Meanwhile, in Canada....................................

I've always liked the idea of the Sharpe Practice rule set by the Toofatlardies, but as Len Goodman from "Strictly" would say; "there seemed to be too much faffing about" involved. Admittedly I didn't play many games with them but they didn't really grab me and I put them on Ebay.

Chain of Command was the first set of Lardies' rules that I actually liked rather than really wanted to like. The command dice and deployment system work really well and give a challenging, but fun game.

So when I found out that Sharpe Practice V2 was due for release on St George's day, and that it incorporated some aspects of the CoC rules (not the command dice) and was playable without cards using (I hate to say it) a system akin to Bolt Action with knobs on, I was interested. I listened to the interview with Richard Clarke on the latest Meeples and Miniatures podcast, and read the articles on the Lardies' website. In addition I looked at Mike Hobbs' blog as he is doing the War of 1812 supplement. To be honest that was the clincher.

At present I am in the process of consolidating my wargaming "stuff". Lead that will never be painted is going on Ebay, together with units that are surplus to requirements and anything else that will fund the hobby. I've given up on the idea of creating actual Peninsular War  brigades and divisions and am just concentrating on creating the units per the lists in Sam Mustafa's "LaSalle" rules because it provides a project with an end. I'm past the idea of "if I buy another six packets of this I can add them to the part painted bits of that to make something else". But what to do with the excess British units I have painted for the Pensinsular War?

Putting all of the above together the obvious answer was to use them for Sharpe Practice 2 and the War of 1812, a period I've wanted to do for a while but wasn't sure how to. These rules are set at a level which makes it doable and, if I want to add to it, it wouldn't take much. Additionally I can use the same figures for Peninsular War scenarios and that part-finished Spanish army I have can be converted for Sharpe Practice and the surplus figures sold off.

So here is the 50th Foot from my Peninsular War army, now no longer needed and rebased for SP2. It is shown here in 2 groups of 10 figures representing the 3rd battalion of the Quebec Militia which also had black facings, with one group of six skirmishers. They are AB figures.

There is another group of 10 figures to base. I'll finish the bases when I get the movement trays that I've ordered.

And here's the first  of two groups of "Voltigeurs Canadiens" from Blue Moon:

For the US troops I've got one packet of infantry, one of infantry command and Andy at Old Glory will be sending the US riflemen I've ordered when the next restock arrives from the US of A.

I'm really looking forward to this.......

Links relating to Sharpe Practice 2:

Meeples and Miniatures Podcast - interview with Richard Clarke

The Lardies - A look at Sharpe Practice 2

The Lardies - an actual game with explanations

Mike Hobbs' blog with some articles on SP2