For our second play-test of the Suenos de Libertad campaign, we skipped ahead to Scenario 4, the Defense of Mexicali. The game occurred over two days. On Halloween, we spent about four hours in the basement, playing out the advance of the Mexican Federal army on Mexicali. The historic event occurred on February 15th, 1911, one week after the army under Baja California governor and colonel Vega pushed PLM scouts out of the Picacho Pass, securing the road east to Mexicali. The soldiers, with far superior numbers, marched proudly through the pouring rain, directly into the defensive lines the revolutionaries had prepared.
This was the first large battle we've tried out, and in terms of numbers of combatants, we fought it at the same scale as the historical event, with nearly 250 soldiers attacking 75 rebels, though 25 unarmed reinforcements were available off-table. The scenario features a few special rules to make the battle a little more fair, and hint at the tactics the defenders used.
Chris's rebels took up their positions behind the defensive line they had dug into the Alamo Canal/Rio Nuevo. Mexicali, the seat of their revolution, stood behind them in the northeast corner of the table. Chris's forces were constituted of General Leyva's 10-man headquarters section, which he placed at the south-west corner of town, near the white house by the road, and two groups of twenty-five rebels each. One rebel section spread out in a single line from the center of the table south along the canal, all the way to the ranch. The second group covered the northern-third of the table, with one line in the canal, and a second behind that, in trenches on the hill, in a stand of trees, and behind barricades in the canal. Chris also marked on a pre-drawn map the location where he "hid" his cavalry of 15 riders, led by the hero of the battle, Jiménez, at Little's Ranch in the south-west corner of the table.
Two bridges crossed the Alamo Canal outside of Mexicali. Chris's rebels needed to destroy them, while John's federals were ordered to capture them intact.
Before we began, we discussed potential changes to the rules. John suggested we try a turn-based approach in which the offense moves all units who are not in range of or engaged with enemies first, then the defense the same, followed by sorting out the local skirmishes. The previous rules stipulated that each player roll for Round Initiative at the start of each turn, the winner moving un-engaged units first and then determining the order in which local skirmishes would occur. Players roll to see who gets initiative in each local skirmish area. We decided to go with John's offense-first rule for the day.
Then, it was John's turn to bring his offense onto the table. John needed to roll 2 or above to bring on each company of 50, divided into 5 squads of 10 each. The Federal forces had no trouble arriving on schedule and assembling in orderly columns by company. Colonel Vega and the headquarters section set up at the top of the western mountain (pictured below), and passed simple orders to each company. John planned to assault his opponent evenly across the length of the table, thereby creating a long frontline and stretching the defenders thin against his superior numbers.
Company Two assembled on the north of the hill. Company One, pictured below, arrived by the central road.
Company Three assembled south of the road, not far from Little's ranch. Company Four, made up of fifty "volunteer" conscripted civilians, John held off the table in reserve.
The scene was set for the second battle of Mexicali. Chris's PLM revolutionaries waited in the muddy channel for the soldiers to appear through the sheets of freezing winter rain. Due to the conditions, visibility in the game was reduced to 10", though muzzle flashes, explosions, fires, and other considerations could extend that range.
During the second Battle of Mexicali, the PLM volunteers placed their hats on sticks and held them up over the bank of the canal to draw federal fire. The tactic contributed to the surprising rebel victory. Thus, I inserted a device into this scenario by-which the rebels were allowed to roll 1 D6 per volley from the attackers. The result determined the number of hits that were aimed at the hats instead of human targets, giving the severely-outnumbered defenders a fighting chance at winning this scenario.
Even with the roll for the hats and the -2 buffer Chris's forces received for being dug into cover, John's soldiers in their first volley killed three rebels. In response, Chris's units in the canal by the bridge returned fire, killing four soldiers in the open desert. Chris tried to throw his first stick of dynamite, but failed the roll to light the fuse. Another dynamiter fixed his charge to the bridge and successfully lit the fuse. The fuse would burn for 1 turn. Chris then attempted to bring his unarmed reinforcements onto the table, but failed the roll.
On the north end of the table, John's 2nd Company came down out of the mountain and assembled behind a ridge. Their target was the northern bridge, and John planned to attack the bridge from the left flank.
As the first gunshots rang out in the storm, Chris consolidated his units near the northern bridge. He successfully rolled to light the wooden structure on fire, and the rebels awaited the attack on their sector.
In the southern sector, John's 3rd Company advanced past Little's Ranch. John was legitimately unaware that Chris's cavalry awaited somewhere on the property, but that was John's fault for not reading the scenario packet I had given him ahead of time ;-) .
The advanced squads of 3rd Company reached the canal and fired at the rebels, but alas, could only hit hats on sticks.
The rebels returned fire, but only marked a few hits themselves. Still, the PLM volunteers held their positions up and down the line.
At the end of Round One, Jimenéz's cavalry appeared at Little's ranch. They spread out across the yard and fired at the soldiers of the 3rd Company. Four soldiers fell in the sand. When the federals returned fire, we were forced to revisit Cover rules, given that the actual bodies of the horsemen were raised up above the cover by the horses. We decided that when cavalry are in cover, mounted, with the horse and rider visible above the barricade, the -2 buffer typically provided by the wall would instead be provided by the horse. Thus, in this case, John rolling a 6 would kill the rider, but a 4 or 5 would kill the horse. One rider was killed, and another lost his horse in the soldiers' return-volley. With that exchange, the first round came to a close.
At the beginning of Round 2, John moved up all three of his companies, and called in his 4th, the "volunteer" group, who appeared at the top the mountain and charged at a full run toward the northern bridge.
To the left of the conscripted citizens, the 2nd Company marched around the ridge and headed for the sparsely-defended northern flank of the canal.
On the south flank, John sent a couple squads of Company 3 to deal with Chris's cavalry, and rushed the other three squads straight toward the canal. Six Rurales officers entered the canal itself, creating the first gap in the defensive line.
Before the rolls for local initiative began, Chris moved a few of his units, bringing two cavalry riders into the canal to support the line, and sending one of Leyva's HQ staff into the truck parked on the center of the east edge of the table. He attempted to call up his reinforcements again, and again failed. The movement section of Round Two was now over, with John on the advance across the length of the table.
Then, the shooting began. John called for a local initiative roll for the southern sector. Chris won the roll, and shot three soldiers down. John fired a volley in response. His soldiers by the ranch hit only hats, but the Rurales in the canal fired point-blank into the rebels, killing three. Behind the federal lines, Chris's cavalry at the ranch killed one more attacker, but two horsemen fell in the return-fire.
Still, the rebels by Little's ranch held the line. Neither did the Rurales in the breach flee after one of their own died.
Just north of the skirmish zone at Little's Ranch, John's First Company hurried toward the central bridge. All five squads approached in a bunch, hoping to capture the bridge before the fuse finished burning.
Chris's defenders won the local initiative here as well, for the sector on the left of the photo below, near the central bridge.
Chris spent a few minutes studying the thrown explosives rule. In the canal among his defenders, two dynamiters successfully lit their fuses.
The rebel bombers launched their projectiles at the oncoming soldiers. One landed a perfect throw right in the center of a formation of three squads from John's 1st Company. With a two-inch kill radius and a 2-4" suppression zone, Chris tore up the three squads.
The second dynamiter had even better accuracy, all-but finishing off the other two squads to the north of the road. John's 1st Company was no longer in operation, its few survivors were suppressed for the next round, though they passed their morale test and did not flee.
In the northern sector, the skirmish played out with little damage to either side. The hat rule continued to serve Chris well, but he was only able to kill a few attackers from the 4th Company, the "volunteers."
The Second Round came to a close. Other than a half squad of Rurales at the south of the table, there were still no holes in Chris's line. On the other hand, John's columns marched forward steadily, only suffering serious losses on the central road. A young visiter stopped by to view the battle.
At the start of Round Three, the Federals continued their determined advance.
Soldiers from the Second and volunteers from the Forth companies pressured the northern sector of the defensive line.
John's center was all-but destroyed by dynamite, but on the south flank, John's 3rd Company streamed forward into the canal.
Chris took his cue to abandon the canal by Little's Ranch, leaving one rider and two rebels hiding out behind an out-building. The rest of the survivors headed back toward town.
Chris pulled all his forces out of the canal. They abandoned their positions and their hats on sticks, and raced back to the next line of defense. John's forces, in pursuit, now poured into the canal at three different breaches.
Back toward Mexicali, Chris regrouped his defenders near his headquarters.
The vanguard of the Federal volunteers reached the canal, as did the 2nd Company to their left. Chris found some brave volunteers for a few difficult tasks. Two dynamiters prepared to light their fuses, and the man in the truck drove off across the bridge, knowing full well it was about to explode and trap him on the wrong side of the front line.
The driver made it across the bridge in time before the flame reached the dynamite. Behind him, the bridge collapsed in the explosion. He aimed his truck at the group of survivors from the 1st Company, still suppressed from the previous round. Finally, Chris finished his turn to move by attempting to bring his reinforcements onto the table. He failed once again.
John called for an initiative roll on the north flank, and won. At the wooden bridge, nearby, the fire had spread and the structure now collapsed. The army had failed to capture either bridge intact. John's 2nd Company killed three defenders behind the log barricade with the first volley.
Chris responded, gunning down the 4th Company's commander, a Rurales officer on horseback, and a small squad of "volunteers." The 4th Company, however, passed the morale test and refuse to route.
Subsequent volley's from the Federal lines cleared the rebels taking cover behind the logs. Their comrades continue firing from the trenches on the hill and from behind the stand of trees, hitting seven more attackers, but not slowing the advance.
With that, we reached the end of Round Three. After about four hours, we took a break from the game, to be continued at a future date. While up to this point, John has advanced steadily, and while Chris has been pushed out of the canal entirely, the PLM still holds a solid defensive front, with layers and a promise of reinforcements, if Chris can ever roll a three. Until next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment