Hullo, here's yet another historical plog.
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Codex: Confederaceh
So what's this all about then? In early 2014 I had an amazing game of 28mm scale American Civil War stuffs. Hundreds of figures per side, huge, beautiful table. A real shame I didn't have my camera with me. Anyways, this was the first time I got into touch with wargaming the ACW. I have to admit that it did look really good. To be honest it's a period that never really grasped my attention and I'm still trying to work up a real enthusiastic interest in the conflict. No all that dashing uniforms, no all that exotic formations, hardly any proper cavalry, one side seemingly overwhelmingly superior in morality, manpower, equipment and infrastructure. Have I mentioned that I collect a Confederate army? All that being said, as I started reading stuff, researching stuff and so on things slowly started to get more interesting.
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Throwing Rocks
Why did I start the whole project then? Well, a bunch of the local historical wargaming guys are getting something ACW set up in 28mm. There is an overabundance of Union troops around already so the rebels needed some support which is where I came into play. And it's not like I'd turn down an opportunity to buy new toys. ;)
The rules sets are manifold: Foundry's Bull Run to Gettysburg, Generale de Brigade based Guns at Gettysburg, Black Powder and the then recently released Longstreet by Sam Mustafa. The first one we used with the one ACW game I had and it works rather well. Since then we tried many more.
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The arrival of the first slew of models also helped the enthusiasm for the whole project a fair amount:
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Of course I'm going with the Perry plastics because if you get the option you got with Perrys. Unless it's Napoleonics, in that case Victrix are worth a look of course. ;) Anyway, I got two boxes of their generic ACW infantry and two boxes of their ACW cavalry, starting out small for starters. I got those rather cheaply second-hand which is nice. That's also the reason why I went for the generic ACW infantry rather than the Confederate infantry box. For dismounted cavalry I got the Perry metals and snuck in some converted plastic figures. The big argument in favour of 28mm ACW of course is that you can get almost everything you need in plastic. I'm by no means someone who will automatically go for plastics over metals or think that plastics are generally superior minis to metals, beause we all know that this is just bullhockey. That being said, Perrys plastics usually are really nice.
So right after the arrival of the first bunch of models I put together two units and started painting them (because I know no restraint what so ever):
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The general plan for units was thus: infantry on 40x40mm bases (4 models to a base) and 6 bases to a regiment, cavalry on 50x50mm bases with 2 models to a base and also 6 bases to a unit. Artillery bases as seen fit, one gun plus crew to a base.
The painting on the first two units proceeded quickly....
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...and a few days later they were done proper! After a bunch of reading I had somehow developed an interest in Louisiana particularly. Of course this has a bit to do with the famous Louisiana Tiger Zouaves, but in large parts with the fact that Louisiana had one of the big urban centres of the South with an important harbor and all those French and Spanish influences. Also: they got a pelican for their coat of arms. So I ended up with these:
14th Louisiana Regiment (a.k.a. "1st Polish Brigade". In fact it was a wild mix of all kinds of foreign types from around the New Orleans area. There were Polish, Italians, Germans, Russians and so on, many of them having been seamen or dock workers prior. They were an unruly bunch and Col. Victor Sulakowski kept morale somewhat intact with a heavy hand. I read episodes of some guys from his camp who, after drunken rioting, were on their way to a nearby jail, overpowered their guards, came after them to some hotel in which they were barricaded up. The men proceeded to pile up furniture and lumber in front of the locked door to set the hotel on fire. Just in time Sulakowski turned up, pistol in each of his hands, threatening to shoot every single one of them if they proceeded. Another situation had him hacking at drunk rioters [again] from his regiment with a sabre from horseback. Following such incidents an ad-hoc disciplinary commission was set up, including "the great woman spy, Miss Belle Boyd", looking into the number and circumstances of all those cases of executions and unruly behavior of the men. Sulakowski and some of his officers who were also on trial were found to have acted correctly and honourably and things went on from there):
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3rd Louisiana Regiment (Col. Hebert's. Certainly less colourful than the above, which also is reflected in their outfits and pose. As I plan to base my bunch loosely on Hay's Brigade these don't quite fit in but oh well. They got the right state flag and fight northern aggression so they'll be fine. I'm also planning to have a fictional brigade commander too for campaigns and suchso things get a bit fantasy-ish anyhow):
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So yeah, that's the start of it all and I'll post some more updates soon! Hope you enjoy it so far and stay tuned.