To See Again Such Loss - a full weekend of Sharp Practice.

So, once again down to BIG for a fun-packed weekend of 28mm Sharp Practice action, this time set in the Peninsular War. As with many other BIG Sharp Practice weekends, this was organised and orchestrated by David Hunter, whose enthusiasm is enormous and who really keeps the narrative thrust of these gaming sessions alive.

We were limited to 55pts (or thereabouts) per player per game, with two players on each side. We were allowed to vary the composition of our forces from game to game, with the proviso that we kept the same force commander throughout.

I took all of my available Anglo-Portuguese troops, thinking that I might need to vary things around a bit, depending on the table being played over. As it panned out, this was a good idea.

My initial force was as follows;

A formation of 3 groups of 8 British centre company infantry from the 61st Foot, led by Captain Nigel Molesworth (Status III), who was accompanied by a drummer (a musician in Sharp Practice terms) and two Status I leaders, Sergeants Timothy Peason and "Scrumpy" Jack Spratt. (34pts)

One group of 6 men from the 95th Rifles led by Lt Barnaby Thorne (status II)  and Sgt Jasper Hyde (Status I)  (21pts)

For subsequent games, I switched out the Rifles and one British  line sergeant, freeing up 24 points. 

My first replacement was two groups of 6 Portuguese Rifles (as a formation) from the Atiradores company of the 3rd Caçadores, led by Lt Horacio Bacalhau (Status II), costing 24pts.

I amended this for the two Sunday games by reducing Lt Bacalhau to Status I and adding another Status I leader in the shape of Sgt Manoel Cataplana, allowing me to field the Atiradores as two separate groups, giving me extra flexibility.

This last version was a far better balanced force.

The theme of the weekend was the French pursuing Wellington's retreating forces (mainly British, but featuring some Spanish and Portuguese troops, plus some Royal Navy sailors and Marines), with the Anglo-Portuguese conducting a fighting retreat, centred on the town of Puenta des Pantalones. 

The French had the best of the first day, leaving the Allies a lot to do on the Sunday, but, when the last musket was fired and the smoke cleared (a.k.a. when the last dice were rolled and the cotton wool removed), the weekend ended up with a victory for the Allies. As Sir Arthur himself almost certainly never actually said, it was a damn close-run thing.

My personal favourite thing was defeating a worryingly determined and quite large French attack column (which never managed to activate Pas de Charge) with my Portuguese light troops and my thin red line of the 61st for no losses whatsoever, in the final game, but it was also good to see off a galloping charge by two groups of French lancers in an earlier game, even though it did cause me a fair bit of damage. Still, I did capture the Lancers' commanding officer.

Anyway, lots of photos, so feast your eyes on some great terrain and lovely-looking armies.

At last, a return to the Condottieri

Having to quickly paint up all those Peninsular War British Foot took me away from my current big project, my Italian Renaissance Condottieri band for Lion Rampant.

However, having finished off the 61st Foot, I am now back on track with some armoured guys with big choppers, and here they are;

I've also been doing some drummers and standard bearers for when I get my pikemen and other lighter troops finished. My current plan is for two groups of pikes; one in the red/white colour scheme and another in a black/yellow scheme representing some Swiss pikemen from the Canton of Uri, hence the yellow flag with the black bull's head. I want a standard bearer for each pike group, and a musician for each group too.

I've also completed a few more armoured foot wearing the red/white livery, here with some yellow to add variety.

My next task it going to be a unit of crossbowmen. I have a dozen glued together and primed, ready to begin work next week. These will also be in the predominant red/white colour scheme, but I also would like another unit in a different livery, again probably the yellow and black of Uri. I like yellow and black for this period.

I also want a unit of troops equipped with polearms. This is an option in the Perry plastic box set, but unhappily this means cutting pikes down to size and glueing on a new top piece with a polearm blade . I foresee much swearing.

I know that I am going to have too many units for a simple 24 point Lion Rampant force, but I am hoping that I can persuade an opponent to play a larger game, with 36 or even 48 points a side. Also, having lots of units to choose from will give me the chance to put together a variety of different 24 point forces.

A Peninsular War Sharp Practice AAR

Yesterday at the club was a chance to have a practice game for next weekend's big Sharp Practice event at BIG. Both Brian and I will be playing, so we decided to play with a limited size force of roughly 55pts a side.

Obviously, I took my newly-finished 61st Foot, led by Captain Nigel Molesworth and Sgt Timothy Peason, and a single group of 95th Rifiles, led by Captain Barnaby Thorne and Sgt Jasper Hyde. With a Marksman, that took me to 53pts.

Brian had a much larger French force, French troops being a lot cheaper than British ones.

We played a modified version of Scenario Two: Sweep The Table, with six McGuffins placed around the table for Brian, the attacker to capture. We marked these with green jewels.

The table was like this;

The British would be defending from the end with these walled orchards, while the French would sweep in from the wooded end of the table;

The French appeared first, quickly claiming one or two McGuffins, but eventually the Rifles got into the larger orchard.

The 61st marched in open column towards the lane between the two orchards.

The French Voltigeurs, supported by a single Line group began to advance across the cornfields.

Elsewhere. more Voltigeurs emerged from the woods as the rest of the Line troops sought out more McGuffins.

British progress was slower, but Thorne's Rifles were in a strong position behind a sturdy wall.

Another McGuffin is captured.

The Voltigeurs open fire on the Rifles, to no effect.

Returning fire, the Rifles inflict shock and a single casualty.

The 95th use Sharp Practice to reload (those two reload actions are a real downside for troops with rifles, as opposed to muskets, and soon get into the woods, while the 61st begin to deploy into line.

The French begin to pull back, having grabbed for of the six McGuffins and take up a defensive position.

Captain Molesworth leads his men across the open ground to get to grips with the French.

With the 95th protecting their right flank, the 61st get within firing range.

Taking advantage of their first fire superiority, Molesworth orders them to Present and Fire. Despite scoring a lot of hits, the volley causes only two casualties and a bit of shock. While the 61st are unloaded, skirmisher fire begins to have some effect.

French Voltigeurs in the woods to the British left mount a sneaky flank attack. They force one group to leave the formation and cause some dead and shock. However, Sgt Peason is equal to the task and in a subsequent round of Fisticuffs, the Voltigeurs are wiped out.

Unhappily, Peason's group is forced to flee within a few turns, due to the arrival of French line troops, who begin to make life difficult for the rest of the 61st.

Things get worse as they are compelled to fall back, and Thorne's Rifles suffer from surprisingly effective Voltigeur fire.  Their Marksman is notably ineffective, so I doubt that I'll have one on the roster for next weekend.

We call a halt at this point. The British are too weak to continue and the 61st are carrying too much shock to do anything.

I think that I've learnt a bit about the weaknesses of the British when limited to such a small force., especially when the Line is out in the open.

Anyway, I have more ideas about what I might need to do next weekend, and one thing is to include a Musician for 1pt, and here he is (I finished him off this morning);

He's OK, not great, but he looks better from a distance, and I am annoyed that I didn't notice that the join between the two halves of the drum was so prominent until I'd inked the model. Anyway, the force I used here, without the Marksman but with the Musician, comes to 52pts, so I am seriously considering taking another 61st Foot Status I leader for 3pts. It might be time for Sgt Jack Spratt to get called to the colours.

I'm back ............. and I've been busy

I've not posted anything for a couple of weeks because we decided to make a last-minute trip around France before the chaos of Brexit descends upon us.

My partner and I, plus Maisie and Daisy, our two Westies, booked a return crossing via Le Tunnel  sous La Manche and booked up a few hotels around France, in places that we have visited before and which we both love. Naturally, these included stops in wine producing regions, as well as that gastronomic heaven, Lyon. We were away for around 10 days, which left me just this week to finish off my latest rush project.

At the end of March, I am involved in a two-day event at BIG, playing Napoleonic Sharp Practice in 28mm. Although I have a few groups of 95th Rifles and Portuguese Atiradores I wanted to field some line troops, as well as fitting into the event's points limits of 55pts per player.

Anyway, I'd previously started off some Victrix Peninsular War British, getting them undercoated and partly blocked in with base colours, but now the pressure was on, not least because I wanted to have a practice session this coming Sunday in a club game against Brian's French. I have decided that these will represent the 61st Foot, a.k.a. The South Gloucestershire Regiment, which seems appropriate because of the Bristol connection.

Well, this morning I got them finished, and here they are. First, some leaders;

I only need two Leaders for the BIG event, but I wanted to paint up more, so that I can expand the force later.

Now, the actual troops, three groups of eight;

I wanted to give these a battle-worn, grubby look, with some troops in non-standard trousers, hence the chap in the third group in blue trews, which he's clearly taken from a French or Portuguese soldier who had no further use for them. Others have grey or brown trousers, and all of them are wearing uniforms that wouldn't pass muster on parade, in terms of cleanliness.

I have enough parts left on the sprues to make up another 16 figures, so that is two more groups. I will also finish off a drummer and an Ensign with the colours at some point, but I don't need these at the moment.

I always worry when I am painting figures, especially plastic ones, because I never think that they are going to look any good when I've finished, but I think that these are OK. Once they were dry-brushed and inked, they really began to come alive, and once flocked and varnished, I am relatively happy with my work.

Now, I need to come up with some names for the Leaders. I am definitely going to have Captain Nigel Molesworth leading them, but I am still thinking about the other three.