Boer War rules

[Dr Dave]

There are several options with BP. You can say no moving and firing, reverse the turn sequence into fire then movement. BUT, I'm not sure BP would be the best option. We do use BP for August '14 with great success. But the Boer war is perhaps an extreme of types facing each other?

[steve_holmes_11]

But with BP wouldn't you have the problem that the British could just move very quickly into to hand to hand combat where they will be at a big advantage?

Apologies for the tardy response.
Some dull facts follow.

First up, bolt action magazine rifles have a 36" range, same as an infantry triple move.
So poor old Tommy is likely to get one volley of Mauser's 'alf mile 'ail.
Then another at close range should the slim Boer allow him to close.
Close range + skirmisher + sharpshooter is complete bonus overkill and will only miss on the statutory 1.
Things could still be worse if the Boers also have one of the special rules that permit rerolls.

This is the point where you already feel it isn't going to be a good game.

BP II introduces something they tout as a fix for the overpowered infantry skirmisher.
They added evade to their other superpowers.
I'm on my third read through, and can't see how this balances overpowered in the slightest.

So the Boer options appear to be.

Stand and give closing fire: Good chance that Tommy ends up shaken, he's fighting against skirmishers, but they're in cover if they have any sense.
Evade: Run off and don't shoot. (Relatively low chance of getting caught)
Evade: Hop on your horse and run off a bit faster (Infinitessimal chance of getting caught).

[Dr Dave]

Just spotted your reply

Close range is a hit on 3+ And skirmishers is a further +1
Sharpshooter is re one roll miss, not an extra +1

Then the target gets its morale saves. Ordinary troops save on a 4+

I thought the skirmishers +1 had gone from BP2, but you can ignore it if you want. It's ignored in the ACW supplement Glory Hallelujah. The tweaks to the evade rules (skirmishers could always evade) now mean that they can be caught by the chargers. In BP1 chargers only chased them off and could never catch them, the chargers always halted on the skirmishers abandoned position.

The thing is BP is a framework that you can adapt to suit. There is a Boer War supplement in the offing I believe.

[Leman]

TBH,  this is why it was screaming out for a rules summary. Can't understand why it was possible to do it in the bog standard Hail Caesar book, but not in the much hyped 'improved' BP2. A somewhat disappointing Pig in a poke.

[steve_holmes_11]

Just spotted your reply

Close range is a hit on 3+ And skirmishers is a further +1
Sharpshooter is re one roll miss, not an extra +1

Then the target gets its morale saves. Ordinary troops save on a 4+

I thought the skirmishers +1 had gone from BP2, but you can ignore it if you want. It's ignored in the ACW supplement Glory Hallelujah. The tweaks to the evade rules (skirmishers could always evade) now mean that they can be caught by the chargers. In BP1 chargers only chased them off and could never catch them, the chargers always halted on the skirmishers abandoned position.

The thing is BP is a framework that you can adapt to suit. There is a Boer War supplement in the offing I believe.

D'oh. I find the rules provide an enjoyable game, but they're a blighter to find the bits you need: what with all the cod Victorian gent lingo, and the "special abilities done wrong*".

It's been just over a month since I played a Napoleonic game.
I leave each game with the rules fresh in my mind, but one month on it's Black powder day and I've forgotten something about charge responses, close combat support, or options for broken brigades.


* Special abilities done wrong:

Wrong:
Give an ability a fairly generic name, something like fierce, that could easily be confused with bloodthirsty, terrifying or aggressive.
Stick that name at the end of the stats line in a way that good troops might have 4 or more keywords there.
Stick definitions of the keywords in a completely different part of teh rulebook.

Right:
Adjust the numbers in the units stat line.