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We played a game of Sharp Practice Monday night using Dennis' 28mm French and Indian War figures for the first time. The scenario I put together was rudimentary – too rudimentary. Two fairly equal sized forces bumped into each other in the north woods, somewhere around Lake George. Each had a 12 strong group of militia (rated as poor line infantry), one of regulars (rated as regular line infantry) and a group of Rangers – Troops of the Marine for the French – (all rated as poor light infantry). The French also had two Indian scouts attached. This is not the last word on how I'd rate units for the French & Indian war, just a first cut.
Dennis commanded the Brits with Bill's help while Tom commanded the French with my help. We decided to load up on our right flank. Tom had the regulars of the Royal Roussillon and the Troops de la Marine while I would cover his flank with the militia and the Indian scouts. That was our plan. Each side got six blinds, half of them dummies.
The blinds moved forward and began spotting each other. It soon became clear our actual troops were opposing their real troops and our dummies were facing theirs – no fancy footwork was in the offing. From left to right we had our Indian scouts (still on a blind), Habitant militia, the light infantry of the Troops de la Marine, and the Royal Roussillon group. Tom had Lieutenant Derriere while I had Sergeant Haricot. Facing my militia was a group of British regulars. It soon became clear British Rangers were facing our Troops de la Marine and British provincial militia opposed our regulars. My militia now surged past the Troops de la Marine (instead of covering their flank) and fired a volley at the British regulars, dropping one. The ball had begun.
The regulars and the Rangers returned fire. The first Frenchman hit was Sergeant Haricot, who fell with a bullet through his chest. The Troops de la Marine now fired at the Rangers. Corporal Le Gros of the militia stepped forward bravely and took command of the militia. But preparing to fire again they discovered that their powder was wet! Le Gros now led his group to the rear, hoping to find some dry powder.
Rangers, redcoat regulars and Troops de la Marine exchanged fire repeatedly. Some Rangers were hit but the Troops de la Marine began to lose heart – and they had no big man to rally them. Lieutenant Derriere led his group of Royal Roussillon forward and exchanged fire with the provincial militia, with both sides losing some men. Derriere led his men forward through a hail of fire and fell on the Provincials with cold steel. The militia gave way and fell back (to the edge of the table).
Meanwhile, the Troops de la Marine had had enough. None had been hit but they had fallen into disorder and began moving to the rear at a good clip. Corporal Le Gros despaired of finding dry powder for his militia and headed for the Marines in an attempt to rally them. But they just fell back around him and headed off the field.
Seeing the Marines retreat, the Rangers (who were fairly disordered themselves and minus a couple men) turned to their left to face the victorious French regulars. The British regulars followed suit. The Indian scouts had been moving around the British right on their blind. Now they revealed themselves and fired some shots into the rear of the Rangers. The British lieutenant had to stop and rally his men.
The Royal Roussillon advanced in disorder towards the provincial militia, who met them with a stiff volley. As the French regulars fell back they came under fire from the Rangers which kept them moving to the rear. Bill had some grand plans for his British regulars but Dennis told him to just deal with the Indian scouts. A volley dropped one and the other decided to head for home.
Since the Troops of the Marine had decamped, the Royal Roussillon and the last Indian headed to join them, and the remaining militia group still without dry powder, we threw in the towel. The Provincial militia and the Rangers were in no shape to pursue, though the British regulars were in decent shape. Each side lost 7 men hit from 37 British and 39 French. The game took about two hours. Dennis revealed that the British were holding one of the ammunition bonus cards – which our militia needed and didn't get. The Fencibles digested some lessons about tactics in Sharp Practice – put the big men where you plan to attack, and start attacks in formations if you plan to use such.
I find that Sharp Practice has much of the feel of Peter Young's Charge without the ghastly losses – a good thing. The last time we played Charge losses by the third turn reminded me of the Somme more than a powdered wig battle.
We'll probably leave Sharp Practice alone for a while – I'm waiting for my hard copy of the final rules – and return to our home-brewed Seven Years War tactical rules for a while. There are also murmurs about playing Napoleonics again, and our 15mm ACW armies are mustering.
paints brigs for the British fleet.