Black Powder, Battle of Dresden, 1813 - My First Game in 2026!

Wrapped up a very nice Battle of Dresden game using Black Powder. There were 7 players, 4 commanding the Allied army, and 3 commading the French. It was a close battle with lots of back and forth action, especially between cavalry. Small skirmish units were able to occupy the smaller buildings in the center of the table. We played 6 turns ending with a very close French victory. They held their positions around the city, although their cavalry brigade on their right flank took heavy losses. 

The Allies were allowed to go first, since the French were already in a defensive position in the city. The Russians made the first move by advancing well into musket and cannon range. They wanted to force the French out from their positions.

French left.

French Dragoons and Lancers forcing Russian infantry into square.

French Carabiniers and Cuirassiers on their right.

Russian infantry advancing.

French infantry within the city defenses.

Prussian Dragoons and Uhlans advancing.

Austrian and Prussian cavalry advancing in front of their infantry.

French heavy cavalry in combat with Prussian Dragoons.

Center of the battlefield. 

Around turn 5.

Austrians attacking the French right.

Russian infantry awaiting movement orders (they had a few failed command rolls).

Russian Grenadiers. 

Russian Uhlans charging into French Dragoons.

Prussians advancing in the center.

French and Austrian infantry clash. 

Action on the French left. 

It was great to finally get all of the models onto the table - including the large buildings that were put together last year. The players, most of whom have only played Black Powder once or twice before, all said they had a great time and enjoyed the game. I think the rules are great for fast play and we were able to get 6 full turns in within about 4 hours. A great start to the gaming new year! Thanks for stopping by and hope you all are doing well!

Battle of Dresden, Black Powder Game Setup

Tentative setup for the game on Friday. Wanted to see how the troops would fit on the 10x6' table top. Kind of cramped, but we'll see how it works out - right now, I have about six players showing up. Most have played Black Powder at least a couple of times, if not more.

The game as noted in the title is loosely based upon the Battle of Dresden. Added a little stream to slow down the Allied advance a bit as they outnumber the French.

The French are in and around the city and have their artillery in defensive positions.

Russians on the Allied left.

Prussians in the Allied center.

Austrians on the Allied right flank.

French left. The French do have a few more cavalry units which may not be historically correct, but throwing all the figures on the table for this game.

French center - with Napoleon himself in charge.

French right with Guard units and heavy cavalry. This side should be quite powerful for the French. EDIT: I moved the cuirassiers and carabiniers along with a lancer unit to the French right - to be led by Murat.

Well, so much for now - will post an update once the game is played. Thanks for visiting, and hope you all are off to a great start in the new year.

Battle of Bergisel 1809 - Black Powder

Now that I'm retired and have no excuse to game midweek, played a great Black Powder game at my buddy's place. A great bunch of folks who meet regularly on Tuesday evenings - starting at 6:00pm. They play a variety of games, including Rebels and Patriots and Xenos Rampant. Actually, they don't usually place Black Powder unless someone like my buddy (or me in the past) host it. The scenario is based upon the Batttle of Bergisel in 1809. My buddy who hosted it has a ton of  Bavarian, Austrian, and Tyrolean figures and terrain for the 1809 Campaign. It's pretty much his focus for Napoleonics. He has some ancestral roots with the area, and has visited the area many times since he was stationed in Germany for many years. I ran a Tyrolean "brigade" on our right flank. My units consisted of two Shurtzen battalions, a Landstrum battalion, and a light cannon. We played about five or six turns, which I managed to take out a Bavarian infantry battalion and Chevauleger squadron by lucky die rolls in firing and combat. The center and our left flank were a bit different with the Bavarians taking our several of the Tyrolean units. When we ended the game, we called it a slight Bavarian victory. We may play another round in the future where we left off - in fact, we may try to use Rebels and Patriots for this. Hope you enjoy the pictures of the impressive game table and figures my buddy put out.

Until next time, thanks for dropping by - oh, and I will be hosting a Rebels and Patriots Napoleon in Egypt game this weekend at a game day. Wishing you the best!

Enfilade 2022

Just got home after attending our annual "big" convention, Enfilade. This was the first year we've gone back to the usual Memorial Day weekend time-frame since 2019 (pre-Covid). Our friends and allies from Canada showed up in force since border crossing requirements have eased up. Attendance was up from last September's ad hoc convention - there were about 300 attendees and around 120 games. A bit less than our record high in 2019 - around 400 attendees and 140 or so games. I was able to host four games: two Black Powder La Haye Sainte games and two Pike & Shotte Marston Moor games. There were 6 players for each Black Powder game and 8 players for each Marston Moor game. I managed to retain most of my voice through Sunday morning's game. Pints of Guinness Stout during and after games (except this morning) helped to fortify my resolve. Here are some pictures from the games I ran and also some of the great games others hosted. 

From the first La Haye Sainte Game. The KGL quickly moved into the farmhouse and stables and took pot shots at the approaching French. This allowed to French to return fire - the mechanics allowed them to shoot back once the KGL fired out of buildings.

French infantry and engineers approach the main gate of the complex. Hanoverians and 95th Rifles providing support to the beleaguered KGL inside. In both La Haye Sainte games, the players running the 95th and Hanoverians were both aggressive and had good die rolls. Unlike history, the 95th quickly moved out of the safety of the sandpit and advanced to engage the French. Providing devastating fire with their longer ranged rifles and Sharpshooter rerolls.

French infantry broken into smaller detachments shooting and fight around the barn. The scenario had units represented by two stands once they reach the outside of the farm complex.

The farmhouse and stables on fire. The GM (me) rolled a D6 at the start of each to see if the farmhouse, barn and stable would catch fire from off board artillery. On a 6 it would catch fire and then another D6 roll would determine it's "ferocity". The KGL inside could attempt to put out the fire with a higher roll than the "ferocity". It not put out in 3 turns, the structure would burn and not be able to be occupied by KGL. The KGL successfully put out the fire in some of the structures in both games. In both games, the French were not able to destroy the required number of KGL occupants in both games. They needed to destroy half of them.

One of the two Marston Moor Pike & Shotte games - view from the Royalist side with Rupert's Bluecoat regiment of foote to the left of Newcastle's regiment of foote. The Marston Moor games were held on Saturday night and Sunday morning. I was able to leave the table set up in the gaming hall overnight. It would've been painful to reset the game with the amount of figures used.

Royalist cavalry led by Prince Rupert on their right wing. A unit of Rupert's red coated commanded shot screening their advance.

A view of the Royalist left flank. Their cavalry facing the Parliamentarian cavalry led by Thomas Fairfax.

Center of the Allied army with regiments of Scottish foot holding the line.

Royalist cuirassiers supported by cavaliers charging into Parliamentarian commanded shot.

 Cromwell in the background with his Ironsides.

Royalist foot arrayed along the hedges and ditch running the center of the battlefield.

Dismounted dragoons from both sides engaged in the rough.

Parliamentarian right attempting to advance.

Cromwell with his remaining Ironsides. It was a close Royalist victory in both games.

Next up are pictures of the others games which I will endeavor to caption (hopefully correctly) once I go through the events listing.

Aspern-Essling - General du Corps

Ancients game hosted by White Rock Gamers from B.C. Canada.

Skirmish at the Walnut Grove Mill - AWI - Muskets & Tomahawks

Lena Lamont and the Jungle Fortress - Congo rules

Battle for Richmond, 1862, ACW, 28mm, White Rock Gamers

Chain of Command "Serafimovich 1942:Battle of the Sunflowers"

Alpine Fury -Tyrol 1809 - The Third Battle of Berg Isel - Black Powder

The Sand Pebbles

Gnome Wars

The Fall of the Philippine Republic: Battle of San Pascual - The Men Who Would Kings

Pulp Alley: La Playa de Parador

Circus Maximus - Chariot Racing

Black Seas

Duel of Aces - Wings of War WW1

Con Sonar

Kursk - The Second Day

Wagram using Shako 2. This was the last game being played on Sunday - most of the players were from Canada and were staying until Monday.

Well another great convention - almost, but not quite, like old times. Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoy the pictures.