tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post5681947333410984316..comments2024-03-27T21:17:25.335+11:00Comments on The Stronghold Rebuilt: Sharp PracticeKaptain Koboldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17082772546044655044noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-79096034912093118982017-07-02T02:30:16.929+10:002017-07-02T02:30:16.929+10:00Hi Alan, just found this blog on an internet trawl...Hi Alan, just found this blog on an internet trawl looking for Sharp Practice 2 scenario ideas. I had no idea you were playing these rules (or indeed Black Powder), its something I've been getting into this year. (BP we've been doing for ages). I was very interested in your approach with a 15mm stand representing a single 28mm figure. I've been painting up, refurbishing ebay purchases of 25/28 Napoleonics for months and now this single revelation will tempt me into using my 15mm AWI stands in the same way. This means I can get some more games in while I'm working on the 28mm stuff. Also been looking at your Flikr picures - very nice - I do recognise a few of the views. Only worrying element when looking at your profile is the reference to "tranny tendencies" !!?? Drop us a line on the Staines Wargamers group to let us know how you are getting on with Sharp Practice, that would be of some interest. Hope you and the family are in good shape.<br />My very best Regards to you all.<br />Paul C<br />Staines Wargamers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-20046049171303456602016-08-06T15:57:23.322+10:002016-08-06T15:57:23.322+10:00We used Gary's lovely 15mm Napoleonic figures,...We used Gary's lovely 15mm Napoleonic figures, French and "Brussians" (or British masquerading as Prussians). These were the painted figures we had at hand for our first couple of games of Sharp Practice, and I think they looked great, particularly when Gary had sufficient to boost the numbers 4 fold. So you'll see that each of our "groups" (units) had 24-32 figures. Most people playing Sharp Practice play with groups of 6-8 figures in 28mm. Therefore, you need around 50 figures for a starting force, not the several hundred that we were playing with for visual effect.Caesarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-28161217606610133662016-08-06T10:02:31.818+10:002016-08-06T10:02:31.818+10:00For this game a stand of four 15mm figures represe...For this game a stand of four 15mm figures represented one SP 'figure'. So we had about eight units a side and about 70-80 'figures' a side in actual game terms. That's a larger number of figures than, say, HOTT or Saga, but not too bad (unless, like me, you hate painting :) )<br />Kaptain Koboldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17082772546044655044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-5048717888870126252016-08-06T09:59:34.984+10:002016-08-06T09:59:34.984+10:00I should have said that we used a stand of four 15...I should have said that we used a stand of four 15mm figures as a single 'figure' in SP terms. And a figure in SP can represent between one and six men apparently. So our units had either six or eight figures.<br />Kaptain Koboldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17082772546044655044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-15446108229142403342016-08-06T03:51:22.473+10:002016-08-06T03:51:22.473+10:00I'm somewhat confused by this report. As I und...I'm somewhat confused by this report. As I understand it, SP is intended to be used as a "large skirmish" game yet you appear to be using it for what amounts to a small battle! You also seem to be using very big units. I thought SP was designed for units of 6 - 12 figures.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11392867531639666828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-75045804263198640232016-08-06T01:06:02.854+10:002016-08-06T01:06:02.854+10:00When you say low entry figure requirement, how low...When you say low entry figure requirement, how low is 'low'?Phil Saundershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05557197059760097109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-70286751225522428632016-08-05T23:22:38.338+10:002016-08-05T23:22:38.338+10:00I'm hoping to get some Sharp Practice later on...I'm hoping to get some Sharp Practice later on this year.<br /><br />At my rate of painting and collecting I will playing FIW French forces against AWI American forces. Funny that.<br /><br />Jim Duncan Wargamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14114076455087495681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-31271036912281662032016-08-05T19:56:33.108+10:002016-08-05T19:56:33.108+10:00Yes, we need more practice (no pun intended!) and ...Yes, we need more practice (no pun intended!) and with varied scenarios I'm sure that we can get a lot out of this game. The purely infantry meeting engagement across a desert-like plateau has obvious limitations, though suited our purposes as a training scenario. SP's popularity, particularly the 2nd edition, seems to be snow-balling exponentially, and unlike several commercially big games that come to mind, it's actually enjoyable and stimulating to play, with its refreshing command mechanics. The added bonus is the low entry-level figure requirement, so those obscure theatres that are difficult to warrant major investment in time and money can be explored. Bring on South American Wars of Liberation!Caesarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-32504692471568538422016-08-05T16:53:58.296+10:002016-08-05T16:53:58.296+10:00It looks like you had a fun game! If I might be so...It looks like you had a fun game! If I might be so bold as to make some suggestions (being a huge fan of Sharp Practice): SP really is a skirmish game and comes into its own with scenarios and lots of terrain - if you have objectives to achieve, you have to think if you really want to blast away or rather move and try to get stuff done. I've played quite a lot of SP now and in my experience, the better the scenario, the better the game.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-12817874127420121342016-08-05T10:44:54.077+10:002016-08-05T10:44:54.077+10:00It's certainly a system worth pursuing, as the...It's certainly a system worth pursuing, as there really doesn't seem to be much in the way of other games covering this particular scale of action for the horse and musket era<br />Kaptain Koboldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17082772546044655044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570039711549278262.post-17832320081017356052016-08-05T09:23:55.962+10:002016-08-05T09:23:55.962+10:00Thanks to Gary for putting on another game of Shar...Thanks to Gary for putting on another game of Sharp Practice. Congratulations to Alan for a hard fought victory by his dastardly French over my honourable British. Thanks also to Dave for his card shark skills and our newest member, Daniel, for marshalling my shock markers, which were frequent and numerous. Great to meet you and we hope you hang around for some games in the future.<br /><br />The game had plenty of tense moments and an excellent command activation system but, like we’ve found with Chain of Command, firepower is king as the troops struggle to get anywhere through the terrain. And we made a deliberate effort to restrict terrain this game. Perhaps this bias is realistic at this scale of warfare but it tends to make for a very shooty game. My biggest mistake was trying to manoeuvre to closer range at the cost of being shot up. About half way through I decided to just start shooting at long range and it was paying off, just not quickly enough to catch up with Alan.<br /><br />It’s early days yet to abandon a rules system, as there were inklings of sweeping flanking moves by Alan ordering his men to run, then rally off accrued shock, possibly a valid way to get troops into position with more experience. But the general consensus was, scale or rules aside, we had more fun with games where manoeuvre, not firepower, held sway.Caesarnoreply@blogger.com