Getting Started in 10mm ACW

[Jemima Fawr]

Six months ago I 'put my foot down with a firm hand' and mentally banned myself for starting any new wargames projects...

OK, maybe only a small skirmishy-type project.  Absolutely no mass armies...
 
Yeah...

So here's my new ACW project... 

http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2018/06/08/absolutely-no-more-new-wargame-projects-6-months-later-my-new-10mm-acw-project/

[DintheDin]

I'm always happy when I see somebody creating an army at 10mm!
15 years before I have finished 10mm ACW armies, two corps level Union and one Reb and we had hours and hours of exciting wargaming with my friends, something that I wish for you! Good luck to your project, I'll be following!

[Jemima Fawr]

Cheers DtD!

Yes, I'm excited to be getting the project under way at last!  Doubly so, as the first corps was painted so quickly, despite a couple of 'fancy' units.  The US XI and XII Corps should be very straightforward, as there are no fancy units, just wall-to-wall blue.

I'm still waiting for Pendraken to deliver the Rebs, so I'm making a start on the scenery in the meantime.  I anticipate the Rebs to be a bit more of a challenge - I'm very much a 'batch' uniform painter, so not very keen on 'random' colours.  I think I might paint them in batches of the same colours, but then not base them until I've got a few hundred finished, then mix them up for basing to get that 'random variation' look.

[Khmorg]

Looks impressive. And I'm glad that you started this project. I'm very interested in this project and I'll follow the progress.

But I have a question.Why does not the infantry order have a high density? Why people in the rank do not stand shoulder to shoulder. And how many fiigures will be in one regiment? Will it be possible to make battalions on different stands?

[FierceKitty]

I love Pendraken 10mm (and yours look smashing, btw), but if you're really economising, watch out for Newline's 4-for-3 sales. Their figures are very compatible with the others, though limited.

[Jemima Fawr]

Looks impressive. And I'm glad that you started this project. I'm very interested in this project and I'll follow the progress.

But I have a question.Why does not the infantry order have a high density? Why people in the rank do not stand shoulder to shoulder. And how many fiigures will be in one regiment? Will it be possible to make battalions on different stands?

Cheers!  Gad you're enjoying it.

Re the troop-density; That's purely an aesthetic choice, as I like the 'looser' look for the ACW than in my Napoleonics.  It's not just me though, as the 'three figures per base' standard is how it's portrayed in the Fire & Fury rulebook.  A lot of people go for a denser look, but I'm a cheapskate...

Re the number of figures per unit: At the moment I'm purely working my way through the Gettysburg orbat, so the Union I Corps has units 10, 9, 8 and 7 bases strong.  The vast majority of these will be in Boring Blue, so can be entire mixed and matched for other scenarios.

[Jemima Fawr]

I love Pendraken 10mm (and yours look smashing, btw), but if you're really economising, watch out for Newline's 4-for-3 sales. Their figures are very compatible with the others, though limited.

Cheers!  I didn't know Newline did 10mm - I always thought of them as being dyed-in-the-wool 20mm merchants.  A mate of mine was just raving about their 20mm Zulu Wars stuff, so I'll ask him to get me some 10mm samples.

[Jemima Fawr]

The lowdown on my first Union Corps: http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2018/06/09/glory-glory-hallelujah-part-1-building-a-10mm-union-army-for-the-acw/

[fred]

Liking the progress on these. For periods with simple uniforms 10mm is so fast to paint. I’ve just done some ECW dragoons and they were so quick to paint. Whereas some LoA dragoons have taken ages due to complex uniforms and lace.

I do like the method of building a force based on a single battle - allows you to do the historical research and get flags and other details right. But then you happily use these figures for all battles.

[Jemima Fawr]

Cheers!  Yes, as mentioned, I work best when working toward a clear objective, so the Phase 1 objective will be Day 1 at Gettysburg, Phase 2 will be the Round Tops and Phase 3 will be Pickett's Charge.  Once that's done, I should have pretty much everything I need, barring a few odds and sods such as more cavalry for both sides, heavy artillery and fortifications, which I will probably do along the way, in order to break up the monotony.

Just making a start on the Rebs now! 

[smirnoff]

Great stuff
I admire your will of lead, I've got one of those too.
Look forward to seeing the Rebs

[Jemima Fawr]

The first batch of 33 Rebs is done.  I'm happy with them and they weren't too painful - around 50% longer to paint than the Union infantry, but I was expecting them to take at least twice as long, so that's ok.

The next batch is nearly done and is in lighter shades of grey.  The third batch will be in butternut browns and then I'll mix them all up before basing.

[DintheDin]

This is an interesting procedure and I'm eager to see your Rebs when they will be mixed all up.
Usually, I was working with batches of 48, using enamels mixed with painter's oils so they could last longer. I was making two "daisy" palettes, one with grey hues and one with butternuts, painting one hat or coat here, one pair of trousers or bandolier there, sometimes not cleaning my brush, so that rarely two figures were alike. Finally the weapons and the accoutrements watching if I missed something... Probably taking longer than your method, but for me the results were very satisfactory, having the control that each base has a unique non-uniformity       

[armchairgeneral]

Looking forward to seeing the Rebs based up 

[Jemima Fawr]

DtD,

That's interesting.  I was scratching my head for quite a while, trying to work out a method for randomness!   

The second batch are finished now and the third batch are under the brush.  Thus far it's taking me 1.5 painting sessions to get a batch done, compared to a single session for each Union unit.  However, I'm not going to be able to paint again until this time next week, so they won't be finished and based before the 23rd, sorry!