Sharp Practice II Africa

Well, here we go. Using SP2 lists for the sepoy rebellion I decided to play Darkest Africa.

I had only a vague idea of armies to use and struggled to make up some of the large numbers of troops needed for the irregular African and Arab slaver force. I decided on the following:

German Landing Party

Level 3 Leader + Level 1 Leader and Two groups of Regulars with Rifled Musket (Thin Red Line, Stubborn and Sharp Practice)

Level 2 Leader and Two Groups of Conscripts (Askari) with Rifled Musket (Stubborn)

Level 1 Leader and Native Skirmishers

Level 1 Leader and a Medium Cannon

Ammunition Cart


Arab Slavers of Tippu Tib

Level 3 + Level 1 Leaders and Three Groups of Slavers - Musket and Weedy Coves

Level 2 Leader and Two Groups of Militia (mix of Arabs and Natives) - Musket + Poor Shots + Weedy Coves

Level 1 Leader and Skirmishers (Arabs)

Level 1 Leader and Badmashers with Musket (Native Musketmen)

Level 1 Leader and Badmashers with Big Choppers (Natives with Spear and Shield)

Level 1 Leader and 1 Small Smoothbore Cannon

Witch Doctor + 1 Relic

The battefield ... I think I have terrain worked out if playing French Indian war but for ACW and Africa I am still making guesses for how much terrain to use. 

In the end I decided to go on what "looked" like Africa in my mind and just see how troops coped with this situation. It may have been a greater aid to the Arab Slavers as the longer range of the rifled musket was not very effective in the game. 

The scenario was one we had not tried - 'Rescue.' Lady Fanny is pictured above. She was guarded by an additional Level 1 Leader and 8 Arab Musketmen. After reading the scenario I decided that these troops should be additional to the forces chosen. I am still not sure whether this was the correct choice. The Arabs guarding Lady Fanny were completely ineffectual in any case (I didn't even get a photo of them as they were so quickly blown apart by German naval troops accurate fire - it was sadly to be their best shooting for the entire night.) Lady Fanny stood expectant on the roof for the rest of the evening as no real attempt was made to rescue her ... events moved too swiftly in other parts of the field. 

A long shot of the table. On the hill the Askari move into a firing position on the hill. This was lightly wooded and the cover was prized by both sides. In the first turn the Germans were able to place their whole army on the table. This photo actually shows the third turn. The Arab only had one deployment point (marked with an orange disk) and could only bring on one leader + troops per turn. At the beginning it felt like the Germans were going to deliver a thrashing to the Slavers. 

The main command of Tippu Tib came onto the table and stood up to some light fire from the Askari among the rocks on the hill. They were soon to give them a taste of their own medicine. 

The main German line blasting the last of the Arab guardsmen away around Lady Fanny. Their fire was so effective in the first round (6 dead and 1 shock) that the captive was in serious danger from the hail of murderous fire. Narrowly she escaped. 

It was about turn 3 when the Arab commanders realised that they could win by monstering the German forces guarding the way out and taking their primary deployment point. Troops moving to snipe at the German naval forces were diverted to shoot the already thinning line of Askari. Three units of Arab musketmen, the skirmishers and the smoothbore cannon were all tasked with this role. 

Smoke puffs mark the fire that gnawed at the palm trees and glanced off the rocks surrounding the Askari's position. The first fire and controlled fire bonuses lead to many casualties. (After the game we all reflected that these gave poor troops a real chance against the much more points costly opponents. It seemed a little too good for them in fact. A smaller elite force seemed quite hard to play.) Pictured is a large column of two units of 10 Arab militia who have just marched onto the table. The Arab deployment area was getting very congested. 

With speed the new arrivals formed a line to guard the flanks and rear of the main Arab attack from the now advancing German troops. Could these hold?

Meanwhile, Arab skirmishers and musketmen chase the retreating Askari over the hill. The Askari had gathered too much shock and their fight was done. Both units were around or below 50% and had 7 or 8 shock each. If the Arabs could catch them a massacre would ensure. 

The Germans how ignored Lady Fanny and tried to blast the Arabs and save their friends. Unfortunately they could not advance quickly enough. 

With blood curdling cries the Arabs ran up the slope but stumbled among the rocks and trees. Their movement dice roles were not sufficient to catch the Askari ... for now. 

The Germans loaded and fired using every card they could to bolster their shooting. 

By now it was an avalanche pouring toward the Askari and the primary German deployment point. Two groups of badmashers now stormed onward. 

The Arab militia on the flank were performing their role well. Shock was slowly building and they lost a man every now and then but the attrition was gradual enough to hold up the Germans best troops. Tippu Tib also had the Witch Doctor ready to remove 1d6 shock which would enable one group to hold the line that little bit longer. 

But that time never arrived as it was obvious to everyone the Arabs had smashed the Germans. The Askari had been caught and slaughtered sending moral tumbling down. The German main line was still held up leaving a cannon guarding the the primary deployment point against a wave of mostly untouched Arab units (4 at least.) This would leave two badmashers to attack the German native skirmishers who had languished on the flank throughout the game without a shot fired. (Although Arab moral was only ever 8 and was down to six for most of the game.) 

On reflection the game appeared very hard for the poor Germans. We discussed tactics long into the evening but all agreed that the nuances of the cards were still left to be unlocked by us. Being forced to split their forces certainly aided their demise (as they needed to rescue the captive and guard the primary deployment point to ensure escape.) Less terrain may also have helped. Giving the German naval troops repeating rifles (breech loaders) would also be a possibly good idea. 

Another point we also agreed on was that playing Sharps II often was good ... but swapping setting and period each week was probably not aiding us in learning to play at a deeper level. So far we have played Sharp's French Indian wars, American Civil War and Colonial Wars in Africa. All fun but it is possible that we are not working out how to really play any well. This was certainly shown this evening as the wave of poor troops crushed everything in its path and it seemed that, with first fire and controlled fire bonuses (even if only available once), they could do significant damage to the regular units that would be enough to disable them rendering them useless (and prone to attack.) 

Sharp Practice II ACW

Sharp's II ACW ... using 15mm Old Glory figures. Originally based for Fire and Fury at 3 to a base. Because I have lots of the little buggers, just use one base to represent one figure in Sharp's. And doesn't Sharp II reproduce the period well.

We played an Encounter battle (i think it is called encounter?) without support choices or minor characters. Used the 1861 basic lists but then added a light cannon (with a level 1 leader) and an additional level 2 leader with 2 groups of 8 with rifled musket to each side. I was just trying to be even rather than producing a necessarily accurate situation.

The Rebs were unlucky and their deployment point landed in an open space while the Union had a wonderful position behind snake rail fences. One of their commands was hampered by a forest as it tried to march out to the right flank. The Union had problems with Movement events all night - once a leader was trampled and on another occasion a leader lost their map.

The Rebs were hampered by a supposedly lightly wooded rocky hill which must have been covered with clinging vines as low movement rolls kept their main battle line out of the fight. This led to a piecemeal attack which the Union easily dealt with through a hail of shot and shell.

The Rebs did fight back but only managed to maul the Union skirmishers and place shock on the main battle line. It was not a fair trade as four Rebs groups were savaged and shock was liberally cast about by the Union fire.

One little sour note was that continuous low rolls for moral meant that the game did not end of its own accord but was called by the players. The poor Rebs stumbled on with little chance of victory but a little or non diminishing army morale.

A great game which we would play again and even feel that we could increase forces further. We usually play multi-player rather than 1 vs 1 so more troops give everyone a command or 3. It 'felt' and 'looked' right for an ACW game for all of use and really ... can any wargamer ask for more than that? (Oh yes, we did have a great time too ... esp when the Rebs shot their main commander in the arse dropping him a command level.)

All up it could have been worse for the Rebs ... the Union main line was hampered by the orchard in the centre of the table which severly reduced the fire of two groups (stopped it completely as all players very very eager to husband their first fire and controlled fire advantages.) Also shock placed on the main Union battle line manning the road reduced its ability to move up. The Reb skirmishers that placed the shock on these groups also needed to be cleared from the small hill and this the Union did not do. The commander (me) should have rallied shock and moved into short range of the skirmishers and given them a drubbing. But I didn't preventing the Union from pouring fire into the flank of the main Reb line as it struggled into position. It's tardiness was a major element in the Union victory.