Mexican-American War Supplement for Piquet
By Eric Burgess
(1846-1848)
Differences from standard PK scale
For those of you wishing to fight the MAW with PK, there are a couple of specifics dealing with this war that effect how you create your units.
First, units(regiments/battalions) were very small. US Infantry Regiments usually had around 400 to 500 men. Mexican Infantry Regiments/Battalions had roughly 200 to 500 men max. The normal unit would be around 325 men. So unless you want to field two stand units for the Mexicans based on the standard PK rules, you will need to adjust the figure to soldiers ratio. Instead of each figure being 40-60 men, it should be 20 - 30 men.
Mexicans should have 12 figure (4 stand) units, while the US should have 12 to 18 figure(4 to 6 stand) units.
All cavalry for this war move as Light Cavalry.
Allowable Formation Table
I don't used preferred formation rules from PK. You can either use the formation or you can't.
| Skirmish | Column of Route | Square | Attack Column | Line | |
| USA & Mexican Regulars | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mexican Militia & Irregulars | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| USA Volunteers | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Weapon Adjustment Table
All ranges in inches
| WEAPON | Fire | Melee | Point Blank | Short | Medium | Long |
| Pistol & Sword | NA | NC | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Bayonet | NA | UP1 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Lance | NA | UP1 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Flintlock Musket (FLM) | UP2 | NC | 0 - 3" | 3 - 4" | 4 - 8" | 8 - 12" |
| Flintlock Rifle (FLR - no bayonet) | UP2 | NC | 0 - 4" | 4 - 6" | 6 - 11" | 11 - 16" |
| Flintlock Carbine (FLC - no bayonet) | UP1 | NC | 0 - 2" | 2 - 3" | 3 - 6" | 6 - 8" |
| Percussion Rifle (PR) | UP2 | NC | 0 - 4" | 4 - 9" | 9 - 14" | 14 - 18" |
| Light Smoothbore Artillery (LSB) | NC | DOWN1 | 0 - 4" | 4 - 8" | 8 - 16" | 16 - 32" |
| Medium Smootbore Artillery (MSB) | UP1 | DOWN1 | 0 - 6" | 6 - 10" | 10 - 20" | 20 - 36" |
| Heavy Smoothbore Artillery (HSB) | UP2 | DOWN1 | 0 - 9" | 9 - 12" | 12 - 24" | 24 - 36" |
| Extra-heavy Smoothbore Art. (XHSB) | UP3 | DOWN2 | 0 - 12" | 12 - 24" | 24 - 36" | 36 - 48" |
| Rocket Battery (Rckt) | UP1 | DOWN2 | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? |
| Field Howitzer Battery (FH) | UP1 | DOWN1 | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? |
Sequence Decks
| USA | Mexico | |
| Artillery Reload | 3 | 2 |
| Artillery Move | 3 | 1 |
| Cavalry in Open | 2 | 3 |
| Deployment | 2 | 2 |
| Dressing Lines | 1 | 4 |
| Elites Reload | 1 | 1 |
| Heroic Moment | 2 | 1 |
| Infantry in Open | 3 | 3 |
| Inf/Cav in III/IV | 3 | 2 |
| Maneuver | 2 | 2 |
| Melee Resolution | 3 | 2 |
| Musket Reload | 2 | 2 |
| Native Mobility | 1 | 1 |
| Officer Check | 2 | 2 |
| Basic Deck | 30 | 28 |
Unit Quality Modifiers
| Unit Quality & Type | Fire | Melee | Morale |
| Militia Infantry | DOWN1 | DOWN1 | DOWN1 |
| Regular Infantry | NC | NC | NC |
| Elite Infantry | NC | UP1 | UP1 |
| Elite Rifle/Light Infantry | UP1 | NC | UP1 |
| Guard Infantry | UP1 | UP2 | UP2 |
| Militia Cavalry | DOWN1 | DOWN1 | DOWN1 |
| Irregular Cavalry | DOWN1 | NC | NC |
| Regular Cavalry | NC | NC | NC |
| Elite Cavalry | NC | UP1 | UP1 |
| Guard Cavalry | NC | UP2 | UP2 |
| Militia Artillery | DOWN1 | DOWN1 | DOWN1 |
| Regular Artillery | NC | NC | NC |
| Elite Artillery | UP1 | NC | UP1 |
| Guard Artillery | UP2 | UP1 | UP2 |
USA Modifiers to the BDV(D20) Roll
US Infantry Regulars +2 [Elite] (1st – 8th Regiments, Voltieguers)
US Infantry Regulars +1 [Regulars] (9th – 15th Regiments, Mounted Rifles)
US Cavalry Regulars +1 [Elite]
US Artillery used as Infantry +1 [Elite]
US Artillery Crews +2 [Elite]
US Volunteer Infantry +0 [Regulars or Militia]
US Volunteer Cavalry +0 [Regulars or Militia]
6lb Horse Guns Rate as Medium Guns, use Light Gun ranges
6lb Foot Batteries Rate as Light Guns
12lb Foot Batteries Rate as Heavy Guns
18lb and above Rate as Extra Heavy Guns
Rockets use Medium Smoothbore artillery ranges, but you must fire at medium or long range.
Field Howitzers, rate as ???
Mexican Ratings
Grenadier Guard of the Supreme Powers [Regulars] +1
1st - 4th Light Infantry [Elites] +0
Line Infantry Regiments [Regulars] -1
Auxilury/Militia Infantry [Militia] -2
Line Cavalry Regiments [Regulars] -1
Presidial Cavalry [Elite] +0
Irregular Cavalry Regiments [Irregulars] +0
Artillery [Militia] -1 (all Mexican artillery uses the next lower range band( i.e. - Heavy's use Medium gun ranges, etc)
Leadership and Difficulty Die Ratings Table
| Leadership Modifier | Opp Chips | Diff. IV | Sapper Difficulty | Difficulty Other | |
| USA | +1 | 4(3*) | D8 | D10 | D8 |
| Mexico | -2 | 2 | D4 | D6 | D6 |
* If the USA is all or mostly volunteer units use three opp chips instead of four.
Command Groups & Card Divisor Table
| Maximum Command Groups | Card Divisor | |
| USA | 6 | 3 |
| Mexico | 4 | 4 |
Questions, comments, and suggestions can be sent to Eric Burgess
Visitors since May 10, 2001