I had the distinct pleasure of hosting a game today for a new friend and his son. Tom contacted me via email, having seen this blog, and let me know he was going to be in town. We made a date for today and I am so glad that he initiated a meeting. We had a chance to discuss our pursuits in this amazing hobby and then adjourned to my garage for a game of Sharp Practice. It was the inaugural game for the 28mm Napoleonic figures I recently based.
Tom took the British force, comprised of 108 points; his son Jeff took the French with 104 points worth of troops. The objective was a marooned British wagon in the middle of a small Spanish town. Whether it contained the payroll or a cache of gin was not clear; either way it was of great value to both sides.
This was the first foray for both Jeff and Tom into Sharp Practice. They picked up the mechanics pretty quickly and off we went. Both sides sent skirmishers around the town while the regular infantry marched as quickly as possible along the road into the town. The French lights quickly gained an advantage over the two groups of British riflemen and drove them back on their starting point.
In the town, the British arrived a little ahead of their French counterparts. The Frogs got a bit bottled up at their entry point, but soon used their command cards to get a couple of double moves that propelled them into the village. Volley followed volley and men began to drop at an alarming rate. Several officers were knock out, making command quite difficult. The British were successful in securing the stranded wagon, but ended up losing the game to their moral dropping to zero on the very last turn.
It was an enjoyable afternoon, and I am so grateful to Tom and Jeff for the time we spent together.
 |
| Action from inside the town. This is the second wave of French regulars entering the fray. The first formation had been forced to withdraw having lost over half their men. |
 |
| This shot is taken from behind the British lines. |
 |
| This group of KGL grenadiers is rushing back to defend the British entry point. |
 |
| Sharp's two groups of riflemen have been thrashed. |
 |
| These are the French skirmishers that did the thrashing. Note that they haven't lost a single man. |
 |
| This is what remained of the first French formation that entered the town. They left over half of their number dead in the village square. |
 |
| These three groups of French light infantry were able to scale the low wall and blast a group of British infantry out of the house to upper center of the picture. |
 |
| This is the British group that was forced to withdraw from the house. Note they have suffered 9 shock and only have five figures left. |
 |
On the final turn of the game this formation of British infantry suffered enough casualties that it had to roll on "the bad things that happened" table. The British dropped to zero as a result, giving the French a narrow victory. The stranded wagon can be seen to the rear of the formation.
|
 |
| Game over! |
The movement trays are scratch built by me. They worked out pretty well. The scratch built buildings also added a lot to the game.
