myself was "HOW many miniatures? HOW big a table?" Beautiful eye-candy, but not for me as a gamer.

Only just come across your reviews. I've never really seen BP as a 28mm game. Cynically I think it's because Warlord do 28mm figures. The lacknof casualty removal and use off standar, large, small and tiny units maade it for me a set of 15mm (and later 10mm) rules par excellenc coming to them as I did from Shako and Principles of War wit three stand units on a DBM norm of 40mm/stand. Played to cm rather than inches, a standard 6ft x 4ft plaaying surface allows quite large battles. N.B I'd say the same for Hail Caesar and Pike and Shotte.

I will say on the minis point, Warlord will sell you hundreds of 28mm minis for like 150 CAD. I bought a ridiculous army of British ARW figures for my Sludge army and was shocked how cheap they were. While I understand that this doesn’t really invalidate the criticism, it makes sense how their model lines actually match their rules. What doesn’t match at all are the measurements, it’s really strange how Black Powder is scaled, I really was shocked at the ranges in 1e, they were just off to the point of being confounding.

What would you recommend instead of black powder? Let's say on a level of 1 unit = 1 regiment and doable on a more reasonable table size

My growing group picked up Black Powder (v2) but in retrospect, it was a mistake and I don't think we really enjoy it, partially for what you've said here and partially because it doesn't seem to have enough "bite". It's a fine set of rules, don't get me wrong, but it seems a bit dry like a lot of the Warlord games offerings. I think if we revisit Napoleonics this coming year we'll likely end up picking a different set of rules. On top of that, I think the bigger issue is that they really want you to have huge tables, which isn't feasible for most people who aren't lucky enough to have a game room or club area. It doesn't seem to work that well at the standard 6x4 table that you find in most game stores.

How do you even use a 12x8 table. Is it 6 4x4s separated so you can walk in between? Hm.

One of the issues my local club has is that we were playing a different ruleset every time we met. Several people who showed up for a game or two, but didn't become regulars told us this was a major issue. The fact that I can have a ruleset cover a large period and that there is ongoing support with supplements to add flavor is a great thing. I'd rather have one ruleset for a 200 year period, then five or six. Especially with your recent focus on the hobby, why it's shrinking, and how to grow it, we should be looking at rulesets that are easier to learn and can look very impressive when played. On your critique of the supplements, just because something is a GW move doesn't make it a bad thing. There is a reason why GW is a successful company. I like the fact that they release more material for my game and add more flavor.

How about a review for Fire & Fury?

The supplements add much of the historic flavor to each period. You either spend money on a supplement for that, or just buy an entirely different game system to game your period of preference. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Odd that the two members of your club that rate it lowest give the video review. Everyone else appeared to score it much, much higher from what I saw. To each his own, but I think it’s an excellent rule system for what it is. A base, easy system to be added to an adapted to period flavor to whatever degree you may want to.

I think it depends on the supplement... the last napoleonic clash of eagles I think brought out a lot more flavor... some are completely useless.

I think there are probably quite a few people like myself who got into historical wargaming over the past few years by buying one of Warlord's starter sets. You would think that an all-in-one box of miniatures and rules to get people started in the hobby would contain a straightforward rulebook with sensible measurements and model numbers. On the one hand, I think Bolt Action does succeed at being a good entry point for WW2 gaming; on the other, games like Black Powder and Hail Caesar are completely the wrong type of rulesets to introduce new players with small armies into those periods. I find it baffling that rules designed specifically for blokes with huge miniature collections built over decades, with access to a 12 foot playing space, would be their flagship rulebooks included with starter sets marketed at new players. Of course you can alter the unit sizes and measurements, but that's counter-intuitive to new hobbyists who just accept the written word when they have no other experience of these types of games. Very odd business model by Warlord which unfortunately soured me a bit on them subsequently when I was left baffled by these rules.

You guys should try out Bruce Quarries Napoleonic Rules

Ok, not hate mail in the least, just being subjective and honest, as you say. In my subjective opinion, you can’t complain that the rule book is a generic “tool box” covering 200 years of black powder warfare and then complain that the all the special rules and tweeks going into all the conflicts in those 200 years weren’t included in the book. Personally, I want the tool box generic rules that explain the rule mechanisms, and then I’ll buy the supplements so I can add the history and flavour to the conflicts I’m actually interested in. What you subjectively see as a failing, I subjectively see as a benefit. But that is how subjectivity works, I guess. Most of my friends have problems with failing order rolls and not being able to do anything meaningful. They say that’s stupid, I say that’s historically accurate. Yes, the books are expensive, but are not out of line with other beautiful publications in the same class. Chain of Command is a good example. My biggest complaint is that the supplements are written by a variety of authors, who are supposedly fans of those conflicts. And as you can imagine the quality of writing and period specific tweeks display some variability. Oh and finally, I used to love playing WAB, which had individual casualty removal. Once I move to a game system that didn’t have individual casualty removal I was hooked. I finally realized how much I hated individual casualty removal. So if Keith is playing massed battles with casualty removal and wants to add another 30 minutes to his clean up, more power to him. Hope that wasn’t too hateful. Oh and you guys do a great job. Keep up the good work.

Black Powder has a lot of local gamers around here all excited for it. People are buying massive army after massive army for it. But Bolt Action is really the only thing that gets played regularly (same system really, but for WW2). I never cared for the system after playing it a couple times. Yes, it is playable, but yeah, it's really rolling lots of dice and moving units.

A good review - its beautiful but generic. A lot of house rules are needed to fix various problems. And the ranges are absurd. But a good feature of mechanics not really discussed int the review is the command system (which is different from Warmaster). A player has to state their order, and then roll with modifiers and see how successful the unit carries out the order - this is a great mechanic for engaging the other players, is fun, and forces a player to prioritise their command decisions.

Black powder is a good game. Its fun, easy to play, although a little generic. It makes for excellent gaming with a friend or two, and some vodka or whiskey.

Have you looked at Sharp Practice?

I don't particularly like Black Powder, but as a wargaming magpie I can definitely understand the appeal of easy generic rules. Do you score low because you dislike this sort of thing in general, or because this particular example is bad? There is a difference you know.

I think it was a fair review

no model removal!?!?

Didn't like the not removing casualties either..... you can shoot the crap out of a unit and yet it doesn't weaken it really, I eventually took elements from BP and incorporated it into my own damage and moral rules. On a positive note I found the command rules better than what I had been using Shame really because it's beautifully presented and in that sense was exactly what I was looking for, historicals with the gloss of 40k. I got around the excessive ranges by simply converting the distances in inches to centimetres (I game in 15mm on an 8 x 6 board ) and that broadly worked.

I bought the book and a few months later they have a Volume 2 same went for Bolt Action. I’m not even going to get in to FoW. WTF .

It is for. Napoleonics not for ACW or the Boer wars or for Franco Prussian or for Frederick or Marlborough The relationship amongst the three arms works only if doing Napoleonics otherwise it is weird for all other periods or eras

Of course 2nd edition is coming out if not already out.

One thought I have had for a long time is that a really good rules set would have rules such that players could bring onto the table 2 armies quite different in period and by making best use of the weaponry and tactics for the army's time period, show how weaponry and tactics improved an army's ability to win as time moved on, in general. Or it could show that, if you face new weaponry, you modify your tactics. To put it differently, if you design a rules set so that things happen just as they did in history of a particular period, you make the changes that occurred such moving from linear warfare to impulse (Napoleonic) warfare unable to occur, when in fact they did occur. I hope I have explained myself so that my idea is understood. I have never played Black Powder, but I love the presentation as a book. As a rule set, I prefer a spiral bound approach to enable the rules to lay flat on the table. The size of table needed, per the rules, is beyond my ability to provide outside of possibly the nearby hobby shop.

I have to say, I 100% agree with your rating for this rule system. You guys covered all the issues we experience out here in Tucson. Just not a fan. I play Sharpe Practice 2 from Too Fat Lardies. I haven't had a chance to look through your archive, curious if you have done a rules review of this system. I really enjoy the TFL system for this period. I thought the first version of SP was a little gamey if you played the Brits. But then again it was written by Brits for the Napoleonic period. Anyways, thank you again for another rules review vid!

Warlord Games runs a lot of their stuff like GW.

I'm atm considering either getting Russians or Austrians.. the new plastic austrian cavalry look great

Totally agree with the conclusion 'Black Powder rules, for when you want to roll dice and move miniatures'...basically more 'rules for playing a game with toy soldiers' than 'war simulation rules' on the spectrum of wargaming rules... ...having said that I have participated in some fun Black Powder games...rules basically so simple it is easy for 4-6 people to get the hang of them as they play for the first time, and a command system which could see your units shooting forward doing up to 3 normal moves forward or standing still doing nothing for several turns can make it a 'fun social game' as the dashing cavalry commander cheers on getting a roll to carry their command crashing right across the table...or everyone laughs at the poor commander that just can't get their guys to move... ...but on the other hand the rules are very messy...they could have been succinctly written up in 4 pages but instead sprawl over 98 pages making some things very difficult to look up. The idea of 'have very simple rules mechanics and then mess around with them creating every kind of special rule that flexs them' is a very, very Games Workshop idea, and the idea that you might want to make a unit 'bloody thirsty' or 'steadfast' or 'sharpshooters' or a 'crack' or any one of several dozen unit descriptors kind of gives the scenario designer scope to add 'historic flavour', but in fact is highly subjective, a bit messy and having so many exception rules personally irritates the hell out of me. As the reviewer says the ranges are ridiculous. Although there is no unit or ground scale given, the musket range is huge, and for any large historic battle recreation, plan finding you'll need a car park type playing area - you would literally need a car park to recreate Waterloo with the rules as written-, or radically rescale things, or just accept that the game you are playing is an unrealistically cramped battlefield. The rules also involve quite a lot of dice rolling, which is fine if you like rolling dice but can get a bit 'clunky' at times. Black Powder games also have a tendency to bog down into stalemate, as after taking a few 'hits' units become 'shaken' and can't do much until 'rallied' by a general and can be quickly knocked down to being 'shaken' again. The way the rules handle this is to say units should be organised into 'brigades' (a not especially historically accurate term) of 3-5 units and when more than half of the units in the 'brigade' are shaken (or routed or destroyed) the whole brigade is removed from the table. Which makes it all a bit 'sudden death' as a brigade is likely to constitute a half or third of your entire force. If you want a fairly simple set of rules which make for a good social game to get peoples' toys on the table with lots of 'oo-ah' moments that frankly depend largely on luck, Black Powder rules are fun. If you want a set of rules that teach you something about the historic challenges of generalship or give you the chance to explore the possible outcome of a historic battle by refighting it in the large range of periods covered within the Black Powder era probably worth looking elsewhere.

Hi!

If you’re new getting into wargaming I’d highly suggest ignoring this review (but not the channel these guys are great) black powder works amazingly as a primer to new players and is more than rolling dice and moving miniatures. It still offers all the complexity and nuance of miniature warfare but in a simplified way. Wade through the wit and reminiscing of the core rule book to find a straightforward and engaging rule set. It’s so hard to find players for war games and black powder is so accessible. It’s just not practical to play other books from this era because of how accessible and acknowledged black powder is. Lastly they were a bit harsh on historical flavor while I get their reservations here there is still game flavor and unique stat blocks that can be found for these time periods and with the base system the player can enact tons of flavor with their imagination and black powder forums. Please give this game a shot if you’re new to the hobby!

As much as I want to call Black Powder the GOAT for having a blackwatch kinsman on the cover, the movement has always felt off to me. Still it's arguably the titan of the genre. It reminds me of Street Fighter 5 in how players are sort of yanked together by the mechanics which feels slightly artificial.

Great review - and wholeheartedly agree. I have similar problems with the mechanics, and theyare historically bland, and yes, that GW ethos shines through in the 'business model'. (I managed to re-sell my copy on Amazon a few months back ;) ). Interesting to see (with the end piece in the review) how it still divides opinion though.

I’m ten and I’m almost done painting a French infantry company I’m trying to make a French brigade

To me the units are depressingly vanilla. Elites not much different from low quality troops. The only way to give much differentiation is to use the “characteristics” which adds a lot of complexity keeping up with who has what characteristics and what they do.

I wonder what these folks think of bolt action.

Shouldn’t a good rule set be able to cover multiple conflicts? If a rule set only applies to a single conflict that seems remarkably short sighted. 1700 through 1900 does seem an odd era though. 1837-1849 was a massive change in how black powder weaponry functioned. I’d have preferred 1600-1800 or even 1500 through 1800 as that’s more tactically cohesive than 1849 once you start adding repeaters and the minne ball.

There are so many things totally wrong with this review, I don't know where to start.