"Sharp Practice for Spanish American War?" Topic

I just played Sharp Practice for the first time and while I'm not normally into skirmish gaming I was really quite taken with it.

I've also been eyeing the 1898 Miniatures range for quite a while. But I was thinking more of a Black Powder style game and I couldn't quite force myself to buy a whole lot of miniatures for a war with basically one large pitched battle in it :)

But then I remembered the skirmishing that took place in Cuba and the Philippines and how much fun Sharp Practice was and the light bulb went off :)

I know Sharp Practice is meant for wars prior to the Span-Am War, but it really seems like it would work for that, too, for fights in jungle terrain.

Anyone tried this?

I think in design they say it does not suit breachloaders etc. period.
You woukd hve to intensely modify stuff. Of course it is feasible but the system has a subtile inner balance that coukd be destroyed.

The fighting system and relation of time and distance would be the worst to rethink.

The 2nd edition includes breachloaders and magazine rifles like you would find in the Civil War. Not that much difference between a Spencer or Henry and a Mauser or Krag. Especially at close range in jungle fighting.

Scott, have you considered The Sword and the Flame by Larry Brom over at Sergeants3.com or Rough Riders! by Chris Ferree over at thevirtualarmchairgeneral.com?

You could stretch SP to cover the period but there are some challenges. The rules allow for single-shot breechloaders and SP is much more about the Leaders, Command and control rather than the hardware, and easily tweaked for further period-specific feel.

Main challenge is the change in tactics/training from the black powder distinction between ‘Line' and ‘Light' Infantry to a focus on massed Skirmishers – not impossible but not so easy to get right.

We've had some great large-scale skirmishes using Osprey's "Men Who Would Be Kings", which can handle games of similar size (or much larger, if you wish)