The Alamo Part 1 The Mission San Antonio de Valero The Alamo Part 2 The Mexican Army The Alamo Part 3 The Texan Defenders The Alamo Part 4 Days of Glory Before starting this 5th article in the Alamo series, let me say that Greg Novak did an excellent job on his “Alamo Rebuttal of Sorts”. I always look forward to “rebuttals” or disagreements regarding historical battles because, even though opinions may vary, discussions keep the event alive via our conversations. Much can be learned through such communications. Having studied American Military History, both as a miniature wargamers (since the mid 1950’s), as a student in college and then in the military, I have learned one thing if nothing else. History is not an exact science and this is possibly why we continually fail to learn its lessons. This is especially true when researching creditable information about a particular battle or siege. We tend to take for gospel the words of those that witness the tragedies, death and suffering first hand and yet we fail to consider that they were usually deeply affected by that horrors and carnage about them. They are personally influenced by what they see and this can have a profound, and often altering effect, on what they record. This case is vividly clear in the very contradictory writings of Lieutenant de la Pena, who served in the elite Zapadores Battalion during the Alamo siege. Mrs. Susannah Dickinson, one of the known survivors of the siege, also gave detailed information concerning the final hours of the assault and yet she was sequestered in the Chapel, with the other women and children, and could not have witnessed the fighting during the final hour or so of the 13 day siege. So to the accuracy of historical opinions I can only say to Greg, and possibly others, that we all have our sources, that the information is second hand at best and that the creditability and accuracy of our findings will forever be open to challenge or “ a rebuttal of sorts.” That being said, great job Greg, your input was worth far more then a mere “two cents”. Now to the purpose of this article Having given a somewhat brief (in historical terms) background of the Texas War of Independence (TWI), it occurred to a number of us avid wargamers, here in Atlanta, that it would be great fun to recreate the Siege of the Alamo in miniature (28mm) scale. The exceptional workmanship and research that went into Hudson & Allen’s resin Alamo compound was all the bait that we needed to design a miniature game that could be played at gaming conventions and club meetings. As for my input, I felt that the game would have to have a very simplistic set of rules and that it would have to move along quickly. Inherently, wargamers, that attend miniature wargaming conventions, are prone to loose interest and head for the dealer’s room or an extended smoke break, if the game being played gets bogged down with complicated rules or game “glitches”. I doubt that there are many “gaming vets” out there that would disagree with this statement. Plotting Actions Keeping a miniature wargame moving along, especially when you have between five and six hundred miniatures on the play surface, can be a major task. The traditional method, having one side move and/or shoot followed by the other side doing the same thing, seemed too much like chess. It was not historically accurate or even remotely realistic. To much emphasis was placed on the “the luck of the die roll” and whole armies, despite the tactical competence of their “generals”, often “fell like wheat” to a pair of “snake eyes”. My twenty-seven years in the military taught me that even though most battle plans “went south” when it came to expeditiously “exchanging lead”, the lower echelon commanders still had to have a plan of action in mind in order to successfully meet their objective, or at the very least, to avoid having their commands totally destroyed by their foe. Having players “plot” their unit’s actions, prior to actually moving their miniatures or having their models fire a volley, seemed to solve the problem of counter actions and random die rolls that have been a major part of miniature gaming since my day. In Sworn to Valor, a miniature game that I wrote last year which recreates battles fought during the TWI (Texas War of Independence), each Mexican Column Commander must plot the actions he intends to have his four 20-man companies perform prior to the start of that specific game turn. In turn, the players of the Alamo defending units must also follow the same procedure. This required plotting procedure prevents your opponent from “reading your mind” and countering your actions before you have had a chance to initiate them. For me, and those that have played my game, it seems far more realistic to insert the “fog of war” concept into game play rather than follow a “sequence of play” agenda that inherently gives an unfair advantage to one of the players and mimics a chess game more then recreates a battle in miniature form. Plotting one’s actions is essentially recreating the “fog of war” principle and prevents a commander from being forced to shows “his cards” before he intends to lay them on the table. In regards to each Mexican Column in an Alamo scenario, not all of the Companies are required to perform the same action. There are four actions available and they are: Moving, Loading, Aiming, Shooting, Ducking, Rising MEXICAN ARMY COLUMN 1 Company Aldama Aldama Aldama San Luis Potosi Unit No. 1 2 3 4 Unit Type Cazadores Fusileroes Fusileros Fusileros Skill Code SS MS USL SS MS USL SS MS USL SS MS USL - 4 5 6 2 5 6 2 5 6 2 5 6 3 M + M A + S L + M S + M Above is an example of the Plotting Table for Mexican Army Column 1 that we use in Sworn to Valor. I have reduced the number of companies in this Column to four from the original ten and the number of miniatures per company to 20 from the original number of approximately 40 men. This was done to reduce the number of figures needed to play the game while basically retaining an historical flavor of the assault. Per game turn, each player is permitted to perform two actions for each unit or company under his “command”. In the example of game turn 3, the player of Column 1 has plotted to have his Aldama Cazadores Compania move (M) twice. He has also plotted to have one Aldama Fusileros Compania aim (A) and then shoot (S) while the other Aldama Fusileros Compania reloads (L) and then moves (M). Lastly, he has plotted his San Luis Potosi Fusileros Compania to shot (S) and then to move (M) without reloading. Once all of the players have plotted the actions of their respective commands table-top actions and resolutions are ready to be initiated. All of the models in a specific unit or company must perform the same plotted actions. The permitted actions are plotted by the codes indicated below. As to when these action will be permitted will be explained shortly. M: This letter indicates that a unit will move. L: This letter indicates that a unit will load or, if previously fired, will reload their weapons. A: This indicates that a unit will aim before firing their weapons S: This indicates that a unit will shoot (fire) their weapons D: This indicates that a unit will duck behind a wall or defensive position. In Alamo scenarios, this applies only to Texians defending from behind mission walls and barricades. R: This indicates that a unit, that has previously ducked behind a wall or defensive position, will rise. In Alamo scenarios, this applies only to Texians defending from behind mission walls and barricades. P: This indicates that a unit is pinned and cannot move until they pass a morale test. Action Cards To eliminate a game where a pre-determined sequence of events limits players from exercising some of their tactical abilities, Action Cards are used to determine when a “Commander” can have his unit perform a plotted action. In an Alamo scenario, each Mexican Column, each Mexican Cavalry unit and each Alamo defending unit is permitted two (2) Action Cards in the deck. The cards are shuffled and placed face down on the game surface. After all plotting has been completed the cards are overturned one at a time. When the first Action Card of a specific company sized unit is overturned the player is permitted to have that unit perform the first action (move, load, shoot, etc) that was plotted on the unit Plotting Sheet. When the unit’s second Action Card is overturned the unit can perform its second plotted action. Small colored markers, placed behind the unit, can be used to help a player keep track of the number of actions his unit has performed. In the case of Mexican Columns, with multiple companies assigned, the player is permitted to have any one of his assigned companies perform an action whenever one of his Action Cards is overturned. However, the action performed by the company must be in the same sequence as originally plotted for that specific company on their Plotting Table. On the right is an example of the Action Card for James Bowie’s Company of Texas Volunteers. The same rules mentioned above pertain to all of the companies of Alamo Defenders. Cannon Fodder Miniatures graciously permitted me to reproduce their figures in this article. For some of the finest Alamo figures on the market please check out their site on the internet at canfodmins.com. The Order of Battle will be the next subject in this series on the Alamo. Hope you all have a happy and safe new year. More Alamo: The Alamo Part 1 The Mission San Antonio de Valero The Alamo Part 2 The Mexican Army The Alamo Part 3 The Texan Defenders The Alamo Part 4 Days of Glory The Alamo: A Rebuttal Of Sorts The Alamo Part 5 Miniature Gaming the Texas War of Independents Back to Dispatch January 2004 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com