Cinco De Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is an annual celebration held on 5th May to celebrate Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It's only a full-on public holiday in the state of Puebla (naturally), but is celebrated elsewhere, especially in the US, as a celebration of Mexican culture. It is widely confused with Mexico's independence day celebrations.

Anyway, I had my Mexican Adventure armies to hand yesterday, and thought that it would be worth putting together a quick refight of the Battle of Puebla using Dominion Of The Spear And Bayonet. There's a scenario for the battle in the battles book that accompanies the rules, but I haven't bought that yet, so I put together my own.

Here's the forces.

On the left are the Mexicans, with Line and Artillery in Defences (3pts each), more Line, and some Skirmishers and Cavalry in reserve (2pts each). The cavalry was committed at the end of the battle to press the French, so I kept them back and had the two fortified units in the front line, plus the unprotected line (as there were forces filling in the gap between the two forts that the battle centred around.

On the right are the French. They consist of two Elite Line (3pts each), Artillery and, in reserve, more Line and some Cavalry. I assumed that the cavalry would cover the French rear and/or retreat, whilst the third Line unit would represent a final French attack in the rain, and therefore lose the Elite elan the other units have.

Here's the Mexicans deployed. On their left is the Artillery, on the right Line in a fort and between them more Line. Some small wooden blocks represent Puebla itself.

The French attackers. They went straight in with the infantry after an artillery bombardment, so I put their two Elite Line on the left and in the centre, and the Artillery on the right.

In the following pictures the yellow dice represents the turn number and its position which side is acting. The blue dice is the French combat roll and the white one the Mexicans. I rolled them together although in many cases the results of one units combat are applied before the other.

Turn 1 - French

They attacked on the right with their Artillery. The fighting was inconclusive.

Turn 1 - Mexican

They chose the same sector as the French. The artillery bombardment continued and suppressed the first fort (the Line was defeated).

Mexican Skirmishers deployed to threaten the French Artillery

Turn 2 - French

Choosing the Artillery again would be bad, as the enemy Skirmishers are advantaged there. So the French went for an advance in the centre with their Elite Line against the Mexican Line. Fierce fighting saw both units bogged down; they would take no further part in the battle (both units were eliminated).

The Cavalry support for both armies moved to cover their infantry. This was the final reserve unit for the Mexicans.

Turn 2 - Mexican

On the French left their Artillery was driven off by Mexican Skirmishers.

As the afternoon rain began the French reserve Line was brought into action.

Turn 3 - French

The French general committed the cavalry in the centre sector, as whilst it was an even fight, a win here would allow the French to dominate the Mexican position. The French Cavalry routed their Mexican opposite numbers.

Turn 3 - Mexican

With their position under threat from the French Cavalry the Mexicans looked to secure one flank with their Skirmishers. However they came to grief against the French line in that sector who doggedly resisted their advance and drove them off.

This left the Mexicans with just their remaining fort, but nothing else between the French and the city of Puebla. 

 So this refight was a relatively straightforward French win.

As you can imagine, it took longer to design the scenario and set the game up than it did to play (and play was slowed by putting down markers to help the photos along).

The Puebla Campaign

I have very much enjoyed playing around with Dominion of Pike & Shot and thought that it would be fun to try some kind of campaign. However I was also going away on a short holiday and didn't want to take my pike & shot armies with me. So I decided instead to buy the colonial rules, Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet, because I knew that they had lists for both the South American wars of Liberation and the Mexican Adventure. I sorted out a variety of figures from my 6mm armies for the latter and was able to pack them in a small box with necessary dice, markers and other things I'd need for a game.

I decided to base my campaign around the French advance on Mexico City in 1862-63. As part of this they decided to capture the key town of Puebla, and since the first battle for that place is very famous I made that the objective. The campaign merges a number of historical elements and is more about the vibe than any kind of accurate representation of what happened. The French are trying to capture Puebla without losing too many battles (and therefore international prestige), whilst the Mexican Republicans are trying to hold them off for as long as possible. The French may have to contend with guerilla raids, whilst Mexican forces sympathetic to the French may attack Republican armies.

The holiday was mostly about relaxing, so I was able to spend the first afternoon and evening writing up some rules and drawing a map. The campaign rules are based on one that Mark Cordone posted to the Portable Wargame Facebook Group for refighting the Peloponnesian Wars. I thieved the basic mechanisms and then reskinned it for 19th century Mexico. He used the Portable Wargame to resolve battles. I used the Dominion rules.

Here's the setup. The bull is a work thing. It has nothing to do with the game.

And here's my accurate map of the French advance to Puebla. The word 'accurate' is working very, very hard there.

And these are the campaign rules.

Victory

Mexicans: Defeat the French in four battles.
French: Capture Puebla without being defeated four times in battle.

Turn Sequence

On each campaign turn both players roll a D6 for initiative. The highest score goes first and takes their turn, then the other player takes their turn. If the scores are equal then there is a random event:

Double 1 - Disease or Disaster. Determine a random area. Neither player may activate an army in that area or move an army into that area on the next campaign turn.

Double 2 - Guerilla Attack. Select a random French army. It is attacked by guerillas. See below for the makeup of their army. If the French lose their army is destroyed and it counts as a loss.

Double 3 - Conservative Allies. Select a random Mexican army. It is attacked by a force of Mexican Conservatives. See below for the makeup of the Conservative army. If the Mexicans lose their army is destroyed. If the Conservative army loses then it is not counted as a French loss.

Double 4 - Supply Concerns. If Veracruz is unoccupied then the French must immediately move one of their armies into or towards it if possible. If it is occupied then the French player may not move the army out of it on their next turn.

Double 5 - Orders From Mexico City. If Puebla is unoccupied then the Mexican player must immediately move an army into or directly towards it if possible. If it is occupied then the Mexican player may not move the army out of it on their next turn.

Double 6 - Reinforcements. The next player to win the initiative may choose to build a new army instead of moving.

If a player rolls a 6 for their initiative and there is no random event then they may chose to build a new army instead of moving. New armies can be built in one of that sides' deployment areas and then only if it is vacant. The French may only build new armies if they currently hold Veracruz. If they don't, and they are eligible to place a new unit, then place one in the Gulf of Mexico which then immediately attacks Veracruz. 

If they don't build a new army, a player may move an army they currently have in play. Armies move one space. Only one army may occupy a space. If any army moves to a space occupied by an enemy army a battle takes place. The moving army is considered the attacker. After the battle the losing army is destroyed. Use Dominion Of The Spear And Bayonet to resolve all battles.

Armies

French - Use army 56 from the rules

Mexican Republicans - Use army 57 from the rules

Mexican Guerillas - 1D3+1 Ambushers. The rest of the army is Skirmishers.

Mexican Conservatives - 1 x Cavalry, 1 x Line, 2 x Skirmishers, 2 x Ambushers

If the Mexican Republicans are defending Puebla or Veracruz, they may drop an Ambusher and add Defences to any two units of their choice.

If the French are defending Veracruz, they may drop one unit (not the elite infantry) and add Defences to two units of their choice.

After a morning walk, coffee and lunch I was able to set up the campaign on the second afternoon. I played it outdoors on the verandah of our cabin.

Here's the initial setup. The blue blocks are French forces. The red blocks are Republican armies. The green dice shows the campaign turn.

Turn 1 - The French win the initiative 3 to 1

They advance an army from Orizaba to Tehucan and attack the Republicans there.

The first battle of the campaign is set up. In all pictures the attacking army is at the bottom.

The battle was quick with the Mexican's regular cavalry riding down all before it to give them the win.

So the French now had one loss against them.

The Republicans moved an army from Huamautla to Xalapa and attacked the French there.

Another battle.

And another Republican victory as their line advanced with bayonets to drive the French from their positions.

So at the start of Turn 2 the French were now confined to Veracruz and the Mexicans were halfway to a win.

Turn 2 - The Republicans won the initiative 5 to 3, so went first.

The Mexicans attacked the French in Veracruz.

The French get defences, and occupied them with their elite line infantry.

Skirmishers vs cavalry on the flank.

Republican infantry attack the French defences.

A French victory!

After their victory the French advanced their single army from Veracruz to Xalapa

Turn 3. The French won the initiative 6 to 1. They used the roll to build another army in Orizaba. The Republicans advanced from Tehuacan and attacked the new army.

The Republicans ambushed the French force on the march and utterly destroyed it.

Turn 4. The Republicans won the initiative 2 to 1. They moved into Veracruz to stop the French getting any more reinforcements

The French moved from Xalapa to Huamautla.

Turn 5. The Republicans won the initiative 3 to 1. They could have attacked the French but chose to sit tight and defend Puebla. 

The French advanced and attacked Puebla. This was going to be the end of the campaign one way or another; if the French won they'd capture Puebla. If they lost then it would be their fourth defeat and the weight of public opinion back home would see them withdraw from Mexico.

The battle set up. The Mexicans relied on their skirmishers and cavalry to break up the French attack on their line infantry in their defences.

French troops drove off the Mexican cavalry and advanced on the first fort.

Another fort comes under attack.

Victory on the right flank put the French one roll away from a win. And they made it, capturing one of the forts to reduce the Republicans to one unit.

So the French won a narrow victory. Whilst the Mexicans occupied Veracruz they'd now be obliged to withdraw to defend Mexico City. The next stage of the Mexican Adventure is about to begin.

The campaign rules above were actually tweaked a little after this game, and a couple of other undocumented playthroughs I did afterwards. There were no random events in this one, for example. In some later games the French fought guerilla raids, whilst the Republicans found Conservative forces coming to aid the French.

This was a great little holiday project and it was nice to create a frame work around which to play some games. The whole campaign took less than an hour to run.

Siege Of Queretaro

'Siege of Queretaro' is another game from Blue Panther Games. When I order Poltava from them it was economical in terms of postage to order at least one more game, so I selected this one since it uses the same basic rules as Poltava and is in a setting which interested me.

The siege took place in 1867 at Queretaro, north of Mexico City. A Juarista army under General Escobedo trapped emperor Maximilian and his Imperial forces at Queretaro. The Juaristas have superior numbers, but the Imperial troops are well-trained and up for a fight.

I finally got this out and played it through yesterday. 

Production-wise it's as lovely as Poltava with chunky easy-to-read counters and a lovely canvas map.

Here's the initial setup. It has more counters than Poltava, and the terrain has more of an effect - in Poltava there is terrain, but most of it constrains the battle, and you really only deal with redoubts and fortifications. In this game you are fighting in a city, and the surrounds are dotted with hills and orchards, all of which limit or assist you.

The green counters in the city are the Imperial troops. Victory is about controlling eight objectives in and around the city at the end of the game. Seven of them are worth 1VP each and there is one final fort that is worth 2VP. On the first turn the three Juarista armies enter the board - the Armies of the North, West and South. Both sides have the potential for reinforcements. Those of the Juaristas will turn up in the first ten turns, whilst the Imperial reinforcements are less certain and the Emperor must wait at least ten turns for them.

The end of the Juarista first turn, showing their forces ready for the attack. The Juaristas look strong, but many of their units are feeble National Guard which are OK if you can bring their numbers to bear, but can be vulnerable to destruction. The Juaristas need to use their better troops to spearhead the assault. There are possibilities for cavalry to operate around the margins of the city - you can see some Juarista cavalry on the left of the map.

The first Juarista assault was on the isolated Hill of Bells fort, and disordered the defending artillery.

A second assault ...

... took the fort. So by the end of turn two the Juaristas had taken an objective and had a toe-hold in the city.

The position at the end of four turns - there is some cavalry action on the bottom right of the map, and the Juaristas are consolidating their position around the Hill of Bells.

By the end of Turn Six the attack had shifted to the south-west walls of the city (top-left). The juaristas had broken in, but it was with National Guard and it was unlikely they'd hold their position for long without support from better troops.

The end of Turn Eight. The Imperials were still holding the walls, but the Juaristas were pushing forward from the Hill of Bells with decent troops. Imperial cavalry were fighting their Juarista counterparts to the north and east of the city. The Juaristas had also captured San Sebastian, an objective outside of the city walls on the centre-right of the map.

The position at the end of Turn Ten was looking less good for the Imperials. They had been pushed back from the outer walls to the west of the city (conceding more objectives) and were now forming a new line in the centre of the city near the objectives there. On the plus-side, they had recaptured San Sebastian.

The end of Turn Twelve. When the collapse comes, it comes quickly. The superior numbers of the Juaristas make it easy for them to block Imperial retreats, making it far easier for them to eliminate units. A steady advance was grinding down Maximilian's troops, and unless the reinforcements turned up the Imperials were simply going to run out of men.

It ended on Turn Fourteen with the last Imperial unit being eliminated, giving the Juaristas all of the objectives.

I will try this again one day - I realised that I made a couple of mistakes during the game which, whilst they probably weren't critical, might have affected the early stages differently. However it does look like the Imperials have a tough job here. The Juaristas simply have to keep attacking and eventually the odds will work in their favour. Constrained in the city the Imperials have limited retreat options and can be easily destroyed. I'm not sure I like this game as much as Poltava, which is, at heart, more of an open field battle; the Imperials seem to have limited options and are generally left reacting to the Juarista attacks. So an interesting game in a setting less well-known than others, but maybe not a classic I'd get out again and again.

A Mexican Adventure From The Archives

I was doing another trawl of my PC's hard-drive last night, and came across this folder of photos. I think they used to be on my old website (of which The Stronghold was a part).

They were taken in 2003 and are of a Mexican Adventure game using 'Principles of War'. It featured and Imperial column, made up of poor quality Mexican units and better-quality Austrian troops was attacked by Republicans, who had a mix of regular and irregular units to manage. Sixteen years on I don't remember the details of the game, but the photos offered a few clues (there were some helpful titles).

This is the Imperial column on the march. In the background you can see one of the hidden unit 'blinds' which may or may not represent a command of Republicans.

The column was marching down a road towards a ford, and there was a farm on the other side (just out of shot to the right).

The Imperial cavalry breaks from the column to investigate possible enemy troop movements.

Republican cavalry appears on the flank of the column.

I think some Republican units must have appeared in front of the column as well, as this shows the Imperial foot forming up.

The opposing cavalry gets stuck in to each other.

The action develops. The cavalry fight is bottom right. To the top left are Republican guerillas, sensibly hiding in the scrub. Imperial infantry advances to clear them out. There are Republican troops in unknown strength on the other side of the stream.

Guerillas.

The Austrians form a line and advance on the irregulars.

The opposing commanders - the Republican CinC ...

... and his Imperial counterpart.

Some poor-quality Imperial foot pushed across the ford and occupied the farm, only to find themselves faced by the bulk of the Repulican's regular foot.

This was never going to end well for the Imperials.

Republican artillery added to their discomfort.

I don't recall the details of the final result, but I think the Imperial column was forced to fall back, unable to force a passage across the ford in the face of a determined Republican defence.

I might try to reconstruct this game using the Portable Wargame or some similar set.

All figures are by Irregular Miniatures and are, as you've probably guessed, 6mm. The buildings are by Hovels and Steve Barber.