CAMERONE: Not Men but Demons! MINI-WARS convention Buena Park, CA Sat Oct 14

 Greetings!

My friends & partners in miniature wargaming crime, "Last Stand" Dan Gurule and Shawn "CAPT SHANKS" Hutson and I are bringing our 28mm Camerone extravaganza out and about one last time to celebrate this year's 160th Anniversary of the Legion's iconic last stand that pitted 49 officers and men of the 3rd Company, 1st Battalion of the Foreign Regiment (the Legion had recently been reduced in size to a Regiment and was officially referred to as such at the time) defending the hastily fortified Hacienda de la Trinidad against approximately 2,000 Mexican Juaristas of all shapes and sizes -- Infantry and Cavalry Regulars, National Guard, local Militia and local Bandits -- attacking the same.

As before, our game will again use the popular The Men Who Would Be Kings colonial rules published by Osprey, with modifications to fit the scenario and to speed up convention play.  It pits 49 French Foreign Legion vs. approx. 350 Mexicans, all nicely-painted Wargames Foundry figures, fighting over some pretty nice terrain, the standout feature of which is the Hacienda de la Trinidad built by the somewhat legendary Chris The Model Maker.  This will probably be the last time I take this model out to be enjoyed by the public for the foreseeable future, in celebration of this year's 160th Anniversary of the 1863 battle.  I may do so again in another 5 or 10 years, but who knows.  So I encourage anyone and everyone in Southern California (and beyond?) who's interested in an intense fight to the finish game... the 1862-1867 French Intervention in Mexico... the French Foreign Legion's iconic last stand... and/or awesome-looking but also gaming-friendly 28mm scale buildings to join us on Saturday October 14th and take up the wooden hand of Capt. Danjou or the leather gauntlet of Colonel Milan!

The convention is set to run from 9am to Midnight on Saturday Oct 14th & from 9am to 7pm on Sunday Oct 15th at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Buena Park, located at 700 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90620.

Our Camerone game is set for 10am to 5pm with a brief lunch-break included, and last time I checked 4 of the 7 player slots were still open and available.

Here's a LINK to the HMGS-PSW Mini-Wars convention homepage:

https://tabletop.events/conventions/mini-wars-2023

...a LINK to the Event Registration page for our Camerone game:

https://tabletop.events/conventions/mini-wars-2023/schedule/6

...and last but not least a LINK to the hotel website:

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/laxbndt-doubletree-buena-park/

The Buena Park DoubleTree is located a short 10 mins. drive from Disney Land in Anaheim, a little longer but still short (at least in Southern California terms!) 1/2-HR drive to picturesque Huntington Beach Pier, and less than 1/2-HR drive from LAX Airport -- in case anyone is looking for a last-minute hobby destination prior to Halloween.

Last time we ran this game at the Sand Wars 2023 convention in Mesa, Arizona it was -- if I don't say so myself -- a big success.  all the players and all of us GM's had a great time and despite the extremely unbalanced forces, much excitement, competition, suspense, and most important of all FUN was had by everyone involved.  Obviously I am no objective judge but I heartily recommend coming out to join us next month if possible!  There will be a wide variety of other awesome games ranging from Ancients to Moderns, plus Sci-Fi and Fantasy, as well as several Tournaments including Bolt Action and DBA.  So even if you're not into Mexico or the French Foreign Legion or desperate last stands, if you're a miniature gamer you should be able to find something to your liking!  So one way or another, if you're a fellow hobbyist in Southern California who doesn't already have something else scheduled for that weekend, I hope to see you there!

Finally I will leave you with some very nice pics taken by my good friend Matthew Rigdon who is a talented photographer with a very good camera and who also attended Sand Wars in Mesa this past Spring, and which I should have posted here on this "All Camerone all the time" blog months ago -- but better late than never:

And if you enjoyed looking at those here's a LINK to a bunch more:

https://rigdon.myportfolio.com/camerone-de-glendale

Some CAMERONE 160 Play-Test Pics

In preparation for this Saturday's game at SAND WARS in Mesa, AZ, I've gotten 2 full-blown play-tests in.  Before that my buddy Nick Stern ran one up in his NorCal neck-of-the-woods prior to coming down here to SoCal to play the first of my two, all using the same The Men Who Would Be Kings rules, with evolving Modifications for both (A) the specific scenario & (B) trying to speed up and simplify things for Convention play.

The games here at my place have both gone pretty well, with advantage shifting back-and-forth until a certain point is crossed and the Mexicans gain the inevitable upper hand.  But in the strategic/operational context, if the French players can hold on long enough (as they did at the real battle) they will prevent the Mexican brigade from moving on to ambush the convoy traveling from Vera Cruz to Puebla, carrying gold to pay the French army, siege artillery and ammunition, all of which was vital to the French war-effort.  But if the Mexicans can get over and/or through the walls fast enough, they'll have a chance to proceed with their long-planned operation of ambushing the convoy along the road off the table to the East.

I'm so busy prepping and packing to leave this Friday I can't spare the time to give detailed AARs for the play-tests, but maybe I'll manage that when the con is over -- in addition to an AAR from the convention game itself.  Keep hope alive!

This is just a handful of highlights, almost all from towards the end of the last play-test...

CAMERONE 160th Anniversary game Sat. April 22nd at Desert Wars 2023 in Mesa, AZ

   

 

Coming Saturday May 21st at HMGS Pacific-Southwest's...

Sand Wars 2023

At the Mesa Convention Center in Mesa, AZ:

CAMERONE

 

“Not Men but Demons!”

On the morning of April 30, 1863, 49 officers and men of the 3^rd Co., 1^st Batt. Foreign Regt. (AKA: the French Foreign Legion) led by Captain Jean Danjou occupied a decrepit hacienda compound in the abandoned village of Camarón (“Camerone” in English) and fought a 10-hour battle against 2,000 Mexican regulars and guerillas under the command of Colonel Francisco Milan. The compound sat along the “Royal Road” leading from the port of Vera Cruz on the Gulf coast inland to Puebla and Mexico City. When they first encountered the enemy, Danjou and the 3^rd Co. were en route to escort a convoy carrying 3,000,000 Francs in gold (approx. $57 Million in 2023 USD). Ten hours later when the fighting stopped, all but one of the Legionnaires had been captured or killed. But though the 3^rd Co. no longer existed, it had accomplished its mission: the gold convoy had heard the sound of the ferocious battle up the road, turned around and headed back to safety. After the battle ended and Colonel Milan learned how enemy soldiers his men had actually faced, he declared: “These are not men, they’re demons!”

 

Join us to commemorate the 160^th Anniversary of the battle by honoring the men of Company Danjou fighting for the glory of the Legion, and their Mexican opponents fighting to defeat the French Intervention (1862-67).

 

As Captain Danjou or one of his lieutenants, can you lead your handful of men to hold out long enough to keep the Mexicans from hitting the convoy…?

 

As Colonel Milan or one of his deputy commanders, can you coordinate your array of disparate units to overcome the ferocious enemy behind the walls of the Hacienda de la Trinidad fast enough to still be able to ambush the unescorted convoy and score a major victory for your cause…?

 

This will be a 6-Hour Epic Struggle: 3-hr session I from 9am to 12 Noon--lunch break--3-hr session II from 1pm to 4pm, played with finely painted figures over award-winning terrain, using Osprey’s popular “The Men Who Would Be Kings” colonial rules, with mods for the scenario and to speed up convention play.

 

Room for up to 3 French & up to 5 Mexican players (combined maximum 8 players).

 

More details to follow soon...