Glory Hallelujah

Over the weekend, the postman delivered a copy of Glory Halleluja, the American Civil war supplement for Black Powder. It is by far the thickest of the supplements that Warlord has done for Black Powder, weighting in at a whopping 182 pages.

This softback supplement is laid out beautifully and lavishly illustrated. There are 28mm models from the Perry’s collection on almost every page. The ‘eye candy’ here is inspirational. The book starts with a concise history of the war, followed by a comprehensive look at the armies, how they fought, their uniforms and the weapons they used.

The crux of the book (for me at least) is the explanation on what makes the American Civil War different and how this can be reflected in the rules. This section of approximately six pages explains what (modest) additions to Black Powder are used and why. This includes amendments, reinterpretation of extant as well as new rules. Next comes a section portraying famous ACW commanders on the tabletop (what would Lee or Sheridan be like on the table?) and the comprehensive army list sections.

The evolving armies are covered for the Eastern and Western theatres through 1861 to 1865. There’s even a section for famous units. Here you’ll find stats for the Iron Brigade, coloured units, Stonewall Brigade and Confederate ’bushwackers’ to name but a few. Also included are rules for fortifications and simple rules for riverline vessels. Finally there are ten good battle scenarios with short battle reports (thankfuly, I’m not a fan of these ‘add ons’ on the end of scenarios personally).

I found the book informative, well researched and generally a good read. For £20 you get your money’s worth. I do play Black Powder fairly regularly (Napoleonics, mostly) but have thought about expanding my gaming to other periods including the ACW. This book has certainly given me a big nudge towards seriously collecting armies for this period - why? Because this book makes gaming ACW significantly different from other periods I’ve played with Black Powder and that looks like fun. If you’re a fan of the period, I highly recommend it. If not, you will be after you read Glory Halleluja. I haven’t played this new expansion though, so for a full report, you’ll have to wait till it’s been thrown to the wolves (otherwise known as playtesters).