The Fatigue Rule

The Black Powder (BP) Rules are obviously written by and for war-games who have the luxury of an seemingly endless table top. Sigh! I guess it‘s a war gamers dream, but the common club reality is 6x4 or 8x6 if your are generous. The movement rules in BP do not reflect this and you can end at the opposite table at the end of turn one. Also your unfittest Infantry regiment is able to out run your Cavalry in some situations by the double. Mooh!

You can change this by fiddling about with the distances, but you end up with too much calculations going on in your head or the need to redesign the short references sheet.

So I came up with the Fatigue rule.

The distances simply stay the same. The first movement is done with 100%. The possible second is done with 50% and the third is done with 25% of the initial movement of the unit (all rounded up to the nearest higher inch). This reflects the wear out of troops pushed to the limits and at the same time you have still the possibility for an glorious run to the enemy. All units are treated the same. Artillery and commanders as well as the rest.

So for example in BP the Infantry can run maximum 21 inches, which is a lot nearer to the Cavalry, at 18, than before with 36! Also the decreasing distances available make it worthwhile to think about which one to use for reforming or changing the formation or when to cross an obstacle.

Voilá enjoy!