Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Old West => Topic started by: Galland on 03 November 2011, 12:58:25 PM
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Okay
I really, and I mean really, dont need more projects, I mean, we have plenty of large projects going on, several gaming tables and campaigns in various stages of completion. However... "cough"... I got a few miniatures the other day, including a ACW CS General and also accidently some ACW Cavalry, all of them aquired with the best of Old West Gaming in mind... but... I cant help thinking that this is a great opportunity for starting up a "small" ACW skirmish force? I am well aware of the fact that ACW is the last step before the final and foulest of wargaming crimes, napoleonics. Its the miniature variant of the gold paved road down to all wargamers own purgatorium.
Back to the topic (better stay focused ehh? heh), so with this in mind, what are the finest 28mm (I prefer larger and heroic miniatures to smaller "true" 25s) available? What brand would be the best way to go? I am quite sure that I will aquire both some CS and some Union troops in the end, but will start with the rebels. I wouldent mind mixing figures from various brands either.
I am also interested in some colour/paint suggestions, any brand would be of interest, as long as it is a good paint to do the job for CS troops, ie. the grey and whatnot that is needed. The civilian clothes that was used I can figure out, it is mainly the uniform colours that I will be needing. Suggestions for the Union tropps are also of interest.
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! :)
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I would go for the Perry stuff
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I'll second that. The Perry Stuff.
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It seems like the Perry miniatures are generally well thought of, both here and elsewhere. I also wonder, what would be a good skirmish rules set for ACW? While we are at it, suggestions for larger forces are of interest as well, but primarley I am looking for some skirmish rules.
We used to have a Swedish *gasp* rules set (named Bonny Blue), but I seem to have lost it in the great warp.
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The Perry box sets come with a simple set of rules for the units you're buying, and I've done good ACW/VSF gaming with a variant of FUBAR.
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While we are at it, suggestions for larger forces are of interest as well, but primarley I am looking for some skirmish rules.
Bull Run to Gettysburg by Foundry. Awesome rules. There are a couple of samples at the bottom of the page (link)
http://wargamesfoundry.com/books/wargames_rule_book/any/any/bull_run_to_gettysburg_fp023/ (http://wargamesfoundry.com/books/wargames_rule_book/any/any/bull_run_to_gettysburg_fp023/)
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I've had a fun time playing Brother Against Brother.
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I've had a fun time playing Brother Against Brother.
Gets my vote
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I play Johnny reb 3 and Rank and File, depending if I face `experienced` period gamers (so JR3 it is then) or go for the more easy play of Rank and File to bring people into the period
Modelwise: Perry plastics for bulking out, and Redoubt for all the special thingiers. They also carry a large range of more obscure `special characters` such as Meagher.
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There is a Sharp Practice variant for the ACW too. Yes, go Perry, great range, a lot of plastics and loads still to come............
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Hi I prefer Dixon ACW to Perry, they have much more Character. Even if the heads are big, the amount of variation and historical accuracy is outstanding. THE CID. P.S I still love Perry Figures for other periods. lol
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Agree with Joroas - the Sharp Practice variant is called Terrible Sharp Sword. I played a game of it with the Lardies at Salute - a mighty fine set of rules coupled with a scenario where the Reb officer openly displayed his affection for chickens - great fun.
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Bull Run to Gettysburg by Foundry. Awesome rules. There are a couple of samples at the bottom of the page (link)
http://wargamesfoundry.com/books/wargames_rule_book/any/any/bull_run_to_gettysburg_fp023/ (http://wargamesfoundry.com/books/wargames_rule_book/any/any/bull_run_to_gettysburg_fp023/)
I belive that you allready have this at home Mattias? If so, I will promtly use yours, without any sort of hesitation or guilt! :D I wouldent mind taking a look at the other systems either of course. Life is too short to stick with any rules set that is so so, I rather dish out some money and try to find a rules set that I really like. I used to own Johnny Reb, I suppose I can get it back, since I sold it cheapo to a shop here. Maybe I have to revise it. I havent looked at that rules system for the past decade or so I think.
So, suggestions for miniatures so far are:
Foundry
Redoubt
Dixon
Any other out there, that are of good quality and, as I said before, not to small?
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Rules: Terrible Sharp Sword from Too Fat Lardies; Figures: Steve Barber; Flags: GMB hands down!; Paints: Foundry has some great ACW palettes (greys, blue-greys, browns), and Vallejo for a lot of good browns/tan.
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I belive that you allready have this at home Mattias?
Guilty as charged! :)
Any other out there, that are of good quality and, as I said before, not to small?
I bought the "three confederate prisoners at the Gettysburg battlefield" in 28mm. You know, the ones from Bradys famous picture. Beautifully sculpted. Lot of details. I bought them from an Australian manufacturer in 2006. Unfortunately, I can´t remember their name or find their site anymore. I can heartily recommend them (if they still exist?). :?
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For rules, I generally play Brother Against Brother which I enjoy a lot. I've also found it an easy way to introduce people to historical wargaming.
I also have the Sharp Practice variant, Terrible Sharp Sword, but I am yet to play it. I am really looking forward to eventually giving it a go as they sound like a great set of rules.
Miniatures:
Renegade Miniatures are reputedly quite large miniatures as are the miniatures from Redoubt Enterprises
http://www.renegademiniatures.com/
http://www.redoubtenterprises.com/
I bought the "three confederate prisoners at the Gettysburg battlefield" in 28mm. You know, the ones from Bradys famous picture. Beautifully sculpted. Lot of details. I bought them from an Australian manufacturer in 2006. Unfortunately, I can´t remember their name or find their site anymore. I can heartily recommend them (if they still exist?). :?
Mark Fenlon Miniatures. From what I understand the range was unavailable for some time, but there are
plans to relaunch it, if it hasn't already happened. They looked like nice miniatures.
This following link with a collection of Don Troiani’s artwork may provide some ideas regarding uniform colours.
http://www.historicalimagebank.com/gallery2/main.php/v/album01/
Cheers,
Barry
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Mark Fenlon Miniatures. From what I understand the range was unavailable for some time, but there are
plans to relaunch it, if it hasn't already happened. They looked like nice miniatures.
Thanks Barry!
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I am using Brother against Brother rules and the Foundry ACW range with some Perry mixed in. Bought a few Sash & Sabre but they have been relegated to the box under the table.
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I do wonder, are there any colour range suggestions for CSA troop uniforms? I mean, any special kind that is considered to be better than others for the grey uniforms? Brand and number would be great.
Thanks for all suggestions and all the advice so far.
Sonny
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The new Foundry ACW triads are getting favourable comments.
If you have the current copy of Wargames, Soldiers & Stratagy David Imrie has some colour triads - if you don't have a copy I can post them on here.
Besides the Foundry Greys, Quagmire and Drab I use a lot of VMC Greys and Browns, usually with Ivory as the colour to add for the hightlighting stages.
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Oh Mr G, as an ardent ACW enthusiast I have to chip in my ten cents worth here. But first I must correct you on one teensy small point, ACW is NOT the first step towards the Abyss that is Napoleonics. It is a completely different animal and offers a whole range of gaming experience, from small skirmishes to large battles fought by literate volunteers not masses of automata conscripts, though it is a huge generalisation. Here's a thought, as you bought these figures with an Old West theme in mind, why not fight the Western campaigns, or even the battles further west where Indians fought for the Rebs, or even Kansas and the Jayhawker stuff, a la Ride With The Devil. Think Quantrell's Raiders with Jesse James and his brother Frank. As for rules, it is a question of what sort of battles do you want, Terrible Sharp Sword looks just right for you, and handles small units well with lots of room for characters and personality as well as narrative. Bull Run to Gettysburg is a perfect intro set of rules, with loads of good useful pictures and info.
Foundry figures are the best ACW anywhere, BUT they have reduced so much of that range, and what is left is not particularly useful to you. Redoubt are an excellent range, as are Dixon. But have a look at Elite Miniatures, their ACW figures are nice and they do some excellent unit deals. If you want any tips or a hand on uniforms I would be happy to help, pm me.
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You almost can't go wrong in your choice of gray for Confederate forces. The actual uniforms on display in the many museums here are significantly varied in color. Factor in the effects of limited quality control the South faced as the war progressed and fading while on campaign and you have quite a range of possible colors. That range of uniform options for your Confederates grows even larger when you add in the browns ("buttternut") also worn as a substitute when the standard gray uniform was not available in sufficient quantity for all the troops. The Foundry triads for Confererate Grey and Butternut (a lighter and darker version for each) are what I am using now.
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Trooper and Virginiayankee thanks a lot for your input and for taking your time with this, the same to all others that have contributed, it have been a tremendous amount of help, and also have considerably cut down on painful time, trying to locate the stuff that I wanted. Best crowd around in the wargaming community, right here on LAF!
So, when it comes to rules and such, I went ahead and bought Foundrys Bull Run to Gettysburg, a beutiful book, with lots of stuff for inspiration, and perhaps for more traditional wargaming with miniatures on unit bases.
Since I am looking more for a skirmish type of game, I will take a look at the Terrible Sharp Sword (do I need any other supplement/rules to play this comfortably, or are there anything that will support the game rules?) since it seems to be what I want.
When it comes to miniatures, I will follow Mister Troopers advice here, I am not very fond of the Terible Twins miniatures, never have been either, they are allways too small for my taste. I got to admit that some of them do look good, a friend of mine have a Confederate force (beutifully painted as well) but we both agreed to the fact that the size was anoying.
So Foundry it is, with support from the other mentioned companies that supply us with ACW range miniatures on the larger side of things.
I have been considering ordering the paints from Foundry, but I do allready have all GW paints, many Valejo and are getting more from Reaper, so not sure if I do need the additional paints, I should be fine with some painting guides or good pictures. I will continue to pester you all in I need it, wich I am sure I will soon enough. I am painting WWII soldiers and Old West miniatures at the moment, but... one or two ACW miniature have sneaked in to the manufacturing line, how could they not? The only thing I do fear, is that I will go totally obsessive with this. I have allways been somewhat interested in this period and this particular conflict, lots of wars where fought between the South and the North as kids hehe (and two trips to Gettysburg and one to Tombstone as a grown up). I am trying to resist it, but it seems to be futile.
I will start to post pictures as soon as I have some sort of progress that I am not ashamed of.
Oh, and RJ are going to paint my CSA General for me (a miniature from this years Salute by one of the Perrys I belive) :D
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Since I am looking more for a skirmish type of game, I will take a look at the Terrible Sharp Sword (do I need any other supplement/rules to play this comfortably, or are there anything that will support the game rules?) since it seems to be what I want.
From what I understand you need a copy of Sharp Practice.
There is a scenario supplement available called 'The Coming Thunder: Scenarios for Terrible Sharp Sword'
http://cstoesen.blogspot.com/2011/11/coming-thunder-scenarios-for-terrible.html (http://cstoesen.blogspot.com/2011/11/coming-thunder-scenarios-for-terrible.html)
For questions on the rules - The Two Fat Lardies Yahoo Group is a great place to ask questions you may have: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Toofatlardies/ (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Toofatlardies/)
There is also 'The Sharp Practice Forum'. This isn't as busy as the Yahoo Group.
http://sharppractice.11.forumer.com (http://sharppractice.11.forumer.com)
Cheers,
Barry
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G, have you seen this, might be useful for you.
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=35861.0;topicseen
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Thank you Trooper, I will order some of their paints, and see if they are of any use hehe. The Butternut colours seems to be of the most interest.
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Thank you Trooper, I will order some of their paints, and see if they are of any use hehe. The Butternut colours seems to be of the most interest.
Darn, they were only £3.90 for 3 a day or so ago..................
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Yeah, I saw that someone had answered in this thread, I even scrolled down to check it out... and all a sudden my doughter decided to go balistic / suicidal / crazy (she is two years old) and I had to leave the computer. I got back today and checked the thread out, and of course, hehe I had missed the offer! :)
However, I will order them anyway I belive, since I want their full range of ACW miniatures at one point or another, and might order a book perhaps, to get the free delivery.
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Hmm I have been reluctant to buy stuff from Two Fat Lardies, the infantile and silly company name aside, I dont really enjoy the layout and style of their products. I know that I shouldent bother with details like that, but its a bit like Iron Ivan Games, I just cant read the damn books. I can hardly see whats in them due to the strange layout, or rather lack there off.
Anyhow, I have decided to give it a try, and if its as good as people say, I am sure it might be worth the money. I do want a good skirmish game, and this game system seems to be in favour with the LAF members.
It turned out that one of the guys in the gang actually had the Sharp Practice so I only have to get the expanded rules set for ACW, that made the desition so much easier. A small sum of money to get a pair of generally liked set of rules, wich even if I dont like them would be okay just for the reading value I am sure! :)
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From memory, Foundry's ACW figures aren't much bigger than Perrys. I'd recommend Renegade, they're lovely, great value, and nice and chunky (without having weird proportions)