Getting into Epic Black Powder

[James]

Hi, I’ve never played a Napoleonic game system or tried one of Warlords offerings (just bought Victory at Sea however!). I’m interested in the Epic Waterloo system as I like the look of the models, the scale and the sets but I prefer to buy rule books first then a small set of models of my own choosing.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>There doesn’t seem to be a way of buying the rules separately as far as I can tell, I take it the rules for epic and Black Powder 2nd edition are completely different? Also I’ve really struggled to find any sort of gameplay reviews, even through Warlords site.</p>
Appreciate any advice. Thanks.

[richard zamudio]

A rather short answer is that there is no rulebook based on the Epic range at the moment. There is talk of a rulebook Epic specific but that has yet to be published. Though Black Powder is a set of rules designed for 28mm, you can use it with the Epic range incorporating several changes. There is no real consensus as for the best ways of converting the Black Powder Rules to the the Epic range. You will hear of using cm instead of inches or perhaps cutting range/movement in half. But there are still issues involving number of figures per base or unit organization. I personally use old school 15mm figures and have spent many hour trying to figure out how many figures per base, etc. Yes you can certainly use the Black Powder rules as they exist, but be aware that you will be using figures (Epic) of another scale.

[James]

Thanks for that, perhaps I’ll keep an eye out for those rules then before diving in. I’ll probably crack at some point and buy a few sprues to paint up!

[Sergio]

James,

I was able to acquire the rulebook contained in the starter boxes through a third party. Be that as it may, it is effectively the same game. The BP2 and BP Epic books do contain differences in the fluff but the rules are unchanged.

As far as measurements one of the qualities of BP of any flavor is that you can easily accomodate any size of table or unit stands by adjusting the ranges. Ive played in 28mm with the rules-as-written, in 15mm by converting the unit of measurements from inches to cm, and most recently with 10mm paper soldiers based on 2cm x 1cm stands by converting to cm and using 66% of the range on a 4ft x 3ft table.

As far as reviews, anything you find on BP will be applicable (regardless of scale or setting) as far as understanding the game.

This might be a good intro:
“Black Powder, ACW epic battles. A beginners guide (1). The Basic unit profiles.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUr1yKURs1w

Here is a balanced review by a great wargaming group:
“Black Powder Rule Review” – Little Wars TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5W6x4paFa8

My two cents:
Black Powder is is described as a game that gets you to roll dice and push your minis on the table. The mechanics are fairly simple and straightforward with added spice in the Unit Special Rules.

Elite units still have muskets like everybody else but they can withstand more punishment (represented by a modifier to their morale tests, or their ability to recover from disorder in the midst of battle) and therefore hold ground longer or better. The reputation of the Highland units is captured by their Ferocious rule, which makes them reroll misses when they charge.

There are other games that try to capture more details of particular situations or introduce a more complicated system for activating and commanding your units. Other games have entirely different turn sequences, and a few games don’t even have “shooting” per se – combat is an abstract calculation. But I wouldn’t worry about any of that. One great aspect of napoleonics is that your figures are “good for life” – I play many different rulelsets with the same figures.

BP is a wonderful place to get your feet wet – the Epic scale is particularly impressive.

[Author]

Posts