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| One Mile to Bushy Station |
This has quite a few points in its favour: low-level conflict (large skirmish effectively); regular and irregular troop types; minimal variation in uniforms through the period of the conflict by comparison with other periods; several rules options, including some specific to the conflict; several ranges of modern generation 25/28mm figures that cover most if not all variations; minimal mounted troops (I want to be a much better painter of 28s before I even think about painting cavalry); and the interesting prospect of both Major Powers having Native American allies.
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| Warlord Games Liberty or Death set |
I'd already played a little bit of AWI in 15mm, using rules such as British Grenadier (which I enjoyed) and Koenig Krieg. I havesome basic uniform guides and references plus Warlord and Perry Miniatures have solid ranges in metal and plastic available. In fact I was very tempted by Warlord's boxed set, which would have seen me with enough figures on both sides to get off the start line very quickly. However that would be counter-intuitive as the whole purpose of this new period was to make it a very relaxed and comfortable pace of project, and avoid at all costs making completing a force into a chore. In 15mm, I'd also run into the issue with the AWI of feeling bound to assemble forces for three distinct eras of the conflict which would again undoubtedly cause me some angst. If the chosen period worked out well, I'd probably end up doing this as well.
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| The Round Tops |
The ACW has always been an abiding interest of mine. My first set of Airfix soldiers was the Federal Troop box costing all of 99 cents. Feathertone's Battles with Model Soldiers and Wise's inspiring Centerville battle report as well as the Airfix Guide to ACW wargaming were seminal influences on my early wargaming days. However between 1984 and 2014 I'd played enough ACW in 15mm with On To Richmond, Fire and Fury, and all three iterations of Johnny Reb to confirm that for me the ACW was best suited to gaming in 15mm and my end goal with the ACW would always be to refight days 1 and 2 of Gettysburg. Not something remotely realistic in 28mm.
So the French and Indian War it will be.
The Rules
The next question was which rules to use. As I've grown older, the attraction of points-based, 'balanced' forces and mundane encounter battles has palled significantly.
These days I want an experience that provides entertainment, flavour, movement and activity rather than consulting charts. I already get all the competitive and complex gaming I want from my continued involvement in Advanced Squad Leader., so I'm looking for a different level of immersion.
The realities of size, feel and budget demand a focus on a narrative aspect that is both plausible and fun at the level of a large skirmish with around 50-60 figures per side.
I knew of Sharp Practice in theory, but most of my knowledge was based on the original edition and mostly Napoleonic in subject matter, which had caused it to not factor in my original thoughts.
I'd picked up a copy of This Very Ground as part of a job lot when obtaining the original AK-47 and Troo[ps, Weapons & Tactics for previous projects. However I was unsure that they would generate much appeal among local wargamers - and as my intention is to be an active gamer rather than a collector of armies this time around, that meant they were a fall back option, although being a period-specific set of rules was a significant positive in their favour.
Black Powder was briefly considered, but I had a less than enchanting experience with Bolt Action and these days my expectations of rules published by figure manufacturers is not high. Plus the cost was a factor.
It was early on in the piee that I started watching battle reports and reviews on youtube as well as searching for blog reviews - I haven't paid attention to PMT for quite some time as a resource for rules reviews. Muskets and Tomahawks was a tiotle that cropped up a lot but it had a couple of strikes that put it out of contention: firstly it was from the same studio as Saga which just didn't grab me at all, but secondly and most importantly, it is out of print and the cards are also out of print which is a sine qua non.
What I did notice was that Sharp Practice 2 had been released, and it seemed to do much of what Muskets and Tomahawks was offering, and substituting chips instad of cards appealed to me aesthetically. So I watched a few videos from the Lardies and especially Tabletop CP as well as the excellent AWI battle reports from The Tactical Painter. Sharp Practice 2 ticked off a fair few boxes - budget, scope and narrative in particular. I've pretty much had an epiphany about Too Fat Lardies rules and design ethos of late. But the clincher was that I could almost certainly guarantee I would be able to find local gamers who would play Sharp Practice.
To be honest, Sharp Practice was always going to be the winner after my experience with Chain of Command and I Ain't Been Shot Mum. It definitely helped that I'd been listening to various podcast interviews of the Lardies where I discovered that what I wanted out of miniatures gaming had changed over the years to match the Lardies ethos.
So now I had both the period sorted (French and Indian War) and the rules (Sharp Practice 2). Initially I'd make do with the PDF version while I assembled the forces, terrain and accessories, then invest in a hardcopy along with the full monty of cards, chips and marker the closer I got to completion.
Next up, which miniatures would I choose and coming up with a definitive project management plan.
Pete
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