Sharpe Takes on the Little Wars Convention

 

Table set up for my Sharpe's Bridge game on Saturday 
The British light division was trying to escape across the Coa River before
being overwhelmed by superior French numbers.

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Here are some pictures of the three games that I hosted at Little Wars this years. 40mm Napoleonic skirmish games based on the Richard Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell. My game was tucked away in some hard to find room next to the vendors area so it is understandable if you were at the convention and couldn’t find my game.

Major Hogan, one of Wellington's Exploring Officers, leads a scouting party
trying to find where Der Alte Fritz's games were being held at this year's Little Wars convention.

My game table featured custom built terrain using 2-inch pink insulation board which allowed me to sculpt and form realistic terrain . The figures were mostly Sash and Saber castings plus a few Perry 40mm figures and some of the Sharpe series personality figures from Steve Barber Models to represent Sharpe, Sgt Harper, Theresa, Pierre Ducos, and Jane Gibbons.

Sharpe (left) and Harper (center) - Steve Barber Models personality figures

The buildings were mostly 3D printed models from Battle Honours and I did all the painting and terrain making starting August 2025 through November 2025 so as to have the game ready for the Fall In Convention in Lancaster, PA. I added more bits and bobs and refinements through March 2026 before bringing the game to Little Wars this year.

Battle Honours buildings - 3D printed in 40mm scale
Cobblestone mat is from Lemax

We had a good group of players for all of the games and they made the games fun by really embracing the role playing element of a skirmish style of game. Some serious acting chops were put on display in my games. A big thanks to all of the participants for making it a good time.

The gentleman on the left played in two of my games, first playing the role of Richard Sharpe,
and then playing in the second game as Obadiah Hakeswell. He role played his characters to 
the hilt and demonstrated great acting chops and Oscar worthy performances.

Theresa (left) draws a bead on Hakeswell's hat (what would Mother think?) as she
attempts to rescue Lady Jane Fish and Lord Hamilton Fish. Somehow Hakeswell
talked his way out of this jam, only to fall into the hands of French General Calvet
who finally put Obadiah out of his misery for good (or did he?).

Theresa Sharpe (yes that Sharpe) also known as The Needle, leads her merry band of 
guerrillas around the wilds of the Little Wars hotel searching for Der Alte Fritz's game room.

40mm Sash and Saber British Riflemen figures

Perry Miniatures 40mm Peninsula War British light company figures representing
the South Essex Light Company.

Vistula Lancers comb the countryside trying to pick up the scent of Der Alte Fritz's game trail.

The South Essex Regiment on the march towards the Coa River bridge.
Flags by David Morfitt of "Not By Appointment" fame.

Colonel Henry Simmerson of the South Essex Regiment.
He led his men from the jaws of victory to a horrible defeat.
At least he didn't lose the Colours in this battle.

Besties Sharpe and Harper reach out to each other as they expire on 
the battlefield after hand to hand combat with the French. Corporal Harris (Jason Salkey)
looks on in despair, knowing that Sharpe's death means the end of his acting gig in the 
Sharpe television series.

Both Sharpe and Harper had a plus eight die modifier in melee, yet both men were cut down by swarms of French soldiers and incredibly bad dice rolling. Prior to the melee the game master was heard to say something along the lines of "Sharpe and Harper both get a +8 to their D20 die roll. They can't lose."

Colonel Henry Simmerson mucked up the retreat across the Coa River Bridge by suddenly stopping the South Essex road column and ordering his men to dress ranks and put their leather neck stocks back on. This blocked the road and prevented all of the other British units from reaching the safety of the bridge. However, Karma briefly reared its head and cause a Spanish mule driver to accidentally (?) strike a whip to the rear flank of Simmerson's horse, causing said horse to go careening back down the road towards the advancing French infantry.

The South Essex rally and reform on the safe side of the Coa River as Captain Leroy takes temporary
command of the regiment at the behest of Major Hogan who has relieved Simmerson of command.

Major Hogan organizes a defense of the bridge as the Vistula Lancers come charging in.

Birdseye view of the French cavalry breakthrough that cut off the South Essex Light Company from escape.

The South Essex center companies rally on the far side of the bridge.

The remnants of Sharpe's Rifles reform on the safe side of the bridge and begin a 
galling fire on the French cavalry that is charging across the bridge.

The end? Will Sharpe and Harper march again?

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Little Wars Update: Maybe My Best Game Ever?

I hosted my Richard Sharpe Peninsula War (circa 1809 - 1812 for my game purposes) skirmish game at Little Wars thursday evening. The event was listed for 8 players, but I had some extra commands to use in the game so I ended up with ten players.

This game may well be one of the very best scenarios and players of all of the convention games that I have run going back to 1990. The players really took to the idea of role playing and they gave it their best effort. The result was a funny, Hollywood style of game that generated a number of surprises during the game. I want to thank all of the players in my game for such a fun time.

This is what I live for when I run a game at a convention.

"Sharpe! You are no gentleman. Humpf!"
-Colonel Henry Simmerson of the South Essex Regiment

The game was titled "Sharpe's Rescue" and it was loosely based on Bernard Cornwell's book, "Sharpe's Enemy". A band of renegade deserters from all armies has captured Sir Hamilton Fish and his wife Lady Jane Fish and they are being held for ransom. Lord Wellington has sent Richard Sharpe and his 95th Rifles Chosen Men on the mission to deliver the ransom and secure the safety of the hostages. The leader of the deserter band is none other than Obadiah Hakeswell, Sharpe's nemesis and mortal enemy.

"Sharpie, old boy. You are not a real officer. You were raised from the ranks."
Obadiah Hakeswell

Hakeswell was the leader of the renegade army of deserters, some of which were French and others were British. He wanted the ransom that the British were going to pay, but what he really wanted was Lady Jane Fish. He would double-cross anyone, including his own men, to save his skin and to get what he wanted.

Both the British and the French were on a mission to rescue the hostages and their combined numbers would overwhelm the Deserters. Hakeswell took the first opportunity to steal away from the convent where all of the fighting was taking place for he could see that his men were going to lose. So Hakeswell dashed out of the backdoor of the convent with the two hostages at gunpoint, but he ran into a battalion of French regulars who were attacking the convent. He bargained with the French to take Lord Fish as a prisoner while he and Lady Fish took off cross-country to escape.

Everything looked all tickety-boo for Hakeswell who was on the verge of escaping with his life and the forthcoming pleasures of Lady Fish. However, Sharpe had one last bullet in his rifle, he took careful aim, and gunned down Obadiah Hakeswell at 300 yards for the finale.

"Revenge is a dish best served cold."
Colonel Pierre Ducos
Napoleon's master spy and nemesis of Sharpe

Pierre Ducos was Napoleon's master spy and in charge of intelligence operations in Spain. His mission was to find and capture Major Hogan, one of Wellington's Exploring Officers. His colleague, Colonel d'Eclin of the French Guard Chasseurs a Cheval managed to capture Sharpe in a melee. Concurrently, Ducos was captured by Major Hogan. Ducos surrendered to Hogan on the condition that he be given his parole and sent on his way home. Ducos proposed the he and Sharpe be swapped as prisoners.

As you can see there was a lot of action and first class role playing going on during the game. The rules were simple and easy to learn, fitting on two sides of a letter sized piece of paper. I thought that the rules really helped propel the flow of the game.

My next game is the same scenario, Sharpe's Rescue, at 1PM Friday. I am also running a game on Saturday afternoon at 1PM, titled Sharpe's Bridge. Sharpe and his men will be sprinting towards the Coa River Bridge to escape the on-coming French, whose attack has taken the British by surprise. Will Sharpe and his Chosen Men escape across the bridge in time, or will that idiot Colonel Henry Simmerson of the South Essex Regiment panic and blow up the bridge and cutting off Sharpe from his bridge.

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My Little Wars Convention Games Are Submitted

 

Jim's Peninsula War skirmish game set in 1810 Spain

Picture of the two game table set up at Fall In in November 2025
Winner of the "Best Terrain" award

CLICK ON PIX TO ENLARGE

Today I submitted three games for this year's Little Wars convention on April 23 to the 2th, 2026 at the Sheraton Hotel Lisle/Naperville.  A link to the convention web site is listed below:

Little Wars Convention

I will be running my 40mm Richard Sharpe skirmish games three times at the show:

Thursday evening at 6PM

Friday afternoon at 1PM

Saturday afternoon at 1PM

This is a skirmish level game set in 1810 Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. The custom-built terrain boards and buildings won the Best Terrain award at the 2025 Fall In convention.

Game sign up begins on April 1, 2026 using the Table Top Events system.

The Coa River spans the width of two 6ft by 15ft tables.

40mm French Lancers

Spanish hacienda

Game tables set up at Fall In convention in November 2025. The Spanish monastery was the 
focal point of several of the games.

The bridge over the Coa River

French and Spanish Guerillas fight to the death in the vineyards of the monastery.

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Little Wars Pix - Part II (the other games)

 

55 Days at Peking game based on the movie of the same name.

I had a minimal amount of time to roam around and look at some of the other games at this year's Little Wars convention, but there were some games that really caught my eye. The giant 55 Days At Peking game had a giant wall that must have been at least three feet in height. It also had hundreds, if not a thousand, 28mm figures on the table.

Entrance to the Japanese legation.

I'm gobsmacked by the amount of dice that this game consumed.

Here is a good picture that provides a sense of how big this game was.

Nice looking scenery and hundreds of Boxers on the table.

Yet more Boxers, scaling the walls of one of the compounds.

Some of the Other Games

There were a lot of good looking games at the show.

I do not know what this game was, but it had an awesome looking model of 
the White House in Washington DC. Judging from the style of the red car in 
the picture, my guess is that this takes place in the 1930s.

Amazing craftsmanship and modeling.

A Tolkienesque Mines of Moria game in 28mm.

Impressive looking terrain. My photographic skills do not give justice to the quality terrain.

A dungeon game. Simple terrain, but very effective and well-painted.

A large Napoleonic game. Nice terrain.

Western gunfight game with a suitably attired game master.

Close up view of the terrain in the western gunfight game.

Here are a couple of pictures of a very good looking Great War trench warfare game. My one nit pik, and this seems common to nearly all of the trench warfare games, is that the terrain is always modeled in a black color. I think that using a dark brown and some occasional tan dry brushing would really make this type of game terrain really "pop". Nevertheless, this was a well modeled tabletop lay out.

WW1 trench warfare game in 28mm.

Close up view of the trenches and dugouts. Nicely done!

Mare Nostrum board game. This looks really interesting to me and it would
augment my Punic Wars Project quite nicely.

There was a 54mm Battle of New Orleans game that caught my eye. I have been considering doing a 54mm Peninsular War in Spain, circa 1810-12, so I am always on the look out for plastic Napoleonic figures. My Roman buildings could easily serve as Spanish buildings.

Andrew Jackson's American Regulars

The British team advances across the pitch.

Overhead view of the New Orleans game. The British units are carrying  ladders
that they will use to cross over the fortifications.

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Here is the What A Cowboy game set in the Warner Brothers film lot in Hollywood.
This game won several awards at the 2024 Historicon convention.

Overhead view of the What A Cowboy game. Extra points for originality in 
the scenario and well executed terrain. I like the idea of the game set in the 20th Century
on a film lot filming a Western cowboy movie.

I need one of these lift cranes for my Roman city.
Anyone know who makes this model?

Battle of Freeman's Farm in the American Revolution.
I think that the table needs lots of trees though.

WW1 dogfight game, The game master is attired appropriately .

A parting photo of the great wall of China in the Boxer Rebellion game.
Superb modeling. This probably won the Best Terrain award,

Hannibal 54mm Punic Wars Game

While I will cover my own game in a separate blog post, here are a couple of teaser photos for your enjoyment.

Nellies lead the Carthaginian attack

A view of the three game tables (6ft by 18ft long each). Carthaginian table in 
the front, a center table that saw most of the action, and the far back table is
where the Romans deployed to defend their city over in the left upper corner.

The Carthaginian battle line deployment with elephants out front

A view of the three game tables from the Roman perspective.

A thundering clash of men and animals on the center table.
The Roman aqueduct spanned the width of the center table.

So there you have; it looks like another successful Little Wars convention this year. My thanks go out to Kevin Cabai and his staff of volunteers for organizing this fine show. The show was well organized, it was easy to sign up for games using the Tabletop Events software app, and I really liked the venue.

I am looking forward to next year's convention. Who knows what I will bring this time?