ENFILADE 2021 Sharp Practice AAR

 Blow Up the Bridge X 2

 A scenario presented at the NHMGS Enfilde Convention on Sept. 4, 2021

 

 I put on two games at the NHMGS Enfilade Convention in Olympia, WA over Labor Day Weekend. Both were the same Scenario where the French are trying to capture two bridges to make a Flank Attack on the British. The British with some Spanish Allies have been sent with a small force to blow them up. Captain Sharpe with Sargent Harper and some Rifles are attached to the Spanish to help them along. The details of the Scenario setup are given below the AAR.

The French are tasked with capturing the Left Hand Bridge which is defended by the Spanish. A detachment from the 4th Polish Regt. in French Service has the Right side Bridge to capture which is defended by the British. Unfortunately in the 1st game some of the Poles wandered over to the Spanish held bridge and helped the French which resulted in a slightly skewed game. For this reason I will only report on the 2nd game where I was a bit more forceful in the French deployments.

To keep things moving I arranged the cards so that generally two played would activate at the same time, one from the British side and one from the french side, but on opposite sides of the table. So when a Spanish Leader activated so would one form the Polish side. When a British Leader activated, one from the French forces would also. There were a few cards that were individually activated like the Sapper Officers, but for the most part two players activated at the same time but on opposite sides of the table so one didn't interfere with the other. As you look at the pictures, you'll see the table if fairly divided length wise down the center of the table by terrain to facilitate this.

 

 In the opening moves the Spanish boldly move out getting the Guerillas to the bridge. The Spanish Explosives wagon really isn't on the table yet. On the other side the British are slow to move out, the Poles having used an MDP to get down the road quicker and prevent the British from getting the extra 6 inches for hidden deployment.

  

The French deployed early and didn't get the use of the MDP and took awhile to get into action.

      

Spanish Fusiliers going across the bridge. Sharpe and the 95th rifles to the left of them. The Spanish sappers and the explosives wagon are deployed. Spanish Guerillas move forward to meet the French. In background, the British Grenadiers have moved across the bridge and there is a Light Infantry skirmish Group supporting next to the bridge.

     

British Grenadiers bravely stand their ground as the Polish Column approaches.

   

Meanwhile the French are slowly trundling down the road. With four Command cards available the polish player brings in a troop of polish Lancers. Hard to see, but there are some Polish Voltigeurs in the woods next the column.

 

 

The Poles do a "Pas de Charge", but end up two inches short. British Column moves up and take fire from the Polish Skirmishers. Meanwhile the Spanish Fusiliers have formed Line awaiting the tardy French

 

French Skirmishers finally get into action as the column moves up.

 

One of the French Skirmishers had his head blown off and I had to get the Super Glue out. (actually I fumbled the figures trying to help the French player move them)

 

The Poles attack again, but the Brits have already moved the column up to support. The odds are fairly even, but the Poles win. Unfortunately Level III Captain Studzinski of the Poles and Level II Lt. Rod Stiffington of the British Grenadiers are both killed in the fisticuffs.

 

The outcome of the melee resulted in the British Grenadiers being wiped out and the Column being pushed back. Lt. Butinski of the Polish Grenadier Group takes over command of the Polish Column.

 

The British Line attacks the Poles and force them back, but both units have taken a bit of Shock.

 

British Explosives wagon is slowly making its way to the bridge.

  

French Line is still not in the fight, but the French Skirmishers have done some damage to the Spanish.

 

The British Line nearly wipes out the Polish Column with musket Fire, but the Polish Lancers charge in and drive the British back to the Bridge. The British Wagon finally makes it to the bridge and begins to set the explosives.

  

Meanwhile the Spanish Sappers have fully set their charges and are ready to light the fuse.

  

French Line has finally entered the fight and starts to put casualties on the Spanish Line and the Guerillas, but it is too late.

  

We had to call the game at this point as the Game Period was ending, but it looked like both bridges had a good chance of being destroyed. The Poles had very little to fight with on their side and all the Spanish had to do was retreat across the bridge before it blew. However, the British Force Morale had been reduced to zero while the French were at Force Morale of 2. So technically a French Victory, but hard fought on both sides.

 A close game with a lot of action involved especially on the Polish-British side. I was pleased with how the double activation worked as it kept all players engaged in the game. The French player seemed to be plagued by a lot of low movement rolls as it took him forever to get his main force involved. On the other side of the table to British Force Commander who activated at the same time as the French Force Commander seemed to be able to do quite a lot. He was able to move up to support his Grenadiers and drive the Poles back. He had less distance to cover however, and I think he deployed on three Command Cards earlier in the game than the French Commander did.

 Here is the Scenario Map. I changed a few things for the actual game. The terrain is slightly different and the French Entry point is in the middle rather than off to one side. This was done so that the British and Spanish Deployment points would be hidden and so give them an extra 6 inches of deployment distance. The map is from Tabletop Simulator Mod where I tested this several times in preparation for Enfilade.

Following is the Scenario setup

Some where in Spain in 1810. The French are attempting a flank attack on the British, but to do so they most hold the only two bridges across a river that bars their way. A small force of Polish and French is sent to capture the bridges before the main French attack column arrives. The Poles are assigned the bridge on the right and the French the other.

Meanwhile a combined British and Spanish force has been sent to blow up the bridges before the French arrive. As the quality of the Spanish is doubtful, Lieutenant Sharpe has been assigned the aid the Spanish along with a Group of Riflemen including Sharpe’s trusted sidekick Sergeant Harper. The British are tasked with the left side bridge and the Spanish must blow up the one on the right flank. Both must send their infantry across the bridges to allow the sappers time to set the charges and then recall their forces back before lighting the fuses.

 British and Spanish each roll 2D6 and place their DP that far along from their starting point at the Eastern edge of the table.(i.e. from where the DP markers start).

 They then deploy from their Deployment Points according to normal rules.

French enter from their Deployment Point on the road normally on the first turn however they have a MDP which must first be used by any of the Skirmish Units that have the MDP Characteristic. It is placed and used as per the standard MDP rules.

As he has been tasked to assist them, Lieutenant Sharpe can try to activate the Spanish Units, but they will not always follow his orders. Each time he tries to activate one of them, roll a D6. On a 4 through 6 they will follow his command. On a 1 through 3, they will ignore him. Sharpe looses one initiative that turn for each time he fails to activate them. 

For the Enfilade game, I added a Group of Polish Lancers that the Polish player could bring on by playing four Command cards. They arrive on the road at the Primary French Deployment Point.

The Sappers may do a Task roll with 2D6 once the Wagon has reached the center of the Bridge. Once the total reaches 12 the charges are set. Then the fuse must be laid taking one Action per 3 inches of fuse. Only one Sapper at a time can lay the fuse. It takes one action to light the fuse. 

Once lit, the fuse will burn for one turn for each three inches of fuse, blowing up the bridge when the last turn's Tiffin turns up. Any figure within 3 inches is Dead. Any beyond that but still within 12 inches rolls for being hit as if in the open with a plus 3 modifier and any Shock is Doubled. For every three inches from the 3 inch Dead zone, reduce the modifier by 1.

 

Here are the Forces involved with the Leader Cards so you can see how the Leaders are paired so One French and one British are activated with each Card. The only ones that activate by themselves are the Sapper Officers. A lot of times they end up being activated by the Force Commander, either British or Spanish or by Sharpe. At some point I'll add the Unit Characteristics, but players of Sharp Practice should be able to figure that out on their own.

Constructive comments always appreciated. I hope you found this AAR interesting.

 

Sharp Practice AAR Enfilade 2019

Well my two table Sharp Practice Scenario previously presented here, went well at the NHMGS ENFILADE Convention this past Memorial Day weekend. It achieved the result  of keeping everyone occupied and busy the whole game. Was a bit chaotic and I could have use some help running the game, but the played seemed to enjoy it.  The outcome was a bot mixed however and wargamers will always find a way to break any scenario.

The background to the Scenario is that the Rebels have made a raid into British territory and made off with a wagon load of arms and ammunition needed to arm the local Militia. They are being pursued by a force of British and must make it across a bridge to escape. Another Force of British is arriving in front of them to block their access to the Bridge. The British also need the arms to give to their  own loyalist Militias. A river runs between the two table and is impassable terrain, so the only way to escape is across the bridge.

Meanwhile on the other table(Table A) a Rebel force is arriving from the North to hold the Bridge open for the escaping Wagon. A British Force with Tory Provincials is arriving from the South to prevent this.

 Since the previous Scenario presentation, I resided things a slight bit. I added another unit of skirmishers to each side so the players on each side and on each table would each have two units to command. I moved the terrain around slightly to allow units to deploy into line on the road on Table B.

 I made Rosters for each force on each table with pictures of the Leaders matching the card decks. This way, players could find their leaders and units more easily than if they just had numbers. Even so, some players still got confused and mixed up leaders.

I also had cards for the  wagon Master Walter Sobchak, the two Reverends, one on each table on the Rebel side, (Rev. Hal E.Looya and Geven Brimstone) and the two Doctors on the British side,one on each table. This was to allow them easier activation in case the Force Commanders(Ldr 1) card didn't come up during play. I also use a Second Tiffin card to help keep things moving. If any Tiffin came up first, it would signal an End of Chapter per the Rules.  I've found the second Tiffin helps even things out a bit especially in Convention games.

 Finally, I added some rules to provide a chance of the wagon blowing up if hit by gunfire. They were as follows:

If Wagon is in line of fire or within 4" of a target receiving fire, then there is a chance the wagon will be hit. Count the wagon as another unit sharing dice and allocate hits against it. If any hits roll 1D6: 1 hits Driver, roll on Officer Hit table for effect; 2-3 hits a horse = minus 1 pip on movement dice for each hit; 4-5 hits wagon with No effect; 6 hits Gunpowder blowing up and affecting everything within 6" radius. Roll for each figure on Table 11 (Hit Effects) as if they were in the open and counting Any Shock as doubled.

I made sure both sides knew that preserving the weapons and ammunition on the wagon were a high priority for both sides.

  

I was pretty busy running the game so didn't take a lot of pictures. In the picture below the near side is Table B. The British Regulars are occupying the blocking position on the road. It was awhile before they had any help from their accompanying skirmisher unit that was supposed to arrive on the road in the foreground on Turn 2. The Rebels used their MDP to deploy their Frontiersmen Riflemen up by the white cabin and they began to pour effective fire into the British Regulars for most of the game..

For some reason the Rebels elected to use their Main Deployment Point to deploy the Wagon and the rest of their Forces. The close pursuing British Grenadiers managed to give them some fire into their rear causing double Shock, but with the help of the Reverend Hal E.Looya they Rebels were able to recover. Where the Wagon is shown is about as far as it got. The Wagon Master, Walter Shobchak shared the hits on the Militia ans was knocked out. He recovered on his next activation, but was hit again later and killed. Why the Rebels didn't deploy the wagon using the MDP is a mystery to me.

 

On table A the Provincial Regulars went up the right side of the table and ensconced themselves behind the log cabin where I guess they thought them selves safe there leaving their skirmishers to carry on the fight. They eventually came out from behind the house, but not before the Highlanders had pretty much carried the day on the left side of the field. They had become engaged in a firefight with the Continentals and a Fisticuffs which drove the Table A Rebel Force Morale to Zero.

Meanwhile on Table B, The Rebel Militia along with the Frontiersmen skirmishers had whittled the British Regulars at the Road Block down to three Soldiers plus Sgt. Mal Ingerer and Captain Warren Peace. The Rebel Continentals on this side had effectively held the Grenadiers off from capturing the wagon and British Force Morale was down to two.

So the wagon could have probably gotten across the Bridge if the Rebels could find a driver for it, but once there, it had no where to go since the British had driven off the Rebels who were supposed to hold the bridge open. Perhaps that is a scenario for another time where the Rebels try to force their way through the Highlanders and the reluctant Loyalist infantry on the other side of the table.

So ends my attempt to run two separate games at one. It certainly kept everyone busy, but it was very difficult to umpire. If some of the players were more familiar with the rules it would have been a lot easier. Overall I was satisfied with the result and the players seemed to enjoy the game.

Sharp Practice, Race to the Bridge AAR

 This was a playtest of the scenario presented in the previous Post, but only of the right hand side of the table. As described in the previous Post, I will have two games going side by side at the Enfilade Convention in May. The ungrateful rebellious colonists have made a raid deep into enemy territory and have made off with a wagon full of ammunition and weapons needed to supply the Militia. They need to get the wagon over the bridge and exit off the North side of the other table.

The British have a DP at the cross roads and get to deploy one Unit using that DP. They also get a barricade as a Support Option. The rest of the British come on at the South Road on the turn after the Rebels have deployed all of their Units.

The Rebels get a Deployment Point which they can deploy 2D6 +6" from the South Road entrance. They also get one MDP which can be deployed as per the rules.

(Note: Added Scenario rule. Rebels cannot hold up deployment to delay British entry at the South Road entrance. If a Rebel Leaders card comes up, he must deploy with his Command. This is to prevent the Rebel player from holding up the British pursuit Force by keeping one Group off the table.)

Below is the map showing the position of troops after a couple of moves. The British deployed the Fusiliers(their best troops) just South of the Cross Road with one Group behind the barricade and the other behind the rail fence.

The Rebels got some decent first moves and were able to get up to the farmhouse area, the Continentals going down the road, Militia in the woods and Skirmishers in the hog pen to hold up the British pursuit.

The pursuing British sent the skirmishers to harass the Militia and the Regulars to try to cut off the escape of the wagon.

Picture that pretty much matches the map above. The Continentals were looking and got some early shots in that took out a few of the Fusiliers.

The Continentals take some fire from the Fusiliers and the British Skirmishers from behind, ending up with quite a bit of Shock. The British Regulars put some shots into the Rebel Skirmishers knocking their Leader, Capt. Upton O. Goode unconscious. A subsequent End of Turn draw with the Tiffin and he is back in action. The Wagon Master, Walter Sobchak get a good move and wheels the wagon out of the line of fire.

British Regular Commander, Capt. Warren Peace, wants to charge the skirmishers, but doesn't get the Command Flags to do a Thin Red Line maneuver. He was plagued the whole game by missing activations. The Reverend Hal E. Looya has  a couple of good rolls on 1D6 (a 4 and a 5) to enable him to remove nine Shock from the Continentals allowing  them to slowly move up.  Meanwhile, Walter Slobchak gets the wagon closer to the exit point. The Militia turn and fire at the British Skirmishers taking half of them out and forcing them to retire. They were ineffectual for pretty much the rest of the game.

 I gave the Wagon Master his own card instead of letting him be activated on the Force Leader's card. His card came up much more than Capt. WarrenPeace's did and he got very good movement rolls also.

I added another Scenario rules regarding the wagon. Since it was carrying gun powder along with the  weapons, there was a chance any stay shots might set off the gunpowder destroying the whole wagon. As the British wanted to recover the wagon so they could supply their own Militia forces, there is incentive for both sides to not shoot at it. If within four inches of a Group taking fire, it would be subject to hits just like another Unit.

If hit, roll 1D6, A 6 hits the Wagon Master(roll for effect just like any other leader), a 5 hits the Horses(-1 pip per movement die for each hit) and a  1 thru5 hits the wagon with a 50% of blowing up. Roll for Hits in Open for every figure within six inches of the wagon with any Shock doubled.



 A view from the other side of the table. We had a Random Event in the Pig pen with the pigs stampeding, but they narrowly missed running into the Rebel Skirmishers. The Luck seemed to be with the Rebels, no doubt due to the intervention of the Reverend Looya.

 The Reverend had a significant effect on the game. He was a Support Option for the Rebels and came with a Relic ( Cross of Saint Whatever) that enabled him roll 1D6 twice to remove Shock. His first roll got a four and the second one on his next turn was a five. This resulted in the removal of all the Shock on the Continentals allowing them to continue to move.

 As with the Wagon Master, I gave him his own card. In the event of the loss of leaders, I would allow him to use Command Flags to be able to command Units, but that was not needed in this game.

British Regulars can never seem to be able to get enough movement. Either the Regulars were tired from the pursuit or Captain Peace was a malingerer.

 

 Continentals try to charge the barricade, but end up an inch short. They were taking quite a bit of fire from the Fusiliers, but the casualties were minimal. The Fusiliers just couldn't seem to hit anything today. Between Capt. Hiram Cheaper, Level 3 and Sgt. Frank Sansbeens , Level 1, they were able to remove just enough Shock to allow the Continentals to move forward if they had decent movement rolls.

 The Continentals manage to charge the barricade. Although outnumbered in melee dice, they inflict three more kills than received on the Fusiliers, driving them back and breaking their Formation. Captain Cheeper moves to within hailing distance of Walter Sobchak and tells him to get his ass in gear and move the wagon. The British Regulars manage to wipe out the Rebel skirmishers except for their Leader, but the wagon is too far away to catch.

  Ending dispositions. The Militia were largely untouched, illustrating the fallacy of putting six man skirmisher Groups up against twenty figure Militia units

With British Force Morale at "1" and the Rebels at "8" we called the game as there was nothing to prevent the wagon from exiting the table.

Although this was a small game, it was very enjoyable and had couple of Dramatic moments, the Shock removal by the Reverend and the epic charge by the Continentals. I really like the way the narrative plays out in Sharp Practice games and can only hope the Convention game goes as well.




Have a few tweaks to work out in the scenario and I should be ready for Enfilade 2019. In this game we found we had to move the farm house and the pig enclosure over to allow room for the forces to deploy in line. If you look at the last post Map, you can see the difference.  I will also add another skirmish unit to each side so each player will have one Formation of two Groups and one skirmish Group to command.With two players per side, that will ensure each player will have enough to keep him busy. Will probably move the British set up on table B back just a bit to give both sides more room to deploy. British player on Table B will start with one Unit on the table North of the road junction and the other unit coming on at the Eastern road entrance.

Any comments welcome and if you use this Scenario, please send me some feedback. Thanks for looking

SP Scenario for Enfilade 2019

I've done Sharp Practice(SP) games at conventions and the Card Activation system on these rules always seems to leave one player sitting around waiting for his card to turn up. A couple of turns of this,does not make for an enjoyable game for that player. SP seems to work best with two or fewer players per side, but at conventions you really need to allow for six or more players per game as its just not an efficient use of a table to put on a game for two to four players.

So how to reconcile the problems with SP's card activation system and still allow for eight players in the game. This year I am trying two separate but linked games going at the same time. To do this I have divided the table into two sections with impassable terrain between them. Each section will have their own card deck and proceed at their own pace. This way there will only two players per side in each section with the possibility of interaction between the two only at the end of the game.

Below is the map of the scenario with details described below.

Scenario Description

Rebel Force B(RB) is returning from a raid into enemy territory. They have a wagon full of  supplies, ammunition and muskets they have captured. They are trying to get back to friendly territory and must cross a bridge to do so. The British have been warned of their presence and send British Force B(BB) to  prevent their escape.

On the other side of the river, a friendly Rebel Force A(RA) has been sent to hold the bridge where they must cross. Another British Force(BA) has been sent to intercept the wagons to prevent their escape.

The river runs in a deep ravine and is impassable other than at the bridge.  The terrain on either side of the river is heavy undergrowth, dense forest and rocky hillsides being classed as Really Heavy Going.
Rebel Force RB must cross the bridge and exit the North edge of Table A. The British must try to prevent the wagon from escaping.

Set Up
Each force is comprised of two units of two Groups each and one Unit of Skirmisher type infantry. Rebel Force RB with the wagon first places his Primary Deployment Point(DP) on the road 2D6 plus 6 inches from the Southern table edge. The Rebel Force RB may all enter on turn 1.

The British Force BB B may place only one unit using their Primary DP at the Road junction to the bridge during the first Turn. The remaining two units may enter anytime after turn 2 using the Southern road entrance on Table B as their Deployment Point.

Rebel Force RA and British Force BA may both enter on Turn 1 using their respective Deployment Points located at the North and South road entrances to table A. British Force BA has a Movable Deployment Point(MDP) they may use per the rules as long as the Provential Regulars are the first to make use of it. On table B, the Rebels also have a MDP which functions as per the normal rules after they place the Primary DP as described above.

Force Characteristics

Rebels

 Force RA  Total 65 points
Ldr 1 Capt. Seymore Bush Lvl III
Ldr 3 Sgt. Buster Cherry Lvl I
Continental Line   Regulars   Muskets   8figs/Group   2 Groups  7 pts/Group
Formation: Always                       Crashing Volley: 2      Characteristics: Sharp Practice
First Fire:   Yes                              Step Out:  2
Controlled Volley: Yes                   Drill:        2

Ldr 2 Lt.Moe Lester Lvl III
Ldr 4 Sgt. Rick O'Shea Lvl IMilitia   Militia   Muskets 10figs/Group   2 Groups  3 pts/Group
Formation: No Shock                   Crashing Volley: 3      Characteristics: No Bayonets
First Fire:   Yes                             Step Out:  3                                           Hearth&Home
Controlled Volley: First Only       Drill:        -

Ldr 5 Sgt Melvin Sackrider Lvl I
Miltia SK   Irregular SK  Rifles   6 figs/Group   1 Groups  7 pts/Group
Formation: No                    Crashing Volley: -      Characteristics: Sharp Practice,
First Fire:   Yes                             Step Out:  3      Hearth & Home, No Bayonet
Controlled Volley: No                   Drill:        -

Support Total 8 points
Holyman  1 point
Marksman 2 points
Water Cart  2 points
Relic 3 points

Force RB  Total  64 points
Ldr 1 Capt. Hiram Cheaper Lvl III
Ldr 4 Sgt. Frank Sansbeens Lvl I Continental Line   Elite   Muskets   8 figs/Group   2 Groups  9 pts/Group
Formation: Always                       Crashing Volley: 1      Characteristics: Sharp Practice,
First Fire:   Yes                              Step Out:  2                Good Shots, Stubborn
Controlled Volley: Yes                   Drill:        2

Ldr 3 Lt. Jason Sanborn Lvl II
Ldr 5 Sgt Luke Warme Lvl I
Militia   Militia   Muskets 10figs/Group   2 Groups  3 pts/Group
Formation: No Shock                   Crashing Volley: 3      Characteristics: No Bayonets
First Fire:   Yes                             Step Out:  2                                           Hearth&Home
Controlled Volley: First Only       Drill:        -

Ldr 2 Capt. Upton O. Goode Lvl II
Frontiersmen   Skirmishers    Rifles   6 figs/Group   1 Groups  7 pts/Group
Formation: No                    Crashing Volley: -      Characteristics: Good Shots, Movable DP,
First Fire:   Yes                             Step Out:  3      Aggressive, Movable DP, Tomahawks,
Controlled Volley: No                   Drill:        -       No Bayonet

Support Total 6 points
Holyman  1 point
MDP  2 points
Relic 3 points

British 

Force BA  Total 65 points
Ldr 1 Capt. Serge A. Head  Lvl III
Ldr 3 Lt. Pat Pending Lvl I
Highlanders   Elites   Muskets   8figs/Group   2 Groups  9 pts/Group
Formation: Always                       Crashing Volley: 1      Characteristics: Sharp Practice,
First Fire:   Yes                              Step Out:  2                 Thin Red Line, Aggressive,
Controlled Volley: Yes                   Drill:        2                 Tomahawks

Ldr 2 Lt.Duncan Doughnut Lvl II
Ldr 5 Sgt. Jimmy DeLocke Lvl I
Loyalists  Conscripts and Volunteers  Musket   8figs/Group   2 Groups  4 pts/Group
Formation: Always                       Crashing Volley: 3      Characteristics: Sharp Practice
First Fire:   Yes                              Step Out:  3                        
Controlled Volley: First Only        Drill:        -

Ldr 4 Sgt Creighton Shippet Lvl I
Loyalist SK  Skirmishers  Muskets   6figs/Group   1 Groups  7 pts/Group
Formation: Never                      Crashing Volley: -      Characteristics: Movable DP
First Fire:   Yes                          Step Out:  3                         
Controlled Volley:No                 Drill:       -

Support Total 8 points
Physic 1 point
Water Cart 2 Point
MDP 2 points 
Colors 3 points


Force BB Total  67 points
Ldr 1 Capt. Warren Peace  Lvl III
Ldr 4 Sgt. Justin Thyme Lvl I  
Line   Regulars   Muskets   8figs/Group   2 Groups  7 pts/Group
Formation: Always                       Crashing Volley: 2      Characteristics: Sharp Practice,
First Fire:   Yes                              Step Out:  2                          Thin Red Line
Controlled Volley: Yes                   Drill:        2

Ldr 2 Lt.Canby Allgoode Lvl II
Ldr 5 Sgt.Tommy Rott Lvl IFusiliers   Regulars   Muskets   8figs/Group   2 Groups  7 pts/Group
Formation: Always                       Crashing Volley: 2      Characteristics: Sharp Practice,
First Fire:   Yes                              Step Out:  2                  Thin Red Line, Aggressive
Controlled Volley: Yes                   Drill:        2

Ldr 3 Lt.Allen Rench Lvl II
Skirmishers  Light Inf Muskets   6figs/Group   1 Groups  9 pts/Group
Formation: Always                    Crashing Volley: -      Characteristics: Sharp Practice,
First Fire:   Yes                          Step Out:  3                Aggressive, Tomahawks            
Controlled Volley:No                 Drill:       -

Support Total 6 points
Physic 1 point
Breastworks 2 Point
Colors 3 points

Umpire Notes

If the Rebels can get the Wagon Across the Bridge with nothing to stop them from exiting, then game is over with it being a Rebel Victory. I suspect it won't turn out as simple as that. With the British only allowed to place one Unit blocking access to the bridge, a lot will depend on how aggressive the Rebels are on Table B. Likewise the British on Table A have to be very aggressive in case the wagon makes it to the Bridge.

I haven't yet decided how to work things out if a Unit from Table B actually crosses onto table A. The easy thing to do would be to transfer the Leader cards to the other tables Deck, but I'm wondering if they couldn't just each continue to draw cards from their own deck. If any interaction occurs they could just implement them simultaneously.

I've made my own card deck with pictures of the individual Leaders That makes it easier for the players to identify them on the Table. No more looking for a Roster to see who Leader 5 is.

Comments

Still a few things to clean up for this Scenario. I need to find another Rebel Sergeant figure to use or paint one up. Hopefully, I get some playtesting done before the convention in May. If you have any suggestions or comments,please leave them below.

Bad Day at Black Rock(An AWI Skirmish with SPv2)

 Our local Group of wargammers indulged me with another game of Sharp Practice, this time an American Revolution period scenario. I used Scenario One from the rule Book, a Meeting Engagement where each side rolls to see where they place their Deployment Point. The British got Point 1(Red arrow below) and the Rebels at Point 2(Blue arrow). Unfortunately I had brought the wrong CigarBox Battle Map to the game. I had picked up the Nashville map instead of the European 102c map, so we ended up with more woods than I wanted. The CigarBox Maps are a little bigger than the 6X4 tables we have down at the local game store(Blue Sky Hobbies in Bremerton, WA) so about four inches hang down over the sides of the table. That's why the primary Deployment Points shown below are so far in from the edge. Only one Deployment Point per side is used so it was a little crowded getting onto the table. To win a victory one side must force his opponent to withdraw from the table, either voluntarily or due to a reduction in his Force Morale. Both sides roll Low for their Force Morale(the rebels being -2 for more than half their force being Militia) and both start out at Force Morale of 9.

The Forces in this encounter are somewhat small, about 65 points each. The British have two Groups of Highlanders(Regulars) one Group of Light Infantry Skirmishers and three Groups of Provincial Regulars(Conscripts & Volunteers). The Rebels have a three Group Unit of Continentals and two Units of Militia, each of two groups, one without bayonets. This would be a typical skirmish between the forces of Nathanael Greene  and Banastre Tarleton somewhere in South Carolina in the year of 1781. Below is the Roster of Troops with their leaders and Support Options. The battle is set in the fictional town of Bad Rock somewhere in South Carolina.

The first turn sees the Rebels all deploy in the field behind the church. Its a little crowded but they all fit within the six inch distance around the Deployment Point.

The British deploy in the open space between the two streams. The Skirmishers with their nine inch deployment distance set up lining the road.

Captain Goode's Militia head for the church. One Group under the Captain takes cover inside the church while the other under command of Sergent Rick O'Shea must remain outside although there are some woods and a picket fence providing some cover.

The other Rebel Militia unit(w/o bayonets) under Lieutenant Lester decides to head around the church. Unfortunately for the Lieutenant, he sprains his leg( A "My bally leg!" random event) and must limp around at -1 pip per die. He encourages his men to move on while he tries to catch up.

The Continentals under Captain Bush cross into the livestock field in column. A small hill is in front of them is blocking sight to the British.

The Highlanders under Captain Head are on the edge of a woods facing the church. The skirmishers under Lieutenant Rench are also facing the church and will shortly be trading fire with the Rebel Militia. The Provincial Regulars under Lieutenant Canhandle are coming up to face the Continentals but are delayed due to passage through the woods.

Lieutenant Lester's Militia must have been discouraged by the injury to their leader as they don't advance very far while the other Militia is all ready hotly engaged with the British. (Note: a combination of poor movement die rolls and a series of non-activation can cause units to be left out of the action)

After some maneuvering Captain Bush deploys the Continentals into line and advances to the crest of the hill. There he has the troops present and lay a Crashing Volley into the Provincials and British Skirmishers.

The Green coated Provincials take a thrashing. Twelve Shock on the Formation and five dead including their lackluster commander, Lieutenant Morgan U. Canhandle. Sergeant Jimmy DeLocke with trepidation, is forced to take over the Unit. Captain Head from the Highlanders has moved over so he can assist activating units with his longer command range. Unfortunately for him, he is in the line of fire and takes a hit. His wound causes him to loose an Initiative level. Dr. Payne hurries over to treat his wound but he will be out action while this is done and the Brits need his ability to remove Shock.

Meanwhile, the Continentals have also suffered casualties in the fire fight. Two are dead and there is a total of  nine shock on the two Groups on the right side. The left hand Group had miraculously suffered no casualties or Shock.

Lieutenant Lester's Militia are slowly moving up but are not within range yet. Meanwhile, Captain Goode's Militia are holding their own in the fire fight with the Highlanders and British Skirmishers.

The Highlanders suffer from  damp powder( A "Damp squib! " random event) and will fire at half effect until they can be replenished. Fortunately, the powder wagon is right behind them and it moves up to supply them with new ammunition.

The fire fight on the Rebel right flank continues and both sides are getting worn down. Captain Bush calls on Reverend Hal E. Looya to encourage the men. On his first attempt to remove shock he rolls a "3". The next attempt, only a "1". Somehow the fear of God does not help the morale of the Continentals, but they hold on and keep pouring shots into the British. Perhaps an issue of rum would have done better.

Lieutenant Lester has finally gotten his Militia into position, but he lags behind no doubt due to his bally leg. Captain Goode's Militia come out of the church and join up with Sergeant O'Shea's Group.

The Militia units begin to poor some heavy fire into the Highlanders and the Shock mounts up. Meanwhile the Provincials and British skirmishers pull back behind the rail fence to recover from mounting shock while the Continentals advance toward them. At this stage Force Morale is at "7" for the British and "9" for the Rebels.

The British with several units close to reaching break point, a wounded Force Commander and one dead leader, decide discretion is the better part of valor and retire off the battlefield leaving the village of Black Rock in the hands of the Rebels. The Continentals yell insulting taunts at them as they retire off the field.

In a parley after the battle, the British arranged for the Lieutenant of the Provincials to be buried in the Church cemetery near where he fought. He was well liked by his men and the other Officers. A collection was taken up to pay for his tombstone on which they had inscribed this Epitaph, "The Lieutenant had a Bad Day in Black Rock. It was more than he could handle".

Afterthoughts:
The dense terrain hindered both sides but probably more so the British. Once the Shock built up, it was impossible for the British to advance and engage the Rebels in Fisticuffs since they would be deducting movement pips for both shock and terrain. Its in melee where the British have a significant advantage over the Rebels, especially against Militia units with no bayonets.

The "crashing volleys" of the Continentals put the Provincials at a disadvantage due to increasing Shock which is was hard for them to recover from once they lost their leader and their Force Commander was wounded.

I thought it was a fun game and shows what can be done with just a few Units in Sharp Practice. I liked the way the Random events played into the narrative of the game. Hope you enjoyed this After Action Report. Much thanks to Gary, Kevin and Tom for playing the game with me.