Gaming Sharpe: Sharpe’s Storm

Summary

Sharpe’s Storm is the last of three most recent Sharpe novels – Assassin, Command and Storm – which takes place at the end of the Peninsular Campaign as Wellington pushes into France. It’s set in 1813 and covers the battle at the river Nive and the plans to take Bayonne. In it, we see Major Sharpe acting as an escort to an old friend, now Rear Admiral Sir Joel Chase (previously seen in Sharpe’s Trafalgar) and his entourage, as they tour the battlefield as a prelude to the soggy assault of Bayonne.

It is not a great novel, and definitely one of the weaker Sharpe books I have read, but it does have some good parts, like the battle on the Nive itself and the interactions with Sir Nathaniel Peacock, an incompetent rich commander in the same mould as Simmerson and sadly based on a true person.

What’s in the Game?

Who are the Characters?

Naturally, we have a lot of Major Richard Sharpe at the height of his powers and command (of the British) at the end of the war. It’s a Sharpe who has his eye on what happens when the war ends, and what might be in store for an old soldier in this new world. 

From the Chosen Men, we get the usual turn from Sergeant Major Harper, and Dan Hagman, and even a cameo from Harris. I only recently discovered that Harris was a character from the TV series who migrated into the books, rather than the other way around! We also see some returning characters in Harry Price, D’alembord and Carline.

The other major character in the book is Rear Admiral Sir Joel Chase, the former captain of the ship Sharpe went into battle with in Sharpe’s Trafalgar. He’s an interesting character – diving into danger, and using his rank to full effect to drag Sharpe back and forth looking for action. He has his own Harper too – Clouter – another callback to Trafalgar.

The other interesting character pairing in this book is Wellington himself, and his ‘companion’ Candelaria. She acts as a housekeeper and aide to Wellington – and it is presumed lover. While I cannot find a reference to her, it was noted that Wellington kept a lover on campaign, even though he was married to Kitty Pakenham. She offers the aspect of, from my reading, an older woman who takes no shit from Sharpe, but inevitably ends up sleeping with him. Because of course she does…

What are the missions?

There are three distinct Military Missions in the book. The first ‘Escort Rear Admiral Chase on his Reconnaissance’ is central to the first three-quarters of the book and one that takes Sharpe from one dangerous situation to another. The second is ‘Ensure the Navy completes their engineering mission at Bayonne’ is a naval approach to a stealth mission which turns into a battle as Sharpe takes matters into his own hands. This covers the final part of the book. In the middle we have ‘Win the Battle of the Nive’ which is a great example of how a battle can be played out through the lens of a few characters – and how a ‘victory’ can be had through some whacky narration about bagpipes and Scottish heroes.

In terms of Personal Missions, I suppose Sharpe is trying to ‘Connect with Jane’ and fails miserably. Harper’s little cameo Personal Mission of ‘Secure French Brandy’ is a fun one too.

Sir Nathaniel Peacock

The ‘villain’ of the piece is Sir Nathaniel Peacock, a newly appointed officer in charge of the 71st and determined to make his mark, despite being totally ill-suited to the role. We have seen this before, of course, with Simmerson, but Peacock is less formidable and more useless. Using a newly appointed Colonel in your game is an interesting foil, but something which should be done sparingly or else it becomes cliche.

Weather- the Storm Itself

One exceptionally interesting part of the book was the presence of the ongoing titular storm. Everyone is soaked through, the wind is biting and the mud causes problems for both sides. I think we sometimes underestimate the effect that weather can have on a scenario, making certain choices harder and adding to the reality of the game. It’s easy to look up the weather patterns for certain areas of Spain, and the accounts of most battles will be detailed enough to mention the weather, which you can fold into your game. 

Visceral Combat

The battles in this book are great – and save it in my eyes. They revel in the visceral nature of combat, especially in the bayonet charge towards the enemy eagle in the Battle of the Nive. Narrating successes in a skirmish challenge, especially in battle, can be almost transactional, unless the GM gives them the space to detail what the PCs are doing. Sharpe, Harper and Clouter fighting their way towards the eagle has no impact on the outcome of the battle, but it makes for a wonderful vignette within it. 

Friends amongst Enemies – The Picquets

Another intriguing passage in the book is the account of the relationship between the French and British picquets. Rather than being deadly enemies, they recognise each other as people given a nasty job which doesn’t require them to kill each other. There is an entente cordiale between them, with signal calls, wake-ups and even trading of tobacco for brandy. There is even a suggestion that the picquets would warn each other of a pending attack, allowing their opposite number to retreat before the fighting starts. It’s a great ‘peace in war’ moment that can be dropped into a game.

Navy and Army, working together

The core of the book is, of course, a mission of cooperation between the Navy and the Army, as they navigate the rivers and waterways of south west France. It doesn’t make too much of itself in the plot of the book, but it does show how you might slide a little Beat to Quarters into your Duty & Honour, or vice versa. An interesting detail is that on land, the rank of the naval officer is irrelevant – the highest ranking army officer commands on land. Which, at the time, is Sharpe, naturally!

The Importance of Artillery

Finally, there is a lot of artillery in this book, showing the different uses of roundshot, canister, grapeshot, and howitzers. There’s even an artillery officer – Anderson – who is highly competent and provides support for Sharpe in exactly the way needed. Again, like weather, artillery can be overlooked as a device to show the sheer brutality of the war. You never want your PCs to take the full brunt of a blast of grapeshot, but having it nearby adds a degree of horror and danger to whatever is occurring

Marching On…

I’ll be turning my attention to the other new books soon; Sharpe’s Assassin and Sharpe’s Command. As Assassin is set after the war, it should make for a very different assessment for in-game ideas..