Back in the AWI

This was setup as a simple skirmish set in the American Rebellion with no set conditions other than to beat the snott out of the enemy. The British deployed from the northern table edge (top) with the Rebels deploying from the southern table edge (bottom).

The Continentals arrived in style with flags flying and drums a beating.

Next, the Rebel state troops and militia arrived in column, ready to deploy into line.  

 

 

For the British the Queens Rangers arrived 

 

 

 

along with their Hessian cousins

 

 

 

Some Rebel skirmishers deployed into the woods, thinking they were out of range of the Hessians, until they realised that the Hessians were rifle armed. Oops.

 

 

 

The state troops and militia continued their advance towards the fields.

 

 

 

 

 

The main British force of regulars arrived and marched forward hoping to deliver a devastating volley before the state troops and militia could deploy into line. 

 

 

 

 

The continentals continued their advance and with some help from some skirmishers they managed to drive off the Queens rangers. 

 

 

 

 

The British regulars at last managed to get off a controlled volley (which unfortunately was to be their last). The volley should have been quite devastating but was shared between four targets (some of which were at long range) so wasn't that great.

 

 

 

The firefight between the Rebels and the regulars wasn't going well for the British 

 

 

 

and soon the British were running. 

 

 

 

More regulars arrived to try and turn the left flank but were hit heavily by fire from the skirmishers in the woods and the rebel militia. 

Some Indians arrived and drove off the skirmishers in the woods.

Next they turned their attention to the militia and soon these were also running.

 

However, this success was all a little bit too late and with a dwindling force the British retired from the field.

Indian Mutiny - A Sharp Practice Tale

This Sharp Practice tale is set in the 1857 Indian Mutiny where a group of civilians are trying to get to safety. However, the game quickly changed into a rescue mission, where a group of loyal natives ended up trapped in the building.

A group of sepoy rabble deployed on the road...

whilst a group of civilians raced along the riverbank hoping to help their comrades in the building.

Two groups of badmashes headed straight for the building.

The sepoy rabble continued along the road along with support from some skirmishers. Where were the British?

The sepoy rabble deployed into line and poured fire into the building, causing casualties.

 

The civilian skirmishers almost managed to reach the building but were being harassed by the mutinous skirmishers and were soon driven from the field.

 

The badmashes continued their advance on the building.

Hooray, the main British force had arrived and immediately deployed into a firing line.

The best sepoy troops however, had advanced too far and came under a murderous fire from the British line. Soon they were broken and running from the field. At this point it was looking like the British might pull off a victory.

However, the badmashes charged the few remaining loyal natives in the building, wiping them out. 

Meanwhile, the mutinous skirmishers turned their attention to the British line.

A firefight now ensued between the sepoy rabble and the British line. It was a race to seen who whould break first. Unfortunately for the British, their luck wasn't in and they retired from the field leaving the victorious mutineers to lick their wounds.

 

Sharp Practice 2 - ACW Railhead Raid

 

Union forces had pushed a railtrack up from the coast, but their protective covering force have been decoyed away from their task of protecting the railhead. A Confederate raiding force moved toward the railhead, intent on destroying the buildings and the supplies accumulated there. The Union forces, realising they have been decoyed, were moving back up the rail line, to protect the railhead & the supplies there.

The Confederate forces would win by either driving the Union forces from the table, or by burning down two, of either; the railhead supplies, the station, or the Water Tower (each with a Task Roll of 11). The Union forces would win, by either driving the Confederate forces from the table, or by preventing the Confederates achieving their objective.

The river & marsh areas count as ‘Heavy Going’ and the supplies area counts as broken ground, but provides Light cover for foot troops within Supplies area.

The Confederate forces were led by Mal and the Union forces led by Dave.

The Union forces opened with a bold cavalry move, straight up the road, while their infantry moved up the road and rail track, to provide a covering force. The Confederates pushed their main infantry column up the road, while the cavalry, skirmishers and second infantry column moved along the river bank, directly toward the railhead.

The Union cavalry very quickly reached the supplies area and were feeling pretty pleased with themselves. However, the main Rebel column surprised them, by equally rapidly moving up the road and then smartly deploying into line! The Union cavalry promptly sheared off the road, trying to take shelter behind the cross-rail fence, to the North. However, the cavalry didn’t manage to get out of the Rebel volley firing arc, only managing to dismount and take cover behind the fence. However, this did them little good, as the massive volley from the Rebel line killed 4 of the Union cavalry.

Back at the railhead, the Rebel skirmishers and 2^nd column were closing-in on the station building. Sadly, the rapid movement of the main Rebel column, left the Rebel cavalry in a bit of a predicament, being blocked to their front by the main infantry line. Before they could unravel this mess, the Union skirmishers rather roughly handled the Rebel cavalry, shooting into their rear.

As the shocked Rebel cavalry retired behind the main Rebel line, one group of Rebel skirmishers moved up to the station building, to try to fire it. Sadly, it seemed rather unclear as to who had brought the matches!?

The other group of Rebel skirmishers started to exchange fire with the Union skirmishers, much to the annoyance of the commander of the 2^nd Rebel column, which by now was deployed in firing line, but their firing blocked by their own skirmishers!

After a bit of stumbling, eventually the Rebel skirmishers cleared the Rebel firing line and a couple of good volleys sent the Union skirmishers scurrying back behind their own infantry firing line. Both lines then started to blaze away each other, but it was the Rebels who were suffering most!

Back on the supplies side of the track, the Confederate main line was now trying to wheel around, to bring the Union infantry, located on the road, into their firing arc, but it was all happening too slowly. The Union line, supported by a flanking skirmish group, was plucking big holes in the main Rebel line.

Back at the station, the Rebel skirmishers, now aided by the second Rebel skirmish group, had fired the station, now they were moving into the supplies, to fire them too. This left a rather ‘target rich environment’ for the Union forces, into which they sent ball after ball!

The Rebel skirmishers, sheltered by the supply crates, were not faring too badly, but the main Rebel line was suffering. Realising that he could no longer win the fire-fight, as his left flank group was now retiring, the Rebel commander called for his troops to join the efforts to fire the supplies. These supplies were then quickly burning.

Having achieved their objective, the Rebel forces were now retiring, if not ‘in good order’, leaving 14 dead on the field, but they had won their victory, if at rather a high price!?

Swamp Fox - Game 12

Situation

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Horry was once again dispatched to seize Loyalist-owned cattle and destroy boats along the river near Waccamaw Neck. During their raid a slave was captured but then freed by one of Horry’s Captains who knew the man. Almost immediately, the slave reported the Rebels to a party of Queen’s Rangers who immediately set off in pursuit. In a slightly humorous incident, some Rebels were captured when they mistook the Ranger’s hunting horns for an actual hunt and stopped to watch the sport. Little did they know that they, not a stag, were the quarry.

The Rebels win the game by moving a wagon across the table and leaving by the Eastern (right-hand) edge. The Crown forces win the game if they can capture the wagon of beef.

The Crown forces had three deployment points (depending on a die roll); the two orchards and the farmhouse. The Loyalist militia were first out of the bag and deployed in line from the the orchard in the south-western corner. This might slow the rebels down a bit.

The Rebel verteran militia deployed next, heading south, hoping to outflank the loyalists.

The Loyalist rangers deployed into the other orchard and Captain Harper Francmont wheeled the milita. Unfortunately he stepped in something nasty, dropping his command ability by one. This was the start of a run of bad luck for the Loyalists.

 

Lieutenant Colonel Horry opted to get his fire in first

The Loyalist miltia returned fire and caused some casualties. However, in a brief momemt of madness, they decided to advance towards the enemy thus bringing them into close range. This wasn't going to dend well.

Meanwhile, Captain Crampton Clamper slowly advanced the Loyalist rangers towards the fence line.

However, the Rebel militia beat them to it.

The cavalry had arrived by this time and charged towards the militia column on the road, which they wiped out. However, the second group of cavaly lost their fight with the veteratn militia and were forced to retire.

The first cavalry group somehow managed to stop before they exited the table. The sneaky rebels then shot them in the rear forcing them to retire from the field. The Loyalist militia were also being forced back.

At this point the Loyalists decided to retire from the field leaving the way open for the Rebels to bring on their wagon of meat.