Those of you who have read Bernard Cornwell's series of Sharpe's novels know just how entertaining and suspense filled they are and you have probably had thoughts of using one of the actions as the basis of a table top war game. Well, what you will find below is a bit of each novel in what we call "Sharpe's Mess." Although it helps to have read a novel or two about Richard Sharpe to get the full measure of the sub-plots and plots on the table, the fact of the matter is, the less you know the more fun you can have fouling up those who think they know what is going on. There are a number of player/characters who each have a situation report and mission and background provided for them. Ideally the referee should be the only person who has an idea about all the missions, but since we printed them in the article you may want to change some of the names around to keep the game open to new ideas and if you have read the novels add a character or two of your own just to keep the players honest. Initially, I had planned to write an account of one of the times I had conducted the game, I've play-tested it several times and played it once for The Courier at Historicon, but no mater how I put it together, it just wasn't interesting to me much less I thought, to some one who had not played in the game. So this article will be more of a how to set up your own game with stuff you may have on hand or can construct on your own. I will include some of the ways parts of the game had been played and what sorts of incidents have occurred just to give you an idea of the types of things you can anticipate if you run one of these literary extravaganzas. One of the features of the Sharpe skirmish multi-player extravaganza is the free flow of events and situations that occurs when the players are free to interpret their orders and backgrounds as they see them. Is this tidbit important or just filler? Terrain too can offer problems to the players, do I go over it or around it, is it significant to my objectives? Or is it just terrain placed on the board for clutter or ascetics? Let's talk about the scenario and the terrain. The scenario itself should be in an overall context known by most of the players, the situation on which it is based should be historically plausible if not historical. In our case the French in the region are retreating to consolidate their position elsewhere and the British are trying to take advantage of the situation. The Spanish are also trying to reestablish control over the region. The French for reasons that will be clear later have had to abandon temporarily a vast sum of gold. The gold of course is the main ingredient of the scenario. But some of the players will not be terribly concerned with the gold and will have other axes to grind. (see the personal objectives below) Other players will be focused on the gold and some will have more information about than others. Use the player objectives to set the scenario don't tell them much more than where the game is taking place and the broadest of strategic over views. Remember, these are small units with limited understanding of the greater game they are playing. Too much information will ruin the game, don't even tell them which units are on their side let figuring it out be part of the "fun" of the game. Just like figuring out the terrain. The terrain plays an important part on the scenario and the game. It should be logically placed for the scenario and the player objectives. There should be enough to block vision across the table and yet allow some open areas. Terrain is important as far as objectives and starting positions. Tied to the objectives of each group there should be a requirement to cross the table or a good portion of it. In Spain you can use a good bit of variety in selecting the features that will make up the board, medieval towns, mediterranean houses, stone bridges, swampy areas, small pine woods, small hills, old forts, redoubts, castles, villages, trails, roads, a church, grave yards, and walls can all be used. (See the map/table drawing) I have designed buildings for my games that are easy to store and use in the game, plus they look great on the table and are easy to build. (see the building section) Once you have selected the terrain pieces, place them on the table before you divvy up the units and assign characters. If possible, keep the pieces at least a move and a half for foot troops apart 10-15 inches should be enough. The main objective (ie. the hidden gold) should be near the center of the playing area. You will need a six foot by twelve to fifteen foot area for 25mm and a smaller one for 15mm. This sounds like a large area, but you need it with all the sub-plots and actions that will develop during play. You don't want the action to start too quickly. I use hidden player movements to keep the suspense up during the game. (See the map suggestions) Hidden movements can be complicated or simple. I recommend the simple system. Just have all the non-moving players close their eyes when a player moves a unit. Have the player point to where the unit starts and to where it will move. The umpire then evaluates the move and determines if any other units can see the move, if none can then the unit remains hidden. If a unit or units can see the movement then the umpire places all the figures on the table. Simple yes but it works well. If the player makes a lot of noise or talks about the move and other players here the gist of the move that is ok, if he wanted to be hidden he would not be talking or moving to a spot close to his move. As far as putting units that can't be seen by everyone on the table there is no good way to avoid the problem so just play around it. The character roles are fun to create and can produce several games within the game. They should be subtle although players will frequently miss the fine nuances they are worth including. These games are not role playing games per-sea but rather a miniatures game that uses some role playing aspects. You, as referee will frequently be presented with unexpected player requests ranging from 'can I climb up the outside of the church tower?'.... to 'can we rape the villagers?' Remember you can always say 'no' and frequently must to keep the game moving. But you can assign a chance to any action as long as it is in keeping with the period and character that is being played. There are other ways to satisfy the imaginations of the players. To spice up the game and reduce the number of weird requests you can try what some call a matrix event, at some unspecified point in the game let each player write up some thing that he/she would like to take place with three "good" reasons why it should happen. For example, "Major O'Higgins falls off his horse and breaks his leg, take three actions away for every turn for the rest of the game" The reasons (1) The major was trying at the time of the mishap to polish off the last of a flask of good Irish whiskey, (2) the horse he was riding wasn't stolen and therefore wasn't familiar with an Irish master, (3) Sergeant Harper, standing near the Major let pass a tremendous wind that startled both the Major and the Horse. Three good reasons for the accident. Once all the players have written their events they are all read aloud to the group. When all the player's events have been read, the referee goes over each one evaluates it in light of other events and the reasons stated. He then assigns a chance that the event will take place. Any events or reasons that detract from the chance an event will take place are deducted and a D6 is rolled, if there is one good reason left then the event will take place if the player rolls a one, if three than a one, two, or three roll will bring it about. Sometimes the reasons are so bad or out of place that no roll will be allowed. When all players are finished, initiate all successful rolls and normal play resume play. In some games a second matrix event will be profitable for the game. Each player character will have several figures assigned to its command. Lt. Sharpe will have a corporal and eight chosen men, he will command Sergeant Harper with eight chosen men. major O'Higgins will have six-ten mules, five mule handlers and two Spanish mercenaries. Lt. Smythe will have a sergeant and soldiers. Corporal Hakeswill will have figures representing several nationalities and british regiments. Lt. d'Artillery DuFay will have two guns one NCO and eight artillerists, El Guapo 15 patriots, El Peurto with his fifteen, and M. Juan d'Vaca with sixteen enlightened heros. Captain delaVasquez will command twelve soldiers and one NCO. On the French side Captain La Value will have twenty soldiers including Sgt Belview with eight French light infantry.Major Pierre deStang has two mercenaries in his employ. You can also add a french Colonel with a detachment of infantry, a French Courier who has an escort of three dragoons who has to ride across the table lengthwise with a dispatch wait six turns and then ride back. There is always room for another guerrilla band commanded by Theresa and you can use your imagination for other potential groups such as small patrols of French lancers, five or six troopers, or KGL (King's German Legion) Lt. Dragoons. Or, perhaps a group of French stragglers loaded down with loot. There are a number of possibilities. Try not to discourage player stupidity, frequently they have their own understanding of the game. A retired Air Force officer playing Major O'Higgins once gave the laden mules over to a Guerrilla band to watch them while he went forward to scout, needless to say the guerrilla band leader achieved all his victory conditions and departed the game. Major O'Higgins asked "Can he do that?" and then remembered that he could. In the next playing, the same officer in the same role attacked the French batteries guarding the road with his mule train, his idea was to get to the "dead space" under the fort's walls, he reached it but, alas, his mule train got grape shot for lunch. Mistaken identity caused some problems, as did who's in charge when friendly units made contact. With the card movement system players tend to shoot first and ask questions later regardless of uniforms. Which, by the way, is not all that unusual historically and gives the players even more to sort out. Below you will find some examples of player briefings and objectives/missions. You can photocopy these and attach them to 3x5 cards to give to the players. You should look them over and find the built in sub-plots to get an idea of how to add your own. More Sharpe's Mess Sharpe's Mess: Introduction Sharpe's Mess: Player Briefings and Missions Sharpe's Mess: Combat Rules Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #76 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com