Happy New Year

 

Mexican (1861-67) adventure (fictional) campaign, battle of Cuatlapanga

 

Our campaign is played on a fictional map, with fictional forces present.  See earlier posts for more information. The campaign is played by mail, and (large) battles are fought on the tabletop.

After failing to take the Fort of San Hernandes, the Leader of the Federal force,  Colonel Luis Enrique Emilio Celestial (Thomas) was in a difficult situation.  Guerrillero leader, Rio Antonio Zuavo "El General de las montañas" (Ronny), which little army had suffered heavily in the battle for the fort, had retreated into the mountains. Fearing being caught between on one side, the forces of Col Peters and from the east  Col Stevin (Steven) (on the way from la Buffa to Cuatlapanga) and Major De Brand (Patrick) (In Cuatlapanga) Thomas had to make a choice on trying another attempt on taking the fort or, to try to defeat Patrick and Steven.

He chose the latter.

To hamper the concentration of French and Belgian-Austrian-Imperial forces, the other guerrilla leader, “Capitán Fuego" (Siefried) to made night attacks on the several parts of Stevens force.

Spread to thin, his attacking forces, received heavy blows. Two of his guerilla units destroyed, and after recovering, the French had suffered minor casualties. Far more important was that all the French units were now fatigued, implicating lesser fighting and firing power.  Part of the force (cavalry, artillery and one unit of zouaves) retreated towards the supply column behind Cuatlapanga. The “fatigued” marker is only removed after contact with a supply column.  The other infantry unis in the hills had no supplies nearby.

Due to al the moves of the 8^th turn, contact was made over 4 squares, making it a big battlefield.

The attack of Thomas was concentrated on the 2 squares of Cuatlapanga.

The major part of the French infnatry was moving from the Noth towards Cuatlapanga.

The Austrian Jägers and Mexican imperial infantry had taken up positions in the village.

The building occupied by the Austrians were assailed by the federal regulars while the Federal cavalry, including 2 units of cuirassiers, advanced on the Imperial dragoons. 

The latter against all expectations swept from the field on first contact.  The imperial forces were in problems from the start.

The Austrians in the village kept the assailants at bay for almost the whole game.

Fearing first the guerrilla cavalry, Steven kept the biggest part of is force, deployed in the North.

With the 4 militia and 6 regular units of the federal army coming up near the centre, Steven saw his error and did send more troops towards this new threat.  This federal concentration of troops only moved slowly through the hills; Steven was able to deploy a few units to counter this advance.

Isolated and fatigued, one unit only was able to slow them down for one turn and was destroyed.  One constant in the game was Thomas’ luck in dicing, in contrast with the throws of Steven. The fatige for almost French units was their undoing.  Moreover, Steven veteran cavalry (not fatigued) had 2 units destroyed by the federal cuirassiers.  The last French cavalry and infantry fire finished of the cuirassiers, but the French cavalry force had lost to much to still have impact on the game. The resistance of the Austrians in the village was finally broken.

With two more French units pushed of table, Steven didn’t see the possibility to turn this into a victory.  With the high French/Imperial losses, this was the end of the campaign.   The federals victorious. Peters’ troops in the fort now isolated, and no possibility of relief in a short time, no option but surrender. 

Hät 1/32 7YW Prussians painted

For my friend and team member Steven, I painted 10 units + officers . Some units were already partialy painted by friend and team member Patrick, orriginal owner of the figures. 

Thanks to the site https://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Prussian_Army is was able to piant the uniforms of the individual regiments of the Prussian army of the 7YW.

Can you identify them?

Nr. 15 II.  Garde Bataillon

Nr. 15 III. Garde Bataillon

Nr. 48 Erbprinz von Hessen-Cassel (fusseliers)

Nr. 40 von Kreytzen (fusseliers)

Nr. 49 von Sers (fusseliers)

Nr. 17 von Manteuffel (bat I)

Nr. 17 von Manteuffel (bat II)

Nr.   3 Anhalt-Dessau 

GR Nr. 37/40 Manteuffel (grenadier)

GR Nr. 21/27 Lengefeld(grenadier)

GR Nr. 9/10 Möllendorff(grenadier)

The grenadier units are mixed units. Two grenadiers compagnies of each regiment were combined into a grenadier battalions 

Last few pictures are from the work in progress.

Some Hät Austrian and Prussians I painted earlier, figure in the  7YW battle from October 5th .

https://pmcd-mobilisatie.blogspot.com/2025/10/7yw-fictional-battle-in-54mm-played-on.html

X-Mas gift idea and supporting the fight against cancer

 christmas gift idea:

In English:

In Dutch - Nederlands:

 The non-profit organization “Koers tegen Kanker” (Race Against Cancer) was founded to reissue the board game Cyclo The Game. All proceeds from sales will be donated to the non-profit organization “Kom op tegen Kanker” (Stand Up Against Cancer), which supports the fight against cancer.

 Cyclo The Game Cyclo is a modular cycling game that allows you to simulate ANY cycling race, whether on the road or track. You have 6 double-sided game boards that you can combine to create the race of your choice. Your team consists of four riders: a sprinter, a climber, and two helpers, competing against 1 to 3 other teams.

In CYCLO STARTER, the riders move based only on dice rolls, but in CYCLO PRO, you can draft, hold back, use tokens for extra power, and trigger unexpected events with a chance card, which all combined gives the feeling of a real cycling race.

Available for €40 through the webshop of www.bioracer.com 

Direct link: https://shop.bioracer.com/products/cyclo-the-game 

Contact koerstegenkanker@telenet.be, website: www.koerstegenkanker.be

Mexican adventure campaign, battle of Fort San Hernandes

Our campaign is played on a fictional map, with fictional forces present.  See earlier posts for more information. The campaign is played by mail, and (large) battles are fought on the tabletop.If you would like to receive the campaign rule used, contact me.

Battle at Fort San Hernandes (G10)

Peter (Col. Peters) had maneuvered himself into a difficult situation. By keeping only one company and one artillery piece in the fort, it was barely defensible. Fortunately for him, his scouting cavalry had spotted the federal army approaching in large numbers.

Just in time, he was able to reach his five other companies, who were hunting down guerrilleros in the hills, and hastily ordered them to return to the fort. However, these units only arrived when the Federal army of Colonel Luis Enrique Emilio Celestial (Thomas), supported by the guerrilleros of Rio Antonio Zuavo "El General de las montañas" (Ronny), also entered the battlefield.

To buy time, Peter had sent his two cavalry units ahead on a suicide mission to delay the enemy as long as possible.

Thomas had not expected this, and his troop organization was not prepared for it (cavalry in the rear). His ten infantry units and two artillery pieces were the first to enter the field. In the second turn, his two regular cavalry units and two veteran cuirassier units joined, accompanied by four guerrillero units (two skirmishers and two “peasant” militia), as well as three irregular guerrillero cavalry units (one of them veteran). This was a ratio of more than two to one against the six zouave infantry units (all veterans), two cavalry (also veterans), and two artillery pieces. A federal victory seemed certain. As campaign leader, I too saw a federal victory with the destruction of Peter’s small army and the end of the campaign.

Thomas’s plan was to have half his army bypass the fort and block the second entrance, so that no French units could escape toward San Hernandes city.

The French cavalry, already nearby in the first turn, caused confusion and hesitation among the federal players. Moreover, the extended range of the cannons quickly brought artillery fire onto the federal units. The federals had not thought to provide siege equipment (ladders), so the artillery had to shoot at the gate (three accumulated flags) to destroy it. A piece of federal artillery was quickly deployed to start firing at the gate, but this hindered the movement of troops on that side of the table. On the other side, the French cavalry had to be dealt with, and the French artillery soon targeted the attacking columns. For the canon from the fort, the federal artillery became the target.

The effectiveness of the French artillery caused even more hesitation on the federal side (columns switching to line formation, position changes with skirmishers). The extra troops arriving in the second turn created chaos and insufficient space for the newly arrived cavalry to deploy. The successive charges of the French cavalry added to the chaos, and any trace of organization on the federal right flank and centre disappeared.

Eventually, the federal regular cavalry managed to scatter the French cavalry. But by then, the battle was already far advanced. The troops that were supposed to move around the fort had barely made progress, and of the troops meant to storm the fort, only three units had come close and had to wait until the gate gave way under cannon fire. These three units then saw a French zouave company appear, which had marched outside the fort and threatened them. The federal units attacked, and completely unexpectedly , the French unit was immediately broken. Would the Mexican Federals succeed after all?

But the three French reinforcement units had reached the fort and taken up positions.

The French artillery continued to inflict losses. Eventually, on the federal right flank, an attack was launched on the French skirmish unit protecting the artillery piece outside the walls. The French held their ground, and the artillery and skirmish units began to retreat in good order to the second entrance of the fort. Guerrilleros attacked again but paid for it with the destruction of one of their units.

The gate of the fort had given way, and the three federal units charged. Initially, they were successful and entered the fort, but the French responded and drove the federals back with heavy losses. Thomas had only one infantry unit in good order left near the walls, facing four veteran French zouave units entrenched in a fort, and judged that further attacks were futile, so he began the withdrawal of the federal army.

A French victory but a costly one. Due to the lack of cavalry at the end of the battle, the recuperation rate for the Mexican federals was better