The Mexican Army sets up dug-in along the road, and in the town. The Americans approach on a wide front, and hope the better US artillery will crack the Mexican line. After numerous tries to crack the line, it finally breaks and the Americans move up to the town. They manage to clear the defenders from half the town, but the Mexicans manage to keep the remainder for a Major Victory.

This scenario is much closer than it appears. The Mexicans had the advantage of good die rolls. On the first turn that the Americans lined up opposite them (with two companies per hex to concentrate enough firepower to overcome the dug-in bonus), The Mexicans rolled a '2' on two separate Column 7 attacks, badly disrupting the American line. On the other side, the Americans failed for four turns to even affect the morale of the lone Mexican machine gun holding the center of the line, despite rolling on Column 22. Even with these setbacks, the Americans came within a couple of turns of achieving a minor victory.

This is a good learning scenario, and is perhaps best played solo. There's not much for the Mexican player to do after setup. The Americans have to be aggressive and not be afraid to take casualties, or it will take far too long to achieve their objectives.

My previous play of this scenario left me frustrated (see previous AAR), so I set it up again and gave it another try.

On the second try the Americans rolled better dice and managed to clear the road and the town for a Minor Victory. They could have gone for the Major Victory, but that would have required sending six steps off the board in addition to clearing the road and town. They'd have to depart the town by turn 13 to reach the end of the board. In the end, I decided to keep the troops together and make sure of taking the town.

Unless things go exceptionally well for the Americans, it becomes a tough decision whether to go for the major victory and risk losing the scenario outright. Since the infantry's speed is only 2, the Americans will likely have to pull out a good part of their strength before actually securing the town.

An experienced solo player has reviewed this scenario positively, so we had high hopes of a good game in a face-to-face matchup with relatively-skilled & somewhat experienced opponents. Alas, our hopes were quickly dashed on the rocks of this poorly-designed and improperly play tested episode.

I played the defending Mexican Carranzistas, and Tambu led Pershing's Finest dismounted cavalrymen on the attack. We both drew middling leaders, but played without the defense-favoring, but mandatory, FOW rule in a relatively quick, and seemingly-balanced, play-through.

The Mexican side managed to prevail in the end, primarily due to an excellent defensive setup and a great deal of bad luck for the attacking American force. US artillery was uniquely ineffective in this battle. The GIs broad front attack started off with considerable promise, but rapidly became disorganized & scattered in an extended series of adjacent-hex fire fights, in and around the town and margins the main road. In our 4-session play-through, the US side threw a frustrating 17 combat 7-die rolls, almost always in critical circumstances, that ruined what was an otherwise well-led & executed approach and 2-pronged attack. The senior US leader was killed during the 8th game turn, and it was all downhill from there.

Clearly, this one is best played in SOLO mode. There is very little for the Carranzista (Mexican) player to do if he or she sets up with interlocking fields of fire along the expected approach of the Americans. I give this dog a generous rating of 2. Oh, and the DIY counters for the Mexican side are poorly designed, as the appropriate national flag emblem is misrepresented: the Mexican tricolor flag's 3 bands were, and are, vertical, not horizontal.