David R. Moody  - Apr 7, 2005 4:52 pm (#9524 Total: 9545)  
Last played: 3 Days of Gettysburg, Gringo!, Candyland, Pirates of the
Spanish Main, This Hallowed Ground, Downtown, War of the Ring, LotR
Collectable Minis, B-17, ASL, Down in Flames. Reading: Decision in
Normandy (Carlo D'Este). 

Blessed are the cheesemakers . . .

On the table last night at Endgame in Oakland, CA: El Molino del Rey
("the mill of the king"), from Gringo! (GMT Games). 

For last night's weekly session, Joe Oppenheimer and I chose a short
slugfest from Gringo to introduce Joe to the Great Battles of the
American Civil War rules. El Molino del Rey is perfect for an intro--not
a lot of units, most of the major command rules are not needed, and it's
a good slugfest, as three Yanqui brigades try to wrest control of two
strongpoints on the edge of Mexico City. We set up and took the field. 

My plan was to try and take El Molino first, while screening the other
building (Casa Mata--one hex, surrounded by a moat), then trying to take
it with a pincer movement. So I sent in the Storming Party and Light
regiment first (the only units I was allowed to move with the first AM).
They didn't stop to fire, trying for an Infantry Charge, but were
bloodily repulsed, as Joe's conscripts stood to it like men and cut up
the Yanquis rather badly (the light troops took more than 50% losses and
were Collapsed), sending them back in disorder amid shouts of 'Viva
Santa Ana!' or 'Viva Mexico!' or whatever. 

Undaunted, I sent in Garland's brigade (Worth had ridden up to give them
Attack orders), as artillery duelled all along the line (the guns from
Chapultepec in particular caused a lot of disruptions amongst my
troops). I managed to take out a couple of Joe's guns in the center of
his line as Joe reinforced El Molino and tried to bring up the troops
covering the causeway. Seeing a chance to get over the stone wall and
try to get a concentric attack going, I rallied the Storming Party, but
Joe won initiative and rushed his reinforcements up, and also began
sidling Ramirez' brigade over from his right flank as the battle raged. 

The Storming Party formed up and sprayed one of the reinforcing units
with accurate musketry, forcing it to rout away, then both units swung
round to assault over the wall. One made it, and got Continued Assault,
getting on to the east side of El Molino and routing Mexican defenders. 

Inspired by this attack, Garland's men, despite heavy losses, managed to
hack into El Molino, routing and dispersing both brigades defending it,
getting in before Ramirez' brigade could intervene. Three of Garland's
units had routed away, and everyone else was Disordered, but a lone
Regular infantry unit held El Molino. 

When Ramirez moved off, I sent forward the other two brigades
(Cadwallader and McIntosh--once again, Worth had ridden over to get them
going) against Casa Mata. Cadwallader hit the center, taking a couple
Mexican guns, and clashing with Ramirez's men. Ramirez himself went
down, and most of his regiments fell into disorder. A key part of the
battle, for Cadwallader's men took hits due to close-range Mexican grape
and musketry, and could have been pushed to Brigade Ineffectiveness
could any order be got upon by the Mexican defenders. As it was,
Cadwallader's men gave Garland's boys some breathing room to regroup and
consolidate their hold on El Molino. 

Meanwhile, the battle was being decided by McIntosh's men, who hit one
of the regiments defending Casa Mata in the flank, disordering it. As
the Mexicans tried to retreat before melee, they routed away, allowing
McIntosh to begin enveloping Casa Mata. 

At that point, with time running short, it looked like it was only a
matter of time before Casa Mata fell, so Joe conceded. Most glorious,
and hard-fought. I was tempted to solitaire the Chapultepec scenario,
and would if my gaming box didn't have the Little Round Top scenario
from 3DoG II on it. At any rate, next week we're going to try the
Matthew's Hill scenario from Red Badge of Courage. 

We got a few onlookers, one of whom happened to be studying the Mexican
War and encouraged Joe to thwart my Yankee Imperialism, and one of the
store employees who commented on our 'retro' hex and counter game.