My friend Jan Hope, having amassed a large quantity of 15mm Mexican America War figures, decided to run a game with Brian and I this last week. We had a great time and Jan wrote up the following battle report!
Palo Alto Game 2 After Action Report
Game played at Charlotte Garrison on 7 June 2017, Eric as American
army, Brian as Mexican army, Jan as Game Master.
This game was the first face-to-face two-player game with Jan’s
Mexican-American War miniatures collection culminating a three-year project to
bring these magnificent troops to the battlefield! I purchased the mostly unpainted collection
from Eric in 2014 and sent the unpainted figures to Fernando in Sri Lanka in
two batches for painting. Eric had painted
the American artillery and the Mexican Grenadiers and Fernando painted all the
rest of the collection that numbers about 2,000 figures altogether! The figures are magnificent! I still need to add the flags and flock the
bases, but after two solo play-tests, the troops were eager to take the field
in a real game with experienced Piquet players, so we went all in beginning
with Palo Alto, and what a baptism of fire it was!!
Game rules were generally in accordance with Piquet-Hallowed Ground
with a few house rules. Game was set-up
with historical deployment per the book “On the Prairie of Palo Alto.” The Mexican 4th Line infantry
regiment was substantially larger than other regiments in the battle, and
rather than add stands to that regiment, the 11th Line Regiment was
included in the Mexican order of battle, because they look great on the table
with their white jackets and red trousers!
Army characteristics and unit values were rolled up before the battle,
and unit cards were used for each unit (the astute observer will see a unit
card for the American 7th Regiment and wonder why not the 5th
as per the historical order of battle, and that’s because I had printed cards
for the 7th but not the 5th so I used what I had …).
Unit count and Card Divisor resulted in four randomly drawn Morale Chip
cards for each army, with the Mexican army at 19 Morale Chips and the American
army at 17 Morale Chips. Sequence Deck
was per Hallowed Ground, except that the Mexican army begins with four Dress Line
cards rather than eight, and the Mexican army deck includes the Native Mobility
card that acts as an extra Cavalry Move card for the Torrejon cavalry
group. With these adjustments the
Mexican army deck included 23 cards and the American deck included 27
cards. The army commanders were both
average so no cards were added for them.
In the historical battle, the Canales brigade of irregular cavalry was
in the area but did not appear on the battlefield. Provision is made in the scenario description
for the Mexican army commander to “Assert Command” and rally the two-regiment
Canales cavalry brigade onto the table when Officer Check cards appear.
Eric prepared a wonderful terrain table top very evocative of the
prairie of Palo Alto, and with the units deployed we were ready for action!
The American lines looking from the south, with the 2nd
Dragoons on the American right (left side of photo) and Duncan’s elite horse
artillery battery on the American left.
Each infantry regiment has a mounted officer whose functions are first
of all to look great on the table, and second is as an indicator of First Fire
bonus, with the officer removed upon first fire.
The Mexican lines looking from the north with Torrejon’s cavalry
brigade on the Mexican left (right side of photo) and Montero’s Villas del
Norte cavalry regiment on the Mexican right.
Also shown behind the line on the Mexican right is the Canales brigade
of irregular cavalry, that can be brought into the game on an Officer Check
card.
The Mexican advance begins with a Cavalry Move card and Torrejon’s
brigade moves toward the 2nd Dragoons. The American light artillery battery on their
right has unlimbered.
Torrejon aggressively and courageously makes an heroic advance on their
bonus move card pushing the Presidial regiment of light cavalry well into the flank
of the American position!
Another Cavalry move card with an advance maneuver puts the Presidials
on the flank of the 2nd Dragoons!
The Presidials make an opportunity charge into the flank of the 2nd
Dragoons! The 2nd Dragoons
had been heavily employed in scouting before the battle and were in a Battle
Weary condition. The normally low
effective light Presidials gained significant advantage from the flank attack,
so it looked grim for the Dragoons, and if they folded the whole American right
would have been exposed!
The dice went down D10 to D4, and it was 3 to3 … a tie and a narrow
victory for the battle weary Dragoons!!!
The medium weight Dragoons turned and faced the Presidials and won the
next round routing the light regiment!
This was an early and decisive engagement holding the right side of the American
line that might have been rolled up in flank attacks! A heroic moment early in the battle!
Meanwhile over on the American left, Montero’s regiment Villas del
Norte is advancing on the guns of Duncan’s elite light horse artillery battery,
who rolled up Determined.
Determined or not, they fired three times at medium range without
effect, then finally on the fourth Artillery reload card over two turns, they
rolled 11 to 2 for nine hits wiping out the Villas del Norte!
The American line advances toward the Mexicans. Over on the far right of the American line, the
battle weary light battery has fired on the Mexican 8th Line cavalry
and with very accurate shooting on diminished capability has routed the 8th
who are fleeing the field unralliable!
The first turn saw a preponderance of impetus to the Americans, but this
was reversed on Turn 2 when the Mexican cards ran out leaving 19 unplayed
American cards! Such is the ebb and flow
of Piquet!
The Americans continue to advance while the Torrejon’s two remaining
regiments fall back to a defensive position anchoring the flank.
The Americans advance further, General Taylor along with his scout are
coming up behind.
Both infantry lines are advancing for the final showdown. The Zapadores have moved into the casualty
field from the Villas del Norte ill-fated advance.
The Zapadores charge into the guns, but can’t quite reach melee
contact, but they volley with Ragged Fire in effect, D10 to D6, and rolled 1 to
5, no effect! Duncan’s elite returns
fire with canister D12+2 and the roll is …. 1!!! No effect!
Morale check against Zapadores cause them to fall back slightly. The Zapadores fire on a Musket Reload, D10 to
D6, dice roll 6 to 5, Duncan’s battery passes the morale check and holds in
place. The American 8th Line
regiment and the 2nd Artillery as Infantry move up against the
Mexican 2nd Light regiment and the Tampico Coast Guard. The 2nd Light opportunity fire
volley has no effect.
Meanwhile farther to the right, the advancing Americans came under
opportunity volley fire, the 4th Line regiment, the best infantry regiment
on the field that day, took 1 stand loss and the morale check against the D12
morale die resulted in a rout!! The 4th
Line is seen here routing in the direction of General Taylor, the combat artist
looking elsewhere missed the smoking muskets in the Mexican lines.
The artist redrawing the scene from second hand accounts shows the
Mexican 1st Line regiment having fired to rout the American 4th
Line. Also seen here, the American 8th
Line regiment on the left and the 2nd Artillery as Infantry to the
immediate right are about to fire on the Mexican 2nd Light and the
Tampico Coast Guard regiments.
The American 8th fires heroically into the 2nd
Light, one of Mexico’s best regiments, causing one stand loss, but the 2nd
passes the morale check and holds their position. The American 2nd Artillery as
Infantry fires into the Tampico Coast Guard, also causing one stand loss, but
the lower morale Tampico’s rout and are seen near their brigade commander who
will attempt to rally them with an officer check.
Over on the far right of the American lines, the American heavy
artillery section has fired on the Mexican 11th Line causing a stand
loss, but the Mexicans hold on the morale check. Duncan’s elite horse artillery reloads and fires
again on the Zapadores causing one stand loss.
The Zapadores charge into contact hoping to melee, but the Americans
reload and fire, causing one more stand loss, and the Zapadores fall back, but
don’t rout! All that warm work up close
to the guns, and the Zapadores, even though reduced, are still in the fight! The Tampico’s could not be rallied and they
have fled the field …
Next to the valiant Zapadores, the Mexican 2nd Light
regiment charges into contact with the American 8th Line, the 8th
volleys and causes two stand losses on the courageous 2nd Light.
With the Morale Chip losses from those volleys, the Mexican army morale
was exhausted, and they conceded the field to the superior firepower and morale
of the American forces. General Arista will
pull the Mexican army back in good order to take up a defensive position at
Resaca de la Palma to stop General Taylor’s American army from their continuing
advance to relieve the siege of Fort Texas opposite Matamoros on the Rio
Grande. A battle for another day!
It was a grand first battle for my Mexican-American War collection and
I am most grateful to Eric and Brian for going at it hammer and tongs bringing
my project to the table at long last!
There was a lot of ebb and flow with the strong narrative that we so
enjoy in playing classic Piquet! We’re
looking forward to many more exciting MAW campaigns and battles in the
Charlotte Garrison in the months ahead!
