During the Spanish-American War when the Americans assaulted San Juan Hill, there was the possibility of the Spanish Manzanillo column arriving to reinforce the Spanish to attack the Americans at El Pozo just as they were on their way to assault San Juan Hill. Historically the column arrived two days after the battle of San Juan Hill was fought on July 1.

This scenario simulates what might have happened if the column arrived earlier and had more troops. The two American cavalry brigades (dismounted) are at El Pozo when the Spanish attack. Arriving on the road behind the American cavalry are three U.S. infantry brigades as reinforcements. Can the Spanish cause enough destruction before the reinforcements arrive?

The Spanish-American War encourages hypothetical scenarios because there are only four land engagements to game: Las Guisimas, San Juan Hill, El Caney and Coamo which took place in Puerto Rico. I based this scenario on one from the boardgame Rough Riders by Simulations Workshop (2708 General Chenault NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112) for $12 postpaid. It is full of ideas and information. I also based my San Juan Hill scenario on it too. If you want to jump into the Spanish-American war without painting miniatures, it is ideal.

American Order of Battle:

Cavalry Division (dismounted)

1st Cavalry Brigade: Colonel Caroll (POOR), 2nd, 10th and 21st Cavalry Regiments
2nd Cavalry Brigade: Colonel Teddy Roosevelt (Average), 1st, 11th and Rough Riders Cavalry Regiments

Artillery:

Grimes Battery (Medium)

Reinforcements:

U.S. 5th Corps Commander: General William Shafter (POOR)
1st U.S. Division
1st Infantry Brigade: General Hamilton Hawkins (POOR), 6th, 16th and 71st Infantry Regiments with Hughes Battery (Medium)
2nd Infantry Brigade: Colonel Pearson (AVERAGE), 2nd, 10th and 21st Infantry Regiments with Watson Battery (Medium)
3rd Infantry Brigade: Colonel Wikoff (AVERAGE), 9th, 13th and 24th Infantry Regiments with Parker Battery (gattling gun)

Spanish Order of Battle:

Spanish Commander: General Linares (POOR), can command any unit.

Colonel Escario (AVERAGE) with Volontarios, 55th Asian, Hospital, Siera, 1st Isabel de Catolica and 2nd Isabel de Catolica units
Colonel Vaquero (AVERAGE) with Andalusia, Alcantara, Talvera, Porto Rico and Constitucion units.
Major LaMadrid (POOR) with 1st San Fernando, 2nd San Fernando, Bustamante, 1st Guerilla and 2nd Guerilla units.
Artillery (can be commanded by anybody): Ordonez and Placentia batteries (MEDIUM)
Colonel Iberia (POOR) with Porto Rico Chasseurs, Kings and Guerilla cavalry regiments.

Scenario and Rules Notes

As you probably noticed, all of the American units are regiments and all of the Spanish are units. The Spanish had a variety of unit sizes from companies and battalions to regiments. I lumped everything together not caring about unit sizes. Since I use variable unit strengths from Principles of War rules that I use, this is not a problem. More about these rules later. If you have more accurate information or disagree with something, feel free to change it.

Though Colonel Wood formally commanded the second cavalry brigade, I made Teddy Roosevelt the commander. Roosevelt showed initiative during San Juan Hill and I had painted up a personality figure from the Friekorps 15 range that I use. About the only other 15mm range are Frontier Miniatures available from Moddeler's Mart but the molds are old. Though I haven't seen any, I hear the figures are quite bad. I am not aware of any 25 mm ranges but Old Glory is going to release a colonial range in the future if they haven't done so by now.

I use twelve miniatures to represent each American regiment or Spanish unit. Each Spanish cavalry unit has six figures. The Americans will have fifteen infantry units by the time all of the reinforcements arrive and the Spanish will have nineteen units that start on the board.

Unlike most other rulesets, Principles of War doesn't use figure removal for casualties. Instead, each unit has a strength value that is tracked on a roster. This one strength value is used to compute combat and to take morale checks. As a unit takes damage, it's strength lowers.

If using the variable strength unit rule from Principles of War, for both sides, all infantry have a D10+6 strength and artillery and cavalry start with D6+4 strength. The Spanish infantry should start out with D10+4 strength or even a D6 added instead. However to balance this scenario, they need all of the help they can get.

The leader quality directly translates into Principles of War. These rules feature officers rolling for command points like the DBA/DBM ancient rules to move and rally units. You could use a ACW ruleset like Fire and Fury or Johny Reb. I think these rules feature leader quality but I'm not sure because I don't game Civil War. If Principles of War has picked your interest, you can purchase it from On Military Matters (55 Taylor Terrace, Hopewell, NJ 08525) for $18 plus $3.50 for postage. Three army list books are available too.

Regarding weapon types, arm the Americans with the BLR (breech loading rifle) from Principles of War. Arm the Spanish with the RR (repeating rifle). A RR is a better weapon than the BLR using these rules. Historically, the Spanish Mauser was clearly superior . If you use a different ruleset, hopefully it covers these weapons. The booklet Remember the Maine and to Hell with Spain available from FrieKorps 15 has modifications for Johny Reb. All of the artillery is breech loading modern pieces.

Scenario Setup and Victory Conditions

Set up the American Cavalry Brigade within one foot of the village of El Pozo. The American reinforcements will arrive on edge one of the map at the road going to El Pozo. They can also arrive at the road going to Manzanillo on map edge two.

However, this must be decided before the game begins. Units arriving at Manzanillo might get lost and never arrive. Also, it's going take longer to get there. On a piece of paper, the American player must write down for each infantry brigade if it will come on the road to El Pozo or the road to Manzinollo. Also, the American player must write down where General Schafter will arrive. Schafter will come on the table with the first group of reinforcements.

After the American player decides this and sets up the cavalry at El Pozo, the Spanish set up anywhere in the Jungle. For American reinforcements, roll a D6 starting on turn three for reinforcements arriving at El Pozo.

One American infantry brigade will arrive on the road if the die roll is one on turn three, one or two on turn four and so on. Only one brigade can arrive per turn. Roll for a brigade each turn and keep decreasing the die roll until all of them have arrived.

For American reinforcements arriving from Manzanillo, start rolling on turn six as above with a one needed on turn six, a one or a two on turn seven and so on. If the die roll in this case is a six, the unit is lost permanently and never arrives. If General Schafter was part of the first arriving reinforcement, he too is lost.

For terrain effects, roads double movement for units in column. A stream takes half a move to cross. A unit can see a foot into jungle or within jungle. For Principles of War, jungle causes a shift to the left on the combat table. A building causes two shifts to the left.

There are two victory conditions: the villages of El Pozo and Manzinolo. At the end of 25 turns, if one side controls both villages, they obtain a major victory. Otherwise, the game is a draw. The game might end sooner if one side is beat up.

Conclusion

When I playtested this scenario I was the Americans. I had two infantry brigades arrive at El Pozo and the third at Manzinolo. I couldn't roll low enough numbers to save my life for the reinforcements. The initial American units were slaughtered. By the time my reinforcements arrived, the Spanish were too entrenched inside both villages.

I hope you enjoy this scenario. I wrote it to be a different type of scenario for gaming the Spanish-American War or other colonial wars. As usual, if you don't like something, feel free to change it.