A couple weeks ago, John B., John P., Chris H., and myself decided to play a larger than usual game of Sharpe Practice. John B. and Chris took the British and Highlanders while John P and I took the French and Polish respectively. This is probably ahistoric but who cares. Realizing we were going above how many troops the game was designed for we compensated by adding a second Sharpe Practice card and a second Tiffin card and the turn would only end when the second Tiffin was drawn.
French:
Colonel Fournier (Level III)
Lieutenant Deforest (Level II)
Sergeant Comtois (Level I)
Sergeant Gaultier (Level I)
32x Fusiliers (Good, 4 Groups of 8)
Major Cousineau (Level II)
Lieutenant Monette (Level II)
Sergeant St. Martin (Level I)
Sergent Colbert (Level I)
32x Fusiliers (Good, 4 Groups of 8)
Lieutenant LeClair (Level II)
Sergeant Perot (Level I)
16x Grenadiers (Good, 2 Groups of 8)
Lieutenant Martel (Level II)
8x Voltigeurs (Good, 1 Group of 8)
Captain Lapointe (Level II)
8x Dragoons (Good, 1 Group of 8)
Captain Geroux (Level II)
1x 8 pound Cannon and Crew (Good)
Colonel Ziemniak (Level III)
Captain Gomulka (Level II)
Sergeant Gajos (Level I)
Sergeant Sokolowski (Level I)
40x Strzelców Pieszych (Chasseurs-a-pied) (Elite, 4 Groups of 10)
British:
Colonel Leslie (Level III)
Lieutenant Giffords (Level II)
Sergeant Bell (Level II)
Sergeant Dunphy (Level I)
Sergeant Ready (Level 1)
48x Center Company (Good, 4 Groups of 10, 1 Group of 8)
Lieutenant Wallace (Level II)
Sergeant Goodwin (Level I)
16x Light Company (Good, 2 Groups of 8)
Lieutenant Mathers (Level II)
10x Rifles (Elite, 1 Group of 10)
Captain Powers (Level II)
Sergeant Arrington (Level I)
16x Light Dragoons (Good, 2 Groups of 8)
Captain Westley (Level II)
Lieutenant Darby (Level I)
2x 6 pound Cannon and Crew
Colonel John MacCrumb (Level III)
Captain Taggart (Level II)
Sergeant Bourne (Level I)
24x Highlander Center Company (Good, 3 Groups of 8)
Lieutenant Webster (Level II)
Sergeant MacAdams (Level I)
12x Highlander Light Company (Good, 2 Groups of 6)
The game started with general advance.
The British Light Dragoons immediately began flanking towards the Voltigeurs.
Lt. Martel's men were able to fire a volley into the charging horsemen just before they hit. Braced for the charge, the Voltigeurs managed to drive back Captain Powers cavalry inflicting heavy losses on the Dragoons while sustaining moderate losses of his own. Undeterred by his superior being, bloodied so, Sergeant Arrington charged with the second half of the Dragoons and managed to cut the Voltigeurs down to a man, including Lieutenant Martel, though he too sustained heavy losses.
The remaining cavalry being so close caused Lt. Leclair to form his Grenadiers into square while Captain Lapointe brought his Dragoons around to drive the British cavalry away.
Colonel Ziemniak and Colonel MacCumb rushed their men forward to contest the horse pen. The Polish won the race only to find out just how full of manure the horses there had been.
Captain Geroux pushed his cannon to the top of a hill and began firing on Sergeant Ready's small group of men. While Lt. Webster's Highlander light infantry took shelter in the stone house and began firing intermittent shots at the Polish.
Major Cousineau marched his men forward in line. Lt. Deforest took a small group of Fusiliers into the woods in an attempt to deliver some preemptive volleys and bridge the gap between Colonel Fournier and Major Cousineau. Colonel Fournier advanced in line with his right being pounded by Captain Westly's cannon.
Lt. Darby opened fire on Captain Geroux's crew, killing one man.
Sergeant Goodwin rushed his men forward only to be greeted with a volley from Major Cousineau's men, pinning them in place. Lt Giffords brought his men to the top of the hill in front of him and began firing into Colonel Fournier's Fusiliers as the Polish attempted to pull their boots out of the muck. Captain Lapointe charged Sergeant Arrington's Light Dragoons, throwing them back in disorder.
On the right flank, both Colonel Fournier and Major Cousineau began to fall back under sustained fire from Colonel Leslie and Lt. Giffords.
Captain Lapointe continued his charge into the flank of Colonel MacCrumb's Highlanders, disrupting their attempt to storm the horse pens. Colonel Ziemniak's Chasseurs lined up along the wall began pouring fire into the Highlanders as well. Lt. Webster had his men fire a ragged volley into the Captain Geroux's cannon as well, bringing down another man.
Colonel Fournier began to try to rally his Fusiliers on the far side of the hill while Lt. Monette moved forward and began firing to cover for Major Cousineau's retreating men.
Captain Powers gathered his Light Dragoons and fired a volley into Captain Lapointe's cavalry. Captain Lapointe, feeling rather proud of what he had accomplished, fell back behind the barn to debate what to do next. Lt. Leclair formed his men into line and began to march towards the Highlander's flank. Lt. Gomulka was assaulted and pushed back from the wall, retreating out of the horse pen and leaving a huge gap in the line at the wall.
Colonel Zeimniak, managed to spread his men along the wall and fired a volley at point blank range into the Highlanders. Volleys were exchanged until the air was thick enough with smoke the men were choking.
The Highlanders, again, attempted the wall. Amidst the smoke and confusion, the Highlanders were repulsed.
But the Polish, thinking they had received the worst of it, fell back as well.
Lieutenant Wallace's Light Infantry continued to pick off the French cannon crew at an alarming rate, badly wounding Captain Geroux and making casualties of the rest of his crew. Captain Taggart, angered by the retreat, looked at his men and yelled "A Guinea for the man that drops that damn Frog!" pointing at Colonel Ziemniak who was busily trying to rally his troops back to the wall. Muskets were raised, but all shots missed until Private Douglas steadied himself on a branch and dropped the Colonel like a stone. On the other side of the field, Lieutenant Giffords ordered his men to advance then ran ahead like a madman expecting his men to follow. Sergeant Dunphy, advanced the men at a steady pace with Captain Westley pushing his cannon forward on line. Sergeant Dunphy stopped the line next to Lieutenant Giffords who stood glaring at his Non-Commisioned Officer.
"Did you mean ‘charge', sir?" the sergeant asked innocently.
Sergeant Goodwin formed his men into line alongside of Colonel Leslie's formation. Colonel Leslie advanced his men into line with Lieutenant Giffords. With the French line falling back, Lieutenants Mathers and Geffords began firing into Lieutenant Deforest's detachment in the woods, inflicting substantial losses. Captain Lapointe, being unable to see the British through the smoke, decided his men were no longer needed and cantered off the field hoping he could catch that hot Spanish maid before her father came back from minding his cows.
Captain Westley fired canister into the one group of French he could see. Colonel Fournier, having rallied his men, but seeing the British advance, ordered his men to retire. The Polish, seeing the right fall back did the same. The British were left holding the field while the French and Polish retreated off the field in good order.
