[WiM] Weekend in Mexico

[DoubleDeuce]

[center]C Troop/1st Squadron/7th Cavalry Regiment/1st Cavalry Brigade/1st Cavalry Division
Campaign in Northern Mexico
January 1941[/center]

INTRODUCTION: I am working on a set of custom scenarios and possibly a campaign simulating a “hypothetical” invasion of Northern Mexico by US forces in support of the newly elected Mexican president. I plan to make 3 scenarios covering a 2 day period in January 1941 (the 18th and 19th). It will be 1 scenario per day and then one for the night of the 18th.

The theme is loosely based on the real situation in Mexico in the 1930’s. Before the 1940 presidential election between conservative candidate Juan Almazan and P.R.I. designate Avila Camacho, tensions between pro-fascist and pro-communist groups that had simmered since the middle 1930’s began to erupt into violence. Alarmed by the possibilities of an unstable pro-fascist or pro-communist government below the Rio Grande, the U.S. began to offer both covert and clandestine aid to the established government.

After the election of Avila Camacho to the presidency in July of 1940, the new President did not take office until December of that year. During the five month hiatus the right wing forces of the defeated candidate, Almazan, continued to struggle to overturn the election results. His followers in the U.S. started buying arms and agents of the fascist Spanish Falange headed for Mexico to foment subversive activities. Elected to a second term, President Roosevelt, always a friend to Mexico, used both the F.B.I and U.S. military intelligence to assist the Mexican Army in their struggle against the pro-Almazan forces.

It is at during this time that the campaign and alternate history takes place.

Supporters of Juan Almazan and the Spanish Falange were able to arrange for equipment and advisors from Italy (veterans of the Spanish Civil War) to be smuggled through Spain and into Mexico. While most of these forces were to be used as enforces to “overturn” the election results of 1940, a small part of them were to be positioned along the northern border to detect and block any 'Yankee' troops coming to President Camacho’s aid. As January 1941 began, instability in Mexico began to get out of control, President Roosevelt ordered US troops across the border to seek out and eliminate these threats to the new Mexican administration. Just after dawn on the morning of Saturday, January 18, just across the border from Lajitas, Texas the 7th US Cavalry makes contact with Mexican Fascist Partisans and their Italian trainers.

The player will command a US Cavalry Troop, most likely C Troop of 1st Squadron/7th Cavalry Regiment/2nd Brigade/1st Cavalry Division. If I do a campaign I will try to include the full squadron.

I chose them due my being a member of that same unit from January 1982 - June 1983, while stationed Fort Hood. Garry Owen! [:D]

For the Mexican Fascist Partisans and their Italian trainers I will use the Russians OOB and for terrain I will use KhanDam2's excellent Desert Mod

[DoubleDeuce]

[center]SCENARIO #1
ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE
Lajitas, Mexico. 18 January 1941[/center]
During the previous night, although fordable in many places, Engineers managed to emplace numerous pontoon bridges across the Rio Grande River to allow the cavalry easier entry into Mexico. Shortly after dawn on the morning of Saturday, January 18th lead elements of the US 1st Cavalry begin crossing the Rio Grande River into Mexico from their staging areas near Lajitas, Texas.

[rico21]

Finally an original scenario[&o]
it gives me ideas
a scenario in which Mexicans crossing the US to invade Canada[8D]

[fuselex]

Personally I haven`t tried KhanDam2`s desert mod , but going on the image , it looks very nice

[DoubleDeuce]

Ok, I'm thinking on just making this a full campaign covering the 2 - 2 1/2 days and also chopping it into 3 individual scenarios for those who would rather just play it that way. All 3 scenarios will use the same map, just different parts of it obviously. Here is the proposed campaign map (its not the TotH map, its one I will use to build the TotH map).

[DoubleDeuce]

For the Mexican Fascist Partisans I will be using Russian Conscripts and for their Italian Trainers I will use Russian 1st Line troops. Since neither side would have had any mechanized force as part of their OOB, there will be little if any vehicles. Historically, the 7th Cavalry was still horse mounted at this time however, since TotH does not have horses, these will be assumed to have been left on the US side of the border, secured by other units in the Squadron, probably B Troop.