Black Powder Albion Triumphant Volume 1 - The Peninsular Campaign

Disclaimer: This is not a physical product. You will receive a digital download of your eBook after your purchase.

A rainy day in January 2010 saw a visit to Nottingham turn into a once in a lifetime opportunity. I bumped into an old friend: Paul Sawyer of Warlord Games. We talked about all things Black Powder, as I had the book clutched in my hands at the time, and I waxed lyrical about Napoleonic army lists and how England’s power struggle with the old enemy, France, could be represented. When Paul woke up he realised he had unwittingly fallen into my cunning trap – a trap which would allow me to write a supplement to the main Black Powder rules! Albion Triumphant is the fruit of my labour and I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

When writing Albion Triumphant, I did not want readers to use it as an excuse to avoid researching the wonders of the Napoleonic Wars, which for me is one of the greatest periods of military history. (Go on, try it – you won’t regret it!) I will not then provide a chapter and verse account of that great conflict within these pages, for to do so would require a mighty tome indeed. I will, however, signpost readers throughout the book to various aspects of the whole period that they may wish to research further. In this first volume – The Peninsular War – we will look at the defeats of the early Flanders campaigns, and the roller-coaster conflicts of the Peninsular War. A companion volume – Albion Triumphant: The Waterloo Campaign – will focus on the events of the Hundred Days campaign, leading up to that grandest of battles, Waterloo.

Albion Triumphant, as the title suggests, focuses mainly on Britain’s war with France during the Napoleonic period. Other nations were involved of course and are covered where their involvement overlaps, but as the Lion and the Cockerel were the super-powers of the early 19th Century it is only right that I focus on those two countries during this remarkable period.

We shall look at why Napoleonic armies fought differently from earlier black powder armies, as well as detailing the arms, uniforms and organisations of Great Britain, France, Portugal and Spain.

I have selected some of the classic battles of the two protagonists that we will look into in detail and I have created some scenarios for you to try, a few of which link to the battles themselves.

I have explored how the Black Powder rules can be used to reflect a Napoleonic battle, and I have built upon the guidance provided in the original rules in regard to giving units national characteristics through their own special rules and stat lines. But as ultimately your Black Powder battles are yours, the final decision as to how your games play out is up to you. Additionally, for the radicals amongst you all I have identified where tweaks in the rules can be used to add a further flavour of this period. For those of you who are points minded I have provided a simple way of creating army lists and provided you with a sample list to get you started. A little tip here – the more you research, the better your lists will be!

So without further ado…

“A toast, gentlemen – today’s fox!”

Wellington