Tweet
***All Participants, Please Read This Carefully***
In the interest of preventing this information being buried in the burgeoning main event thread, I have created this thread to better pass information as you prepare for the event.
Here is the first installment of many that will be posted to keep participants informed. You will not receive everything at once, however, so that items can be absorbed and the information passed. You will be informed in a timely manner to accomplish planning, I promise.
Friday's camp site is NOT at the event site. You will arrive at the main event site, check in, and be shuttled to the camp site. You will not have access to your cars once you get to Friday's site. Plan accordingly. You either pack light and freeze at night, or go heavy and lug all of your stuff with you. Don't leave it at Friday's site! It will remain unattended for the remainder of the weekend since no one is staying back there to mind it.
We had planned to have a wagon follow us to carry various sundries, but that has fallen through. We are adjusting our plans appropriately. This means that some members in your Coy will need to carry some extra stuff like mess kettles, etc., since you will have to prepare your evening meal/Saturday breakfast at the Friday site. This is a good time to bring those small frying pans you were considering leaving behind and also bringing larger vessels to boil water. I am not telling you what you can and can't bring, I am merely telling you to be prepared.
You will march back to the event site and into camp. We have a detailed transition plan and this should go smoothly. Once back at the event site, you can retrieve or drop off items at the "steel covered wagons" as appropriate. The march route is approximately eight (8) miles. While this is not a terrible distance, and during our last conditioning hike we covered it in just more than two hours, we have been hiking for months to prepare. Our pace was quick and we didn't stop to rest.
That said, we will not move at the pace we conducted our last hike, but we will move at a decent pace to keep on our timeline. We have breaks built into the route. We have enough time to get this accomplished, gents, but not a lot to mess around. You will be participating in an authentic march conducted in CW military fashion. Make no mistake, you need to be prepared to conduct this march, particularly your feet and body used to carrying the gear you will bring. While no one is going to be left out on the route on their own, straggling slows all of us down so come ready for this effort. We have a dedicated medical and contingency plan. That too will be revealed at the appropriate time.
A few other items:
Ammunition issue; you need 80 rounds--40 in your cartridge box and 40 in arsenal packaging—This will go after the Saturday battle. This will only work if your men arrive with their ammo properly bundled (not in a plastic bag, loose, or just in shoddy packaging). Imagine having Seven ammunition boxes all filled with 1,000 rounds of ammo each! This is as it should be for our unit and I implore you to get on your troops to make this work. There is still plenty of time to accomplish this through a little individual effort. Since particpants will turn in their ammo before departing on Friday, and in an ammo box dedicated for your own Coy, if you do a poor job of this the only guys who suffer are within your own unit. If you want your own ammo back because you are so pleased with how your bundles turned out then mark the outside with a pencil with your name on it.
We are portraying a veteran infantry unit that marched directly into a fight. You will conduct the march with a full cartridge box.
Entrenching—We will entrench during Saturday and Sunday’s battle. Rather than dig with cups and plates, though the ground is sandy and easy to dig through, let’s do this as the accounts relate with shovels, picks, and axes. In a half hour, we could probably have chest-deep works built with headlogs for the entire battalion. Companies will provide their own tools and should have them marked with their letter designation on the back so people get back their implements. We will issue these by Company before each battle.
Camp—We are conducting campaigner camping so there will not be Company streets or other regimented layouts to our camp. Each Coy will designate an area and there is plenty of room to establish shebangs, flys, and arbors if your unit is feeling industrious. We will have plenty of things to keep us busy, however, such as wood and water details, the aforementioned ammo and entrenching tool issues, and other administrivia soldiers know and love. We will have some refreshments on Saturday night as well as some great entertainment.
Hope everyone’s preparation is going well otherwise. Not long now!
In the interest of preventing this information being buried in the burgeoning main event thread, I have created this thread to better pass information as you prepare for the event.
Here is the first installment of many that will be posted to keep participants informed. You will not receive everything at once, however, so that items can be absorbed and the information passed. You will be informed in a timely manner to accomplish planning, I promise.
Friday's camp site is NOT at the event site. You will arrive at the main event site, check in, and be shuttled to the camp site. You will not have access to your cars once you get to Friday's site. Plan accordingly. You either pack light and freeze at night, or go heavy and lug all of your stuff with you. Don't leave it at Friday's site! It will remain unattended for the remainder of the weekend since no one is staying back there to mind it.
We had planned to have a wagon follow us to carry various sundries, but that has fallen through. We are adjusting our plans appropriately. This means that some members in your Coy will need to carry some extra stuff like mess kettles, etc., since you will have to prepare your evening meal/Saturday breakfast at the Friday site. This is a good time to bring those small frying pans you were considering leaving behind and also bringing larger vessels to boil water. I am not telling you what you can and can't bring, I am merely telling you to be prepared.
You will march back to the event site and into camp. We have a detailed transition plan and this should go smoothly. Once back at the event site, you can retrieve or drop off items at the "steel covered wagons" as appropriate. The march route is approximately eight (8) miles. While this is not a terrible distance, and during our last conditioning hike we covered it in just more than two hours, we have been hiking for months to prepare. Our pace was quick and we didn't stop to rest.
That said, we will not move at the pace we conducted our last hike, but we will move at a decent pace to keep on our timeline. We have breaks built into the route. We have enough time to get this accomplished, gents, but not a lot to mess around. You will be participating in an authentic march conducted in CW military fashion. Make no mistake, you need to be prepared to conduct this march, particularly your feet and body used to carrying the gear you will bring. While no one is going to be left out on the route on their own, straggling slows all of us down so come ready for this effort. We have a dedicated medical and contingency plan. That too will be revealed at the appropriate time.
A few other items:
Ammunition issue; you need 80 rounds--40 in your cartridge box and 40 in arsenal packaging—This will go after the Saturday battle. This will only work if your men arrive with their ammo properly bundled (not in a plastic bag, loose, or just in shoddy packaging). Imagine having Seven ammunition boxes all filled with 1,000 rounds of ammo each! This is as it should be for our unit and I implore you to get on your troops to make this work. There is still plenty of time to accomplish this through a little individual effort. Since particpants will turn in their ammo before departing on Friday, and in an ammo box dedicated for your own Coy, if you do a poor job of this the only guys who suffer are within your own unit. If you want your own ammo back because you are so pleased with how your bundles turned out then mark the outside with a pencil with your name on it.
We are portraying a veteran infantry unit that marched directly into a fight. You will conduct the march with a full cartridge box.
Entrenching—We will entrench during Saturday and Sunday’s battle. Rather than dig with cups and plates, though the ground is sandy and easy to dig through, let’s do this as the accounts relate with shovels, picks, and axes. In a half hour, we could probably have chest-deep works built with headlogs for the entire battalion. Companies will provide their own tools and should have them marked with their letter designation on the back so people get back their implements. We will issue these by Company before each battle.
Camp—We are conducting campaigner camping so there will not be Company streets or other regimented layouts to our camp. Each Coy will designate an area and there is plenty of room to establish shebangs, flys, and arbors if your unit is feeling industrious. We will have plenty of things to keep us busy, however, such as wood and water details, the aforementioned ammo and entrenching tool issues, and other administrivia soldiers know and love. We will have some refreshments on Saturday night as well as some great entertainment.
Hope everyone’s preparation is going well otherwise. Not long now!
Comment