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Nick's new ACW project

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nicknorthstar:
This is a follow up from a previous ACW related post where I admit it's taken 38 years of being a hobbyist, but I'm at last interested in the ACW.

It was sparked by a visit the US of A, and visiting the Battlefields of South Mountain, Antietam, Harpers Ferry, Gettysburg and Brandywine.

I wondered whether rather than just painting up a bunch of Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks, I could get enough information to do specific regiments at a specific battle. I picked out The Bloody Lane at Antietam September 1862. After hours and hours of reading on the net, the answer is pretty much yes. The plan is to do both sides, but you need to start somewhere.

So I picked out Rodes Brigade of Alabama regiments, part of DH Hills Division, defending the middle of the Bloody Lane, to start with.

I'm using Crusader Miniatures ACW infantry. Although the Perry Mins range is vaster, better and more accurate, I cast the Crusader Mins figures so they are a more sensible option. I'll go to Perrys for the Generals, Artillery, Cav etc.

I've not settled on a rule set yet, I play Black Powder so that's an obvious 1st choice. I like the look of Pickett's Charge from TFL but I've got to learn it first. The 3rd option is my chum Chris Peers has a set of ACW in note form, using the rule engine he wrote for Death in the Dark Continent, a game I really enjoy, that I want to try. With the 3rd option in mind, I've chosen to base the figures in 4s on a 60mm by 30mm base. That's what Chris will be using, but I can use them based like this for BP and PC. The units for Chris' game will only need to be 4 bases, which makes each regiment do-able in a short time frame.

I chose to do the 6th Alabama Regiment first.

When I first thought about this project, I was inspired by the 'ragged' host image of the Confederates in this campaign. It is a fact that Antietam was a low point in the appearance of the Rebel army, they improved the supply train after the Maryland campaign. The problem was the more I read about Confederate uniforms, the more I started to move away from the 'ragged Rebel' image. It took the arrival of Don Troiani's art book from our own Cubbin, where Don had painted the 6th at the Bloody Lane to put me back on the straight and narrow. If he's painted them as ragged rebels, so will I. But some of that other research has filtered in, and I'll point it out when it comes up.



I decided not to fixate on the actual cut of the uniform and weapons carried, that could drive you mad, but I spent a long time looking for the correct flags, and I think I got it sorted.

I also have tried to make the Regimental officer look like the personality, and I think I've got that right.

The picture attached is the first finished regiment, the 6th Alabama. I'm not looking for praise for the painting, it's not my best. I'm trying to find a fast technique using brown washes to speed up the process whilst still looking good for the tabletop.

Ray Rivers:
Nice looking regiment there.

Looking forward to see more!

nicknorthstar:
6th Alabama.

As I mentioned above, I got Don Troianis book from Cubbin just as I was starting the 6th Alabama and that put me back on the 'ragged rebel' plan for this army. Picture one is an example of how I'm trying to represent that.

One of the things that remained from my research though was the Racoon Roughs. The commanding officer John B Gordon started the war leading a company of mountain men wearing racoon skin hats, and calling themselves the 'Racoon Roughs'. It seems they clung onto those hats as long as they could, and even when they had to discard them wore an RR on their kepis to keep the name going. As I couldn't find a date that they got rid of the furry hats, I modelled a couple of figures wearing them as the RR company within the 6th.

It was easy to find a photo of the regimental officer John B Gordon. I modelled a goatee beard onto a clean shaven Crusader Miniatures ACW officer to represent him. You'll also notice something wrong with his hat. That is my attempt at a bullet hole in the top of his Kepi. One of the famous stories of Antietam is Gordon's account of the fight:

A fourth ball ripped through my shoulder, leaving its base and a wad of clothing in its track. I could still stand and walk, although the shocks and loss of blood had left but little of my normal strength. I remembered the pledge to the commander that we would stay there till the battle ended or night came. I looked at the sun. It moved very slowly; in fact, it seemed to stand still. I thought I saw some wavering in my line, near the extreme right, and Private Vickers, of Alabama, volunteered to carry any orders I might wish to send. I directed him to go quickly and remind the men of the pledge to General Lee, and to say to them that I was still on the field and intended to stay there. He bounded away like an Olympic racer; but he had gone less than fifty yards when he fell, instantly killed by a ball through his head. I then attempted to go myself, although I was bloody and faint, and my legs did not bear me steadily. I had gone but a short distance when I was shot down by a fifth ball, which struck me squarely in the face, and passed out, barely missing the jugular vein. I fell forward and lay unconscious with my face in my cap; and it would seem that I might have been smothered by the blood running into my cap from this last wound but for the act of some Yankee, who, as if to save my life, had at a previous hour during the battle, shot a hole through the cap, which let the blood out.

Lastly the flag. One thing I read about in my research was the Brigade Commander Rodes went out of his way to make sure his Standard bearers were issued with Belt and Sockets for their flags. So I've got a standard bearer figure with a belt and socket for all the regiments in this Brigade. It would also seem that the Confederates preferred to just carry their Battleflags into battle, not accompanied with State Flags like the Yankees, so I've gone for one Battleflag per regt. in this project. DH Hills Division were issued with the '2nd Bunting' Battleflags in the summer of 1862, the orange edged style, so that made it an easy choice. But I had misread the instructions that were given for battle honours in 1862, so gave the 6th Alabama a flag without their Seven Pines honour. I painted it on myself, though I've bought some GMB flags for the next regiments. I painted the battle honour following the style of the 13th Alabama whose flag still exists (captured at Antietam), but was irritated to find when Troianis art book arrived he'd painted it in a different place. I had to convince myself to let it go... lol

3rd Alabama next.

OSHIROmodels:
Promising looking project  8)

I like the personality take on it.

nicknorthstar:
There will be some friends who'll have fallen off their chairs in surprise that I'm actually painting, to them I say 'don't worry, I've got Artmaster Studios doing the Union side'.

I'm doing the same thing with the Union as I am with the Rebs, so the first three regiments Artmaster have are from Weber's brigade, the first Brigade to attack Bloody Lane. The officer figures all have green stuff beards and 'tasches to look like the actual officers, and I have the flags here to attach in the hands when the figures come to me. I'll post pictures when they are ready. The flags were a head ache, because although the wonderful commercial flag producers out there do a splendid job, they just can't possibly do everything. So there was an evening of hand painting regimental names and numbers on these Federal flags

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