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.

Sir William Huntley-Palmer - an 18th century spy?

In an earlier post, we discovered the English minor aristocrat and traveller Sir William Huntley-Palmer. He was described as being "late of the 11^th Dragoons, who travelled widely in Savoy, Piedmont, Carinthia and Hungary in the 1750s as some kind of undefined agent of the British government."

Here, we have a chance to discover a few more things about Captain Huntley-Palmer.

William Huntley-Palmer was born in the county of Somerset in 1724. His parents were Sir Arthur Huntley-Palmer of East Chewbury and Lady Arabella (née Arabella Melchett of Underton) and he was born in the ancestral home, Chewbury Manor.

His parents bought him a commission as Cornet of Horse in the 4th Regiment of Horse when he was 16 and he served in that regiment between 1741 and 1746, rising to the rank of full Lieutenant. In 1746, following the Battle of Culloden, he was offered a the chance to buy a captaincy in Kerr's (later the 11th) Dragoons, which he accepted.

He remained with his regiment until 1750, when he was seconded to the staff of a relative, General Sir George Augustus Melchett for unspecified service. He never resigned his commission, but it also seems to be the case that he never returned to active service with his regiment.

In 1751, he travelled to Carinthia and Savoy on behalf of the British government. He remained in Europe, visiting Piedmont and Hungary in 1752 before arriving in Syldavia in 1753. His movements then took him to Bavaria, Savoy again and Austria before returning to Syldavia in 1756, taking up residence in Klow. Documents in the Melchett Archive show regular correspondence between Huntley-Palmer and his patron General Melchett. In 1757 Huntley-Palmer was offered a position in the Syldavian service, in a military capacity. Seeking advice from "M" (as the Huntley-Palmer Papers refer to General Melchett), he accepted the role and travelled around the country, visiting various regimental headquarters, fortresses and garrisons.

The Melchett Archive contains several letters from "H-P" that refer to annexes in a now lost cypher. A plain text of one of these survives, containing an assessment of the capabilities of the Syldavian army. In it, H-P writes that the army is “reasonably well turned out, of tolerable quality and stout manners” but records that “the regiments of light Horse are impetuous, difficult to restrain and prone to looting”. Other passages suggest that H-P also played a more active role in the training and drilling of Syldavian cavalry regiments. It also appears to be the case that H-P spent several months in 1759 in the garrisons and towns along the eastern border with Borduria, where he records in his journals that "On several occasions my engagements across the river became somewhat troublesome and on more than one occasion my life was at risk. Only the stout and steady behaviour of our troops prevented my capture." He writes elsewhere of "Business on the islands of Polishoff" and "Clandestine adventures in the cities of Peshod, Salinkari and Ugaljigrad". A heavily redacted document in the Archive refers to "H-P's journey as plenipotentiary to the Grand Turk" and "stirring up unpleasantness amongst the Borduri".

Whatever is being hinted at clearly served the interests of the Syldavian Crown as, in 1761, Huntley-Palmer was created a Grand Knight of Order of the Black Pelican and was awarded the honorary colonelcy of the Piskot Cuirassier Regiment the following year. It seems that he was also awarded estates and a pension by King Ottokar IX. 

In his journals, H-P alludes to several romantic dalliances but in 1763 he became betrothed to the 22-year-old Doroteja Svinjske-Klobase, a member of a noble family related to the Syldavian Royal House of Almaszout.

We know little more of H-P's activities in Syldavia, apart from a suggestion that he was involved in the thwarting of a plot against the life of the King and that there seems to have been more than one attempt made on his own life.

In 1764, H-P and his wife travelled via Dbrnouk to Venice, on Syldavian official business and he took up residence in Trieste the following year. The Melchett Archive suggests that at this time, H-P was acting on orders from "M" and performing some kind of British government business. While in Trieste, H-P fought and won a duel against a certain Count Strabomytes of Kardouk and became involved in something that is only recorded as "The Bazarov Affair". In 1766, William and Doroteja became parents for the first time when their son James was born, followed in 1767 by a daughter, Caroline.

In 1768, Sir Arthur Huntley-Palmer died and William and Doroteja returned to England, where they took up residence in Chewbury Manor, where they proceeded to raise a large family.

In 1771, Sir William was elected to Parliament in the Whig interest as Member for East Chewbury.

He died in 1801.

Frans Schtroumpf – Philhellene, romantic and soldier of fortune

Frans (François) Schtroumpf was born in Flanders in 1717, the youngest son of Louis, Count of Pirlouit, a small border county to the north of Alsace. A member of the imperial aristocracy, the Count owed his allegiance to the Spanish branch of the Habsburg family and was the lord of several estates in the Spanish Netherlands in addition to his ancestral lands. During the War of the Spanish Succession, these estates were occupied by the Anglo-Dutch army, only being returned to the Count on the cessation of hostilities.

Frans grew up in the County of Pirlouit, learning to hate the French, the English, the Dutch and the Austrian Habsburgs. He was educated by a number of professors, including the Greek scholar Theodore Bordiotes, who instilled a love of the glorious Greek past in the youthful Frans. As Count Louis fell into illness and dementia, Theodore became the legal guardian of Frans as well as his teacher and later the steward of his estates. On the death of his father in 1730, the title of Count of Pirlouit was inherited by Frans' elder brother, Philippe, with Frans inheriting the estate of Gegrildekaas in the Spanish Netherlands.

At the age of 15, Frans and Theodore travelled to Gegrildekaas and made the estate their home. Frans never returned to Pirlouit. At the age of 20, Frans and Theodore visited Constantinople and for three years travelled in some of the European lands that had previously been part of the Greek empire. Returning home, Frans developed a passionate love for the land where Theodore's family lived, a country which had only thrown off the Ottoman yoke some three decades previously. Vowing to return one day, Frans decided to dedicate his life to fighting against the Ottomans and freeing the Greek lands from the Ottomans.

In 1748, Frans decided to raise a regiment of cavalry from amongst expatriate Greeks and other philhellenes to travel to Borduria and offer his services to the Voivode, Constantine II. Initially, he travelled with a small number of similarly-minded young men, some more experienced soldiers of fortune and several Greek and Bordurian expatriates who he recruited as he passed through Italy and the Balkans. Treated harshly by the soldiers of the Syldavian king when he first tried to make landfall on the Syldavian coast, Frans found another nation to hate.

Eventually, in the winter of 1749, Frans and his small force of some 150 men arrived at the Court of Constantine in Szohôd, where he was presented to the Voivode, now styling himself as Basileus and Autokrator of the Bordurian Realms. He was given leave to raise a Freikorps by recruiting from among the peasantry and by the summer of 1750, his force had swelled to around 400 men, forming a Hussar regiment of four squadrons. Using his ancestral colours as the basis, this regiment was uniformed in blue and white. Sending recruiting agents north into the German states, Frans was also able to recruit around 450 men to form a regiment of foot, later known as the Schtroumpf Fusiliers. Together with the hussars, this force was known as the Frajkorps Schtroumpf. The actual business of training and command of the troops was given to an experienced mercenary, Georgios Skordeli, who Frans had met in the southern Bordurian city of Ugaljigrad where he was looking for a free company to join. Avaricious, hard-drinking and given over to violent mood swings and acts of cruelty, Skordeli nevertheless saw something in the young Flemish aristocrat that won him over and proved to be a loyal, if occasionally unpredictable appointment.

The Schtroumpf Freikorps was first used in combat in 1751, in a defensive action against the Ottomans in the south-eastern marches of Borduria. There was little work in the early stages of the campaign for the hussars, apart from some skirmishing along the valley of the River Snitz, but the infantry, under the command of Wouter Struwwelpeter, distinguished itself in the dogged defence of the town of Salinkari against a strong Ottoman force that included two regiments of Janissaries. Frans himself was present at this siege and saw action on the town walls, where he was wounded but fought well, rallying a company of his fusiliers and leading a charge that turned back a dangerous attack by Ottoman irregulars. Later in the same campaign, the Freikorps was involved in the capture of an Ottoman supply train and the routing of a column of infantry intending to capture the strategic bridge over the Snitz at Orhot, a town with a famous Orthodox monastery and basilica. After this action, the Freikorps adopted a flag featuring an Orthodox cross superimposed with the likeness of Saint Eudoxia of Orhot. At the end of the victorious campaign, the Freikorps returned to its quarters in Ugaljigrad and Frans, Wouter and Georgios travelled to Szohôd, where they were rewarded by being inducted into the Order of the Basilikoi Anthropoi. Frans was also given the title of Zupan of Ugaljigrad and Wouter and Georgios the titles of Kephale of Foot and Horse respectively.

In the winter of 1751, Frans returned to Flanders via Italy and Austria, recruiting replacement troops for his Freikorps en route. By the summer of 1752, Frans was again in Borduria and in July of that year was betrothed to Nastasia, eldest daughter of Baltasar Kokinos, Boyar of Slanina. They were married at Christmas of the same year. When campaigning restarted in the spring of 1753, the Freikorps was part of the army of Marshal Wilhelm von Schmodt, Landgraf of Blotten-Papen which was sent to ravage the Ottoman province to the south of Borduria.

The Freikorps was present at the victories of Iskander and Zornik but was not part of the disastrous siege of Miknik, where the Bordurian army was severely weakened by an outbreak of plague and forced to retreat in disarray. By this time, Frans and his troops were deployed in the west, harrying the Syldavians in the valley of the Mekava Potak and finding fame in the victory of Struca Gora, where the Schtroumpf Hussars led a crucial cavalry charge against the Syldavian right flank, causing an already weakened Pandur regiment to break and capturing 20 guns for the loss of a mere 25 troopers. This led to the rolling up of the Syldavian line and a Bordurian victory.

Frans returned from the wars in October 1753, hailed as a hero, to find himself a father of twin sons, baptised as George and Johannes.

The next few years saw the Freikorps Schtroumpf engaged in a series of campaigns along the border with Syldavia, along the valley of the River Mensodjrinje, which flows northwards out of Lake Poliszchov to join the larger River Djrinje, and, as part of a larger force, across the River Snezna into the Syldavian province of Polishov as far as the town of Tremens., where the Bordurians were defeated by a Syldavian army led by Generalmajor Ercole di Grissini, and which contained the Pivoklet regiment of Pandurs, whose Jäger company was at the time commanded by Hauptmann Wilhelm Tischdecke, later to become a celebrated Syldavian general.

Pukovnik (colonel) Schtroumpf was again in Flanders, dealing with business matters, during late 1756 and did not return to Bordurian service until August 1757. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier, with Podpukovnik (Lieutenant-colonel) Georgios Skordeli taking over command of the Freikorps. In 1758, on the battlefield death of Skordeli, the Freikorps was split into two separate entities, the Hussar regiment and the Fusilier one.

In 1760, Brigadier Schtroumpf was in action against the Ottomans once more, commanding the Light Cavalry brigade in the ill-fated First Cherna Reka campaign, with Schtoumpf's brigade active in protecting the retreating army from numerous attacks by Bashi-bazouks and Ottoman irregular cavalry. Promoted to General-Major in 1761, Schtroumpf commanded all cavalry forces in the so called Poletje Strele War, which lasted for a mere three months in July, August and September 1762 and which was ended by the crushing defeat of the Bordurian army at the Third Battle of Lake Pollishoff. Borduria's nemesis at this battle was Oberst Wilhelm Tischdecke, whose quick-thinking and bravery turned the tide of the battle, leading to the collapse of the central Bordurian infantry. Without a gallant and dogged fighting retreat by the Bordurian cavalry, the defeat would have been far worse. However, General Schtroumpf was unhorsed during the retreat and suffered the loss of an eye, plus several other wounds. He spent the next four years on his estates near the city of Ugaljigrad, writing his memoirs and watching his sons, and two younger daughters grow towards adulthood.

In 1767, Schtroumpf was once again in action against the Syldavians, again commanding the cavalry in yet another invasion of the Syldavian province of Polishov. Once again, he distinguished himself in combat and this time ending the campaign on the winning side when King Ottokar IX agreed to Bordurian demands to cede control of the Djrinje river trade to Borduria, to prevent the rampaging Bordurian army from laying siege to the Syldavian capital, Klow.

In recognition of his service to the Crown, Autokrator Constantine II granted Schtroumpf the title of Guardian of the Western Rivers, which carried the right to levy customs on the river trade, and elevated him to the rank of Boyar. In 1769, Schtroumpf was made ambassador to the Court of Catherine the Great. He remained in St Petersburg with his wife and children for three years. On his return to Borduria, he took up the post of Primarna Komandant Konjice, or Primary Commander of Cavalry. In September 1773, Frans Schtroumpf fell ill with a fever, which spread rapidly and within a few weeks he succumbed to his illness.

He was given a state funeral and was buried with full military honours in the Basilica of Saint Eudoxia of Orhot in Ugaljigrad. His two sons followed him into military service. George was killed in 1775, fighting against the Ottomans but Johannes survived to become a general under the successor to Constantine II, his grandson Alexander I Cantacuzene.

Frans is remembered in Borduria to this day as "The Flemish Xenophon".

Sharp Practice characters - pt2

Following on from the pen portraits for the Union side, here are their Confederate equivalents.

First, the officers;

Colonel Tom Parker comes from an old established Virginian land-owning family, with wealth and influence. He is the embodiment of the honourable Southern gentleman and is an impressive horseman. Of average height and build, he is a fairly unprepossessing-looking sort and, to be honest is a dull chap without a great deal of personality.

Major Gaylord Ravenal is also from old established and land-owning family with wealth and influence but he could hardly be described as honourable. In fact, he is something of a cad, a self-confessed ladies man and not above resorting to bribery to get what he wants. Physically, he cuts a tall and impressive figure, with good looks and a pleasant manner.

Major Jefferson Davis Hogg is cut from different cloth. His family has transcended its humble origins, gone into trade, done well and is now well-off and bourgeois. Unfortunately, Hogg doesn't share in the general wealth, being a spendthrift and a drunk, which probably accounts for his sickly physique, although the drink has not taken any toll on his handsome features. He is, though, a thoroughly dislikeable character.

Captain Byron Beausoleil, although a gentleman, enlisted as a common soldier in the early days of the war, but has risen through the ranks to become an officer. Not a large man by any means, nor much of a looker, he is nevertheless reliable and affable.

Lieutenant Nahum G. Pierce is another gentleman officer who originally enlisted as a common soldier. Of average build and pretty ordinary-looking, he is honourable if dull.

Lieutenant Chauncey Beauregard has connections and money. His father is a powerful political operator, with the ear of President Davis. Beauregard knows that honour is the essential weapon of a gentleman and is personally charming, physically impressive and wields a suitably large and heavy  sword in combat. Unfortunately, his looks let him down. His face has been described, behind his back, as "looking like the wrong end of a hawg".

And now, the NCOs;

Sergeant Marcel Frottoir has little to recommend him to anyone. Dull in spirit, sickly in body and lacking any physical charms, it is hardly a surprise to discover that he is a complete and utter misanthrope, with his eyes constantly looking for the chance to line his pockets. 

Sergeant Roscoe P. Coltrane is a decent sort in many ways. He is reasonable-looking, physically strong, although of average build, and honourable, but there is something in his manner that makes him very difficult to like.

Sergeant Elmore Huckleberry is pretty anonymous really. Of average height, he is a pleasant sort, quite good looking and fairly decent.

Corporal Cooter Davenport is a decent, average good looking chap, but a bit dull.

Corporal Rufus Breaux is an affable, decent, fair-looking sort, but his poor sharecropper upbringing has left him with a sickly  constitution.

Corporal Henry Akeley is, by common consent a pretty vile and friendless person but, being a strapping chap, no one is likely to offend him to his undeniably fair face.

So, there we have it. A pretty mixed bunch, I'm sure you will agree.

Sharp Practice characters - pt1

I've been amusing myself by creating character profiles for my ACW Union and Confederate leaders, using the “Adding Characters” section (p58) in the Sharp Practice rules.

Of course, you don't need to do this to play the game, but if you go to the bother of giving your leaders names you might as well create an identity for them. These characteristics will also come into play once you start adding some narrative richness to any campaigns and scenarios you play. Also, it is fun.

As I am dealing with the USA, wherever the rules refer to Nobility or Minor Royalty, I have chosen to interpret this as meaning “old landed gentry”, “political families” (i.e ones with Congressmen or Senators) or some other relevant term, such as “can trace the family back to the Pilgrim Fathers”.

Anyway, without further ado, here are some pen portraits for the Union leaders.

Major Gardiner Haskins is a very wealthy member of a family that has made a pile from hard work and trade. He owes his position to his father's millions, made from investment in the railroads. He is a man of honour, if somewhat unbending in his attitudes, well-built and good-looking enough but despite, or maybe because of, his advantages in life is a thoroughly dislikeable sort. His family and business connections have given him the chance to gain a military rank and accompanying status that is possibly beyond his abilities. Only time will tell.

Major Randolph Carter, a scion of a well-established old New England family, the Carters of Arkham, Massachusetts. He is a pleasant, easy-going, good-looking and well-built chap of an honourable character. He is otherwise unremarkable. One can only hope he will perform well on the field of combat.

Captain Bradley Stoke attended West Point and comes from a family with a history of military service, which has recently fallen on hard times and ended up in a state of poverty. Although he considers himself to be an honourable man, he is a vile individual of a weak and sickly physical build. On the positive side, he is considered to be fair of face.

Captain Decimus Dewey was unhappily born out of wedlock, although his father is a well-connected Member of Congress. He is an affable and honourable chap, but his looks were unfortunately horribly disfigured in an accident in his youth.

Lieutenant Travis Perkins is an odd sort. Although his low-born family has done well and is now extremely well-off, Perkins himself is in huge amounts of debt and is always looking for opportunities to make a few dollars. To this end, he has a history of passing himself off as other people, something which he is rather good at. His personally charming and good-looking exterior hides a rather unpleasant internal character. In short, he is a bit of a ne'er-do-well and a chancer.

Lieutenant Jacob van Klomp is from an old New York Dutch military family, which was once wealthy but has since declined into genteel poverty. He is a fine horseman and an affable, honourable and handsome devil, despite his diminutive stature.

Lieutenant Wingate Peaslee is also from Arkham, but from humble origins. Upright and honourable and a decent enough soldier, he has risen from the ranks to become an officer, if not exactly a gentleman. Physically average and unremarkable-looking, Lt. Peaslee is, for unknown reasons a vile individual.

Lieutenant Hans Niersteiner's family are recent German immigrants who have done well through hard work and thriftiness. Unfortunately, Hans is neither hard-working nor thrifty, being something of a rotter. He is always looking for ways to make a fast buck, in which enterprise he helped by his decent looks and huge personal charm.

In addition to the commissioned officers, there are several NCOs.

These are;

Sergeant James “Scotty” Mackenzie, an athletic, physically-strong individual of average build, an honourable sort with goodish looks and a hot vile temper and all-round nasty streak.

Sergeant Nathan Jones is a reliable, average, unremarkable chap with an affable disposition.

Sergeant Patrick O'Malley is similarly average, unremarkable and pleasant.

Sergeant Sidney Horstmann is also of average build, unremarkable and of a pleasant disposition, but is physically strong and athletic.

Corporal Wilbur Watts probably doesn't really want to be a soldier, being a sickly, dull sort, although quite good-looking.

Corporal Thaddeus Filmore is a good-looking giant of a man, who whenever he has been on a horse has shown himself to be a good rider. Shame he is an infantryman, really. Unfortunately, his tough upbringing and hard life have turned him into thoroughly dislikeable person.