Prepping for Camerone Day +150...

A week from today -- on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 -- myself and a dozen or so fellow "Cameronistas" shall find ourselves engaged in an epic struggle, of 28m miniature proportions, refighting the greatest battle of la Legion Etrangere.  

However, I still have a few things on my Camerone Day "TO-DO" list:

(1)    base & terrain and paint the new bases for a bunch of very nice PALM TREES I bought a month or two ago;

(2)    build a short-end 2'x2' sq. terrain board so we will be able to fit the abandoned dam onto the layout in its historical position without the table being overly cramped;

(3)     repair 3 damaged corners on my pre-existing Maiwand Day terrain boards;

(4)    effect modest repairs to spots spread across the Maiwand Day boards which have sustained wear-&-tear damage over the past year-and-a-half or so;

(5)    build some overlays to put atop one or two of the nullahs on my Maiwand boards, so they can better play the part as flat ground-cover -- if I manage to pull this off in a decent-looking & useable fashion, it will come in very handy for future games requiring flat ground more than 4' x 6', which is the largest clear flat ground I can arrange using my terrain boards right now;

(6)    clean up and clean out my office-turned-"Camerone Day"-game-room so there's enough space for the dozen or so players I expect to put in a showing on April 30th;

(7)    ...exhale and try hard not to collapse while doing so!!!

Stay turned for some visual updates as and when I can manage them -- and please wish me LUCK, 'cause I'm definitely gonna' need it...

***Here's a first batch of pics.  I've managed to get the palm trees done, as well as a handful of other trees I had sitting around meant for Afghanistan, which will fit well in Mexico as well, plus I've gotten about a third of the way through the additional little terrain board:

Then the box with the T-shirts arrived...

Now back to the table...

Prepping the 2'x2' expansion board...

The Hacienda cometh...

Today was my first day off in many weeks.  As my wife has been out of town visiting relatives in New York & New Jersey, I used it to take care of a lot of domestic duties and chores, culminating in a trip to the airport to pick her up.  All went well, and when we got home, what was waiting to greet my eyes, after being delivered -- perfectly intact I hasten to add -- by UPS all the way from Ontario, Canada to Los Angeles, California, USA... well of course you the answer to that one:

THE HADIENCA DE LA TRINIDAD

...as recreated in 28mm scale by Chris Riordan, aka: Chris The Model Maker.

IMHO it's pretty dang sweet.

Packed in a second, smaller, box was the abandoned hotel located by most accounts on the North side of the Convoy Road, across from the Hacienda building itself.  I'll try to put more picks of both buildings up here tomorrow, but for now, I hope you enjoy the lone view above!

Decrepit DAM, abandoned Mexican village bldgs, & Indian dwellings

Here are some pics of the remaining CAMERONE DAY pieces built by Chris The Model Maker...

First up is the abandoned and out of use DAM, built to distribute water brought from the nearby river via a small manmade canal for use irrigating surrounding farmland and as drinking water for horses and farm animals, before fighting grew endemic, chasing the landowners away and putting their farms and ranches out of business:

Next up are the still-occupied local INDIAN DWELLINGS:

And finally, the forsaken buildings of the Mexican village of "Camaron," abandoned like the nearby canal when fighting in the area grew too heavy for the local inhabitants to endure*:

*NOTE:  This occured during the "War of the Reform" fought from 1857-1860, a Mexican  civil conflict pitting Liberal and Conservative Mexican forces against each other.  Though the main Conservative armies surrendered in 1860, many Conservative guerillas remained active in the field, and a few years later Conservative forces planned their alliance with Emperor Napoleon III, which helped trigger his Intervention and bring Maximillian Hapsburg of Austro-Hungary to Mexico, to be installed as the ill-fated Emperor Maximillian I.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT WIKIPEDIA PAGE ON THE MEXICAN REFORM WAR

The reason there was so much fighting in the immediate vicinity of CAMARON was the MAIN ROAD around which the village had grown into existence, which connected Vera Cruz -- on the Atlantic Coast to the East -- with Puebla to the West.

PICS FROM THE MASTER BUILDER...

It's been a packed couple of weeks here at the "Camerone Day" household.  My middle child had her Bat Mitzvah -- the big coming-of-age event in the life of a Jewish child -- two Saturdays ago.  Like her older brother before her, she did a wonderful job and made my wife, myself, and our entire family extremely proud.  As with many big events, the hidden prize was the chance to see friends and family from all over the world who took the time to come and visit for the occassion.

Meanwhile, across the continent, in Ontario, Canada, a certain master model-maker completed the last components for the fast-approaching 150th Anniversary "Camerone Day" game, adding even more excitement to my life.  If that sounds a little out of whack, feast your eyes on the visual evidence below...

First up, the abandoned HOTEL located on the North side of the road, across from the Hacienda de la Trinidad:

Next, the Hacienda compound itself:

Together with the abandoned dam, the decrepit Mexican village buildings, and the Indian huts, this completes all the structures required to refight "CAMERONE" from start to finish.  My next update should occur when the first of these models arrives here at my place.