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The action near Chapultapec, a military training college. From the el Molino del Rey scenario.

Closeup of the Cerro Gordo map demonstrating the rough and unusual terrain.

materials less than $5 but 20 hours labor

Gringo!: The Mexican War 1846-48 (2004)

Players

1–6

Best: 2, 4

Playing time

180–180 min

Age

12+

7.23

Average rating

197

Ratings

3.44/5

Weight

#8554

BGG rank

Outside top 5,000

Designer:Richard H. Berg

Artist:Rodger B. MacGowan, Mark Simonitch

Publisher:GMT Games

Average rating, ratings count, weight and rank are sourced from BoardGameGeek (BGG).

Game DNA

Strategy7.0

Luck10.0

Interaction5.0

Complexity6.9

Theme5.0

This game's strategy, luck, interaction, complexity and theme.

WargameAmerican WestPost-NapoleonicHexagon GridChit-Pull SystemSimulationDice RollingGrid MovementScenario / Mission / Campaign GameVariable Set-upMovement PointsLine of Sight

Overview

"Gringo! The Mexican War 1846-1848" is a Post Napoleonic era wargame depicting five battles of "The Mexican War". For the battles in Gringo!, both sides run the gamut from mountain assaults to street-fighting, allowing wargamers to see some of the differences between ACW-era tactics and those of the Napoleonic era. The battles included are:

Buena Vista, the classic battle of the war, with Zach Taylor's decimated army making a valiant stand against Santa Anna and a force three times Taylor's. Monterey, with the North Americans launching a three-pronged assault against, into, and through the beautiful city of Monterey, complete with huge fortifications, high peaks, bull rings, cathedrals filled with ammunition, even a telegraph system. Cerro Gordo, Scott's first meeting with Santa Anna, on the dangerous mountain roads leading towards the heart of Mexico. El Molino del Rey, where Santa Anna makes a last, well-entrenched stand outside Mexico City. Will that Mexican cavalry division ever move? Chapultepec, a mini-battle, in which the gringos have to scale the precipitous heights of this immense fortress guarding the roads into the Mexican capital. "Stonewall" (pre-nickname) Jackson, hidden mines, wall-scaling, and those courageous Mexican pre-teen cadets.

The wargame rules are simplier (GBACW v4.3) with reduced command rules (for the smaller armies); they also include extensive rules for street-fighting and the square formation. The game includes some of the most colorful characters in military history: General Zachary Taylor & inept division leaders Twiggs & Pillow for the Americans; head throwing General Pedro Ampudia and Generalissimo Antonio de Santa Anna.

Gringo! is easily the most playable, colorful and challenging of the GBACW series wargames to date. 2 22" x 34" maps (1-backprinted), 4 countersheets, plus the usual rules and charts.

Time Scale: 60 minutes per game turn Map Scale: between 45-125 yards per hex Unit Scale: Each Strength Point = 50 men Players: 1-6

Expanded by:

Battle of Churubusco Battles with the Gringos, Mexico 1846-62