La Cucaracha!
Wargames rules for engagements with small forces during the Mexican Revolution
By Chris Swan
Published by Partizan Press
ISBN 978-1-85818-8050-8
Paperback, 90 pages plus quick reference section and some pages of cards (tactical, event & search)
The author Chris Swan has an impressive resume with many years of wargaming under his belt and a lot of writing credits including A Wargamer`s Guide to the Mexican Revolution (with Mike Blake), so I won`t attempt to critic his work.
This A5 booklet is profusely illustrated with colour photos of models of Revolution era troops during the authors games; plus some colour uniform sketches which have been taken (with permission) from the wargamer`s guide mentioned above.
The booklet opens with a fairly concise history of the Mexican Revolution 1910-20, the rules and mechanics themselves seem pretty straight forward using D10s with modification tables covering everything from orders, to tasks and of course firng. I may well pinch the general test table to use in my future games - I`m always looking for clever ideas to adapt and the wording of the tables is far better than those I use at present.
The rules which are designed for games of less than platoon size (several squad sized units under commander), are clearly written and the quality of the publication is high. The rules cover lots of aspects of the revolution including trains, simple armoured vehicles and artillery. Additional rules for barbed wire, mines & explosives, scouting & sentries, plus a whole section on recovery after battle - all very nicely laid out.
There are also eight (8) simple scenario outlines for you to try out the rules!
All-in-all a fare set of skirmish rules with some nice touches of colour and flavour.
For myself I`ve moved on from lots of tables in my wargaming and the colour and flavour of Mexico, or WW2 Tunisia, or Rif War, or wherever is built into the games I design, as are scenario specific, special rules!
Also (and this is no critic of this book) the Mexican Revolution historically had some of the largest battles fought on the North American continent! A few men against many, or platoon level skirmishes is the Hollywood version and really doesn`t do the period justice IMHO.
