Sharp Practice : French & Indian War Escort

One of the appealing things about playing Sharp Practice in the Sharp Practice in the French &Indian War is the diversity the units available to use. We fielded the following troop types. regulars, skirmishers, irregular skirmishes, light infantry and tribes. 

With such a mixture of troop types you get the prospect of an interesting asymmetrical  encounter where you’re constantly attempting to make the most of your troops attributes while not falling foul of your opponent’s strategy.

In this engagement were a War party of Native Americans  accompanied by their French Allies attempted to intercept a force of Provincials escorting the Colonel’s mistress to this latest posting. 

The first few rounds were so dominated by British chits that I checked the bag to ensure I’d actually added the French ones. Once they did eventually come out the Couriers de Bois made an immediate impact with some great shooting to pin the Provincial settlers in to  their hard cover. 

Despite this no other French or Native American unit cared to appear. During this time the Chastity and her entourage made excellent progress along the road. 

At long last the blue chits began to appear but the French deployed  in a poor position mainly due to trying to avoid getting caught out in front of the  Provincial Regulars and thus were unable to to intercept Chastity and her party. 

Nevertheless, despite this unfavourable deployment the option it was still possible to grab a pyrrhic victory by eroding the morale of the two militia units acting as rearguard. This was working well but alas Chastity even with her sprained ankle crossed the table swiftly. She was clearly keen to get to her beau. 

Sharp Practice : French & Indian War Encounter

As we sweltered down in CLWC on a hot Monday evening in June we got the bits for Sharp Practice on the table once again. This time British and French Troops met in an engagement on the edge of the wilderness.

A powerful British unit consisting of three units of infantry and one of Grenadiers screened by Provincial Rangers clashed with two units of French Marines accompanied by two groups of Malice Canadien and a war party consisting of two groups of Native Americans allies.  

The deployment rolls favour the British as we both deployed opposite one and other over the open ground. It would have suited the French to deploy in the woods. 

As the British line formed and advanced, the Malice Canadien took advantage of cover and looses a couple of volleys into the line. Killing a leader for a perfect start. Soon there after the line responded with volleys of withering fire obliging the Malice Canadien to withdraw and subsequently breaking them. 

Meanwhile on the right flank, the second group of Malice Canadien made good progress through the woods flanking the British line. They caught a group of Provincial Rangers out in the open a where lucky enough to draw first blood.  However, in the following turns the Rangers struck  back audaciously charging into the woods and while loosing they, did enough damage to mean the Malice Canadien could not push home their early advantage. 

Now the French needed their No.1 ‘Big Man’ card to come out to allow them to move the Jump of Point up the Flank to employ an ambuscade on the  British Line as it advanced. Frustratingly, no number one card would come out for around four turns. It was a case of remaining patient. At long last the Big Man’s card came out and the French Marine Infantry could  return fire and the moveable deployment point moved up through the woods. 

At last it was time to strike, the second group from the Native American war party deployed, firing in to the provincial skirmishers. On the Following turn it was their chance to charge through a cloud of smoke , and, yes they ended up short by a couple of inches! 

On to the next turn they had to come out First, yes, and charged against a group of Provincials carrying Shock. They managed to one success with all their dice. Thereby loosing the fisticuffs and being driven back into the woods. 

The British line continued to advance  there was one chance left the  final group of Braves deployed to charge the Flank of the advancing British Line the Grenadiers peeled  off to face the threat. Whose card would come out First? On three 'Flags' the War party activated and slammed into the depleted init of Grenadiers sending them running. Despite this late success, the Marine Infantry were obliged to withdraw due to the conditioned weight of fire reduced the Force Morale to zero forcing the French and their Native American allies to quit the field. 

Savage Worlds Finale in the Levant

On Monday evening, down at CLWC we had the finale of our Savage Worlds Pulp Weirdoes game based in 1920s Post-Mandate Syria. 

My one eyed, one armed French adventurer faced off a gang of marauders & an armoured car, with a swash buckling all or nothing charge. With help from other characters Capitaine mal Maison  just about survived the shoot out being wounded several times.

Savage Worlds is a slick RPG system which translates very well on to the tabletop. It was a joy to play games with some amazing handmade terrain that really brought the campaign to life.

Chain of Command , Assualt on Fortiforcations May 1940

 That was a some introduction to Chain of Command  2. A German Pioneer assault on French fortifications in May 1940. The game was loosely based on Scenario 3: Point 247 from the Forgotten Battles : Battle for France, 1940 by Peter Heath. The Germans had just crossed the River Meuse and were to assault a series of fortifications.

Sadly in the set up I made bit of a pig’s ear of it. Not thinking I placed one of the objective markers in the town rather than on the hill. This resulted in a major advantage for the Germans. Due to a poor patrol phase the Germans advanced up the flank in to the village in the first round. Putting pressure on these poorly placed objectives markers from  the get go. Nevertheless, this provided me with an opportunity to salvage something for a bad situation, a position enjoy from a game perspective.

With an off table bunker buster smashing one of the fortifications in the second round. German Pioneers pouring into the town and swamping the French rifles posted as pickets at the edge of the village. Desperately, attempting to hold the line. As two further Sections deployed to protect this compromised flank as the final started in the third phase of counted down from eight. 

As the Germans brought their weight to bear the French Force Morale stated to tumble  When it reached t two the tattered remanence of the French Reserve platoon withdrew. leaving the field to the German. 

 

On reflection , it seems a plausible scenario for May 1940, an aggressive German Pioneers find a weak spot and flank a defensive position while the French scramble to plug the hole. I was struggling to focus on what was new, what was existing and  how it all goes together. There is a lot there once it gets on to the tabletop. 

I am very much looking forward to getting more games under my belt and becoming more confident with the raft of changes. 

Getting to Grips with Baron's War

The second introductory game of Baron’s War down at Central London Wargames Club started cautiously as both sides sized each other up across a contested village. It was a doubles game we were getting to grips with the ‘you go I go’ mechanics and the various reactions that are available to units.

The key moment in the game came when the beautifully lined up planned charge by the our Noble Lord and his Retinue of Knights. Unfortunately they were roundly defeated and routed back putting us on to the back foot.

Following this set back it became very difficult to hold the objectives on the left flank despite a valiant effort from the mounted serjeants who defended it as best they could but were eventually pushed of the objective by repeated charges and attacks from three units. While the levy shepishly stood off from the  enemy serjaents holding the chuch. Next time I'll just pile in with everybody. 

 

Savage Worlds in French Mandated Syria

The role playing game Savage Worlds has a lovely system of ‘edges’ and ‘hindrances’ in character creation which gives added depth. It provided me with an opportunity to build a character to suit one of the favourite miniatures in the collection; A one eyed, one armed French Officer who had previously only every been employed as an adjutant in Chain of Command games. Pictured below: 

Captaine Jean-Pierre mal Maison back story is; after being horribly wounded in the battle of Verdun, he was spurred by his fiancée, heart broken he left France for Syria in an intelligence gathering role for the colonial administration and Gendarmerie.

In the first instalment I attended of the game set in 1920s French mandated Syria down at Central London  Wargames Club my one-eyed, one armed French Great War Veteran was back in action. Great fun sneaking around and popping off shots at Turkish Bandits while attending to discover sub plots and intrigues.  

In the following Bank Holiday game, once again, Captaine mal Maison finds himself and his companions in a spot of bother, being sprayed by a Rolls Royce armoured car in the desert. 

Time for a hasty retreat, considering he was there to gather intelligence. Great fun as ever. 

 Further Reading:  

James Barr,  A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East, Simon & Schuster 2012.