Gents,
Sharp Practice stops at 1865 …but it can go further! I’ve been using a few rules sets for Darkest Africa gaming and Sharp Practice was one eagerly anticipated for adaptation to this genre.
I’ve gathered some thoughts on this and popped up the first of a few posts on the subject of adapting Sharp Practice to gaming in Darkest Africa, specifically East Africa in the 1880s-90s.
I kick it off with a general discussion.
Cheers
R
https://agrabbagofgames.wordpress.com/2 ... st-africa/
Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!...the Masai!
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Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!...the Masai!
Last edited by Rolf on Fri Jun 03, 2016 12:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!
Great stuff Rolf. Looking forward to the next episodes already.
John
John
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Re: Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!
Seconded
Re: Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!
Thirded! Great work.
Re: Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!
Thanks Gents,
Hope there are some useful suggestions to kick around in this post and the next...
The Masai I hope will show that a relatively 'simple' army can still be interesting in SP if used in its historical context....
Cheers
R
Hope there are some useful suggestions to kick around in this post and the next...
The Masai I hope will show that a relatively 'simple' army can still be interesting in SP if used in its historical context....
Cheers
R
Re: Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!
Hi Rolf,
For many of us it will be difficult to offer useful army-specific traits for units, like the Masai, except for those well-steeped in research.
But even general gamers can see some overall issues to thrash out.
Top of mind are mechanics for balancing modern firepower (shoot-shoot activations at 48" for breech loaders - zounds) versus spear or ancient firearms.
So 2 ideas to get more discussion going.
1. Consider smaller unit sizes for well-armed "Imperials" (not hard too imagine under-strength squads in these climates); perhaps units of 4 or 6 men for regulars instead of 8.
2. as mentioned on other threads, firing deductions for smoke for units that simply stay in place and blaze away. Once a unit fires for 2 or 3 consecutive actions without moving or "resting", place a cotton smoke marker to designate the penalty.
As in Zulu encounters there should be consideration for indigenous forces going to ground (greater saving rolls but at the cost of a major reduction in speed).
Looking forward to lots more as things get rolling.
For many of us it will be difficult to offer useful army-specific traits for units, like the Masai, except for those well-steeped in research.
But even general gamers can see some overall issues to thrash out.
Top of mind are mechanics for balancing modern firepower (shoot-shoot activations at 48" for breech loaders - zounds) versus spear or ancient firearms.
So 2 ideas to get more discussion going.
1. Consider smaller unit sizes for well-armed "Imperials" (not hard too imagine under-strength squads in these climates); perhaps units of 4 or 6 men for regulars instead of 8.
2. as mentioned on other threads, firing deductions for smoke for units that simply stay in place and blaze away. Once a unit fires for 2 or 3 consecutive actions without moving or "resting", place a cotton smoke marker to designate the penalty.
As in Zulu encounters there should be consideration for indigenous forces going to ground (greater saving rolls but at the cost of a major reduction in speed).
Looking forward to lots more as things get rolling.
Re: Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!
Hi Vlad,
To your points.
1. Consider smaller unit sizes for well-armed "Imperials" (not hard too imagine under-strength squads in these climates); perhaps units of 4 or 6 men for regulars instead of 8.
2. as mentioned on other threads, firing deductions for smoke for units that simply stay in place and blaze away. Once a unit fires for 2 or 3 consecutive actions without moving or "resting", place a cotton smoke marker to designate the penalty.
Simon Walker has some interesting ideas on this and agrees with much of what you say...actually he's already covered it. Essentially, smaller units will be more brittle and harder to control so I think there is potential for this idea. Basically just leave the fisticuffs above/below 50% rule the same as the standard group numbers and you're good to go.
Smoke is an interesting one. I suspect Rich has ideas about units firing multiple times from the same static location and probably this figured into his original thinking. For the moment I would go with his ideas in the rules i.e. 'smoke breechloader p.49' ideas and probably building off that would be the idea....or at least use that as the basis for a tweak here and there.
R
To your points.
1. Consider smaller unit sizes for well-armed "Imperials" (not hard too imagine under-strength squads in these climates); perhaps units of 4 or 6 men for regulars instead of 8.
2. as mentioned on other threads, firing deductions for smoke for units that simply stay in place and blaze away. Once a unit fires for 2 or 3 consecutive actions without moving or "resting", place a cotton smoke marker to designate the penalty.
Simon Walker has some interesting ideas on this and agrees with much of what you say...actually he's already covered it. Essentially, smaller units will be more brittle and harder to control so I think there is potential for this idea. Basically just leave the fisticuffs above/below 50% rule the same as the standard group numbers and you're good to go.
Smoke is an interesting one. I suspect Rich has ideas about units firing multiple times from the same static location and probably this figured into his original thinking. For the moment I would go with his ideas in the rules i.e. 'smoke breechloader p.49' ideas and probably building off that would be the idea....or at least use that as the basis for a tweak here and there.
R
Re: Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!
Gents,
..the Masai in Sharp Practice!
This post in this small series looks at portraying the Masai using the new version of Sharp Practice by Two Fat Lardies.
It incorporates the new concepts of deployment points, ‘national’ characteristics and other unique elements of the Masai people and how Sharp Practice with its many interesting concepts can be used to reflect their unique attributes.
Check out the Masai for Sharp Practice here.
https://agrabbagofgames.wordpress.com/2 ... ice-masai/
Cheers
Happy W
..the Masai in Sharp Practice!
This post in this small series looks at portraying the Masai using the new version of Sharp Practice by Two Fat Lardies.
It incorporates the new concepts of deployment points, ‘national’ characteristics and other unique elements of the Masai people and how Sharp Practice with its many interesting concepts can be used to reflect their unique attributes.
Check out the Masai for Sharp Practice here.
https://agrabbagofgames.wordpress.com/2 ... ice-masai/
Cheers
Happy W
Re: Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!...the Masai!
This looks really promising.
The only issue I can see is that at 97 points (even with smaller units of 6 'white men') you will be facing an awful lot of shooters.
The only issue I can see is that at 97 points (even with smaller units of 6 'white men') you will be facing an awful lot of shooters.
Re: Sharp Practice - Darkest Africa!...the Masai!
Fascinating stuff. However, the points values seem very high. Did you use the Sharpulator or some other system?
John
John