Face to face in the village - a Sharp Practice AAR

Yesterday was my first chance to play Sharp Practice for months, for obvious reasons.  It was also my first opportunity to get my recently painted 61st Foot Flank Company skirmishers on the table. 

The game would be an encounter between an Anglo-Portuguese force and a small column of French Infanterie Légère, supported by a medium gun.

Both sides would be trying to secure the village of San Jorge con Pantalones.

The British were first to arrive, with Lt Barnaby Thorne and a single group of the famous 95th Foot. They took up position behind a low wall surrounding a small plantation of fruit trees. Unfortunately, I then pushed them up across the road into danger and they were heavily defeated in Fistucuffs, forcing them back into the fruit trees. Luckily, the gallant Barnaby Thorne lived to fight another day.

They were soon joined by some skirmishing flank company troops from the 61st Foot, led by veteran sergeant Harry Stottle, who was soon wounded by accurate fire from a group of Légère Voltigeurs, leaving him in a dazed state and unable to exercise any command for the rest of the game.

The French were also beginning to arrive, as two groups, led by Lt Poulidor managed to seize control of a cottage on the main road through the village.

The Portuguese component of my force soon put in an appearance; three groups of Fuzilieiros from the 20th Regiment, led by Capt. Horacio Cataplana. You can see them here, flanked by the rest of the 61st' Light Bobs, led by Lt. Archibald Leach.

Volley fire from the Portuguese, supported by the 61st, soon took their toll on the French, who were forced back to hide behind one of the village houses.

The rest of the 61st Foot arrived, led by the estimable Maj. Molesworth, forming a second line behind the 20th. Slowly, the British began to advance into San Jorge. My plan had originally been to bring both formations up to the main road and use the skirmishing light infantry to protect their flanks, but the mauling given to the 95th, meant that the Portuguese would have to move obliquely into the trees by the road.

Elsewhere, the French began to advance around the far side of the village.

The French cannon was soon deployed. I knew that I had to eliminate this threat to my line troops, and I pushed the flank company skirmishers around the house on my left flank, even though it was occupied by French skirmishers. I judged it a risk worth taking.

 

Taking up position near a boggy patch of ground, I was able to use four command flags to give the Light Bobs an extra free round of firing before also activating Lt Leach. This proved devastating and wiped out the crew of the French gun, and also giving its supporting infantry a hard beating. The tide was turning my way.

The Portuguese moved up to take up position along the road, while the 61st moved up on their left.

The French charged through the small coppice into my line, but only one group made contact. Even so, they fought well, killing the Portuguese leader, Capt. Cataplana and three of his men. However, I killed six of them and inflicted considerable shock on them too, forcing them to flee.

So, the village ended the day in Anglo-Portuguese hands, with very few casualties on the winning side, apart from the unfortunate Portuguese officer, whose demise will have to be revenged at at future date.

At last! The sun is shining, Pt. Two - Napoleonic Light Bobs

Actually, there are twenty-one Light Bobs in total, so scroll down to see them all.

These are all Victrix 28mm plastics from the British Peninsular War flank company box set.

First, three groups of six skirmishing light infantry with muskets.

In keeping with my preference for battleworn-looking troops, these are stained, dusty and a bit battered.

Note that I have varied the colours of their trousers. I wanted to give the impression that these chaps have been in the field for long enough for their uniforms to get tatty and their trousers to wear out.

Finally, three leaders for the troops; two NCOs and an officer.

These troops are intended to be Light Company skirmishers for my 61st Foot, hence their green shako plumes.

I decided a while ago that the Baker Rifle-equipped 95th and Portuguese Atiradores were not always ideal in all situations, being expensive in points and also slow to reload. Therefore, I wanted to bolster my British Sharp Practice force with some ordinary flank company Light Bobs with muskets. Yes, they lack the range of the Rifles, but they only require one reload action and are cheaper in points costs. My troops have already suffered a lot from attacks by French voltigeurs in numerous games, enough to make me realise that the British also needed some musket-equipped light troops of their own.

That isn't to say that I am retiring my 95th Rifles, far from it. I am just increasing my options, after reviewing the situation.

Anyway, I really have to give the leaders some names, so; from left to right we have;

Sergeant Harry Stottle, a grizzled veteran of the 1st Battalion who first served in the Caribbean campaign of the 1790s and also served in the Egyptian Campaign of 1801-2. He was promoted to sergeant after Talavera.

Lieutenant Archibald Leach, inexplicably known as "Cary" to his fellow subalterns. He joined the 1st Battalion in Malta as an ensign in 1803, serving in Italy where he fought at the Battle of Maida, before receiving a battlefield promotion to Lieutenant after the Battle of Talavera in 1809.

Corporal Ashley Down, Bristol born and bred and a former crew member on a Bristol Channel trow, Cpl. Down enlisted in in the 61st in 1804 to avoid being press-ganged into the Navy. He also fought at Maida and Talavera.

28mm officers for Sharp Practice, including a new recruit.

Having painted up all my groups of troops and their leaders, my next task was creating character profiles for them. This isn't strictly necessary, but it does add some flavour to your forces and, if you are playing certain scenarios, the character of your leaders can come into play.

I will explain each character later but first, I want to post some pictures of my final leader figure. In the Sharpe novels (and in the TV series also) there are often roles for Exploring Officers, such as Major Hogan. These men were part of Wellington's HQ staff, members of the Peninsula Corps of Guides, who were used as intelligence officers, going into enemy territory in uniform (so as not to be shot as spies, if captured) and gathering information about the enemy forces, their dispositions and strength. One real-life Exploring Officer was Lt Col. Colquhoun Grant, (who also appears in the fantasy novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke) who was actually captured by the French at one point and sent to Paris for interrogation. However, after giving his parole, he managed to escape to England where he ended up as commander of the Corps of Guides and Wellington's Chief of Intelligence. My Exploring Officer has been painted up as a Royal Artillery officer;

So, here are all the officers together and below are their characters, generated using the relevant section of the Sharpe Practice rules. 

From left to right we have;

Sgt Luis Veloso, Atiradore company 3rd Caçadores.

Sgt Veloso has risen from the ranks and is considered to be an honourable sort of soldier, if a bit of a dullard. Physically he is a strapping fellow and fair of face, with impressive physical attributes which help him with tasks requiring strength and stamina.

Major Humberto Ramires Da Silva, ADC to the 1st Brigade HQ, Light Division.

Major Da Silva comes from Portugal's rising bourgeoisie. His family are merchants and make their money from trade. However, the Major is a dislikeable sort, being headstrong and arrogant, and has fallen out with his father (who wanted him to join the family firm rather than the military). His father has therefore cut him off from the family wealth leaving him personally impoverished. However, Major Da Silva is an honourable man, fair of face and an excellent swordsman, his ability with the blade making up for his somewhat diminutive stature.

Lt Horacio Nunes, Atiradore company 3rd Caçadores.

Lt Nunes comes from an established military family but is poverty stricken because the French have plundered his family home and made off with the family's wealth. As an honourable son he seeks redress and revenge. He is a strapping fellow, affable and good-looking. He is also an expert linguist, speaking a number of languages.

Major Atticus Marchmain, late of the Royal Artillery, now one of Milord Wellington's Exploring Officers in the Corps of Guides.

Major Marchmain is the illegitimate (but acknowledged) son of a noble family. His father, a notorious rake kept his mother, a society beauty, as his mistress for many years and, using his influence and connections ensured that young Atticus (a prodigious scholar) was accepted at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, from where he gained a commission in the Royal Artillery. Major Marchmain is honourable, an expert swordsman, affable, fair of face and a strapping fellow, who can hold his own in a fight.

Lt Barnaby Thorne, 1/95th Rifles

Lt. Thorne, the son of a former major in the 43rd Regiment of Light Infantry, originally came into the Army as a Volunteer Gentleman Ranker in his father's old regiment, because his family was unable to afford the money to buy him a commission. He gained his commission in the 95th Rifles due to battlefield casualties and his family connection. He is another honourable soldier of strapping physique and affable nature, but he is no ladies' man, not being much of a looker. Although he doesn't possess any particular skills he is, nevertheless an experienced officer and well-regarded by his superiors.

Sgt Jasper Hyde, 1/95th Rifles

Like all NCOs, Sgt Hyde has risen from the ranks. He is a pleasant, diligent, good-looking sort of chap, of average build but with no particular skills. However, he is an unflappable presence in his unit and is popular with the rank and file.

Well, there is my cast of characters. I see no reason why Major Marchmain shouldn't command a small force on missions into enemy territory on occasions, but he can also serve as an Exploring Officer as explained in the relevant section of the rules on pages 77-78.

Major Da Silva is also intended to be a force commander, both of this skirmishing force and also of a force containing Portuguese line troops that I intend to put together later this year.

More 28mm Napoleonics for Sharp Practice

I've finished the next batch of troops for my Peninsular War project, and they are going to be part of a small but pretty elite skirmishing force. Like the 95th Rifles, these are all from Front Rank and they represent three groups of Atiradores (sharpshooters) from the 3rd Battalion of Caçadores, with three leaders. One leader is not a Caçadore, he will represent a Portuguese officer from the Light Division staff who has been seconded to lead the force for special missions, rather like what happens in some of the plots of the well-known Sharpe novels. Of course, my 95th officer isn't Richard Sharpe, I've already decided that his name is Lt. Barnaby Thorne, a former volunteer Gentleman Ranker who gained his commission because of battlefield losses.

I've chosen to use figures with the British-style stovepipe shako rather than the earlier Barretina model, but I've also represented the 3rd battalion with their older colours of yellow cuffs and brown collars rather than the black collars and cuffs that were adopted after 1811. I'm justifying this on the basis that troops might have continued wearing older uniforms while they were in the field, not being issued new ones until they were back at their depots. Also, the yellow cuffs look nicer, to my eyes. As these figures are from the sharpshooter company they have black plumes on their shakoes and green wings on the shoulders of their tunics. I've also given them a mixture of different coloured trousers, on the basis that uniforms wear out and soldiers on campaign had to improvise.

First, here are the leaders;

Because of the shortage of NCO figures in the Front Rank range, I've decided that the Status I leader is the bugler. The officer in blue is Status III and the Caçadore officer Status II.

Here are the three groups of Atiradores;

And finally, here they all are together;

So, these troops have finished off my initial force for 28mm Peninsular Sharp Practice, with a total value of 81pts, but I do have some further figures to paint up once I am back home after after my summer holiday.

Oh no! Is it Napoleonic Sharp Practice in 28mm?

Well, yes, I'm afraid that it is. I have been seduced by playing 28mm Napoleonic Sharp Practice at Bristol Independent Gaming back in January into creating my own small force to use at a forthcoming repeat event in September.

The original event was called All Enlisted For Drink and I played using other players' figures. However enjoyable that event was, and it really was a lot of fun, afterwards I decided that I'd like to bring along some troops of my own to the next event, which is in September and will be called Hard Pounding.

Now, first a confession. I've never really enjoyed painting Napoleonic figures. They are far too fussy with all those facings, turnbacks, plumes, belts etc and I have awful memories of painting up loads of Aifix 1/72 scale plastics back in the 1970s, and what a terrible job I made of them. Still, if I am going to play, I have to paint up some figures.

So, what to paint? Austrians? Prussians? Well, not really, although they are relatively simple to paint, because the event will be the Peninsular War. It seems to me that in the true Sharp Practice spirit I really ought to do light troops and skirmishers and what could be more appropriate than some 95th Rifles and their Portuguese equivalents, the light infantry Caçadores, or, more accurately, the Baker Rifle-equipped Atiradores (sharpshooters) from a regiment of Caçadores. Perfect for a brief encounter somewhere well to the northeast of the Lines of Torres Vedras, or over the border into Spain.

I looked at all the available options and eventually settled on the Front Rank Napoleonic range, mainly because you can buy individual figures to build up a small force. I decided that I would have two groups of 95th with two leaders (L1 and L3) and three groups of Atiradores with three leaders ( one each of L1, L2 and L3). I've calculated this will give me a force worth 81pts, which is close enough to the requirements of the Hard Pounding event.

Anyway, The figures have been sitting waiting for me to get started on them and I've now completed the contingent from the 95th. Here they are. First, this is the complete unit, two leaders and a dozen riflemen;

Here is a group of six, led by a dashing lieutenant;

And here is the second group, led by a dependable and unflappable sergeant;

Despite my early fears, they have turned out pretty well, looking suitably battered and dusty, as befits skirmishing troops in the field.

Now, onto the Portuguese. Who knows, but if they turn out OK, I might even think about some Redcoats for use in the future, or maybe some Portuguese line musketeers.