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The Battle of Puebla, played 08 MAY 21

Replaying one of my fave battles with my fave players - my family. We played the game a couple days late, but it was on saturday when we could all get together for it.

This is an abbreviated set up. We're playing on a 3'x3' board, starting just outside of artillery firing range.

We're also using a small number of troops. Each figure represents about 500 infantry, 100 cavaly, or a dozen artillery operators or a dozen civilians.

The forts are the objective for the French. One French figure inside both forts at the end of the Mexican turn wins the game for us. Of course, if you know the story, we shouldn't expect that to happen. But it's still possible.

And as we play, French victory is really measured by how far along they get before the Mexicans win the battle by attriting the French forces. We don't represent all the French, just the ones for the final assault. So, once they're gone, the French give up and go home.

We started out with a direct assault up the middle. A little priming artillery fire came from both sides.

The Mexican cavalry held back the first couple of turns, but are now streaming down the slop on the right.

The big mix it up starts. It looks a lot like the accounts of the battle.

The rurales did their job and savaged through the French ranks. I went ahead and turned a couple toward the French artillery. The steam is running out of the French push.

The view from the top, however, shows them still working their way up the slop.

The last few are struggling to reach Forts Loreto and Guadalupe.

The Mexican side has been worn down as well, but the local civilians have arrived to fill in.

In the last gasp, a French cavalryman made it to Loreto, but was promptly taken out.

In this shot of the final disposition, you can see Mexican civilians in the blue circled positions, assisting the artillerymen. This allowed the Mexican infantry to advance into the main battle.