Attack on Fort Charles Battle Report

We had a great time this morning playing our mege game of Sharp Practice. We made some adjustments on the fly to make the game more competitive. In the end, though, the French weren't able to obtain a single objective. This resulted in a smashing victory for the British and colonists. To speed the game up after the third turn, we started moving in inches instead of centimeters. Had this occurred earlier the French might have had a better chance. Oh well. Live and learn. The French plan was to take advantage of their hidden movement in the forest to pin down the large British forces around the village and then use the artillery, Marines and Indians to capture the fort. As they say, the plan was great right up until it met the enemy. The French Indians moved quickly through the woods, only to find themsevles attacking piecemeal and being decimated as result. The French decision to try to storm the blockhouse rather than whittle it down with musketry proved to be the ultimate final straw in the failure. French regulars were shredded by the staunch defense of two groups of Virginia state militia. The attack on the fort never really materialized. One group of Indians stormed out of the woods with their ladders in tow. Unfortunately, the redcoats manning the wall got off a volley before they could actually scale the walls. This was more than the warriors could stomach. A second band attempted to seize the cannon but fell just short. A blast of cannister sent them back in the trees. The two French guns were never able to get into a good position to fire on the timber walls of the fort. Two small groups of skirmishers from the 45th Foot did just enough to make the artillerists' lives miserable. This was not helped much by the dilatory advance of six groups of marines supporting them. As the game continued, Roger's Rangers and the 42nd Foot advanced out of the town, into the woods and into the disorganized French Indian allies. Things just went from bad to worse. Dismal as the outcome was, we all had a great time.

The village never came into danger, allowing its garrison to go on the attack.

This portion of the woods saw bloody hand to hand combat and the destruction of three bands of French Indians and two of allied Indians.

The men in the fort never felt threatened, largely due to the slowness of the marines and the piecemeal attacks of the Indians.

It was the heroic defense of the blockhouse, however, that was the true story of this battle. In hindsight, the French would have been wise to bypass it and try to attack the Indian village beyond it. Alas, that was not to be.

The best chance the French had to steal a minor victory was thwarted when these militiamen were blocked by British regulars of the 28th Foot.

Attack on Fort Charles: Sharp Practice FWI Mega Game

This weekend a few of my former students are coming over for a wargame. They requested we revisit a game we played back when I was doing a summer program for kids. As before, the scenario involves a large fort at one end of the table, and a town at the other. The British and loyal subjects of the King are in possession of these two features. The stealthy French and their Indian allies will try to capture the fort, or at the very least, cut the road from the town so that supplies can't get through. We will be playing Sharp Practice using cards for each of the big men. There will also be eight flags for each side in the deck so they have lots of opportunities to employ special rules. All of the British units are on the table. The French and Indians will enter as their cards are drawn, but won't be seen until they come within 6 centimeters of an enemy unit. At least half of the table is covered in forest, so they French and Indians will have lots of cover and the element of surprise. Here is what the table looks like in anticipation of the big game.

Victrix Scots Greys and French Guard Chasseurs a Cheval

Victrix had a sale on their Napoleonic line. These were two units that I didn't have in my collection, so I picked them up. These are very nice figures. One reviewer had commented that assembling the chasseurs was difficult, particularly adding the dolmans. I didn't find that to be the case. The parts fit together neatly and easily. My only issue was that the braid on the dolmans was so small that it was hard to make it stand out. Other than that, they were a pleasure to paint.