Richard Berg’s Flintlock: Black Powder, Cold Steel – Volume I: Carolina Rebels
Lock ‘N Load Publishing. $54.99

Passed Inspection: Healthy amount of quality components; good value. Rules are straightforward and at times, even witty. Lots of Revolutionary War battle flavor without being overly complex.

Failed Inspection: More examples in the rules would be helpful, and as with other LNL games, the rules really need an index to help smooth out the learning curve. Counters are nicely done, but the verdant green maps might be off-putting to some.

Flintlock excels at putting you in the mindset of an 18th-century commander.

If you’re a fan of games that focus on black powder wars fought in North America, it’s hard to swing a virtual musket without banging into another cardboard recreation of Gettysburg or Bull Run. Tactical-level games focusing on the American Revolution are in much shorter supply and those that recreate battles fought in the southern colonies are rarer still.

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Enter Lock ‘N Load Publishing, which is doing its level best to fill this gaming gap with Flintlock: Black Powder – Cold Steel. The first boxed set of games in what purports to be an ongoing series, Vol. 1: Carolina Rebels covers Lord Cornwallis’ campaign, as the British rampage through the "soft underbelly" of the Rebellion’s southern colonies at Camden, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, and Hobkirk’s Hill.

One would rightly expect to find Guilford Courthouse among the four battles depicted, but something that made Flintlock stand out from other Revolutionary War games for me is that it also offers somewhat obscure and yet fascinating battles. For example, I own a number of Revolutionary War games, but I had never refought the battle of Hobkirk’s Hill. To find out it was not only an important battle but allows for a tense and well-balanced war game to boot was a revelation.

To stop Cornwallis’ veteran British force, the American rebels have a mix of militia, regulars, and skirmishers, which varied widely in quality. But they also have General Nathaniel Greene, a factor that shouldn’t be underestimated. This situation, pitting a smaller but more professional army against an enthusiastic but less-well-trained one, is a good subject for a war game.

Flintlock certainly doesn’t skimp on the components. The rules are comprehensive and for the most part straightforward, with a few very good examples. More than 550 nicely done counters are functional and fairly easy to read; they certainly stand out on the verdant green cardstock maps depicting the various colonial battlefields. Unit organization can be a bit loose, especially for Colonial militia, but the basic command for each leader in the game is a regiment comprised of a varying number of companies, each company representing roughly 50 men.

Flintlock excels at putting you in the mindset of an 18th-century commander. Fire combat is not terribly effective from a distance, so you are enticed to bring your forces to close only a few spaces away from the enemy. Both sides often shoot the daylights out of each other at short range, then attempt to "shock" the enemy up close and personal, in hopes that the foe will break and run. Little things, like units not being able to move and fire in the same turn, make sense for the period depicted and require that you set up your attacks properly.

There are plenty of tactical choices to make. Leaving your formation in column allows its units to move more quickly but renders them far less effective in combat. Close formation defends much better versus an enemy shock attack but massed units make a juicy target for enemy fire. How far troops can be pushed depends not only on the simple-but-effective morale rules, but also on how many cohesion hits the unit takes before losing combat effectiveness.

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