Zimmerman Telegram?

[10thMountain]

Hello,
     Has anyone wargame a 28mm Zimmerman Telegram (What if) scenario?

[AdmiralAndy]

You might want to start with Wargames Illustrated Issue 340 had an article.

Rules covering this:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/341748/crush-kaiser-achtung-gringo

Maybe hard to track down, but short version is there are options out there

[10thMountain]

Thank you

[Inkpaduta]

It is an interesting idea.
The reality if this happened. War between Mexico and the US.
Mexico would have been crushed as they had in the Mexican-American War.
Figures would be no problem. You have Mexican Revolution and Us involvement
in the Great War.

[commissarmoody]

This does interest me. Would like to see how this could be played out. I am pretty sure the US would win. But it's the what ifs, like how long it would take. How many major and minor battles.
Would it lead to a long term occupation like in other central American, carribian and Pacific Islands. How bad will it be, along with the counter occupation conflict. Would the US take territory? With Wilson in charge probably not, but who know.
Could span a whole alternative history where Mexican and the US are actively antagonist to each other in the 20th century. Occupied or Axis Mexico could make for some interesting WW2 action.

[commissarmoody]

Now if you wanted to have a full-scale war between the US and Mexico. Have Willson approve a full invasion of Mexico after the Battle of Carrizal.

[10thMountain]

Wondering what type of formations, the Germans would deploy? East Asia Expeditionary Force?

[commissarmoody]

What every they did, they would have to do it quickly. The US did have a substantial Navy at that time so I wouldn't imagine to many, if any large formations making it to the continent. 
But since this is a hypothetical, then I say. Why not.
What did the east Asia expeditionary force have?

[Inkpaduta]

Highly doubt any substantial German forces would make it to Mexico.
How would they get through the allied blockade and then the American
navy. Still, this is an alternate universe.

[Patrice]

I have been planning (but not ready yet, as so many projects...) to run Pulpish skirmish/RPG scenarios loosely inspired by the US intervention in Veracruz in a Mexican Revolution context.

You probably know this interesting work that broadens the scene:
https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3197/
A bit long to read but it can give some ideas for little scenario details, as German NPCs of the VDR association, etc.

[commissarmoody]

Neat, I'll have to check it out

[goingaviking]

“Achtung Gingo” by Crush The Kaiser [see the earlier link] imagines that the Germans could send an Deutsches Amerika Corps containing a couple of experienced and well-equiped divisions from the Eastern Front and/or train the Mexican army (adding German troops and Mexican Stormtroopers to the options available).

German military support for the Mexican Republic might have been similar to that for the Ottoman Empire: a small experditionary force (a brigade with lots of support) and individuals to provide training and leadership. This was very successful and an Ottoman Corps was sent to Eastern Europe to help to prop up the Austro-Hungarians. The Ottomans were on the defensive strategically and they were limited by poor logistics and a lack of good NCOs. The Mexicans would have had the same problems. How the Mexicans would “re-conquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona” [no mention of California?] is difficult to imagine and this is why the Mexican Government rejected the proposal.

Another ‘what if’ is a Japanese intervention in Mexico, to ‘protect Mexican oil fields’ following a Mexican-German attack on the United States. "Achtung Gringo" points out that the Zimmermann Telegram mentions that Japan might be persuaded to change sides, something which Germany had been trying to do throughtout the war. It notes that the Japanese cruiser Asama ran aground off the Mexican Coast in 1915 and stayed there for some time and other Japanese ships later joined her in the area. Such action would be consistent with Japan’s policy of using the Great War as an opportunity to take over territories and commercial interests.

[goingaviking]

Wondering what type of formations, the Germans would deploy? East Asia Expeditionary Force?

The German Asia Corps sent to support the Ottoman Empire was tiny. The first version was battalion with extravagant amounts of support [an ideal unit for wargamers!]. The second version, sent after the British captured Bagdad, was a brigade.
The Germans and Ottomans also sent agents to undermine British diplomatic and commercial interests in Persia and Afghanistan. This was effective although the King of Afghanistan did not invade India (Third Afghan War) until after the end of the war.

[Metternich]

German trainers for the Mexican army makes the most sense.  Given both the American navy in the Atlantic, and the American and Japanese navies in the Pacific, I don't really see how the Germans could have sent any appreciable forces to the US.

[Inkpaduta]

Given British control of the Atlantic I don't see anyway Germany could have sent transport ships
with divisions of troops on them to Mexico.