Bonnie Blue Flag Notes

 I found some more notes from the author, so I'm sticking them on here so I can easily find them again.

FIW using Bonnie Blue Flag Rules

Here are the craziest scribblings of a madman. Having selected BBF for my black powder games, I'm now just trying to down scale it for a skirmish type game. Smaller units but still using multi bases for figures. Units of four seem to work as a base number.

 

Here are the unit sizes in Muskets and Tomahawks that are good to see as a guide. All just early days still just throwing ideas around to see if something sticks.

Drilled Vs irregular base.

Update: Right! I've bit the bullet and revised my Indians for the game.

I decided to go with 60x60mm bases to give a more spread out look. Also these Galloping Major figures are quite large for 28mm so it suits them better.

I imagine four bases of Indians to a unit with a base of skirmishers. I just want one rule set for my black powder games and I think BBF is the one, with a few tweaks of course.

My latest thinking is make Indians 'green', so they won't stick around long once the casualties start to mount up. A +10 melee modifier makes them dangerous close up so it's worth trying to get them into hand to hand. They are just too wise to stick around when things go bad. An experienced unit of warriors would be quite imposing with their combat bonus, something to be feared.

I had thought of giving Rangers the same combat bonus but as they will be veterans, a plus 10 would be too much. I think let's class them as Elites with a +5.

Bonnie Blue Flag Rules

 I couldn't believe my luck at the Other Partizan show last Sunday, I actually got to meet Kevin Calder, the creator of the Bonnie Blue Flag rules.

I first saw the Iron Brigade banner and followed it down to reveal an actual BBF game being played. I recognised Kevin instantly and shook his hand. I gushed about his rules and told him how much I like them. I also explained about play testing it a month ago and he said he had seen the post, which was nice. It was only a quick hello as I had to race back to my own game.

I would have liked to have talked for longer and ask him lots of nerdy questions, like how to adapt them for AWI etc. still, I'm sure I'll bump into him again.

Bonnie Blue Flag Game

Artillery rakes the Union front line, this experienced unit weathered it but were finally worn down due to small arms fire.

22nd Alabama in glorious form, their skirmishers thrown out in front and their standards blazing.

A shot of the Union line later in the game, tattered and in shreds from prolonged artillery fire.

well, what a day I've had... I finally got all the bits to put on a game. It almost didn't happen as I couldn't find the rule book...even though I have three copies.

I enlisted the help of a veteran gamer on our games day to help iron things out. It was slow to start with obviously, but once we got into the swing of the rules, it started to fall into place.

  

I did get confused a little when working out the difficulty numbers but I think I have it now. High difficulty numbers are bad, low are good.

There was only one occasion where the 10% rule came into play, which saw the end of the Alabama regiment above. If 10% of a percentage score needed is rolled, that unit is immediately removed from play. A narrative is easy to put to such an event. The 22nd Alabama was destroyed by withering canon fire, the remnants scattered to the rear.

As it was a test game I was keen to try out everything. Above is a melee that put Billy Yank to flight. I also tried the marksman rule which saw the Union general shot and killed very early on. All the surrounding units instantly lost some resolve, not a great start for the blue team. I was playing the Federals of course.

Confederate artillery rush forward and set up on the crossroads. As the Union had lost their general to a marksmen, their iniative roll for who goes first was basically over. The Confederates gained the lead and didn't give it back all game.

Berdan's sharpshooters reach the crossroads and take cover. In this game, soft cover carries no bonuses. although they could now claim 'rested weapons' for a bonus in shooting. Being a sharpshooter unit, they ignore the minuses for long range in the shooting chart, they are also classed as veterans. They're only real weakness is they cannot close for melee and their small unit size.

 Finally after what must have been around four hours of play ( maybe more), the Federals had enough and fell back. The Rebs had some battered regiments but we're in a lot better shape than their blue bellied opponents.

At the end of the day I was exhausted, I felt like I had been in a battle myself. My brain was cooked with all the concentration from the day. However I had finally did it, I had got in a game after years of ranting and preparing. It was fun and great to see all the pieces fall into place after years of collecting for the game.

One thing that struck me was how realistic the battle seemed to play out. Regiments were halted, pushed back and returned into line after a regrouping. Skirmishers were a real pain in the arse, taking the incoming fire instead of the main battle line. This resulted in lots of small actions of skirmishers dueling it out along the front. I was delighted when Berdan's men destroyed the skirmishers of the 22nd, removing their ability to skirmish. Now I could finally target the parent unit behind.

Artillery was fun too and played a big part in the days fighting. A very fun day and a game I will definitely play again. A very realistic narrative and result seems to come out of the play

Great day! Very pleased even though I lost...

Bonnie Blue Flag Rules

Here are a few notes from the author that I gleaned from the internet. I'm always keeping my eye out for more on this particular set.

Bonnie Blue Flag Rules

Well, what a great day! I have just found out that Bonnie Blue Flag and the Regimental Fire and Fury rules use the exact same figure ratio to size their regiments. My plan was always to use the Fire & Fury army lists for my battles in Bonnie Blue Flag, but I didn't realize they would match up exactly. It's a small thing, but it's made me very happy. 

It means the massive wealth of research and detail of the Fire & Fury lists and maps can now be used effortlessly with the Bonnie Blue Flag rules, my chosen rule set for the period.

There are a couple of differences but not many.

When I saw lists for the battle of Port Republic in Fire and Fury, I thought I would compare it with the one in Bonnie Blue Flag. I was amazed to see the exact same sized formations in both rule sets.

 Bonnie Blue Flag only has one factual scenario in the book, so this is a real boon! Not only for the detailed maps and background, but also the regiment sizes for basically all the battles that Fire and Fury cover...which is a lot. This means that Bonnie Blue Flag shares the 1 base =40 men ratio with Regimental Fire and Fury.

Port Republic maps in both rule sets. One of the weak spots in Bonnie Blug Flag was the lack of scenarios, with lists etc, I feel this now has just been fixed. Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag!

A close up of a detailed map from Fire and Fury.

I feel inspired again, where's my blue paint gone?

 

Another great find was the Regimental Wargame Scenarios by Brad Butkovich. I took a chance on eBay one day and was completely won over after receiving one of them. It wasn't long before I had collected them all. Again, these are perfect for Bonnie Blug Flag, filling the gap in scenarios.

Brad Butkovich has come up with a clever way of creating the forces involved. There are multiple choices of figure ratios for each unit, to tell you how many bases to use, depending on your figure collection and style of playing. As my bases represent 40 men, I track along the ratios until I get to 40 to see how many bases I will need for each regiment. These lists have been painfully researched and worked out. Also, the weapon the regiment carried has been researched ( where possible) and listed. This too is a great touch for giving character to different units. These scenarios are worth tracking down as they cater for any rules and are a great gaming resource.