In preparation for this Saturday's game at SAND WARS in Mesa, AZ, I've gotten 2 full-blown play-tests in. Before that my buddy Nick Stern ran one up in his NorCal neck-of-the-woods prior to coming down here to SoCal to play the first of my two, all using the same The Men Who Would Be Kings rules, with evolving Modifications for both (A) the specific scenario & (B) trying to speed up and simplify things for Convention play.
The games here at my place have both gone pretty well, with advantage shifting back-and-forth until a certain point is crossed and the Mexicans gain the inevitable upper hand. But in the strategic/operational context, if the French players can hold on long enough (as they did at the real battle) they will prevent the Mexican brigade from moving on to ambush the convoy traveling from Vera Cruz to Puebla, carrying gold to pay the French army, siege artillery and ammunition, all of which was vital to the French war-effort. But if the Mexicans can get over and/or through the walls fast enough, they'll have a chance to proceed with their long-planned operation of ambushing the convoy along the road off the table to the East.
I'm so busy prepping and packing to leave this Friday I can't spare the time to give detailed AARs for the play-tests, but maybe I'll manage that when the con is over -- in addition to an AAR from the convention game itself. Keep hope alive!
This is just a handful of highlights, almost all from towards the end of the last play-test...
