Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Refight of the Battle of Puebla, May 5th 1862

Some of you may recall I ran this game at Historicon back in 2012 (I can't believe it has been six years!). I finally got this back on the table and hope to do so every year or every other year. This collection is just marvelous and I need to get it on the table more often.

Background and history of the battle:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Puebla



The Players

Mexicans: Jan, Glenn
French: Phil, Charles
Umpire: Eric
Rules: Hallowed Ground (Piquet) modified
Collection: 15mm, mostly Frei Korp with some Minifigs. Forts and buildings are scratch built.

From General Zaragosa (Jan Hope):

"It was a magnificent battle! Believe me there was a lot of warm work on the field that day! The French forces charged courageously up the hill against Fort Loreto and knocked out the Mexican heavy gun, but the defending infantry filled in the battlement and returned musket volley fire sending the attackers back. Zouves advanced against the trench line between the forts and the Mexican National Guard unit defending it fired several volleys without effect, but they also stalwartly took several volleys and continued to hold the trench line. The Mexican heavy guns in Fort Guadalupe caused casualties in the assaulting forces and the attack temporarily stalled. The French forces pushed over the garden wall and were going forward into the stoutly defended village. But on the Mexican right flank, an heroic march at double time brought forces to bear against the French left. A Mexican cavalry unit wheeled and charged into the flank of the French cavalry and decimated the entire unit. Volley fire from the Mexican Infantry line nearly wiped out the defending French infantry unit opening up the entire left flank of the French lines. The Mexican forces had seized the initiative and were poised to gain a long run of actions without answer from the French, and in the interest of discretion over valor, the French yielded the field to fight another day! Yes, it was a magnificent battle in commemoration of the historical events that occurred in 1862 on Cinco de Mayo! Classic Piquet game action at its finest!!"

Objectives – Take Fort Loreto (5VP), Fort Guadalupe (15VP), and or Xonaca suburbs (5 VP). In addition, each side gets one VP for each unit destroyed or routed when the game ends.


Armies

Mexican Army of the East





French Army
The French have the option to create a 3rd command out of any units they possess. In this battle the 1/2nd Artillery, 62nd Line, and 2nd d' Afriques (Cavalry) formed the 3rd command guarding the army's left flank.


I started the assault force on Guadalope Hill fairly close because I wanted the game to come to a conclusion in the evening time allotted. Here we can see the four battalions of French moving up the hill. Fort Guadalope on the left (with the Church) and Fort Loreto on the right with the rounded turrets. The French assault force was 2 battalions of Zouaves, 1 battalion of sailors (Fuisl Marins) and 1 battalion of French Marines. (per the real battle)


The suburb of Puebla called Xonaca is guarded by a 12# gun section and several battalions of Mexican regulars.


The Mexican view from Fort Guadalope.


Looks like the 3 of the French battalions are heading away from Fort Loreto.


Guadalope hill is nearly 8 inches tall and is hard to really get a feel for the height via photos, however in person you get chills thinking of assaulting the forts on the hill.


French Marines peal off to attack Fort Loreto and its 12# gun section. Can they get close enough to inflict damage on the gun section and assault the walls?


The Supremos Podres deliver a volley, but fail to stop the French advance on the ranchero before the suburbs of Xonaca.


The French inch closer in Skirmish order to reduce casualties. They have such a small force that every casualty is critical.


The Sailors take damage, and the Zouaves form into attack columns to charge the Mexican positions.


Different angle of the attack.


Meanwhile, the French Marines move in close and dual with the 12# Mexican guns..


The Podres take 50% casualties from the 18th Chasseurs a Pied and fall back in disorder.


The Marines destroy the 12# guns section, however the 6th Mexican line unit is able to cover the gap before the Marine could storm the walls.


Nice shot of Fort Guadalope with Xonaca suburb in the valley below.


I love the character of Frei Korp figures, just look at the officer in sombrero! Frei Korp has an extensive line of figures for this period, and sold by QRF now.


French Marines and Chasseurs cross the stone wall driving the Podres before them.


Zouaves advance towards the Mexican National Guard unit defending the trench line between the forts.


Porfirio Diaz and his six infantry battalions and 2 cavalry regiments rapidly advance on the French left wing.


A good view of the French attack on the Xonaca suburbs. How about those long horn steer down by the river!


General Zaragoza shouting words of encouragement to the 1st National Guard!


The French perspective of the situation in front of Fort Guadalupe, as the 1st Zouave takes a pounding from the 12# Mexican gun section in the fort! Two stands lost!


This is a pretty cool shot of the French attack on Xonaca and shows the height difference between them and Fort Guadalupe on the right.


The Chasseurs d' Afrique (Blue Butchers) are starting to get a bit nervous because the Mexican cavalry is starting to get flank advantage.


The struggle in the valley, in front of Fort Guadalupe, and the Marines have to withdraw away from Fort Loreto as the musket fire was too heavy.


Now this photo really captures the height of Fort Guadalupe.


After the Zouaves and Mexican National Guard exchange fire several times, the Zouaves change to line to get a better shot, however will this formation change cause them trouble when they go in with cold steel?!


Things are heating up on the French left and not in a good way for the French! Outnumber 2 to 1 and now getting outflanked this could get ugly. The French 4# rifled guns chew through a National Guard unit, but the unit only wavers and doesn't rout. Then two Mexican regular units fire 62nd Ligne and wipe out 3 out of four stands!


The Chasseurs are flank and roll a 1 in Melee! The Mexicans destroy the "Blue Butchers" before they can even gain that reputation in Mexico!


The Mexicans, sensing victory, charge the single remaining stand of the 62nd Ligne and are REPULSED!


The next two photos are the high water mark in the center as both French wings are now crumbling.



The Mexicans bring two more understrength infantry battalions to fill the earthworks between Loreto and Guadalupe. The Zouaves move in for the assault, but a massing impetus run by the Mexicans sealed their fate. The entire French left wing was turned by Diaz's force and the battle was conceded.


That sure was a TON of fun and we are going to refight the game again this week!

Eric

Friday, May 11, 2018

Gaming in March and April with another Spring E-CON

Hi folks,

March and April saw the following games played here in the War Room (aka my basement).

A hearty schedule around my work and vacation schedule and some thoughtful playtesting. A total of 10 board games and 5 miniature games were played! We had another Spring E-Con (Eric Con) with a ton of games played.

MARCH (MG: 1, BG: 4)

 7th - No Retreat - Italian Front (EB, EC)
14th - Table Battles & Maneuovre with Phil.
17th - Burma - Lions in the Jungle (EB, Jan, Hammer)
21st - 25mm ACW battle (Brian, EB, Charles, Jan, EC, Phil)

APRIL (MG: 4, BG: 6)

 4th - Battle of Bergen (SYW, Franco-Saxons vs Allies) - EB, Mac, Jan, Brian, Phil, Wes
 6th - E-CON - F&IW, 878 Vikings(x2), Andean Abyss, Kemet, Raiders of the North Sea
11th - Kings of War (Wes, EB, Brian)
12th - Burma - Lions in the Jungle (Jan, EB, and Hammer) - Thursday
25th - Lion Rampant (Charles, EB, Jan, Glenn)

EC and I thought enough of the No Retreat - Italian Front that we are going to do a playtest game with Phil joining us in late May, with the goal of playing the entire Italian WW2 campaign on a weekend or several weekends as time demands. I'm thrilled to play another front of WW2 besides West and East front!!

Table Battles, is a VERY unique concept and here is a great review here. This game can be played in 20 to 30 minutes, so we cranked out 2 to 4 games per session. I just heard that they are going to do another expansion for Alexander the Great! Woot!


Burma - Lions in the Jungle is a playtest we have going on for Academy Games' Fog of War Series (Strike of the Eagle is the only one in print so far). Hammer and I went head-to-head twice with this wonderful system. Jan was our host and Umpire. We were able to play the first scenario twice and have provided feedback to the designer Brian Asklev. We have playtested several other of his designs: Korean 1950-15 and Russo-Japanese War, both Fog of War series.


Brian broke out his 25mm ACW figures for the first time and tossed them into the Wilderness for a hot battle in the thickets and confines of that battlefield. We all had a great time with it, but we didn't quite finish (rough terrain makes for a difficult go). My Confederates were able to turn the flank of the damned Yankees, but before I could really cause unrecoverable damage the Yankees through another brigade into the mix. Hurrumph!  We used Piquet as usual. :-)



Below is my Rebels on the flank of the Union line!




The Battle of Bergen (April 1759) will be talked about in another blog post.

E-CON

This Spring 2018 E-Con was a fantastic weekend. We played loads of different miniature games and board games from all sorts of eras of warfare. Six games in 36 hours. I almost needed a vacation from gaming after that!

Friday night Mac started us off with a fun filled game of Musket & Tomahawks (F&IW) featuring his 25mm collection with the French and their Indian allies attempting to capture civilians and kill as many red coats as possible. What I really enjoyed about this game is Mac created individual victory conditions for each command it was a hoot to see how players went after their objectives!!

My mighty Hurons before the battle begins:


British Allies: Indians, Provincials, and some lovely camp followers!


Another view. This is a Cigar Box plush table mat.


French Grenadiers marching to engage the British.


Here is an example of the really cool individual objectives that Mac designed!


About 30 minutes in we decided to add some accompanying music!


British Grenadiers and the General's daughters. Looks like Hawkeye and company have "rescued" them! They were eventually captured and killed.


My Hurans, after sprinting across deadly ground, flank the Provincial light infantry! They took many scalps in that attack.


The next morning we fought two battles using Academy Games' 878 Vikings. Best of all we had the Giant map along with Wes' pimped out 25mm miniatures! What a treat. The English won both games. Here is a photo or two of the upgraded game components.




Next we broke out a four player game called Andean Abyss, which is a COIN game from GMT Games. The original COIN game! Quite frankly, this was my favorite one so far, where all the factions just made sense to me. We have played A Distant Plain, Liberty or Death, Cuba Libre, and Fire in the Lake in the COIN series also. The components, color scheme, and game play are outstanding. If you are going to play all four propaganda rounds, make sure you have 6+ hours of game time like we did.



Sunday morning and afternoon, round out the weekend with games of Kemet and Raiders of the North Sea. My Mummy Giant from my small 25mm collection.







We had a wonderful time and can't wait for the next E-Con (make sure to stock up on caffeine!)