Playing Light Infantry: Black Powder House Rules

After playing so many Napoleonic Black Powder games recently, Grant and I polished our evolving set of house rules. They comprise four pages and we have endeavoured to retain the fast play principles. I admit that over the years we have included some features, only to abandon them in due course when a better understanding of the rules revealed the error of our ways. I truly believe Black Powder is a fantastic set of very well designed and tested wargames rules with not a lot of room for improvement. Having said that, I also recognise and appreciate the authors’ encouragement to make changes where players see fit – and so we have.

Our 'Grant and Greg’s House Rules' aim to fill some gaps which for us need filling and they include the provision for ‘Huge’ units (cavalry and infantry), a revision of Disorder, Heavy Artillery, Light Infantry and Cavalry specifics. For this posting, I thought I’d share what we have come up with for Light Infantry.

When I say Light Infantry, I’m referring to Light Infantry battalions from the French and Anglo-Allied line units from the Napoleonic wars era. These units are those battalions of foot who were trained and capable of skirmishing up to and including the entire battalion. For this we include the French Léger and for my Anglo-Allied army at least, it includes the 52nd Oxfordshire Light Infantry regiment and the Portuguese Cacadores.

The first difference we have introduced is that Light Infantry battalions can field stronger light company numbers when deploying skirmishers under the Mixed Order special rule. Normally a line infantry battalion with this ability can field a company of skirmishers forward of it’s existing formation (line or column of attack) up to 6” forward. This presents an unclear target to enemy fire (except artillery) giving a defensive morale save bonus of -1 and the skirmishers themselves shoot at a value of 1 (1 dice). For Light Infantry, we allow those skirmishers a shooting value of 2. It’s not all that important how many figures are deployed to represent that skirmish screen but my 52nd Light Infantry have four bases worth (see the first image heading this post).

We also allow Light Infantry battalions to deploy their entire battalion into open order (skirmish order) which affords the same unclear target advantage to enemy fire but allows the battalion to fire at their full shooting value – normally 3 dice. This formation also allows for the usual skirmish formation options – 360 degree front and splitting fire to different targets. In terms of frontage, we say that the bases (which do vary between units and armies) must separate 2” apart but allow for a chequer-board (pictured above) formation rather than stringing the whole battalion along a one long line. This still provides for a larger overall frontage in terms of how much table space the battalion will occupy.

By going into open order (skirmish formation) the Light battalion does take some risks. We say as a reaction to being charged by infantry, a battalion may either attempt to evade (requiring a sufficiently successful command roll) or it can stand and shoot or it can attempt a formation change (line only) on a successful command roll. Any attempt at either evade or formation change removes the opportunity to deliver closing fire.

We say only line formation is permitted as a reaction to being charged by infantry as forming a column of attack (a tighter formation) would require some elements to cover an unrealistic distance. This is also because a successful formation change into line would be forming a line facing the successful chargers up on the point of contact. As you can see from the example diagram, this presents quite the potential contraction from one end of the skirmish ‘swarm’ to the other.

If being charged by cavalry, the formation attempt will be into square – obviously – also to the point of contact.

Naturally, if electing to stand and fire, no matter where the open order formation is struck, the entire shooting value of the Light Infantry battalion is applied (that formation presenting no front). All skirmishers suffer a -1 to hit when fighting hand-to-hand so they will be rolling 5’s to hit on a d6 against an enemy who will only need 3’s – quite the disadvantage.

When engaged in hand-to-hand in skirmish formation, we afford the Light Battalion the opportunity to contract the formation into contact but to keep the bases separated and facing the chargers (the distance between bases is unimportant) otherwise in subsequent turns an extended formation would not represent the concentration of bayonets required to fight at full strength and would also leave the formation overly vulnerable to enemy units making additional contact.

On the subject of any additional enemy units charging into contact from other directions, although the defending Light Battalion is in skirmish formation, if they had fought the previous round will all it’s strength (and why wouldn’t they?) then the albeit loose formation would present an effective flank/rear and any other charging unit would derive that positional advantage.

On a final note and for the record, my 52nd Oxfordshire Light Infantry would lose their special ability of Steady Line whilst in open order – you need to be in a line for it to be deemed steady or otherwise.

Anyway, this is how we are playing Light Infantry. I hope it is of use to someone even if it's just to make you think how you might play them and come up with something which works for you.