Ramming it home - a Sharp Practice scenario

This battle is based around scenario/mission 2 "Sweep the Table" in the Sharp Practice II rulebook (p72). As the campaign pauses, Major Volte-Face's French forces are foraging for sheep in the area around Bad Moedling. Their objective is to capture as many animals (on bases) as possible by the end of the game.

Scheittekatte's assorted and sundry corps have been tasked with defending the area. They don't know the precise objective of the French force and there are a few red-herrings on the board. The Austrians are delayed according to the rules and simply must stop the French from rustling the sheep (once they work out what the French are doing!)

To add a bit of spice, there are some character-driven minor objectives too. Major Volte-Face is aiming to rout the pesky Grenadiers which have been a thorn in his side over recent battles. Scheittekatte has two minor objectives: to rout either the cannon or Cliche's fusiliers. Again, they are units that have caused a lot of bother in recent months.

 Overview of the battlefield

Early rounds

The French got off to a flier, with Volte-Face's card coming out early. The Austrians had not even begun to wind down the delay on their deployment and all the French units had arrived on the field of battle. In the background, Sergeant Blase eyes up some tasty mutton in the forests and makes a dash for it.

Sheep. Worried.

Below: the end of the second round; the Austrian deployment is getting closer but the Froggies have jumped up the field and are closing in on their woolly objectives.

The French continue their relentless march up the board. Below, Sergeant Blase has reached the forest and is about to detach two men to guide the sheep back to a nice, warm campfire. Meanwhile, Major Volte-Face is nearing the furthest sheepy-objective unmolested (the French, not the sheep).

 

The Austrian luck kicks in (better late than never) and they can finally begin to deploy.

The battle begins in earnest

The Austrians deploy, with the Grenzer moving quickly from their advanced deployment point into the woods on the Austrian right, defending a stand of sheep. Meanwhile, Scheittekatte (Fusiliers) and Hamsarni (Grenadiers) deploy towards the centre of the board.

Below, Volte-Face's Fusiliers leap (vault?) over one hedge and line up along the road, taking some cover behind another hedge. Captain Cliche's troops fan out into line, preparing to surprise some innocent-looking sheep in the walled field. The quick march has fatigued Cliche's soldiers and this ended up having a bearing on the battle's outcome.

Firefight in the woods and lane

A vicious and prolonged firefight broke out between Volte-Face's confident Fusiliers and the Grenzer who were in "hard" cover in the trees (turning soft cover into hard cover thanks to their training and experience). Volte-Face's chip came up first, but  Longabuscu interrupted (using two flags to declare Sharp Practice - in a suitably outrageous Transylvanian accent) and unleashed a pretty devastating "first-fire" volley with the Grenzer before Volte-Face could shout "tirez". This killed 5 and piled some shock onto the Fusiliers before they could act. The cotton-wool "smoke" signifies that the unit is unloaded and must reload before firing again.

Remarkably, the Grenzer managed to fire again (next round) before Volte-Face could react. This further thinned the ranks and Volte-Face took a rather painful wound to the shoulder, reducing his leadership ability (I imagine the blood-loss affected his voice a bit).

Above: Volte-Face's revenge. A first-fire volley at close range, killing 4 Grenzer and adding shock. This really reduced the firepower of the Grenzer but they stuck grimly to their task of defending the noble sheep to the foot of the picture.

In the centre, Cliche had sneakily slipped into the walled field, ready to be-bag the two stands of sheep and loose a volley into the unsuspecting Austrians. At this point, Clichy asked if he could unleash decoy sheep and/or hurl animals at the enemy. A quick trawl through the rules suggested not - an omission that SP3 will surely rectify. However, Scheittekatte lurched into action (tempted by rumours of French waffles and a vat of '68 Bordeaux), driving his Fusiliers and the Grenadiers up toward the road and hedge-line (below). The wood/lane firefight continued between Longabuscu's Grenzer and Volte-Face's Fusiliers. Casualties and shock were mounting fast on both sides - one of the Grenzer groups was finally forced to withdraw (reducing the overall force morale to 7). Longabuscu reacted quickly, consolidating the Grenzer into one small group to stop the shattered section from routing.

Austrian ascendancy in the centre
The chits for Scheittekatte (Austrian Fusiliers) and Hamsarni (Grenadiers) turned up one-after-another and they both unleashed devastating volleys. The Voltiguers were mauled and Cliche's unit began to teeter on the edge of withdrawing. Flatulento's cannon finally arrived in the field to support the attack. It fired into the Grenadiers, attempting to break them for the extra victory points. Surprisingly, no grenadiers fell but the shock was becoming pretty serious for them - they could barely move or shoot at this stage. They needed time to rally shock and regroup. Volte-Face ordered a less effective volley into the Grenzers who were still soaking up the pressure in the woods.

Volte-Face "loses face" ...

At this point, 3 flag-chips came out in a row. This led to a roll on the random events chart. Volte-Face's group was last to act (firing) so they were affected. Remarkably, old Volte-Face rolled double sixes, which meant his command ability was reduced by a further point (he was now acting like a lowly corporal or sergeant - perhaps he had a frog in his throat?)

The French centre and right flank collapses

Scheittekatte and Hamsarni ordered their troops to pour more bullets into Blase's Voltiguers and Cliche's Fusiliers. 

Not looking good for the Voltiguers (below)

Not looking much better for Cliche! This group is close to breaking and has withdrawn twice, knocking points off the overall French morale

And below, they break ... (the lone figure behind them is a forlorn Voltiguer)

Cliche: "I weell leeve to fight anurtheur day." 

At least they have some sheep to provide solace as night closes in.

Final moments of the battle

Volte-Face's Fusiliers fight on and Flatuento's cannon roars again - they are close to breaking the Grenadiers on shock alone (although no Grenadier has died, which is very unusual). Volte-Face sneakily ordered a couple of dastardly Frogs to leap the hedge and capture the sheep who had remained passively grazing throughout the extended firefight (were they tethered to a stick?)

However, one last volley into the Voltiguers on the French right flank caused them to break and the French force morale hit zero. The Austrians were beginning to get concerned too, having dropped to a force morale of 5 and those Grenzers were on the verge of either being wiped out or breaking (or both). Close!

Final throw of the dice (literally)

The Austrians were winners in terms of repulsing the French, causing casualties and reducing the force morale to zero. They also managed to rout Cliche's troops which was a minor objective. 

However, the French had managed to snag all four stands of sheep. The final roll of the game: one D6 to determine whether the French had succeeded in their mission (1-3 = success; 4-6 = failure - that last minute capture of more sheep balanced the odds) ... the dice bounced, clipped a tree, hit the floor and ... re-roll ... it was a 3. So technically the French had snaffled enough sheep to win the game but the Austrians were masters of the field of battle.

Review and final shots of the battlefield

Volte-Face (nursing wounds and a severely bruised ego): The mission is all that matters. We successfully bagged enough sheep to raise morale. A warm, woolly bed awaits me back at HQ and we can chow down on mutton for a week. My Fusiliers did themselves proud again. I wish I had ordered them to charge the remaining Grenzers towards the end but it was getting rather tense with all that lead flying through the hedges and trees, and my voice was somewhat weak by that stage. I shall have words with Cliche and Flatulento about their sluggish marches up the field. That could have cost us the game.

Scheittekatte (munching on a captured eclair, washed down with some vintage French vin rouge): What a splendid victory, my boy! It makes the heart sing to see those sans-culottes turning tail and fleeing the battlefield. We gave them a bloody nose and a proper drubbing. My tactic of a delayed deployment (to accommodate a leisurely lunch) worked an absolute treat. The Grenzers were particularly brave and warlike, tying down the biggest French unit for the whole game and reducing Volte-Face to a blubbering baby. What's that you say? We lost? How? Sheep ... what sheep? What about the honour of Austria and all those blue-coats lying face-down on Austrian soil? My intelligence suggested that they were trying to capture the road. Bah, you know nothing of war and linear tactics. Be gone and fetch me a bratwurst whilst I dictate the after-action-report.