Christopher Hall - 07:15am Apr 3, 1999 PST (#510 of 512) Now playing B:AGS, War Galley and Gringos Gringos rocks on; Palo Alto is a blast. Now in the historical situation, as I understand it, old Zach Taylor was afraid of the Mexican cavalry and played things safe. Ha! One of the best parts of wargaming is "correcting" these historical results. Arista (Mexican overall Commander) has a good army on the field. Torrejon's cavalry has 3 lancer units, and enough clear terrain in front of it to get off a good charge once the armies close. The Mexican center is commanded by Garcia, and made up of solid units from the regular Mexican army. The right is held by Vega's men, who are weaker than Garcia's but still servicable. The one missing element on the Mexican side is artillery. Few guns and poor training (a -1DRM for Mexican art. fire) make a long range fight impossible for Arista's boys. The U.S. army has several advantages. Great artillery, led by Ringgold's Flying Artilery Battery (4 six pounders that can move AND fire in the same activation), ten guns altogether with good range and real punch when grouped together (4 guns firing together get a +3 DRM, which is very effective in disrupting enemy formations). Great U.S. command and control. There are more U.S. commanders, they are easier to activate than their Mexican counterparts (by 20%), and they are easier to coordinate through the U.S. overall commander (Taylor's range and movement allowance are both 1 better than Arista's - this makes a big difference when Taylor can give his command bonus to a subordinate who is in proximity to the main road, while Arista is struggling to reach his own lines through the tall grass to give his bonus at his *pathetic* range of 1 hex). Finally, the U.S forces have a qualitative advantage overall. Morale is generally 1 or 2 points higher per unit. That's 1 or 2 more "hit points" for U.S. units, better staying power in a fire fight, and a +1 DRM in melee. So Arista and Garcia look at this situation and what do they do? Charge, of course. Right across the tall grass toward the U.S. lines. And at first, things look pretty good. Mexican activations are ok, with 2-3 in a row in their first 3 cycles, lines moving in coordination across the field toward the deploying U.S. troops. Torrejon's boys making Taylor very nervous as they close on the open U.S. right flank. Even a successful shot from the Mexican 8 pounder. Then things start to go wrong. The U.S. artillery is well deployed in 3 stacks, and their fire begins to disrupt the Mexican advance. As the range closes, the casualties go up for the Mexicans. Torrejon's cavalry has to fall back and regroup after it's best troops take hits from Ringgold's boys. Then the activation and command superiority of the U.S. manifests itself. In a big way. With Garland in the U.S. center taking the lead (with Taylor's help), and Belknap on the U.S. left and Twiggs on the U.S. right trading activations (all 3 U.S. commanders have 5 rating for activation, a 60% chance, with Taylor adding an extra 10% for Garland), the Mexican's endure long U.S. "turns" of 4,5 or 6 activations in a row. With the lines still closing in on each other (now the U.S. is advancing), the fire fights become intense. On a unit for unit basis, at the start the Mexicans give as good as they get in small arms fire exchanges, despite negative DRMs. But two things are killing them. First, Taylor's troops are concentrating their fire on individual Mexican targets. First an artillery blast (often disrupting the unit). Then small arms fire from 2 or 3 U.S. units. Usually 1 hit per fire. The Mexicans struggle to return fire, but the per activation limit on return fire (one shot per activation) and the negative DRMs (-1 for being Mexican, -1 for disruption, -2 for 2 hex range) eventually take their toll. Second, Taylor's men are hot. There is rolling fire up and down the line. The U.S. command superiority allows several U.S. units to rally, while their opponents just absorb more damage. The outlook begins to darken considerably for the Mexicans. Finally Belknap charges the Mexican center, hitting the right end of Garcia's command. 2 Mexican units crumble. Vega's boys also take a hit. Half of Belkanp's command is behind Garcia's wavering line. You know what happens next. Garcia's men are flanked, they are already weak, and they fall apart. The Mexican's loose on a Battle Lost die roll with 8 dead units (0 U.S. units destroyed). Whew! Much fun. A real hot fight. I thought the Mexicans looked pretty good at the start. Their lines overlapped the U.S. on both flanks. The U.S. artillery superiority might have been negated if the Mexican regulars could have melee'd the U.S. line. Maybe they could even get their superior cavalry behind the U.S. lines and eat up those waggons (3 lost points each). But the Mexican command weakness proved fatal. I recall a couple of times the U.S. missed their activation die rolls, only to see the Mexicans get a single activation. Once Garcia had to stand still and rally (an insufficent response to the situation - maybe he should have charged, but his boys would have most likely failed their melee commitment rolls - you roll to commit against adjusted morale ... lots of hits equal little chance to win commitment). When the Mexicans missed their continuation roll, Garland just lit into them again. Replayable? You bet. Next time I want to see what will happen if the Mexicans manouver on the field, instead of charging straight into the U.S. guns. But first, Resaca de la Palma beckons ... CJH ------------------------- Stephen C. Jackson - 07:58pm Apr 3, 1999 PST (#512 of 514) OK, I'll bite. Haven't been here in awhile. How much is Los Gringos? ------------------------- Richard H. Berg - 08:03am Apr 4, 1999 PST (#513 of 514) LAS BATS DE LOS GRINGOS is $26 . . . I had a bit more luck with the Mexicans at Palo Alto the times I played it . . .altho the US did win. I think the key is twofold: the Mexican cavalry have to actively threaten Taylor's right . . .and, somehow, the rest of them have to think of a way to avoid the US guns. At Resaca, by the way, artillery is not much of a factor . . . Just an aside . . .Chris talked about "Morale" Ratings. These ratings represent far more than just Morale; they represent ability to stay in battloe, tactical usage and formation, manpower, etc etc. All rolled into one . . . RHB ------------------------- Christopher Hall - 10:25am Apr 4, 1999 PST (#514 of 514) [ Mark ] Now playing War Galley, Gringos and I:S Resaca de la Palma - Wild fight. Back and forth. The Mexicans were sooo close. Garland brings the U.S. 5th Inf. down a road bordered by chaparral on each side. With him is Ringgold's artillery. Behind them are Garland's 3rd U.S., and Belknap's 4th and 8th Inf. Belknap also has artillery (2nd U.S. - 4 guns). The terrain is crucial to the battle. The Mexicans are waiting for the U.S. in a long trench - the Resaca - which has the defensive benefits of a -1 DRM when you shoot at troops in it, and also limits artillery fire into it significantly. Vega is on the Mexican left, Garcia in the center/right. Torrejon's cavalry is in the rear, with the Mexican commander Arista in his tent. Garland comes out of the chaparral and goes right at the junction of Garcia's and Vega's lines. Bang, bad U.S. fire and commitment rolls and a little Mexican staying power (with good activation rolls) rocks the 5th U.S. badly. The 3 units have 5, 5 and 4 hits, respectively, and they are in trouble (8 hits is a kill on each of these guys). For the first time (but not the last by any means), the U.S. command superiority kicks in and Garland is able to rotate the 5th out of harm's way, with his 3rd U.S and Belknap's 4th moving into line covering the reeling U.S troops. Here was a place in the battle where, if the Mexicans had held initiative a little longer, the U.S could have lost 2 or 3 units. That is possibly 6 BL point, meaning the U.S. would have to roll for Battle Lost at the end of EVERY activation. At some point they would have gotten unlucky and rolled a 9, resulting in a Mexican victory (U.S. BL level is 15). But it wasn't to be. Garcia's men move up on the far Mexican right in an effort to catch the retreating U.S. 5th. Ringgold's guns shift to the flank and blast away 2 Mexican units (both Mex 1st Line), quickly ending the Mexican offensive on that side of the fight. For now. Battle lines have now formed all along the Resaca, separated by 2 hexes (max small arms firing range, except for rifles (3), which aren't in this battle). The superior U.S. morale rating (see RHB's comment above for what this rating really is all about) is telling, as accumulating fire begins to take down Mexican units. Both sides are concentrating fire on specific targets - but the U.S. troops can absorb more punishment, and the U.S. commanders' more frequent activations allows U.S. units to rally more often than the Mexicans. It all begins to catch up to Garcia's men. So Arista, waking from his bout of literary sonambulism, orders Torrejon on a flanking move around the U.S.left (same place Ringgold ate up the Mexican 1st Line earlier). They get close. Real close. Then the U.S. artillery, multiple U.S.activations and a charge by the now rallied 5th U.S.(thru the chaparral no less) break the Mexican cavalry and send them headlong back down into the Resaca where they stay, sniping at the U.S. line and pretty much done for the rest of the day. One last bit of folly occures when Belknap's 1/4th and 2/4th U.S. charge into the Resaca, unsupported (bad commitment from their fellows) against the Mexican artillery (which is all together on the lip of the trench - 4 guns - but isn't doing much damage). They win the melee, and then get wailed on by Garcia's men who are all around them. Only a bad Mexican activation continuation roll saves the U.S. (again), and the 4th runs out of there and licks it's wounds in the rear for the rest of the fight. Which is just about over. Vega's men lose 2 units to small arms fire. Garcia's men have lost 4. And Torrejon has lost 1. That's 14 BL points. It's just a matter of time before the Mexicans roll badly at the end of an activation (Mexican Battle Lost level is 20). When they do, it's all over. If you haven't bought this game yet, and you like the period, you are missing some fun gaming. By the way, total time played above was about 2 hours, solo. CJH