"54mm Skirmish - Maximilian in Mexico" Topic

We recently got together for a 54mm skirmish game set in the French intervention in Mexico, circa 1866.

A French re-supply convoy shelters overnight in a deserted Mexican village. Mexican Republican troops attempt to capture the convoy before a French relief column can arrive to escort the supplies on to their destination.

Home rules by our Host – Ron P.

zodanga.blogspot.com

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The game looks great, Berczerk. 54mm games are my favourite eye-candy these days, so I appreciate your sharing. It looks like you game on a pretty big table? The range of buildings you have is very impressive!

That reminds me that I have the same 54mm Mexicans in my basement waiting to be painted.

Thank you for the positive feedback.

The table (12' x 6'), terrain, and Mexican troops were provided by our host -- Ron P., of the renowned "Ron's Wargames Center" in Dale City, Virginia, U.S.A.

I brought the French and Allied troops and the supply caravan.

We had five players for our game -- three French and two Mexican.

Looks awesome and very inspiring! What rules do you use? Please don't say unpublished home brew. I think skirmish is the perfect scale for the Mexican Adventure since all the big battles were pretty one sided. I would love to game the ambush of the gold shipment scenario from the movie "Vera Cruz". All I need are a couple more mounted cowboys.
Thanks for sharing this!

Nick Stern -- sadly, they are indeed, "unpublished home brew" rules formulated by our host -- Ron P.

We also drew inspiration from "Vera Cruz" for our scenario. Other great films from that period: Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Undefeated, Major Dundee, and Juarez.

I'd like to paint up some French lancers for future games. I was thinking of using Armies in Plastic British lancers from their Crimean War range, but painted up like the non-historical French lancers in "Major Dundee."

From the looks of the photos, they must be one man to one figure skirmish rules, as opposed to TSATF, which I tend to use. I have a really nice "Man with No Name" figure from the Austin Miniatures gunfighter's set. Also a nun and a burro carrying a barrel of gunpowder. So I am set for the Two Mules scenarios. I've thought about the non-historical lancers in Major Dundee as well. I have collected metal Chasseurs d'Afrique from Del Prado instead. What I'd really like are some of the red coated Contra Guerillas. I guess I can use pretty well any mounted Mexicans for those. I have plenty of the bandits from the Steve Austin sets as well.

dBerczerk, since you know the available figures for this period very well, what figures would you recommend for conversion to the mounted arm of the French Contre Guerillas? Ideally I'd like to have mounted and dismounted versions. So far I think my best best for mounted are the Italeri Confederate cavalry since they have knee boots and some even have the frog closure tunic. I am thinking I'd just need to change the heads/hats to wider brimmed Mexican ones. Any other figures spring to mind for these hard boiled characters?

Nick Stern -- I don't think I can be of much help on this. The Italeri Confederate cavalry set seems like a good start. I don't yet own any of the Italeri Confederates, but they do look good. I, too, once contemplated painting up a set of the Steve Weston mounted Mexican Bandits as Maximiliano Contra-Guerillas. However, those bandits are simply too wild-looking in my opinion to serve as para-military French irregulars. They are also such nice figures, I would be loathe to start carving them up for conversions for fear of ruining such marvelous sculpts.

I own a box of the Italeri 1/32 Union infantry. Six of the figures are nice zouave figures, and I plan (eventually) to paint up some as the infantry element of the Contra-Guerillas (as per the plate by the Society of Military Historians).

Irregular and Dorset Miniatures in the UK produce some nice 54mm figures in lead. Not specifically for the Mexican Adventure, but they do have a lot of potential. But then, there's the postage from the UK to the U.S.A. to consider.

irregularminiatures.co.uk

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Drop me a line if you wish to discuss further off-line at:

-- dberczel – AT – hotmail – DOT – com