A bit more Sharp Practice

Well, with the disastrous events of the last game I felt it was appropriate to try and recapture Lady Fakham (who I think is probably quite happy where she is but it's the principle of the thing!).

The Portuguese forces had been reliably informed that Lady Fakham had been taken to a convent so they forced march to the location in the vein hope of rescuing her.

The Portuguese started on the right above the bridge with the French entering opposite but they already had a unit of dismounted dragoons inside the convent walls in case the Portuguese tried anything clever.

The Portuguese cavalry moved off to the north with the idea of flanking the French main force. This did the trick of splitting the French a bit and allowed a bit more firepower in the Portuguese centre.

A small force of Cacadores started towards the convent with a view of scouting out the French that were already there. The Cacadore leader wasn't sure but he thought he could hear a lady’s laughter coming from inside the convent...

The main Portuguese force started off towards the French, who returned the manoeuvre. Portuguese militia started to follow the cavalry but soon thought better and stayed with their main unit.

French voltigeurs, aware of the cavalry to their left, started to move towards the Portuguese centre, trying to halt their advance, but to little avail.

By the convent a fierce firefight between the cacadores and the dismounted dragoons had begun.

The French, typically hiding behind the walls started to get the upper hand and the cacadores were forced to make a small retreat, but not before gibing some hot lead back!

The cavalry were still probing, looking for the perfect moment to charge the French.

Unfortunately, the French voltigeurs decided to get in the way of the cavalry doing what they wanted to do and although they were pushed back, almost from the field they had halted the cavalry enough for the French centre to sort itself out and prepare to receive the charge.

With the cacadores now in an organised retreat, the situation for the Portuguese started to look a little shaky...

A fierce firefight was ensuing in the centre with the Portuguese generally getting the upper hand but the French stubbornly holding their ground.

With the voltigeurs out of the way, the Portuguese cavalry were lined up for a charge on the French left flank but they didn't really have the momentum but still gave it their all, trumpets blaring and sabres flashing in the sun.

Unfortunately, the cavalry charge was stopped in it's tracks and the French grenadiers started to give as good as they were getting with the Portuguese centre starting to fold.

To add insult to injury, after defeating the cacadores, the dismounted dragoons had appeared on the Portuguese left flank and were eating away at them. So much so that the Portuguese had to retreat and leave to the field to the French.

Well, not a good show for the Portuguese yet again. This Lady Fakham was starting to prove more trouble than she was worth...

Better luck next time.

Figures are Front Rank for the French and a mix of Perry, Warlord and Front Rank for the Portuguese. Grand Manner buildings and OSHIRO walls painted by myself. Terrain boards were made by Nick (the very lucky French player) and the orchards were made by me.

cheers

James

OSHIROmodels

info@oshiromodelterrain.co.uk