Cadets

Two bad photos of a pretty mediocre looking unit!

Side Project (not ACW)

I've started yet another blog to document my current side project: Solitaire Arthurian RPG play. I know this won't appeal to most of the people who have read other stuff here but... it's what I'm working on now so...
But I'm also working on ACW units still and hopefully I will be able to take some of what I'm learning in this other project and apply it here. We'll see...
My new blog is called The Giant's Moor.

Flags?

My favorite CSA flag, the Van Dorn pattern. Good for the Trans-Mississippi 1862,
Corinth/Iuka 1862, Vicksburg campaign 1863, Atlanta Campaign 1864,
Hood's invasion of Tennessee late 1862.

I ordered some ACW flags from GMB in the UK last week and received them today! I don't think I would have received an order from someone in the US any quicker so... they've got my business.
I got 2x generic US Volunteer flags, 1 set of Illinois Volunteer cavalry standards & guidons, 1 sheet of CSA Van Dorn flags, 1 sheet of Louisiana State flags and 1 sheet of SC State flags.
As you know the CSA infantry unit I am completing has been planned as a representation of a well to do SC volunteer regiment beginning to go to pot. But they could represent any similar unit from all over the Confederate States.
Since we are planning to follow up the last 28mm Pea Ridge game with at least one more Trans-Mississppi game it would make a certain amount of sense, but the chances of my CSA figs hitting the table is negligible since I will be playing the Union.
So anyway which flag should I give my cadets? I'll let you vote. In future I will probably buy some First pattern Confederate National flags since they're a good generic. So as they say in Chicago: vote early, vote often!

More Pea Ridge game photos

 Here are some photos that Gary took of the recent Pea Ridge game. I only lifted the ones that show Shiny's Brigade. They seem to be in roughly chronological order and mostly show the later part of the early game. At that point several regiments were deployed screening both Shiny's regiments and some of Jeff C. Davis' (Gary's) on the right. As you can see, Gary does a much better job at photographing the minis than I do. Thanks Gary for documenting this stuff. I'll add captions as time goes by but I'm going to go ahead and post so you can enjoy.

Update

I've been devouring the book Pea Ridge:  Civil War Campaign in the West by William Shea & Earl Hess. The Trans-Mississippi has not interested me at all in the past, but after Jim ran that Pea Ridge scenario for GaG the seed was planted. Soon after-words the book came into my work and though it was going to be recycled since it was heavily mildewed, I saved it, cleaned it up and began to read. Excellent. Definitely the best ACW battle history I've yet read. And a super resource in wargaming terms.

Also I finished another stand worth of figures for my SC Cadets unit. They may become Louisiana Cadets if my current enthusiasm for the Trans-Mississippi has any staying power.  I placed an order with GMB flags (which is now on it's way) so I'll have to decide.

The book has also spurred me to place an order with Sash & Saber. I'm going to put together 2 Squadrons of Union Cavalry both mounted & dismounted. Pea Ridge is, so far, the only ACW battle that I've read about where you could really justify the use of Mounted cavalry and Infantry on the same table.

I've received a really interesting book on ACW guerilla warfare called A Savage Conflict as a B'day present and also bought several other recent ACW releases. It's beginning to heat up out there in Civil War land due to the sesquicentennial having arrived. Lots of good lectures available all over the web, though I'm sure the "Lost Cause" crowd is frustrated since that falsehood has lost all traction and is consistently ridiculed.

Recent Figures

 Two figures I have painted recently. At left, Don Carlos Buell, who led the Army of the Ohio until after the Battle of Perryville. At right, an as yet nameless Union Officer. Buell has not had a Gloss Coat, the Union Officer has.

The figure is from an Old Glory Union Generals pack which includes many of the famous leaders from the Western theater (including Grant, Sherman, Thomas and McCook). I'm pretty happy with all these figs. Buell would be the General that Shiny is ultimately answerable to during this time. 

The Union officer figure is from Old Glory Second Edition. I used a different paint for these figures Uniform Coats, P3 Exile Blue, and  a different paint for the trousers, P3 Trollblood Base. I think the Uniform color is acceptable but I still prefer the Testors Insignia Blue which is darker and tends toward an Indigo.  Maybe with an additional Blue Wash I can make the P3 color perfect.  I have given these figures a rudimentary base treatment to which I intend to add some patches of static grass. In an ideal world I would give all these figures a leaf-litter treatment as seen on Steve Barber's new ACW figures. 

Obtaining better weapons, Mission 1

Shiny's Regiment, raised with enthusiasm in the summer of 1861, was, like so many mid-western regiments, issued poor arms (Model 1842 smooth bore percussion muskets)  at the beginning of the war. In fact during those first months some men drilled with muskets that had defective locks and could not be fired. When word came that Shiny's regiment would soon be crossing the Ohio into Kentucky, he determined to obtain better rifle-muskets for his company.

MISSION: Obtain better Rifle-Muskets
Deadline: Before the regiment is mobilised
Rewards: Obtain Springfield Rifles and  +1 Reputation: The Regiment for Shiny
Failure: Shiny will have to buy better rifles using his own funds -1 Wealth
Challenges:

1. Write to friends in Columbus with hopes of Finding a store of better rifles [Measure: Influence + Reputation: Personal: Judge Matthews] [Each side had one Success, GM's Success was a higher number; Shiny Loses; Reputation Injured]
2. Convince the Departmental Quartermaster to requisition these weapons for his company of the 59th [Quartermaster Skill][Neither side had any Successes; Shiny Fails]
3.  Make sure that all the above do their bit in a timely manner ensuring the weapons arrive in time for the regiment to set out with them.  [Quartermaster Skill][Shiny has one Success; Shiny Wins]
4. I have decided that the Regiment (as a whole) receives better weapons but Shiny receives no personal benefit. 

Notes: This is a little test mission to see how creative I can get with this idea. This is a very realistic, though boring conundrum for someone in Shiny's position in 1861.

Narrative Rewrite:
 Displeased with the quality of the weapons his company has been issued Shiny spends many nights writing to his Political acquaintances in Columbus. Unbeknownst to him several other officers in other Ohio regiments are attempting the same thing, one of them is the godson of a highly placed politician and is able to swing a requisition for some honest to god Springfield Rifles. Judge Matthews feels slighted in the entire affair and becomes mildly irritated at Shiny's "clumsy playin' at Politics". Shiny, though busy drilling his men in preparation for their impending mobilization, takes time to ride to his Departmental HQ and plead with the Departmental Quartermaster. The QM has heard it all before and is routinely unsympathetic to upstart "Volunteer" officers.  Shiny returns to camp, down in the mouth and spends a few days on the "sick-list" after drowning his sorrows. Even as his boys are about to set out Shiny hears that despite everything (and probably purely coincidental to his own efforts) a shipment of better Rifles is on it's way. Worrying that he will move out before the weapons actually arrive Shiny tears through the Ohio night to the Cincinatti rail head and personally oversees the transfer of equipment to his camp. His men are cheered, though not overjoyed, with their new Belgian Rifle-Muskets and disembark from their ferrying of the Ohio slightly more confident in themselves.