Sharp Practice 2 - AAR and after game thoughts.

After the first outing of Sharp Practice 2 over at the Wyverns where the British suffered a major defeat after being mugged by several volley's of unanswered French fire another chance to rebuild there honour.

We played the encounter scenario with the Brits opting for a Literary Detachment vs A French Light column who were supported by a massive 28 points of additional purchases, it would be a long day in the field.

First out a British Status 1 Big man who deployed from a secondary deployment point hoping to force the French back from their own secondary deployment point that had been deployed quite away forward, my early deployment was a mistake as next out was the French Status 3 commander, who fired his opening salvo and shattered the plucky Brits, they were going no  where any time soon.

However it brought time for the main British force to Deploy and Present Arms and Fire inflicting several casualties on the French defenders.

Meanwhile the 95th deployed and poured fire into an isolated group of French Infantry forcing them to the brink of breaking.

As the French centre waivered now facing off against all of the British Force, the Grenadiers deployed on the table and began their steady March down the road.

To support the French resurgance the French Dragoon's deployed and set off at the gallop towards the 95th in a very non-Sharp moment the 95th stepped out of the arc of the charge and whilst saving them from harm they gave up valuable terrain which was to have a significant impact on the following turns.

Meanwhile the Grenadiers continued their advance down the road, but without a skirmish screen were being slowed to a snails pace due to the sneaky Spanish Guerilla's sniping at them from the flank.

The Dragoon's had turned the flank and were driving head long for the secondary deployment point, crashing into the unfortunate Infantry group who had been blasted in the opening round and had finally moved out of the firing line.

The Grenadiers were halted but all was lost for the British who had French Cavalry to their rear over running the deployment points and slowly being forced back knocking their force morale to a very poor 4.

Victory to the French and a smug grin on their commanders face.....

After game thoughts.

SP2 has a bigger feel to it than it's predecessor the point adaptions taken from Chain of Command give you more options on the table top which means the same core force can take on a very different feel on each encounter, perfect if you are playing a regular opponent who you tend to know what he has in his painted armoury. 

The deployment points really help to create a scenario which can often just become a slug fest in your standard encounters, those light infantry really can seize vast tracts of the table if you don't deploy early.

The revised version of Sharp Practice takes the best parts of the original rules retaining their unique character and the fluid elements of later release in WW2 - Chain of Command to give a very different feel, but one that you very quickly become comfortble with.

I need to consider the finer detail around support points and the benefits of each option, but you definately benefit from paying for extra officers if you are to keep you units in play.

5 Stars from me and with Lardy day fast approaching the perfect nudge to get that order over to the Perry's for more adventures in Egypt.