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Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



Scotland

Some friends are getting more into historicals and are looking at the US Civil War as it's remarkably popular where I game. However I'm a true British patriot who never concerned himself with a skirmish in the colonies.

This might sound like a stupid question for those more enlightened than I but was there any nuance or variation in Civil War armies or was it a sea of blue and grey? Any outside or mercenary factions? I get very very bored painting large blocks of regimented guys so this may not be the historical setting for myself but thought I'd ask fellow Dakkaites.

I was going to hit the books but everyone and their mother appears to have written a Civil War treatise.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

Well, for the Union you're unfortunately going to be painting in two shades of blue, unless you want to include some units like Brendan's Sharpshooters (know for their green uniform) or Zouaves (fez caps and pantaloons).

You've got a little more freedom with the Confederdates. You can basically freely mixed the Union blues with greys and "butternut" (various shades of brown, from dark to khaki).

There were no outsiders or mercenaries historically. However, if your friends are willing to bend, the Perry Brothers have a range: British Intervention Force, used for a What-If scenario of a British invasion of the Union during the ACW.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/03/04 20:27:17


   
Made in gb
Courageous Grand Master




-

Could I also recommend a money saving tip for Civil war games, or any historic game in general:

1:72 scale.

Most rulesets are for 28mm/1:56 scale, but by God,1:72 saves you so much money.

and it has very little effect on game dynamics IMO with a slightly smaller scale.

I pay Bolt Action in 1:72 and I got an HQ and 3 ten man squads for £8 from a box of Italeri Germans which had 50 figures in it.

Compare that to the £25 for a 30 man box set in 28mm

Italeri also do American Civil War stuff, (their Union infantry are a joy to behold) as do tons of other companies for cheap. The minis are high quality, great value, and there's tons of competition out there with loads of companies.




"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



Scotland

So far I'm quite lucky in that we play mostly skirmish or warband or whatever the buzz word for smaller size games is. I do have one friend who harps on about massive Napoleonics though so I'll keep that 1:72 in mind...

Well there's two sides with a small bit of variation in colour. I guess I can accept that. So what about army organization? Anything a little unusual I can have a bit of flair with?

Also any good books? Wikipedia is just getting me lost.
   
Made in us
Krazed Killa Kan






State of Jefferson

Zond,
I have just wrapped up a big project in ACW. As mentioned above the Union was largely uniform with some special unit exceptions. The Red Devils also come to mind. Too though, early in the war the Union was quite variable. Lee's "Army of Northern Virginia" was largely "butternut" which was kind of a beige. However the battles near my hometown in Arkansas where the Battle of Pea Ridge (The Battle of Elkhorn Tavern) had General Price's Missourians in unbleached Cotton/Linen (a dirty white). For my project, I painted all the union identically and then mixed and matched the confederates. They were frequently referred to as the "Scarecrow Army" or the "Scarecrow Legion" not only because they were bone thin, but also because they dressed in rags and frequently shoeless. I would invite you to look at my Perry ACW thread below in this forum. I went for visual affect though over strict button counting. Lastly, I cant say enough about what a great bargain the Perry Brother's Set is. You can do the math for yourself but for me I think it was less than $0.75 per miniature. My next assembly proj is your motherland in the Grand Alliance, We can wave at each other as we pass!

Regarding Books. There are ZILLIONS. While skiing and hiking and working I listened to Shelby Foote's 3 volume tome "A Narrative History of the Civil War." That book would turn you off as it is HUGE. I think Glory Hallelujah! by Warlord Games would be a good place to start. Also If you'd like to really learn some fantastic History and see a documentary that changed the way Documentaries are made I would HIGHLY recommend Ken Burns's "Civil War". I was all taken from actual photos and contemporary writings letters and war reports. The best Dramatic Movie IMO is a retelling of Ambrose's "Killer Angels" called "Gettysburg." My understanding is that this movie was painstakingly researched. It's follow up Gods and Generals, has some questionable inaccuracies especially regarding pro-confederate blacks. They existed but the dialog set my teeth on edge in some places.

I can blab all day.... check out my gallery and say nice things.... it will make my tail wag.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/03/05 21:58:54


 
   
Made in gb
Courageous Grand Master




-

 doktor_g wrote:
Zond,
I have just wrapped up a big project in ACW. As mentioned above the Union was largely uniform with some special unit exceptions. The Red Devils also come to mind. Too though, early in the war the Union was quite variable. Lee's "Army of Northern Virginia" was largely "butternut" which was kind of a beige. However the battles near my hometown in Arkansas where the Battle of Pea Ridge (The Battle of Elkhorn Tavern) had General Price's Missourians in unbleached Cotton/Linen (a dirty white). For my project, I painted all the union identically and then mixed and matched the confederates. They were frequently referred to as the "Scarecrow Army" or the "Scarecrow Legion" not only because they were bone thin, but also because they dressed in rags and frequently shoeless. I would invite you to look at my Perry ACW thread below in this forum. I went for visual affect though over strict button counting. Lastly, I cant say enough about what a great bargain the Perry Brother's Set is. You can do the math for yourself but for me I think it was less than $0.75 per miniature. My next assembly proj is your motherland in the Grand Alliance, We can wave at each other as we pass!

Regarding Books. There are ZILLIONS. While skiing and hiking and working I listened to Shelby Foote's 3 volume tome "A Narrative History of the Civil War." That book would turn you off as it is HUGE. I think Glory Hallelujah! by Warlord Games would be a good place to start. Also If you'd like to really learn some fantastic History and see a documentary that changed the way Documentaries are made I would HIGHLY recommend Ken Burns's "Civil War". I was all taken from actual photos and contemporary writings letters and war reports. The best Dramatic Movie IMO is a retelling of Ambrose's "Killer Angels" called "Gettysburg." My understanding is that this movie was painstakingly researched. It's follow up Gods and Generals, has some questionable inaccuracies especially regarding pro-confederate blacks. They existed but the dialog set my teeth on edge in some places.

I can blab all day.... check out my gallery and say nice things.... it will make my tail wag.


I did pay a visit to your gallery page, and there's some very nice stuff over there

I particularly liked that storage cabinet you made with Fort Sumter on one side and Appomattox on the other.

"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

 doktor_g wrote:
I listened to Shelby Foote's 3 volume tome "A Narrative History of the Civil War."


Yeah, that was an amazing set of books. He also features a lot in that Ken Burns Documentary.

..... too bad about being a Southern Apologist though.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Krazed Killa Kan






State of Jefferson

@Zond: Thanks!

@Easy: I didn't feel that he was an apologist? I thought he was quite honest about the prosecution of the war and it's gestalts.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/03/09 13:22:24


 
   
 
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