Hold the Inn - A Sharpe Practice AAR

Tonight I played a little game of Sharpe Practice. Sharpe, Harper and a couple of groups of elite riflemen have been tasked with holding an important river crossing. At the crossing there is an inn and a wood, providing plenty of soft cover for the riflemen. A lone sentry on the bridge keeps a sharp lookout for a possible french approach.

The french tasked to take the bridge have a small group of voltiguers led by lieutenant Ducos, and two groups of regular infantry under the control of captain Laval and sergeant Henry. They start their approach to the bridge hidden from the British. The British sentry must spot them before Sharpe and Harper can react to the attack.

The Initial set up of the table.

Sharpe and a group of 10 elite riflemen stationed at the inn. The lone sentry is hopefully doing his job today!

Harper and his men around the British camp.

The French deploy with the voltiguers covered by trees on the left and the infantry groups in a column on the road. 

 

The French start off slowly, with low rolls resulting in hardly any forward movement. I guess the frogs are wary of the grasshoppers stationed at the inn.

The sentry notices the sun glinting off of French bayonets and blows his horn in warning.

True to character, Sharpe reacts quickly and organizes his men to defend the inn's fenced yard. 

The front ranks of the French column hurry ahead, leaving sergeant Henry with a group in the rear. Lieutenant Ducos on the right rushes his men towards the river to provide covering fire. He halts his men just yards away from the maximum range of the British Baker rifles.  

Sergeant Henry pushes his men forward on the left. He plans to lay down covering fire on the flank while Laval rushes the bridge in the center. 

As the French near the river Harper finally rouses his men from the tents and forms a defensive line in the cover of the trees. 

Preparing for the British fire, Ducos orders his voltigeurs into a skirmish formation and moves cautiously into range of the British rifles. On the right, Harper gives the order to fire and a Frenchman pitches forward into the dirt. His comrades are rattled but uninjured. 

Sharpe gives the order to open fire on the voltigeurs and immediately has them ducking for cover. He scares them but does not mange to kill any. 

As the voltiguers on the right come under heavy fire, Laval keeps pushing for the bridge. Both french wings are bogged down by the long range fire and cannot get close enough to provide covering fire. Without their help the center may be in trouble...

As Laval reaches the bridge a fierce volley from Harper's group sees one frog fall into the stream!

Sharpe opens up on the bridge as well. Pinned on the bridge by the heavy crossfire, Laval is unable to move his men forward or return fire as shock builds up. 

Laval finally begins to give ineffectual return fire at Harper's men in the trees. His men are too shell shocked and the dark green riflemen are just too hard to see in the undergrowth for bullets to be effective though.

Unable to withstand the withering fire the french center retreats. Sharpe fires on the voltigeurs and drops one to the ground. with so much shock built up, they too begin to retreat. 

Laval is able to rally his men in the center, and with a shout of "forward" he charges them clear across the bridge in a short lull between the British volleys. His group moves into hand to hand combat with Harper's rifles on the British right. 

The elite riflemen are too much for the conscripted French regulars; they are again forced to retreat after losing 4 men and killing three of the green jackets. As they flee across the bridge, one of Harper's men drops another frog with a well placed shot. 

In the meantime, Ducos has rallied his voltiguers and returned to the river bank.

Despite firing round after round, Ducos' men are unable to shake Sharpe's defensive line behind the fence. 

A lucky French shot finally drops one of Sharpe's riflemen behind the fence. Deciding to Try a different strategy, Ducos moves his men towards the bridge. The only way the French can budge these riflemen is by hand-to-hand combat. The move is too little too late. The French center routes completely when Sharpe's men drop another three in their tracks. On the right, Harper's men fire an effective volley leaving two frogs in the dust. Sergeant Henry and his men are forced to leave the field due to excess shock before they even got close enough to fire on the British!

With both the center and left wing in full out rout, Ducos pulls his voltigeurs back and concedes victory to the British. Henry's inability to get his men close enough to even fire cost the French victory. If both flanks could have provided covering fire while the center charged the bridge, things might have gone better for the French.