18 August 2017

SP2: FIW

This past Sunday, myself and Iannick had a game of Sharp Practice 2 set in the French Indian War. Since it was the first time we had played for more than a year we somewhat macerated the ruleset but did get on with the game: Lesson, read the FAQ before the game rather then after! We played scenario 3: Defense in Depth. I played the British and was the attacker.

British OB (FM 11)
Status II Leader
Status I Leader
2 units of British Infantry (Regulars)
Status II Leader
1 unit of Colonial Rangers (Light Infantry)
Status II Leader
1 unit of Indians (Tribe)
Supports
1 unit of Provincial Rangers (Skirmishers)
Holy Man

French OB (FM10)
Status II Leader
1 unit of Milice Canadiene (Skirmishers)
Status II Leader
1 unit of Coureurers de Bois (Light Infantry)
Status II Leader
1 unit of Indians (Tribe)
Supports
Status I Leader
1 unit of Indians (Tribe)
Holy Man
Fixed Defense


The Terrain


The British Line of Attack
The French Line of Defense
The Troops
British Infantry
Colonial and Provincial Rangers (inappropriately in formation)
Les Coureurers de Bois
French Algonquin Allies
 The Action
The British Line stands!
The Algonquin are thrown back and their leader falls
2nd unit of Algonquin enter the fray
Roger's Rangers thrown back by the CdB while Dank's Rangers look pretty shaky
The CdB throw back Dank's Rangers but are subsequently ambushed by the Iroquois and then rout. The French withdraw. 
It was good to get in a game of SP2, I like playing this ruleset during the FIW. I find it works well with non formed troops which is what I suppose is emblematic of most skirmishes during this struggle. As mentioned above we made a lot of mistakes playing the game, but aside from briefly allowing the Colonial and Provincial Rangers to go in formation I do not believe it affected the game.

The rules maybe a little tougher for players unacquainted with TFL, and I know Iannick found them a little over complicated. They do require some investment in time but after 4-5 games (this was my third as a player) I believe they would play quickly.

Iannick and certainly others on the TFL forum have mentioned that the treatment of Indians as a Tribe is not representative of their style of fighting. I am no expert so I brought up the question on the TFL forum (I find the Yahoo Group a somewhat of a confusing place) and an interesting discussion ensued. I came to the conclusion that it would also be quite reasonable to treat Indians during the FIW as Skirmishers if the player so chose. It also appears that most players do not differentiate between allied French and British Indians so Poor Shoots is not put into play. An alternate playing card for FIW Indians follows.

Tribes
Skirmishers



8 comments:

  1. Sounds great, beautiful figures (the British line is impressive, the Algonquins diversified and gorgeous!) and terrain...

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  2. Nice looking game and I see you are using casualty markers, excellent.
    I use the Litko http://www.litko.net/products.php?product=Man-Down-Tokens--%2810%29#.WZcZXCiGOM8 in my KPW games :-)

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  3. Thanks for posting and good to see how you posted up the troops.
    Cheers
    Stu

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  4. Oh man, I want to try this so much! Very cool guys, great work.

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    Replies
    1. It is a great skirmish game and I like it for the FIW. I think the Indian tweek will work well.

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