For a long, long time I've considered starting a ACW project but never quite got around to it. I know nothing, nowt, absolutely Jack about the conflict but have always admired the great looking games I've seen online. So, with the help and advice of some friendly ACW gamers I finally took the plunge this week and purchased some Blue Moon 15mm figures from Glory Miniatures UK who are conveniently situated about two minutes from my front door!
Now I've never painted ACW before, neither have I ever painted 15mm and the difference in the technique I had to adopt was quite surprising and very time consuming to start off with! Anyway, I've made a start in my Confederate infantry, opting for the late war 'rag tag' look with a variety of shades of greys, Browns and the odd blue.. Here's my first little batch of figures ready for basing. Still loads to do but it's a start at least and now I'm finally happy with the colour combinations and the change in technique I'm hoping the painting process will speed up somewhat...
Now I've never painted ACW before, neither have I ever painted 15mm and the difference in the technique I had to adopt was quite surprising and very time consuming to start off with! Anyway, I've made a start in my Confederate infantry, opting for the late war 'rag tag' look with a variety of shades of greys, Browns and the odd blue.. Here's my first little batch of figures ready for basing. Still loads to do but it's a start at least and now I'm finally happy with the colour combinations and the change in technique I'm hoping the painting process will speed up somewhat...
I realize there's a ton of stuff about the ACW on the web, but I think a person couldn't do better as an introduction to the conflict than Bruce Catton's "This Hallowed Ground". It is one of the best, if not THE best, books ever written about it--informative, fast-moving, and beautifully written. I've studied the war for 50 years, and still read it again every year. I can't say enough good things about it.
ReplyDeleteJust my two cents. Best regards,
Chris Johnson
Also Bruce Catton';s Centennial trilogy - The coming Storm, Terrible Swift Sword, and Never Call Retreat.
ReplyDeleteShelbny Foote's Trilogy is also very good and has many maps, and more detail, especially outside the area of operations of the Army of the Potomac.
http://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-Volumes-1-3-Box/dp/0394749138
It's a subliminal thing - you were hooked the moment you saw the pictures in Don Featherstone's books and you never even knew it... :o))
ReplyDeleteSome further book suggestions on my project page....
Foote's OK, but his pro-Confederate bias gets out of control sometimes. For example, he maintains the Rebs did not do better on the 1st day at Gettysburg because there were more Union than Confederate brigades on the field! This is nonsense--Confederate brigades were generally twice as large (if not larger) than their Union counterparts; the problems the Rebs faced were due to the heat, fatigue, Yanks fighting on their own ground, and lackluster command exercised by Hill and Ewell.
ReplyDeleteI myself was hooked when I saw the wonderful maps in both the AWI and the ACW histories put out by American Heritage--seeing all the little men in formation (not unlike looking at a war-game board) just stuck with me forever.
Chris