Friday night I played in one of the four, 3 hour long sessions of The Battle for San Juan and El Morro, 1625.
The game was sponsored by Firelock games, and used a simplified version of their “Blood and Plunder” rules. In effect, it was 3 simultaneous 2 vs 2 player games – the Naval battle in the harbor, the amphibious assault on San Juan, and the attack on the El Morro fortress.
Along with another novice player, I played one of the Spanish defenders of El Morro.
This beautiful game and ambitious game deservedly won one of the PELA awards.
In our game, the Dutch prevailed in all three zones (their troop quality was better, although the Spanish had the less than impressive advantages of their positions.
Another session of the same game about to get underway.
One of the reasons for my playing in this game was that we had visited San Juan and El Morro this winter. We had previously only been to San Juan airport to transfer flights to another destination
This was the (nearly successful) attack by the Dutch in 1625 that the game was based upon.
The water is the large, excellent harbor of San Jaun
The Empress and the other Dr Anderson in front of the entrance to El Morro
The dry moat was mot modeled in the game… but it might not have been present in 1625, either!
As the placard indicates, El Morro evolved over 290 years!
Puerto Rico became part of the United states as a result of the Spanish – American War of 1898. Cuba was granted independence by Spain (the rebellion there being main origin of the war), and the US also acquired Guam and The Philippines (which revolted against the US just as had against Spain resulting in a brutal war; The Philippines became fully independent of the US in 1946. The center flag is that of Puerto Rico. The population of the Territory Puerto Rico is 3.2 million, which is more than each the following US states (highest to lowest): Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nebraska, Idaho, West Virginia, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming. Indeed, it’s population outnumbers the 4 smallest states combined, although it is 3,515 square miles in area – 3 times as large as Rhode Island, the smallest state, and roughly the size of Connecticut. Having visited I can safely say that rush hour traffic in San Juan is best avoided!
About the main plaza of the Fortress.
The Plaza with the three flags that have flown over the Fort. Puerto Rico voted 57% in favor of Statehood in November 2025, but that would require the US Congress to act, which seems unlikely in the current divisive political climate!
Guide to visiting El Morro.
Sample barracks accommodations.
Strategic importance of Puerto Rico and San Juan top Spain. I was struck by the enormous amount of money it must have cost to construct and maintain this fortress so far from Europe!
Early history of the SPanish presence in Puerto Rico.
Evolution of the Fortress over time.
Looking down on the lower portion of the Fort from above; plenty of gun emplacements!
Life in San Juan – like most US National Parks, there is a great deal of information presented to place things in context.
The central role of Puerto Rico and San Juan in the control of the Caribbean.
Guard duty by Spanish troops
and, by the mid 1800’s, mostly locally recruited units.
Following the Napoleonic Wars, Spain’s vast empire in the New World progressively eroded, starting with the revolutions in South and Central America, Mexico, and then the Spanish American War
More modern equipment as the centuries passed.
Sea facing bastion.
Both Spanish and English are official languages of Puerto Rico, and English is taught as a second language in Public schools there, but the best estimates are that only about 20% of the population is reasonably fluent in English, while almost everyone is fluent in Spanish. I certainly had more than one occasion to use my basic knowledge of Spanish during our visit there!
American garrison at El Morro.
Another century, yet still relevant.
with u[dated defenses to match!
Puerto Rican soldiers in US service.
Lower gun emplacements guarding he harbor entrance.
One of the distinctive Sentry boxes of El Morro.
A are shot of yours truly for scale; the bag has our water bottles; even in mid February it is quite hot in San Juan!
Looking back towards San Juan… off in the distance is the second main fortress of San Juan, Castle San Cristóbal, built to protect Sam Juan from land attack.
Exploring a sentry box (garita).
The Castle top of El Morro (which cannot ordinarily be visited).
All about Mortars,
long guns,
and some examples of same.
Looking down to the lowest accessible level (of 5 total) of the Fortress.
More ordinance.
and more about them.
Note the bar shot!
Types of gunpowder era ammunition.
Some flags associated with past garrisons.
Explaining the hows and whys of Fortress design…
with a cool model of El Morro!
More about exploring the Fort.
No smoking allowed!
More then one fortress fell after its magazine exploded!
Mortat shells
View of San Juan harbor from the upper level of the fort.
plenty more gun emplacements!
View down to the oldest and lowest accessible level.
Entrance to San Juan harbor.
Highest accessible level; the central plaza is where the yellow walls are showing.
The boys gotta eat!
Note the power wagon
The fortress projected an image of Spanish power as well as practical defense.
parts of a fortress gun carriage
Soldiers over the centuries!
For 
For Bombshells
This ramp (steeper than it looks- you cannot walk on it for safety reasons) was how guns and munitions got from one level of the fort top another. Just imagine hauling a 1 ton gun up that!
More gun emplacemnts
This shot gives a sense of the multiple levels.
As does this one.
The Santa Barbara battery has a container ship in its sights!
San Juan remains an important harbor today.
Those walls are TALL!
Looking out of a sentry box.
Looking down on the level closest to the sea.
Our shots must have missed their target!
I would not fancy landing on those rocks and tryin to assault the fort from there!
Looking back up towards the upper levels.
More about the garistas.
This shows some off the early 20th century modifications for more modern artillery emplacements
Yep, those walls ARE tall!.
Passageway down to the original 2nd level of the fort.
Looking out there from!
About the earliest years of El Morro.
Looking further down.
Vault of level 2.
Looking back up the ramp to level 3.
Couldn’t have been too pleasant!@
Another shot to convey the height of the fort.
Not exactly Cuthroat Kitchen!
Touring level 3.
Leaving El Morro and looking back towards Old San Juan.
One of many plazas.
More walls as we walked from El Moro down towards the harbor area.
Sculpture honoring the races that have made up Puerto Rico, including the Taino Indians.
Still more walls as we walk to the Harbor.
They were serious about defending this place!
Abstract sculpture in a plaza along the harbor.
Approaching the main harbor area.
Another view of the waterway leading to the harbor.
One of the interesting boats in port.
Cruise ship in the background.
The sailing ship is a floating, world traveling school!
Modern naval vessel.
More harbor views.
View from the condo where we stayed; the roof (of a sports facility type hanger partially obscures the view of the fantastic beach just beyond it.
The usual site for pick up and drop off to visit El Morro, the Plaza del V Centenario (Plaza of the 500th anniversary [of the European “discovery” of the New World, erected in 1992]), popularly referred to as Plaza del Tótem. The ceramic “Totem Pole” reflects the turbulent history for the settlement and the conflict with the Taino Indians.
