Sharp Practice - Haitian Slave Army 1791- 1793

After the first outing a few weeks ago and after reading a number of additional sources on the Haitian Revolution, I have had a re-think about the various forces I plan on building and there make up within Sharp Practice. 

 

The first up is an insurgent force made up of escaped or freed slaves or perhaps a band of Maroons who lived out in the hills outside of the main plantations. These type of forces fought for the French Monarch, the Republic, the Spanish, the British and their own nationhood very often changing sides depending on who offered the best terms. So plenty of scope for gaming purposes.

Steve over at Arcane Scenery was very helpful and added a couple of specific figures from the Trent range which will enable me to complete the core force and the guys over at Warbases created some 10 man movement trays for the groups.

At this stage I wanted to fill out the ranks but need to get a wriggle on, on the painting front with the first full out less than a week away.

Many of the slaves were from the Kongo tribe in Africa and were lead by religous leaders, one French soldier reported how insurgent troops advanced to the sound of Afrian music or the "Incantations of their sorcerers" so the Big Men need to be a mix of Officer types and Religous Shamen will be needed, which makes for an interesting time seeking out figures which could fit the bill.

Fortunately North Stars latest releases for Dracula's America - The Congregation Arcanists make for perfect Voodoo religous leaders. More on those in future posts.

So on to the force composition, I wanted to give them a suitable mass as very often the forces would heavily out number the local garrison and plantation owners but also some flexibility in terms of skirmish and hand to hand troops.

One contemporary wrote of the insurgent forces. "instead of exposing themselves as a group like fanatics they fought spreadout and dispersed and positioned themselves in places that made ready to envelop and crush their enemies. If they encounter resistance they don't waste their energy but if they see hesitation in the defence they become extremely audacious"

With this in mind I went for the following.

Slave Army, Night of Fire 1791-1793

Leader, Status II Three Groups of 10 Slave Rabble, Muskets

Leader, Status I One Group of 12 Wallahs, Big Choppers

Leader, Status I One Group of 12 Wallahs, Big Choppers

Leader, Status I One Group of Irregular Skirmishers, Muskets

Points Value: 39

Force Specific Characteristics

Big Choppers: These troops have no ranged fire capability but are very aggressive and well versed in close combat. In the first round of Fisticuffs they fight as Clan rather than Wallahs.

Maroons					Type	Conscripts and Volunteers
Points Value	4	Weapon	Musket		Size	8
Formation	First Fire	Controlled Volley	Crashing Volley	Step Out	Drill	Characteristics
No Shock	Yes	First Only	3	3	3	Hearth and Home, Poor Shot.

Hearth & Home – May improve Step out rating by 1 when at home, become Weedy Coves when fighting away from home.

Freed Slaves					Type	Wallahs
Points Value	3	Weapon	Musket		Size	12
Formation	First Fire	Controlled Volley	Crashing Volley	Step Out	Drill	Characteristics
Never	No	No	No	3	3	Big Choppers

Big Choppers: These troops have no ranged fire capability but are very aggressive and well versed in close combat. In the first round of Fisticuffs they fight as Clan rather than Wallahs.         

             

Skirmishers					Type	Irregular Skirmishers
Points Value	6	Weapon	Musket		Size	6
Formation	First Fire	Controlled Volley	Crashing Volley	Step Out	Drill	Characteristics
No	Yes	No	-	3	-	Tactical, Moveable DP, No Bayonets.

Moveable DP – May be selected as a support option.    

Tactical – Can perform Ambuscade when two cards are available.

No Bayonets – These troops are at a disadvantage in Fisticuffs.                                                                       

With a relatively low force value of 39 points and some very cheap groups it gives plenty of options to add additional units to the force depending on the scenario.

The low quality officers should create a challange reducing shock so they will need to get to grips quickly if they are to make an impact. 

Right back to the brushes those Insurgents won't paint themsleves.