Charles Orndorff - Sep 4, 2005 5:28 pm (#10720 Total: 10764) Dale City, VA Churubusco On the table this weekend was Churubusco, the C3i module for GMT's Gringo, battles of the Mexican War. It portrays the Mexican delaying action against the U.S. forces seeking to cross the Churubusco River and advance toward Mexico City. Victory is determined by whether the U.S. gains control of both ends of the bridge across the Churubusco within ten turns (five hours of game time). The GBACW rules are more complex and detailed than most of the games I play, but they are easier to learn than you might think. They give you a good feel for how difficult it was to get mid-19th century soldiers to go where the commander wanted them to go and do what he wanted done. The Gringo battles are one-mappers, and the majority can be played in one or two evenings, which is why I'm more likely to play them than the larger ACW battles in the series. I used the historical deployment for the U.S. Worth's division moved west of the convent, attacking it from the flank and rear to minimize the effect of the defensive wall. Once the Mexican reserves were engaged against Worth, Twiggs sent Smith's brigade to attack the eastern flank. After two hours of hard fighting, the convent was in American hands, Rincon's brigade had been nearly wiped out, and Rincon himself lay dead. As this fight was ending, Shields' reinforced brigade of Pillow's division was moving eastward, north of the river (having forded it off-map), and encountered the Mexican cavalry screen. Worth now prepared to move east toward the tete-du-pont guarding the bridge, while Twiggs advanced against it from the south. However, Worth found that the space between the river and the convent was too narrow for more than two regiments, so he sent Clarke that way while ordering Garland to go around the convent and take a position on Twiggs' left. Garland, on his own initiative, changed from attack to advance orders for more rapid movement, but then wasted valuable time by failing to get his troops underway immediately. (I realized later that I could have moved them through the convent, since it has gates on both the east and west side.) Twiggs attacked the Mexican line extending west from the tete-du-pont, and was joined by Garland, whose long-range (2 hexes) musket fire forced a retreat by one battalion. Clarke responded by charging into the hole, and the Mexican right began to collapse. One isolated battalion of the 11th Line held stubbornly for more than an hour, fighting off portions of three U.S. brigades, and giving Santa Anna time to reorganize his defense inside the tete-du-pont. Shields pushed through the cavalry, coming up against a line formed by the 1st Ligiero with more cavalry on the right flank. Worth paused to rally his disordered units, while Twiggs launched his first assault against the tete-du- pont. Most of the Mexicans held, but Smith personally led the 3rd Artillery (fighting as infantry) through the gap when one battalion of the 4th Ligiero retreated. The U.S. now held the southwest corner of the Mexican defenses with one hour to go. North of the river, Shields was in position to assault the infantry providing the last line of defense before the bridge. Perez led a counterattack against Smith, who had been reinforced by part of the 2nd U.S., and pushed back the Americans with heavy casualties on both sides. Twiggs was left too weakened to renew the assault, leaving the burden on Worth. Northward, Shields broke the 1st Ligiero and seized the north end of the bridge, but lacked the support to try pushing further. Worth attacked eastward, hitting the defenses and eventually driving the Mexicans back, but it was too late. Time ran out with a handful of Mexican regiments holding a tiny bridgehead on the south side of the river. The U.S. may have a better chance if the opening positions of Worth and Twiggs are reversed. This would allow Worth to operate in the more open area east of the convent. Charles