The Rejects got together over the weekend for our first EVER game of Sharpe Practice.
As you may be aware, Lee and myself have been busy boys in painting up 2 huge armies for The Retreat from Moscow. Our plan is to put on a game of Sharpe Practice at the Broadside Wargames Show in June.
So a hell of a lot later than we wanted, we played our first game, it was rather delayed by the Battle Chronicles book taking all of our spare time. But a game was had.
It was a bigger game than what the rules usually cater for, but with a few amendments the game went ahead. What follows are just some of the photos I took of the action, as I kept forgetting to take pics while wiping the sweat off my top lip!!!
Boy those Rejects made me and Lee work!!!
The table top, from the French side
The French/Allied Army
The Russians
As we were testing the rules, we kept the game pretty simple.
The French deployment was 15 inches on the table while the Russians were 9 inches.
The French were defending the road in their centre, as the rest of their army were retreating through the woods and rough terrain.
We were running out of time and both me and Lee were flagging bigtime, at the start of the last turn, the French were on Force Morale 8 while the Russians on a very low 4. But some devilish shooting and melees they got the final score down to 2 each. So a draw was called, which tbh, I was a little gutted about.
We made loads of mistakes but learnt a lot. Another game is set for a few weeks time, with hopefully less mistakes and a drier top lip!
Great stuff, SP is a lot of fun! and you guys went big for your first time. :-) Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteWe did, perhaps a little too big for our first game?
DeleteGreat looking game Ray! I’ve only played a few games of SP but it always seems to take a lot of turns to get a result.
ReplyDeleteWe we're playing for around 6 hours, but stated perhaps a little too far away from each other?
DeleteSuperb looking game Ray, the table is lovely and good to see your troops on the table.
ReplyDeleteIt was great seeing some of the units on a big table, finally.
DeleteA great looking table Ray. We are currently half way through our first game of Sharp Practice and, for a seemingly simple set of rules, I have been surprised how many mistakes we have made along the way even though we have been extra careful. Most of them have been easily corrected though.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of little bits and pieces to the rules, that you've gotta try and remember. I think if we played nothing but SP for the next few games, it'd all sink in. Trouble is all these little bits is what make the rules, so you need to try and keep them in tha game.
DeleteWell done, Ray. You finally got it on the table and it looked fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rich, it took its time, but I'm buzzed to finally get them on the tabletop.
DeleteThat's looking amazing Ray!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal!
DeleteLovely looking game Ray and Sharp Practice does have a learning curve in that it's easy to forget your options and when to apply them.
ReplyDeleteThey do, don't they, my mind was frazzled by the end of the day.
DeleteThat will be so cool when you do the show! Make sure there is an awesome group shot around the table. Well done, sir.
ReplyDeleteThat's the plan, thanks Alex!
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ReplyDeleteWhat happend, Joe?
DeleteGrat looking game Ray. It's been a while since I played Sharp Practice, always found I need to get a few games as always seemed to miss things
ReplyDeleteI think that's what'll happen with us tbh?
DeleteGreat pictures Ray, you took more pictures than I did. We sure worked hard, but I think we learned a lot. We made a few rules mistakes (obvious after the game of course) but that was the point of the game. Make errors and learn from them. I think the lads enjoyed the game. Already looking forward to the next game.
ReplyDeleteMe too, it was bloody hard work eh?
DeleteNice work Ray, cold and suiting the current weather !
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
DeleteLovely stuff Ray. Must run another Retreat from Moscow game...
ReplyDeleteYou should, Mark, so we can ogle your lovely figures and terrain again!
DeleteLovely looking table and figures Ray and if it was your first time running Sharpes Practice I am not surprised you found it busy and stressful - SP has A LOT of rules to remember/keep track of - personally, I think it would be a better game if it was a bit less complicated to keep on top of everything - but that's probably just intellectual laziness on my part!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping the rules stick in our heads, like you said there are lots of little bits to the rules that are easily missed. I'm not usually one for this type of ruleset, but I really want them to work, so we'll persist until one of our heads blows up!
DeleteSplendid looking game and an interesting choice of rules for such a large game!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Yeh? Might not be a good idea?
DeleteI've played a game or two of it at conventions, and almost bought the rules. The price tag with the deck of cards scared me off...ha, ha! I was going to use it for French & Indian War big battles since we have such huge forces accumulated for our skirmish games...haha!
ReplyDeleteThey seem to work really well, just gotta try and remember it all.
DeleteA lovely looking game Ray. I'll watch with interest how you get on with Sharpe-Practice. BTW, and off topic did your mate ever buy the Polly Oliver AWI range?
ReplyDeleteHe sold the range to Magister Militum, not sure whats happend to them now?
DeleteThanks for the update.
DeleteWe have seen the beautiful figures as you and Lee painted like blazes, then the lovely snow mat and now it all comes together. Marvellous.
ReplyDeleteA question though: why 'Sharp's Practice' and not your own 'Battle Chronicles'?
Best wishes, James
Battle Chronicle is only for a handful of figures, our game will be for lots and lots of handfuls of figures!
DeleteAwesome setup, Ray!
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