Black Powder for Williams wars in Ireland

The League of Augsberg period is a colourful and interesting period to wargame as it covers a period in history that saw the demise of the pike and the rise of the bayonet.


I have two armies for the wars in Ireland and having tried a number of different rules that failed, for me, to capture the feel of the period, decided to adapt Black Powder as it seems this set of rules is popular at my club. I know it is not to everyones taste but we have found it does give a good game for a club evening.


Therefore I have come up with some adaptations for Black Powder to allow me to fight the period as well as have some fun. One specific change is not to have supports in melee resolution unless the supporting unit charged with the unit in combat as a support and is capable of threatening the enemy unit in combat.


What follows is my interpretation, which is likely to change over time, using infantry units of three bases of six figures and cavalry squadrons of two bases of three cavalry figures.  


Black powder also provides suitable unit stats, or Useful Rules as it says in the book, which allow for different unit capabilities.

BASIC RESTRICTIONS

No double or triple movement within 12” (engagement range) of formed infantry


No movement for die roll greater than command number apart from Raw units for which there will be no movement allowed if the command roll is equal to or greater than the command rating of the commander.

No voluntary interpenetration is allowed, troops may only flow round friends if there is a gap at least a base width.  Any other interpenetration will cause disorder to both units.

Platoon firing infantry will get the First Fire bonus only on the first turn of firing, as after that point, with all the chaos of battle and smoke, any firing is likely to become more ragged thus any bonus will be lost.

SIZE OF UNITS

Type of troops	Standard size	Large	Small	Tiny
Infantry	18 (three bases)	24+	12-18	5-6
Cavalry	6 (two bases)	9+	3
Artillery	1 gun and crew

COMMAND

Command modifiers
Per 8” distance from commander to unit	-1
Enemy unit within 8” of unit receiving order	-1
Column, limbered artillery	+1
Column, limbered artillery on road or track	+2

MOVEMENT

Move distances
	Command roll -3 or more	Command roll = or -2	Command roll = or -1	Charge
Infantry, limbered artillery, wagons	12”	8”	4”	6”
Cavalry,	22”	16”	10”	18”
Manhandled light artillery	6”	4”	2”	-
Commmanders on foot	12”	-	-	-
Commanders mounted	18”	-	-	-

SHOOTING

Ranges
Pistols and thrown weapons	4”
Bow and arrow	8”
Muskets	8”
Light artillery	24”/12”/6””
Artillery	32”/16”/8”

Shooting to hit modifiers
Artillery shooting at column or square	+1
Close range (4”), closing fire, skirmishers	+1
Shooters Shaken or Disordered	-1
Target skirmishers, deployed artillery or Not Clear	-1
Artillery at over half range	-1
Cannon shooting overhead	-1

Size modifiers
Large Unit	+1 dice shooting	+2 combat
Small Unit	-1 dice shooting	-2 combat
Tiny Unit	1 dice only shooting	1 dice only combat
All musket unit	+1 dice shooting

Formation modifiers
Column	May not shoot	Fight 1 dice
Square	Shoot 1 dice	Fight 2 dice per face

Tactical modifiers
Enfilading infantry	Shoot X2 dice
Enfilading artillery	Shoot X2 dice

MORALE

Save modifiers
Infantry in column unless hit by artillery	+1
Target within woods, hedgerows or similar (light cover)	+1
Target within buildings/fortifications (heavy cover)	+2
Hit by artillery fire at long range	-1
Hit by artillery at medium or close range	-2
Target in melee with mounted includes pikes	+1

MELEE

 

Combat to hit modifiers
Charging	+1
Won last round of combat	+1
Pikes in unit (first round only)	+1
Shaken or disordered	-1
Skirmishers	-1
Engaged to flank or rear	-1

Combat result modifiers
Support to rear (friendly unit charging with chargers)	+1
Square vs cavalry	+3
Per flank support (charging with chargers and threatening enemy in combat)	+1
Occupying buildings (size)	1-3

UNIT STATS

Unit	Type		Melee	Shooting	Morale	Stamina	Special
Foot Guards	Elite	Rank  firers	7	3	3+	4	Crack Reliable Steady
Veteran British Infantry	Elite	Platoon firers	6	3	4+	3	First Fire Reliable Steady
British Infantry	Line	Platoon firers	6	3	4+	3	First Fire Reliable Steady
Dutch Guards	Guards	Platoon firers	7	3	3+	4	First Fire Crack Reliable Steady Elite
Dutch, Danish Infantry	Line	Platoon firers	6	3	4+	3	First Fire Reliable Steady
French infantry	Line	Rank firers	6	3	4+	3	Reliable Steady
Old Irish Infantry	Line	Rank firers	6	3	4+	3	Reliable Steady
Newly raised Irish infantry	Raw	Rank firers	5	2	5+	2	Unreliable Freshly Raised
Williamite Cavalry	Line		7	1	4+	3	Reliable Steady Stubborn
Jacobite, French cavalry	Line		7	1	4+	3	Reliable Steady Superbly drilled

First Fire	+1 dice on first shot of battle
Crack	Re-roll one failed morale save if you have no casualties already
Reliable	+1 command
Steady	Passes first break test of the battle
Elite	Overcome disorder at start of command on roll of 4+
Tough fighters	Re-roll one missed combat attack
Unreliable	No move on equal command roll
Stubborn	Re-roll one failed morale save
Superbly drilled	Free move if command failed
Marauders	Ignore distance modifiers for command
Freshly raised	First shot or melee, roll 1XD6 1    Terror-all shots and melee dice require 6 to hit 2-3  Panic- all shots and melee dice require 6 to hit 4-5  Sterling Job-no adverse effects 6    Huzzah-1 extra dice for shooting or melee this turn

Examples for the Jacobite wars in ireland:

Elite British units would include Senior infantry regiments such as  Kirke’s Lambs, Dumbartons (Royal Scots), Footguards and Cavalry Lifeguard.

Guard status would be reserved for the Dutch Gard de Voet and Danish garden til Fods.

The majority of Jacobite regiments in Ireland would be Raw with some of the more senior regiments, such as The Grand Priors Regiment would be Line.