"Sharp Practice Rules Question" Topic

I am working on a project now involving colonial settlers v.s. Indians and so of course that means picking a rules set. I know there are quite a few sets out there and have been reading about them here on TMP.

One question for those of you who play Sharp Practice if I might. Am I correct or have I misunderstood that shooting is rolling a D6 and a 6 always hits. Other numbers cause shock etc but a 6 is the hit number.

So if I am in a fort and firing out a narrow slit, I can be hit as easily as the guy standing out there in the open?

That seems to me to a deal breaker for choosing SP.

However, I may have this all wrong and hoping some SP players can enlighten me on this. Thanks!

Well, to be technical, the rolls to hit are dependent on range. Obviously easier the closer you are. Those rolls do not take into account cover.

After determining hits, then you roll the effect of the hits. And yes, you are right. No matter the cover, a six – and only a six – is a kill. Cover affects the probability of inflicting shock.

But, don't regard that as a deal breaker! In SP, it is the application of shock which greatly affects the ability of a unit to fire and remain in the battle.

So between a unit in the open versus a unit in hard cover, the unit in the open accumulates shock at three times the rate of a unit in hard cover. Which means its firepower will rapidly diminish compared to the unit in cover, and will either need to be pulled back to recover (assuming you can spare an officer to rally them for many turns) or will simply fall back on its own, as a possible cost in the force morale.

Kills are not terribly important in SP, as opposed to many other rulesets. It does of course mean something, but honestly, shock is the primary component in SP2.

In my experience anyway. The rules have some real subtleties, and a lot of agonizing decision points. Both features are highly regarded by this particular wargamer!

No. That's not correct. The firer rolls a dice to hit. The number needed depends on the range. So, at long range you hit on a 6, effective range on a 5 or 6, at close range on a 4, 5 or 6.

Then the defender rolls for any hits you achieve. How effective the firing is depends on cover. Better cover, the hits have less effect.

Kills are not that important in Sharp Practice, the game is about breaking you opponents will to fight and much of that is about the effect of what the rules call "shock". The result is that casualty levels are more in line with historical figures rather than the "last man standing" you can get in a wargame.

Tony beat me to it and said it better than me.

OK, so given what you gents say, if my men inside a blockhouse take 3 sixs from enemy fire – me as the defender now rolls 3 dice and they only drop on rolls of 6's?

So it is a two step process?

Sorry if I'm slow grasping this…..

As a point of clarification, shock is definitely more important than the number of kills. But a unit starts to retire when it has equal to or more shock than the number of figures left in the unit. And breaks when there is twice as many points of shock as there are figures in the left in the unit.

In the new edition of sharp practice, the average line unit is eight figures. So eight points of shock on a full unit would significantly reduce its effectiveness, but would not force it to retire or break. But the same unit with one death would be forced to retire, or four casualties would automatically route.

Yes, firing is a two-step process. The initial hit number is based on the range . Close range you need a 4-6, long-range you needed a 6. Normally you roll 1 die per figure in the unit, but both the number of dice and the To Hit number can be modified by things like good or poor shots (+/- 1 to hit) or shock on the unit (roll 1 less die for every 2 points of shock).

Once you determine the number of hits, then you roll for the effect of those hits. This is where the cover comes in. A 6 is always a kill regardless of cover. And you only kill on a 6. In light cover, you get a point of shock on a 3-5. In heavy cover you get shock only on a 5. So it's possible to get kills with no shock, or the other way around.

The affect of shock is 1) lose 1" of movement for every point, 2) lose 1 die in both shooting and melee for every 2 points of shock, 3) forced to retire when shock equals number of figures in the unit, 4) rout if shock is double figures.

Hope that helps

mghFond.

In your block house you will roll for each hit. On a 5 the unit takes one shock, on a 6 it loses one man dead.

The combination of shock and kills is what overcomes units. The advantage of being in cover is that you can probably rally off shock pretty effectively and keep your unit in action. In the open you will a mass shock very quickly, on on a 3, 4 and 5, and your units will end up falling back and your force morale suffering.

In other words, cover makes a very big difference.

Ahh, thanks guys! I feel better now about the benefits of cover.
One thing I do like about SP is I can download it as a PDF and not have to send off for a set of rules to get into my greedy little paws.

And don't forget that skirmish troops count as being in one level of cover better and if in heavy cover they ignore the first kill.

SP IMO reflects the fact that line troops are better when organised into multiple group formations for volley fire – as you can't do this in building they would be better off deployed outside the building. So in the case of the block house it is more likely you would be defending with single groups of skirmish/lights (e.g. 1 group per floor and so take advantage of the above rule.