Wor Lard Day, Saturday 4th May, 2024
There were two games using 54mm plastic figures, and the Too Fat Lardies rules “Sharp Practice” (2nd Edition)- here are some pictures of one.
The game is set in northern Spain, in 1834 or 1835. This was a long way from what the game designers had in mind-or perhaps not. The system is for big skirmishes in the horse and musket period, inspired by the Sharpe TV series of the 1990s, which was meant to be in Spain in Wellington’s time. The First Carlist War was partly fought over the same landscape where The Peer performed his exploits in 1813, and the tactics of both armies should have been (and sometimes were) based on the 1791 Réglement, the standard drill-book for Napoleon’s army. Every foot body in the game had flintlock muskets and bayonets.
We had two games, with roughly similar armies. Due to pressure of time, thy were reasonably small- two formed battalions and two groups of skirmishers per side, with one mule-gun, and a couple of squadrons of cavalry to add colour and variety.
The armies were almost entirely made from leftover figures from two of Durham’s previous extravaganzas, Waterloo and Gettysburg. The Government troops needed no alterations at all, except for a few Miliput berets. Line or light regiments are the A Call to Arms Dutch 1815 figures, the cavalry French dragoons, and the all-red Chapelgorris (red caps) which played the skirmishers British Light Infantry. Engineers were from a whole range of manufacturers, the rough effect right for these veterans. All I had to do was paint in different colours, and give them sandals instead of shoes.
The Carlists were mainly A Call to Arms American Civil War Iron Brigade and Confederates. The pigs and the civilians were included in the rules. We left out some of the details of the rules for simplicity’s sake, and made everybody aggressive to encourage the hard fighting so typical of both armies.
To add more colour, we used Spanish playing-cards and a cribbage-set instead of the official cards and morale markers.
Result- one all.