Last Sunday,
Dave Hoyt & I decided to play the first game of Sharp Practice with our Imagination project. so it was to be that the armies of Asarya and Gourmandie would come to blows.
Both armies are starting at poor quality. we will be tracking our armied using Dave's modified campaign system seen
HERE . Because our troopers are starting at poor quality, even a devastating loss is not that bad. our troops cannot become worse then poor!
We set up the our armies in secret( some lookers-on held a terrain board down the middle of the table) and then we began.
Initial setup & playing board
Asarya Commander Zafer Yilmaz
Gourmandie Commander Phillipe Grand-Nez, Comte de Roquefort
the 1st turn saw movement forward to get into musket range.not much happened. the 1er Escadron, Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin surged forward, and my Sipahis attempted to a flanking maneuver on the opposite flank.
the 2nd turn was a bit more eventful. my new red-feathered formation of Janissaries opened fire on the Grenadiers à Cheval, inflicting 3 casualties! luckily the Chef d'Escadron Langeron was not attached. the Grenadiers à Cheval surged forward again in an attempt to get into the cover of the town on my right flank, falling just short. on hte other flank my Sipahi jumped a low hedge and decided to take a nap in the yard. the next time their card came up was 5 turns later!) the infantry in the center traded fire with little effect.
In the 3rd turn, the Grenadiers à Cheval attempted to get into the town, but were foiled when some gold coins were flung into the road(loot! card). They quickly lept from their horses to scramble after the coins, and failed to move. As they remounted and ordered themselves, the Janissaries loosed another volley, killing a further 2 cavalrymen. on hte opposit flank, the Gourmandie formation commander saw the sipahis jump a hedge down hte road and detached a 1/3 of his men to cover the flank. the rest of the raged on, with both sides accumulating a few shock.
turn 4 began with the Gourmandie cavalry making it to the village. the red-feathered Janissaries broke formation. Hazbija Backo Took half of the men and entered the village for safety from cavalry and a for a better firing position. Asil Serhat took the other half and advanced alongside the village toward the road. on hte far side of the table the sipahis lounge in the mid-day sun amidst the ineffectual fire being rained down upon them by the detached Gourmandie flank guards.in 4 turns of fire, only 2 sipahis were felled.
Turn 5 the blue-feathered Janissary formation finally caught a break. they fired a Crushing Volley at the smaller formation of Gourmandie infantry, causing 8 shock! one of the red feathered janissary groups also fired, causing 2 kills on the same Gourmandie formation.
through turn 6 and 7 there was mostly just an exchange of fire between the blue-feathered janissaries and Groumandie infantry. by the end of turn 7, the Red Feathered janissaries has re-postioned to launch another attack from the town. ove the next 2 turns tehy would cause another 4 casualties and numourous shock the the smaller Gourmandie formation, and force it to retire.
On the 8th turn, the sipahi finally awoke from their nap and charged the flank guard, routing them. At the same time, the Blue feathered janissaries Fired a volley and charged the only Goumandie formation still holding it's ground. the volley caused 2 casualties but the charge fell short. on the next turn, the sipahis charged into the flank of the Gourmandi formation, and defeated them. after that, the army of gourmandie retired from the field.
Sipahi roused from their midday nap
The Army of Asarya won the day. The accurate fire of the red-feathered Janissaries made them the deadliest formation on the table. with the win, they get 2 points to use for unit advances. I'm considering giving the red-feathers a +1 on the dice to musketry, and make then the true sharp-shooters of the army of Asarya.
The Newest addition to my turks, the "red-feathers"
Dave has finished some grenadiers and a cannon this week, and he has more cavalry awaiting paint in the background. he also is ordering figures for his second nation. it Looks like I need to catch up! I'm probably going to order the remaining Janissaries and Tufekci skirmishers from TAG this week, as well as a Turkish cannon and crew. Depending on how things go in the next 2 weeks, I may also order the first figures for the Zuztigzollern-Großgesaßische Armee
