I put on two games at Historicon this year of Sharp Practice. Friday
nights game was a pick up with my usual convention buddies and the
second was a registered game on Saturday night. The scenario and OOB
were the same. Please let me know if you have any questions.
The scenario was around a coastal Spanish town called El Puerto near
the Pyrenees in 1814 as Wellington is driving Soult from Spain. The
town is a small supply depot garrisoned by the French. A French naval
frigate has just arrived to transport the towns supply's and garrison
to Soults beleaguered forces farther to the North.
Wellington wants the town as well as the supplies. To that end, he
instructs the light division to attack the town from the landside and
the Royal Navy to bottle up the harbor and attack the ship at the dock.
Our hero, Captain Richard Sharpe is commanding the 95th rifles. His
good friend Captain LeRoy, is commanding the line company from the
43rd Foot. Also under Leroy are two guns from the Royal Horse
Artillery and a group of Dragoons under Captain Long.
The French garrison is led by Brigadier Loup. A cunning and ruthless
foe that has tangled with Sharpe before. The French naval frigate is
commanded by Captain Cousteau. In addition to light troops, line
infantry and Guards Grenadiers, Loup is in possession of 2 guns from
the Guard artillery and a group of Chasseurs cavalry. General ZLoup
is also in possession of the Countessa La Montana, de la Hoya
Eldorado. Sharpe is, of course, in love with the Countessa and was
determined to fight Loup to the death to win her back
The French were waiting by the wharf to board the frigate for their
safe passage back to France. As they were relatively sure of their
safety, they only had a small picket in a block house on the edge of
the village to warn them of any approaching enemy. To Loup's dismay,
this group from the 18th Leger were fast asleep at dawn when the light
division crested the hill to launch their attack. The French light
troops finally managed to get off a musket shot to warn the garrison
after spotting the British approaching their outpost walls. The 18th
Leger then tried to run for the town but only after putting up a good
fighting withdrawal.
The Chasseurs were first to the action to cover the retreat of the
light troops, managing to drive off the British Dragoons with great
effect. After repeated charges into the British line infantry, this
unit of Chasseurs were eventually exhausted and had to retire into the
village to rally and remove their shock points.
Meanwhile, the Royal Navy managed under His Grace Captain Lord James
to approach the French frigate while it was loading supplies. After a
furious cannonade, and repeated attempts to grapple the two ships
together, the RN finally managed to board the French frigate. The
ensuing melee was furious with the Royal marines getting the better of
the French crews.
Meanwhile, in the town, the British Line infantry were stopped in
their tracks by the French artillery and a formation of Guard
Grenadiers. This encounter went back and forth between musketry,
fisticuffs, artillery blasts and cavalry charges, with neither side
coming to a decisive conclusion (although several British units
dissolved). During this side of the action, the 95th Rifles and our
hero Richard Sharpe were running down back alleys to arrive near the
seaside quay to attack the French line units that had taken up
position in the buildings near the wharf. This fight eventually went
to the French as well and saw the rifles fall back into the town
toward the action involving Captain Leroy and the 43rd Foot. The
infusion of the Rifles in the rear of this French line of resistance
proved decisive and saw several French units fall back into a nearby
orchard.
At this point we called it a minor British victory as the garrison and
supplies were not going to Soult but the town was still in the hands
of the French. Sadly, Sharpe never managed to come to grips with his
enemy Brigadier Loup and the Countessa had to remain in his clutches
in the town. I like to think that Sharpe is planning on a more subtle
approach to rescue his love, but that won't happen until later this month.
All of my units have 10 figures with the exception of the artillery
which had 5 figures per gun.
British
4 groups of Line infantry 2 big men
3 groups of 95th Rifles 2 big men
1 group of Dragoons 1 big man
2 guns of Royal Horse Artillery 1 Big man
2 groups of British Royal marines 1 big man
French
3 groups of line infantry 1 big man
2 groups of light infantry 1 big man
2 groups of Imperial Guard Grendaiers 2 big men
2 guns of Guard Artillery 1 big man
1 group of Chasseurs 1 big man
3 groups of Naval crews 1 big man
The rules played extremely well. We plan on adding the Bonus deck the
next time we play. Saturdays game was originally listed in the event
book as using Brother Against Brother but I changed that when I felt
comfortable using SP. Several of the players that were registered to
play were expecting to use BaB and I was worried that they would be
disappointed at the last minute change but they were good sports and stayed
to play. After a couple of turns they were really getting into the
flavor of the scenario and really enjoyed the game. They were a great
bunch of guys and I hope to play with them again.
I used a task for the French to load the supplies on the ship. I don't believe they finished loading as the crews were increasingly involved in
fisticuffs with the Royal Marines.
