Viva!: Revolution in Mexico

Cover art by Norm Caddo

Viva!: Revolution in Mexico is a board wargame published in 1975 by Flying Buffalo that simulates the 19th-century revolutionary years in Mexico.

Description

Viva! is a 2-player board wargame in which one player controls federal Mexican forces (federales) and the other player controls opposing forces. The rule system uses a simple "I Go, You Go" alternating system of movement and combat, and deals with issues of supply with a simple "attrition" die roll each turn. Leaders play an important part of the game.

The game has three scenarios:

1. "Revolution!": A non-historic skirmish between rebels and federal soldiers.
2. "Pancho Villa!": Rebels versus federales with the addition of American General John J. Pershing
3. "French Campaign": The French invasion of Mexico involving British, Spanish and French units

Publication history

Viva! was designed by Russ Beland, and was published by Flying Buffalo in 1975 with cover art by Norm Caddo.

Reception

In The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training, Martin Campion noted the game's focus on only combat; the political situation in Mexico plays no part in the game. Campion felt that as a result, Viva! was not a good educational tool for the classroom, saying, "It would be well to have a good game on this subject; a game like this that ignores the politics of the situation is not very valuable."

Other reviews

• Strategy & Tactics #55
• Panzerfaust & Campaign #72