South of the Border Saturday

   Mark brought two collections of his over on Saturday for some gaming. It was the classic pairing of Alamo-era 15mm Mexican Army vs. VSF Martians! I know, I know... you're saying to yourself "Dang Ski, give us something we haven't seen a hundred times before on a hundred other blogs." We used the All Quiet on the Martian Front rules framework with a few tweaks. He texted me a rough sketch of the battlefield before arriving so I set up the table as close as I could to match it. 

That's bits of Mark's scratch-built Alamo which last saw the light of day at Gnomecon 2017 I think it was. The big Martian landing ship is in the far right corner.

I was given command of the Mexican forces, defending the homeland from the invaders. This was a "first contact" situation so the Earthlings didn't have any special anti-Martian gear... just muskets, cannon, lances and huevos. 

My initial forces are deployed. Two groups of infantry in the outpost, a squadron of lancers nearby and three grande cannons. I was very fortunate to roll "heavy" for my starting artillery option. 

The first little green men depart the egg from beyond. Two ball tanks accompanied them.

I had to dispatch cavalry to the table edges to summon reinforcements. Only one base reached on turn 1. The others would have to keep riding.

My first shot opportunity is a success, damaging a walking vehicle downrange and damaging its control system!

The lanceros hoof it towards the great metal beast!

Which promptly flees! Huzzah! Actually, because of the damaged controls, there was a chance every turn that I was able to move the vehicle. I moved it the hack back from my troops. The Ball Tanks and Martian infantry would have to sack up.

They of course did, to my dismay. Damn heat rays!

At least I got a couple back from "call the reinforcements" duty. The lancers smashed into the green beasts and, well, it didn't go so well.

It was Tequila time for the survivors.

Back on the other side of the battlefield, two large walkers were making their way up my right flank. One had an easy shot at one of the killer cannons and utterly failed to capitalize.

There was a lot of that going around though, as my return fire was every bit as effective!

Martian Mark had a whole stream of shite pushing up that flank... the "Bells" some power-armor troops, infantry and two more big walkers! WHERE ARE THE REINFORCEMENTS?

Hay-soos answered our prayers though, mysteriously as His wont. One of the power-armored guys had a major weapon malfunction causing a catastrophic detonation. The entire unit went up in smoke. Huzzah indeed!

Meanwhile, the defenders of the fort got some very effective volleys off at one of the Ball tanks that had been seriously damaged by earlier cannon fire. The tank was destroyed and it's squadron mate rolled off in shame and dishonor.

And there ya go... some reinforcements. Cavalry and some cannons. Still, things weren't looking so hot for Mexico.

Oh, and a unit of infantry on my right flank. I needed those right there for sure! Even the scattered reinforcements were working out for me that day.

The Martian horde stomps and crashes forward. 

My reinforcement cav gets into position to wreck some Martian butt. Meanwhile, the fort's defenders are getting hammered.

More cav arrives on the left side. The more the merrier! Cannons in the center (on that hill to the right).

And loads more infantry on the right and back edge. This was everything I had and the fight was now on! Those Bell walkers in the woods looked pretty intimidating.

The big walkers stared to close range and blasted a couple of my artillery pieces without much effort. 

The lancers rushed forward into the medium walker by the fort, felling the thing!

A rather surprised looking Martian pilot ejected, rather unfortunately, into a horde of swarthy lanceros eager to conduct a bit of "scientific experimentation" of their own. 

Back over on the right, Santa Muerte must've blessed every musket within 100 yards because the troops absolutely hammered one of the Bells to bits.

And in the center, the cannons score some mighty hits on the two big walkers!

But the Martian guns then get in on the action and score some damage of their own.

It's a bloodbath for sure, but at the end, both Bells are taken down.

The medium guns finish off one of the big walkers!

The fort is lost. A tragedy for sure. My cavalry though has cleared the left flank of opposition. 

The remaining big walker in the center gets a modicum of revenge on the artillery battery.

But the battle would be won at the other end of the battlefield, by the caballeros. Mark mentioned early into the proceeding that if the Mexicans got a unit in contact with the Madre ship, the Martians would instantly lose. I'd forgotten about that winning condition for two hours, then remembered it when it mattered most.

Well that was a bizarre and utterly entertaining afternoon of gaming! I think things were balanced well enough from the standpoint of each side being able to achieve their aims. The Martians were tough as hell and really, there were a few lucky hits mixed in that made a real difference for me. If Mark had sent more troops out wide that could have kept my cavalry from making a jailbreak late, my forces would have been wiped out. I really had very little left at the end and he was killing things faster than I was. The Martian infantry was remarkably tough - their slow movement being their biggest fault.

I'd be happy to play this mix of troops any time. It was a blast and just plain old fun.