Played in 2010, when The Chihuahua Incident was first offered for download and has my first thoughts on the Infantry Attacks System.

The board is the same as board 19 from PG: Road to Berlin. The board sets up lengthwise east-to-west (the 19 in the northeast corner), and consists mostly of clear terrain. There is a road running north to south about halfway between the east and west edges. There is a 4-hex village two hexes east of the road, near the north side. There are also a few woods and salt marsh hexes.

The Mexicans set up first with four infantry, four cavalry, a machine gun unit (MG), and four leaders. Their objective is to hold the road and village, and inflict step losses on the Americans. I set up the infantry dug-in along the road, with the cavalry as a reserve in the village.

The Americans enter from the west edge, and get eight cavalry and three leaders. The Americans have better firepower, aside from the machine gun, and higher morale. Their objective is to clear the road and the village, and exit off the east edge.

In the first two turns, the Americans approach the Mexicans, staying out of range of the Mexican rifles. Opportunity Fire from the MG is ineffective. On the third turn they approach within two hexes, moving to flank the south end of the Mexican line, away from the Mexican reserve. Opportunity fire causes a few morale checks, which the Americans pass. The Mexican cavalry leaves the village to counter the American flanking attack.

On turn four, the Americans charge the dug-in infantry. Opportunity Fire causes three step losses, and the ensuing assaults cause two step losses to the Mexicans. Over the next several turns both sides reinforce the three assault hexes as the casualties rapidly mount.

Eventually, the Americans gain the upper hand and the demoralized Mexican infantry and cavalry begin to flee the assault hexes, taking even more casualties on the way out. The Mexican cavalry is wiped out, and only one infantry and the MG hold a single road hex. The Americans have taken eight step losses.

On the final turn, the MG is demoralized, but the single Mexican Infantry survives an assault and recovers from Disordered. The Mexicans still hold the road and win a major victory.

My impressions from my first time playing:

Infantry Attacks will be extremely easy for Panzer Grenadier players to learn, but there are differences that make the game play differently. This isn’t “Panzer Grenadier in WWI.”

Machine Guns are deadly, but slow and fragile (one step only). They have far better range than infantry and cavalry. They are good on defense, but they are unable to assist in a rapid offensive. They cannot enter assault hexes, but if they begin in an assault hex they may attack.

IA is far bloodier than PG, appropriate for the era. You can’t stack units as thickly (companies rather than platoons), but the column modifiers for the Combat tables quickly add up. Even a single unit can do a lot of damage, especially when it is firing from one hex away or assaulting.

Cold Steel is best used by units with high morale against weaker opponents. The defender gets a bonus and first fire but, once you get past the defense, Cold Steel can be devastating.

This is a long-delayed AAR of an in-person game played last year with the cunning Treadasaurus commanding the Mexican (Carranzista) force against my American Expediionary Force in Carrizal. we fought over control of the North-South road and the adjoining small town in this frustrating Infantry Attacks scenario that the defending Mexicans ended up winning.

Frequently stopping to try and decode the badly organized and poorly-written Infantry Attacks rules slowed down our play, and the mandatory FOW rule was a true impediment to play for the attacking GIs. This fracas ended with a Mexican victory as the American movement to contact served mostly to serve up opportunity fire targets at a shooting gallery. Morale checks were difficult for the Americans once they closed to assault range, and US casualties mounted. In the end, the dug-in Mexican defenders held out, losing only 5 steps and 2 leaders. The American also lost 2 leaders, and 9 steps. Both sides suffered decapitations, which hurt the defeated GIs more that their opponents.

I give this one a generous 2, although the very poor rules book and clumsy game mechanics really only rate a 1. Save this fiddly and frustrating, scenario for solitaire play only.