UPDATED HOUSE RULES

[bill5549]

I have updated my page of house rules and ideas for house rules that we have used in our BP games - see my blog http://blenheimtoberlin.blogspot.co.uk/ ... rules.html

I updated the page in June and now in again July with ideas I have seen suggested on other sites or which I have picked up from playing the other BP based rulesets - HAIL CAESAR and PIKE and SHOT. These include

Another option for Interpenetration
option 3 - When Interpenetrating a formed friendly unit, if the centre of your formed unit does not pass through the friendly unit, then there is no penalty - however if the centre does pass through then you risk disorder - dice for each unit and on a score of 1,2,3 it becomes disordered.
This is taken from HAIL CAESAR.

Limits to Command values
No command rating can be modified to more than 10 or less than 5. This is taken from HAIL CAESAR.

Disordered Cavalry Rally Back under initiative
Often cavalry can be stopped standing disordered in front of units firing at them and if disordered are unable to move. There is a rule in PIKE and SHOT for disordered units rallying back so my suggestion is that this can be applied to cavalry in BP.
Rule - a disordered cavalry unit not in combat can rally back a move under Initiative.

Revised Broken Brigade Rule
I do not like the optional standard ‘Broken Brigade’ rule in BP and in particular it tends to penalise small brigades of two or three units such as cavalry brigades. Instead, I suggest the following system:-
a) -1 Command Modifier for each lost or destroyed unit in the brigade.
b) -1 Break-Test modifier for each lost or destroyed unit in the same brigade.
This makes brigades become harder to control as the battle goes on and units are lost. (I would not include the loss of tiny units or guns). This is a variant of a suggestion on the BP forum. I will test this out in our next BP game.

Levy Useful Rule
This is taken from HAIL CAESAR. Useful for applying to militia - the problem with poorly trained troops is keeping them organised in action. Value can be modified eg 2+ to 5+. I would combine with Unreliable for militia units.
Levy Useful Rule - Unit must roll 4+ to remove disorder at the end of its turn.

Stolid Useful Rule
I usually gave Russian Napoleonic the Steady useful rule. However there is no risk of failure in the first break test with Steady which I think makes it too powerful a useful rule with units surviving in quite impossible situations. Some uncertainty is required. My solution is to use a version of Valiant but amended so that the unit can only reroll the first break test it makes rather than the first test it fails.
Stolid Useful Rule - Unit can reroll the first break test it makes.

[grecian1959]

Bill I like the look of those and will give them a go in our next battle. Peter

[Alan Charlesworth]

No command rating can be modified to more than 10 or less than 5. This is taken from HAIL CAESAR.

That's is a standard BP rule. See page 28.

[bill5549]

Alan

Thanks - I never noticed this rule on command limits on page 28 though I spotted it when reading Hail Caesar!

I have updated my blog post to omit this and added a section in my House Rules page on commonly forgotten rules including this one..

Bill

[old_serge]

Disordered Cavalry Rally Back under initiative
Often cavalry can be stopped standing disordered in front of units firing at them and if disordered are unable to move. There is a rule in PIKE and SHOT for disordered units rallying back so my suggestion is that this can be applied to cavalry in BP.
Rule - a disordered cavalry unit not in combat can rally back a move under Initiative.

I like this a lot. Had this happen in our last game- a cav unit was disordered 3 turns in a row and finally destroyed. It seems strange for cav to stop because it is being shot - it makes sense that it may be incapable of offensive action, but the unit should be able to keep moving.

Revised Broken Brigade Rule
I do not like the optional standard ‘Broken Brigade’ rule in BP and in particular it tends to penalise small brigades of two or three units such as cavalry brigades. Instead, I suggest the following system:-
a) -1 Command Modifier for each lost or destroyed unit in the brigade.
b) -1 Break-Test modifier for each lost or destroyed unit in the same brigade.
This makes brigades become harder to control as the battle goes on and units are lost. (I would not include the loss of tiny units or guns). This is a variant of a suggestion on the BP forum. I will test this out in our next BP game.

This is worth trying. At first I was struck with the severity of the Brigade Morale rules, but after playing I like them because they signal the critical moment of battle. This variant may slow down the decay into doom that sometimes happens.

Levy Useful Rule
This is taken from HAIL CAESAR. Useful for applying to militia - the problem with poorly trained troops is keeping them organised in action. Value can be modified eg 2+ to 5+. I would combine with Unreliable for militia units.
Levy Useful Rule - Unit must roll 4+ to remove disorder at the end of its turn.

I like this too! Another idea is to take the opposite of the Reliable rule: apply a negative command modifier - but that may be too severe.

Thank you for sharing.

[bill5549]

In our latest game Perekrjostock 1812 (see the battle reports) we used the Stoic rule, Levy rule and the different approach to Boken Brigades.

I made the Russian Opolcheniye and Cossacks both Levy 3+ so they had to roll 3+ to remove disorder at the end of their turn. It had some impact but not too much.

The -1 reduction in command value and break tests for each unit lost from a brigade did have an impact when we remembered to use the rule. Once an infantry brigade lost 2 battalions it became very brittle.

I have to say that in none of our games have we ever used the optional Broken Brigade rule in the book since we thought it far to severe.