Black Powder Battles is one of the more recent titles published by Two Hour Wargames. As the name suggests, this ruleset is for gaming the period where black powder weapons were dominant - essentially the 18th and 19th Century.
Gamers could quite happily use these rules for fighting the French - Indian Wars, the Seven Years War, The American War of Independence and, of course, the Napoleonic Wars.

The rules are essentially an expansion of two previous titles: Mayhem: Warring Nations (Used to fight the Napoleonic Period) and Mayhem: Muskets and Mohawks (Used for the French - Indian War and AWI).
These previous titles dealt with very small scale skirmishes in this period - no more than a dozen figures a side. This new set of rules greatly expands the options available, and will happily deal with 30+ figures a side.
The older rules are still relevent, and provide a slightly more in-depth game, but the new BPB is, in my opinion, far superior to what has gone before.

For those of you previously unfamiliar with Two Hour Wargames products, a world of warning - If you are looking for a skirmish ruleset which deals with minute details of each individual model, then this ruleset is possibly not for you.
They are designed to do exactly what they say on the tin: "Two Hour Wargames" - provide an enjoyable game which can be completed in the space of two hours, or there abouts.

The rulebook is 36 pages long, and splits into 3 main parts:

• The Rules
• The Army Lists and Campaign System
• Optional Rules and Quick Reference Charts

The rules are set out over the space of 18 pages, andcover all the usual game mechanics (Movement, combat etc).
In the basic game, each model is given a single characteristic - Reputation - which has a numeric value between 1 and 7, andrepresents a combination of experience, combat capability and morale.
The rules system uses this characteristic in conjunction with D6 dice rolls to determine the outcome of actions.

The game is designed with a cinematic feel in mind, with the player taking the role of a lead character. As such, the character is portrayed as "larger than life" and is governed by slightly different rules to the the other figures in your force - think 'Richard Sharpe' or 'Hawkeye'.
The rest of a players force are known as 'grunts', andare split into troops and leaders, with a leader controling a group of between 5 and 10 models.
The group leaders reputation is used to determinewhen the group is activated.

The heart of the rules system are the reaction checks. This is a series of of dice rolls that have to be made in various circumstances: On first sighting the enemy, being fired upon, being charged or wanting to charge, rallying etc
This is where this set of rules comes into it's own, as a players force will not always perform the way that the player wishes, and is a ideal mechanism for those of us who also game solo.

The second part of the book covers army lists, and consists of a general list: Military, Guerillas/Militia, Indiansand Civilians, which are then used to make up armies for the French-Indian War and the American War of Independence. There is a second, more in depth army list for use in the Napoleonic period.
The Napoleonic list especially is much more detailed than previously presented in 'Mayhem:Warring Nations', due to the slightly different nature of the rules.

The campaign system presented gives several basic scenarios, plus a way of linking them together.
This is my only disappointment. Most of the scenarios are fairly generic, but there is an almost role-play like pre-amble of negotiation that is used before the battle commences, which could even result in the battle not being fought at all! Possibly a little redundant for a set of battle rules? Ok, maybe a little harsh, and you can always disregard that bit.

The final part of the book covers optional rules for expanding the number of model characteristics and using skills, giving each model in a force a little bit more flavour - especially if gaming with fewer figures

OK - I will put my hands up and admit that I am a great fan of the Two Hour Wargames system, and I really like this set of rules. Given their cinematic feel, they will not be to everyone's taste, and some people will possibly want either a more in-depth/detailed ruleset (forall the micro-managers out there) or maybe something more 'real life'.
For my money, these rules are great for the hobby - fast, fun and giving a surprising level of depth and tactical options. The reaction system is a stroke of genius. You will either love it or hate it, but it really adds character to the game.

I recommend these rules without reservation - now where are my 40mm Perry and HLBS Napoleonics?

The rules are available, either in PDF format or as a hardcopy, from Two Hour Wargames. As a huge bonus, there is a massive online community on Yahoo, which provides excellent support and a contant stream of ideas - almost a reason for owning a set of the rules on it's own!