Sunday, November 22, 2009

A Sharpe Skirmish Scenario


Last night I got together with my gaming club for a skirmish game based on the "Sharpe's Rifles" characters.  As you can see from the pictures, both the figures and terrain are top-notch.  Of course, none of them are mine but they are a real pleasure to play with.  My only claim to fame is that one of my photo's of the same gaming room is featured in the recently published "Black Powder" ruleset (page 4).  Who knew an I-Phone could take pictures worth publishing?

This was my first "skirmish" type game and it was a lot of fun.  I got to play Sharpe and his Rifle company, which you can see leading the British column in the first picture above.  Our mission was to deliver a load of rifles and gold to some Spanish Guerillas who were holding the town we were marching to.  Unfortunately, there was a large French column heading in the same direction so the race to the town was on.

The first day's march was a comedy of errors as each column had to roll for various special events and the french were further delayed by some time lost dealing with broken wagon wheels and issues with the camp followers (yes there were even figures for them also).  The end result was that a french dragoon unit made it to the town first but got caught in between the spanish guerillas in the town and my intrepid lads:


















After breaking the French Dragoons, the British were declared to have seized the town and both sides were able to redeploy our forces.  The French prepared to assault the town while the British and Spanish were defending.  The river was declared fordable and the we (the brits) were further hampered that the regulars were all new recruits who had a unfortunate tendency to bolt at the mere sight of the French - thank goodness for Mr Sharpe and his hero stats being able to rally on a roll of 11 or less.  I was having so much fun I didn't take a lot of pictures except towards the end of the evening - the next one shows a counterattack on a unit of French Grenadiers who had successfully taken the bridge.



Oh yes, there was a certain Sgt Hakeswell within the ranks of the British regulars who seemed to cause no end of troubles - taking pot shots at our hero, Sharpe, and then actually trying to steal both the gold and the game from us - you can see Sharpe and the dastardly Hakeswell in a melee as Sharpe was trying to prevent the loss of the gold.


In the end, the game followed the script and Sharpe won the day (but just barely).  All-in-all it was a grand game that was beautifully staged and well deserving of the bottles of spanish red I brought to celebrate the evening.

Our next game will be in January and will be a more normal Napoleonics battle but on a 20-24' table.  I'm tasked with completing 6-10 french units, of which 5 are done - it should be a great game!




10 comments:

john de terre neuve said...

That is a fantastic terrain.

John

jmilesr said...

It's a bit over the top - the interiors of the houses even have furniture and lighting. It's a real pleasure to play with the club. The gentlemen who puts on the game takes great care to put on a real show - there's period music, the lighting changes to reflect the time of day - it's almost a form of theatre with miniatures.

Der Alte Fritz said...

The terrain and the figures are nice, but the wargame room is what REALLY blows me away. This looks like the ultimate wargame room. Where is this located (country, state, city)? -- need not be too specific.

What rules were used? Was this a Sharp Practice game?

jmilesr said...

I think the rules were a modified version of the war-hammer skirmish rules. They worked well, and gave a good feel to the game. The rule set required a game-master (who was our host) as there were a lot of random events.

You're correct, the war game room is simply superb and comes complete with a bar / seating area and a gaming table that can expand to up to a 20-24' table. It's located in the Baltimore - Washington Corridor.

By the way, I really enjoy reading your blog

johnpreece said...

Thank you for showing thjis terrain. I was especially taken by the 'model railway' style playing area.

This idea has never occurred to me but it has great potential for a skirmish or solo affair in an evening.

Great set up but even more important it looks like you are having fun!

John

Monty said...

Hello Miles,

Great blog, mate - I'll look in regularly.

Best wishes for now,

Monty

Jerr Dunlap said...

Another shipwright who's a Sharpe fan? Hi! Who played Ducos and Private Batten? I'm looking forward to following your blog.
Cheers!
- Jerr

jmilesr said...

Thanks for all the comments - especially from Jerr. I think the ranks of ship builders and miniature war gamers is pretty small indeed!

Jerr Dunlap said...

That it is - I think we might have a quorum here! I'm a professional shipwright & rigger,so feel free to ask anything on my blog if you feel the need. I like the idea of Private Batten winning the battle from some outlandishly craven action and a series of events too stupid to believe and so unprotected.
Cheers!

Doc Smith said...

Miles

That is some beautiful terrain and one heck of a gaming room set-up. I am very envious. The next 'more normal' Napoleonic game on a 20-24' table! I've only encountered that at a major convention where we took days to set it up. Nice blog BTW - I too have just started putting my Perry's 'eavy cav together. Beaut figures and I think you're right - paint up half a dozen at a time or you'll not enjoy it and go mad in the process!

Cheers

Doc

http://docsartofwar.blogspot.com/