Vacaloca - A Mexican Pueblo in 28mm

I've always wanted terrain and figures for Old West skirmish games and made the decision in July that this would be my next project, despite the only models I had for this period being a few cheap MDF kits that I hadn't touched since purchasing. Despite having these buildings I decided that I would start by first creating a modest Mexican Pueblo and getting a few figures to suit, and then if time permitted to expand this by building a small Western town. It didn't take long for all this to get well out of hand.

This project represents most of my efforts over the last three months and I ended up with just short of a hundred figures, 27 buildings, all of which were scratch built other than the four MDF kits, which I modified quite a bit, plus all sorts of scatter terrain to suit. 

In the process of making all this - with the ultimate objective of having a setup and game that I can play at Bangor, Wales next August (coronavirus restrictions permitting, that is) - discussions with friends and the creation of some very bad puns led me to the idea that the part of the Old West that my model would represent would be an area near the Mexican border that had been colonised by Welsh settlers. The town was duly named Aberillo and the idea stuck. I'll put up a second post soon with photos of the final setup for that town, but this post focuses on the Mexican Pueblo, which I chose to name Vacaloco.

In time, of course, I will be using this terrain for Western skirmish games, and after a lot of hunting around I am intending to start by using the Rules With No Name by Wargames Foundry, possibly with some adaptations based on good ideas from other rules. But the setup is rules agnostic and will do for any Western skirmish game.

Here then are some pictures of the finished setup for the pueblo of Vacaloca, somewhere just across the Mexican border. In these pictures all is quiet and peaceful; as games are played photos of Mexican bandits and the heroes who will face them will be posted in due course, and I might also blog with pictures of those characters separately as well.

Sleepy Sanchez takes a nap

Peasants go about their business in the pueblo

While the men discuss the weather, the women gather food and water

The well in the centre of the village is a regular meeting place

And the water is clean and good

All is quiet at the church, for the townsfolk are busy at their chores

A long view through the pueblo

A closer view of the north end of the village

All terrain apart from the basecloth is scratch-built. Buildings are made from cardboard, MDF and odd scraps. Saguaro cacti are made using the simple and brilliantly effective method described at the western games blog, although using Milliput and my own basing style. Mexican villagers are from Wargames Foundry. 

Here are some views of the whole table setup (with apologies for the poor lighting in my games room).

Views of the table setup

Images of Aberillo to follow in the next post!