Starring Pancho Villa

 Starring Pancho Villa

The Battle of Ojinaga, 1914

The Battle of Ojinaga, also known as the Taking of Ojinaga, was a major battle during the Mexican Revolution was fought on January 11, 1914.  Villa`s Army of the North won a resounding victory and put an end to the last stronghold of the Federal Army in Northern Mexico.

After the rebel Generals Toribio Ortega Ramirez and Panfilo Natera Garcia could not finish the place off, Pancho Villa arrived in Ojinaga with a large force, and defeated the forces of Salvador Mercado and drove them from the city.

Villa has made an agreement with Mutual Film led by Harry Aitken and movie mogul D. W. Griffith with the offer of an exclusive deal to film Villa and the Revolution (at a price). Griffith sends a young junior executive Frank Thayer down to the border with a film crew to negotiate and hopefully get and agreement and film Villa.

 Thayer and his crew arrive just in time to witness Villa`s attack on Ojinaga just across the Rio Grande.

 Ojinaga sits in a bend of the river atop a rise, there is a bridge across the Rio Grande at this point. The Federals have placed their defences on the southern side of the town facing southwards, these consist of trenches and wire.

 Villa plans to use this attack as a showcase for himself, his attack plan consist of three simultaneous moves: the first directly against the trench line, the other two both rapid mounted charges from both the east and west catching the defenders in a pincer like trap against the river.

In reality this was a large battle with thousands of men on each side, I`ve reduced it down to a battalion level game for my tabletop. My Mexican Revolution armies are a huge mix of manufacturers - Raventhorpe, Jacklex, Shellhole Scenics, Early War Miniatures, Irregular Miniatures plus loads of my own conversions (head swaps, arm swaps, etc)

Federal defenders

Town

HQ (General Salvador Mercado)

2 platoons from the Federal 29^th Regiment

Trench-line south of town

HQ + 4 platoons of 29^th Regiment

1 MMG

1 75mm field gun

Some wire & entrenchments

Villa`s forces

Group A

2 companies on foot

Supported by:

2 x 75mm field guns

1 machine gun

Cavalry flanking moves enter table on turn 10

Group B (right flank) commanded by Villa

Mounted company

Group C (left flank) Commanded by Rodolfo Fierro

Mounted company

Special rules

Federal morale is shot and they suffer -1 to all morale checks

At the first signs of Villa`s men breaking into the town the Federal HQ will break and flee across the bridge into the US. This further reduces the defenders morale by an additional -1

Both Villa and Fierro boost their men`s morale and these groups gain +1 to all checks

My table

Federal defences south of town

Ojinaga

Mexican customs post and Federal HQ

Looking across the Rio Grande to the US side

US Border and customs post

Frank Thayer and cameraman watches on

The Game

Turn 1 the two Villaista infantry companies advanced one each side of the road; their artillery remained off table initially targeting the farm on the right, the opening salvo fell short.

The Federal infantry awaited them getting into range, their `75 scored first blood of the game on the enemy infantry!

Turn 2 the advance continues, forward federal positions exchange fire with advancing Villaistas, both sides take casualties, but the Federal shaky morale affects their accuracy. The Federal `75 misses this turn! One of the Villaista guns targets the now spotted Federal gun but misses! The other gun hits the farm causing casualties.

Turn 3 the Federal gun scores a hit among the advancing enemy, lucky for the unit it targets the company commander & standard bearer are close at hand and these remove the need for a morale check.

Unfortunately Villa`s guns are on fine form and wipe out the Federal gun

Villa`s other gun changes target to the farm wall and scores another hit taking more Federals

Both sides infantry exchange fire, again both side take casualties, once again the Federal morale issues reduce their effectiveness.

Turn 4 On the left some Villaistas have reached a rocky outcrop, they exchange fire with Federals defending it. Everywhere else The infantry slowly continue moving forward, on the right they are blocked by barbed wire so call up their dynamiters to blow a gap. The Federals are spread thin, the resist however they can.

Turn 5 The defenders on the left hand outcrop are over run, the sole survivor must make a morale check. On the right Villa`s men have reached the foot of that rocky hill.

In the centre Villa`s men can`t move forward due to barbed wire protecting the entrenched Federals. They call for artillery support via bugle (fail).    

Turn 6 The sole Federal survivor on the left surrenders and changes sides (quite normal from my reading of the Revolution).

On the right the dynamiters go to work

In the centre Villa`s guns begin to hit home along the Federal trench line

Turn 7 The right hand hill also falls to Villa`s men and the rest of that company begin an assault on the farm, both sides take casualties, but the Federals come off worse and fail their morale.

In the centre Villa`s artillery continues working on the Federal trenches killing the majority of the defenders forcing the survivors to retreat.

With defensive fire slackening dynamiters are called forward to blow gaps in the wire.

Turn 8 On the right Villa`s troops storm the farm wall, driving surviving Federals before them.

In the centre the wire is blown

And Villa`s men storm forward

The Federals retreat towards the town

Villa`s artillery limber up to move onto the tabletop

Turn 9 The farm is captured, the last Federal survivors surrender

On the outskirts of the town, a Federal officer appears to halt and rally those troops retreating along the road

Turns 10-12 see the Villaistas reorganise themselves and move toward to outskirts of the town, the artillery move forward and set up to support the attack. The Federals also do some re-organisation, placing those men retreating from the trenches into new defensive positions within outlying buildings or adding them to existing positions. During this period Villa and Fierro have been moving their cavalry into position on either flank also.

Villa`s Positions at the start of Turn 13

Artillery

Infantry

Villa`s cavalry (coming from the right)

Fierro`s cavalry (coming from the left)

Turn 13 started with a general advance by all units, the cavalry coming in from both flanks split the Federals defence. During this turn on a couple of infantry and the machine gun were in range and these killed a few Villaistas. Villa`s artillery replied killing some visible Federals

Turn 14 The general advance continues, with only the Federal MG resisting, Villa`s artillery spotter fails to find the gun.

Turn 15 More general advance, Federals shooting down from buildings onto Villa`s men, once again the artillery spotter fails to find the machine gun. Panic strikes the town civilians and they begin to flee across the bridge into the United States.

Turn 16 Villa`s and Fierro`s mounted troops swirl around the buildings, being fired on by Federal troops inside or on the rooves. Finally the artillery spotter finds the gun, but the first salvo misses the house.

Turn 17 The battle continues more and more Villaistas enter the town, they storm some outlying buildings putting any Federals to the sword. They do however take constant casualties from Federal snipers! Villa`s gun finally get the range and silence the federal machine gun.

The civilians continue to move across the bridge into the US

Thayer and his cameraman work to capture the scene

Among his crew he has an actress, so he poses her among the refugees

Turns 18 -20 Villa`s men are mopping up, storming buildings, shooting Federals as they try to escape across the river. General Mercado leaves his escape too late and dies when the Mexican customs house is blown up by dynamite!

Federal gun limber fleeing across the bridge 

General Mercado moments before the end

Villa & Fierro

Some final shots as the Villaista`s close in

Fun game to play, I should have started the Federal retreat across the river sooner and tried to save more men (or them trying to save themselves). Historically the US authorities captured and detained several thousand Federal soldiers who fled the battle across the Rio Bravo! 

Casitas

 Casitas

The other two bases from Byzantium Models which I got off Don Mchugh had nice walled gardens, so I affixed a couple of little adobe buildings from S&S Models to create small family homes or Casitas, suitable for North Africa, Mexico, rural Spain or Italy too. After I filled all the gaps, they got a simple paint job and some sand and flock - I think they look OK 😀

Both together

The S&S buildings come with a pantiled roof, which makes them very flexible

A couple of shots with figures for scale

Ruined building

Ruined building

A few months back that nice man Don Mchugh bought some of Rob Rowell & the much missed, late, great John Dowman`s old Byzantium Models buildings at a tabletop sale, now these buildings come with bases which he didn`t need so passed them along to me.

The ruin itself is a truly ancient resin piece from Village Green - at least 35 yrs old 😮

I affixed it to the base, filled in all the gaps, then gave everything a quick paint job. 

The added rubble is from Juweela which I bought a couple of years back during an online sale. 

A few images with figures for scale

A Spanish Camerone!

 A Spanish Camerone!

The Action at the House of Hami-Boasa Morocco, July 23-25th 1921

Corporal wearing a uniform typical of the period including pillbox type fatigue cap 

On July 25, 1921 volunteers from the 6th Company of the Regiment "Melilla" No. 59 under the command of Captain Enrique Amador Asin were guarding the important well at farm of Hami-Boasa, which was the home a local Muslim chief called Si Hammú. 

This wellwas the main water source for Spanish position at Dar el Quebdani but, situated 1 kilometer from that base!

The Riffi pressed in around the main position and the situation became desperate, Captain Amador received a written order from the main position`s commander Colonel Silverio Araujo Torres ordering him to surrender his arms and equipment to the Riffi in exchange for safe passage back to the main position, as the command could no longer support or resupply the small garrison!

Having witnessed other outlying garrisons slaughtered by the tribesmen, Captain Amador refused to accept this order and chose to continue holding out and preventing the Riffs access to the well. His men had fortified the farmhouse, because it dominated the water supply. Captain Amador informed his men of the situation – little ammunition, few supplies and no chance of reinforcements - to a man they all swore to stay and fight to the last bullet!

 Some went to the roof, whilst the rest manned the windows and doorway on the ground floor, loopholes were also made in the walls.

Those on the rooftop were commanded by Lieutenant Pandura, whilst those downstairs were under the direct command of Capt. Amador and Lieutenant Felipe Casinello Lopez.

 The Riffians approached first in small groups, but as the action increased larger groups arrived and they also occupied other neighbouring buildings to fire on the Spanish.

 Eventually some Riffi penetrated the ground floor, these were driven out at the point of the bayonet. But an attempt by Capt. Amador to drive the enemy back away from the building was met by accurate rifle fire killing several defenders including Captain Amador, Lieutenant Lopez fell too!

 Soon after this the Riffi rushed the ground floor overcoming the remaining defenders there, leaving just a few soldatos up on the roof, low on bullets under the hot sun. These men fought on under finally the Riffi brought up several ladders and assaulted the roof directly under cover from their riflemen among the outer buildings! After a brave but futile fight, the last defenders were wiped out to a man – this ends the saga of the house of Hami Boasa.    

28mm Riffi from my collection

Afterword

Lieutenant Felipe Casinello López was actually just knocked unconscious but was presumed dead by the both his companeros and the enemy. when he recovered consciousness the sun had set and the battle was over and the enemy had moved on; he began to walk in the direction of Melilla, four days later he arrived at Mar Chica and was picked up by some legionaries. 

Lieutenant Pandura was taken prisoner and brought to Axdir along with other prisoners taken during the tragic withdrawal after the defeat at Annual.

The banner of the Regiment de Melilla No59

The Game

Whilst not a nice story without a happy ending, I thought this piece of history is along the same lines as the Legionnaires in Mexico at Camerone and may make an interesting skirmish game as it has limited numbers of men and defined objectives. The Spanish must hold and kill as many Riffi as they can, the Riffi must secure the building and water source whilst avoiding too many casualties.

 To add a bit of confusion you could use event cards:

Low/poor ammo – only half that side can fire that turn

Grenade! – Whoever draws this card gets a grenade to throw this turn

Extra ammo – double fire this turn

Exhaustion – only half that sides figures can fight this turn

Leader – The side with this card gains a morale/firing bonus this turn

Out of ammo – the Riffi must withdraw/the Spanish are limited to the Bayonet!

 These are just ideas, obviously feel free to expand as you wish 

Thinking more on this I`ve been considering using a hit location template 

If a hit is rolled against a Spaniard, a D10 is then rolled to work out where the hit was recieved 

Obviously hits to body (abdoman or chest) and head are fatal, but hits to legs or arms can be bandaged and the soldato can continue to fight! Also we must assess if that part of the body is visible - lower abdomen and legs would be protected by walls if kneeling behind sandbags or firing from a window for example. More paperwork I accept, but adds to the game I think?

Captain Enrique Amador Asin

Born in Alicante in 1880, he entered the Infantry Academy in 1897, where he followed the abbreviated course established for the overseas campaigns, being promoted the following year to Second Lieutenant and posted to the Princess Regiment.

In 1903 he was promoted to First Lieutenant and was assigned to the Canary Islands Infantry Regiment no2; after several postings in different units, in August 1909 he went at his own request to the Batallon de Cazadores de Barcelona, in Melilla, with which he took part in operations until December when he was returned to the Peninsula.

In 1910 he was promoted to Captain, whilst with the 20th Guadalajara Regiment where he served until  1920 when he requested a posting to the Melilla Regiment.

For his actions at Dar Quebdani he was awarded the Laureate Cross of San Fernando by Royal Order on July 27, 1925. 

A photo of Captain Amador`s award

Yaqui/Apache Camp

 Yaqui/Apache Camp 

Indian civilians, I always enjoy painting up and creating non-combat pieces for all the various periods I do. 

I`ve been planning expanding my Mexican Revoltion games in different ways, the were of course many tribes of native Indians throughout Mexico. Many of whom joined the various revolutions, starting with that against Diaz in 1910 after yrs of abuse by Government troops and the Rurales. Later after Madero`s murder Yaqui and other tribes fought against Huerta`s forces; later still various tribes fought for and against the Consitutionalists. Those loyal to Carranza and his generals (particularly Álvaro Obregón) fought against Villa whilst those loyal to Villa and Zapata fought against Carranza!

After the war was over however, things went back to normal and the Indians became unwanted and treated as lower class. There were incidents, killings from both sides, sometimes the Federal army was called in to quash local disputes or disperse (drive out) tribes which caused issues. Obregón is noted as being particularly brutal in his supression of his former loyal Yaqui allies, including bombing their villages from the air!

Among the pile of plastics I got of the nice man Alan Hamilton were some interesting non-combat Indian figures, now I know these are more Plains Indian than Yaqui/Apache but once again it`s my tabletop.

  These are mostly old Atlantic (I`ve identified two different packs) with one ancient Airfix squaw which I remember from my youth, not my finest painting but hey ho.........

Two hunters

Old men

Girl with child preparing meal

Girl skinning buffalo - yes I know no Buffalo in Mexico 😆

Pair of Squaws

back view showing the child

Witchdoctor

My basic camp idea

Includes all the bits and figures I`ve done so far