Gone To See The Elephant by P. R. Wilson After nine years of research, writing, and re-writing, Gone To See The Elephant: Miniatures War Game Rules for The Mexican-American War, 1846-1848 is now available.
Easily the most widely—and impatiently!—awaited title in TVAG’s history, GTSTE has been interrupted by other projects and more recently health issues, but throughout that time collecting historical sources and digesting them never really stopped. As a result, these are easily the most solidly grounded war game rules on the subject, with the history woven into them, rather than clapped on like chrome on a Model-T.
Utilizing the basic game model first published in John Company, GTSTE requires absolutely no written record keeping, and as few as three standard six-sided dice. Play is card driven, with random order of movement with players commanding Brigades composed of from two to five infantry battalions or cavalry regiments, possibly with an artillery battery. How many Orders a General can issue in a turn to the units in a Brigade depends on his pre-determined Generalship, and the draw of a card from the Orders Deck for his level. Orders are placed before movement each turn, then units check their Resolve to see how well those orders are obeyed–or possibly not at all! Fire is calculated by weapon, troop types, unit Resolve, and number of Bases. Losses are taken in Bases as well.
Uncontrolled and unexpected Events can result from the effects of enemy fire, but also randomly. A distinct and separate Mexican and US Army Event Deck is provided. Unique and historical occurrences impossible to write rules for, but which could or did happen in fact, are now part of the mix as players seek to create a battle plan then react as best they can when it actually makes contact with the enemy. Prairie fires, false truce, amazing individual acts of courage, etc, all could influence battle in Mexico, and can for the players, too.
Eighteen pages of Optional Rules, including Ammunition, Stamina and Fatigue, Skirmishers, Sappers, Night Fighting, and Weather, among others are provided. Special Resolve advantages are available to the Mexican force which can field in miniature figures for the conduct of pre-battle Mass, a military band, field hospital, and Soldaderas supporting the soldiers. Not surprisingly, these miniatures are also offered by TVAG in 15mm for devotee’s of that size.
Introducing an innovative ground scale system for basing, the game may be played with ANY size figures, from 5/6mm,10mm, 15mm, 25/28mm to 40mm, using the same 1” x .75” and 2” x 1.5” square bases without effecting movement or weapons ranges. Artillery is mounted on pre-measured triangular templates (provided with the rules) indicating maximum firing angles eliminating the need for measuring in play.
The book has 164 pages of rules, commentary, game tables, illustrations, and maps in full color. The rules portion of the text are printed in 14-point Century Schoolbook to make reading and searching specific portions fast and easy. Special rules applying exclusively to US or Mexican units appear in green and blue, respectively, and important notes are in red. When one rule references another, page numbers are provided for quicker searching. Other portions of the book are in 12-point for more casual reading.
Beyond the basic rules, there are 21 pages of Designers Notes and Appendices listing the entire US and Mexican Army Orders of Battle for the war, a complete list by states of all Volunteer units raised for the war, and a list of uniform details for many of these. Besides the Bibliography, there is a list of other resources for research on the Internet, including recordings of authentic period music for both armies. Three historical scenarios for Palo Alto, Resaca de Palma/Guerrero, and Buena Vista/La Angosturas are presented across 26 more pages, including highly detailed maps and the most complete OB’s available. Indeed, the latter battle has original scholarship concerning the Mexican Artillery present.
Unlike some previous TVAG publications, Game Decks and important reference sheets, plus Order, Resolve (and optional Sapper, Stamina, Ammunition, etc) counters being printed on B&W paper within the book, these are now offered for FREE via E-mail for self-printing/cutting by the buyer, which has allowed the book’s production price to be kept down. Buyers of the game are welcome to request these directly from TVAG.
With major contributions by Anton Adams, Ron Vaughan, and TVAG’s own Chris Ferree and Eric Cox – among others – GTSTE is more than the definitive game system for the subject, but an historical resource itself.