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Forum > Age of the Big Battalions
What size for an 'essential' ACW collection - a "final" plan?
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FifteensAway:
Helping sell off a massive estate of miniatures collection has thoroughly invigorated my resolve to bring my own collection into a more manageable size, not by reducing periods but by reducing total numbers of figures within a period. This will be occurring on multiple fronts.
I have both painted and unpainted, a Very Large collection of 15 mm ACW figures, both sides. Time to reduce, at a minimum, which might keep the reduced part of the collection in my possession. A big part of the goal is to reduce storage space needed. And to avoid the insanity I am seeing with the estate sale - it is very possible that a hundred pounds, maybe a couple hundred pounds of figures will end up being nothing more than "fishing weights" from the estate.
I like the idea of having an "army" for both sides with brigades, divisions, and corps to build that army - but stylized to keep the numbers down.
I'm sure I will keep the unit sizes at 18 figures (currently at 24 + mounted colonel with a foot figure) to match my rules of choice, Rank and File.
What I am seeking input on is how many regiments to form a brigade, will three regiments be enough or should it be four regiments in a brigade?
Same question for the cavalry brigades, but possibly as few as two regiments to form a brigade? Thoughts?
I am less concerned with it all being historically correct, that can be varied for a specific scenario with what is ultimately kept.
I already know I will keep it at two brigades per division, and two divisions to a corps, with two corps to form an army. I will also add at least a division of cavalry to each army. And the north will get a reinforced division of colored troops beyond the basic army - or at least a brigade with cavalry and artillery.
I am thinking for the CSA, one brigade of gray over blue, another of gray over brown, one of just zouaves/tigers, and one of all butternut, and then more of gray over blue. Take at least eight brigades to form the army as described above.
For the USA, there will be basic brigades of blue over light blue, the Iron brigade, the Irish brigade, maybe the Pennsylvania bucktails, a Zouave brigade, and a naval/marine brigade (at least in part).
I don't need to buy a single figure - at all - to make this happen. Just need to reduce some of the already painted and paint a few units to mix in.
432 figures for 3 regiment brigades, 576 figures for 4 regiment brigades - double those numbers for both USA and CSA, plus the additional figures for the union, 864 or 1152, plus cavalry and artillery, casualties and generals, etc.
Thank you for your input.
PS: Yes, I know the zouaves and other specialty units were unlikely to form brigades, the above is more to guide building a visually enjoyable collection - and to avoid some of the tedium of the same units over and over paintingwise.
kingsmt:
All I can say, my friend, is "Good Luck".
Norm:
I am trying to build up ACW forces at the moment (28mm), so to get some early games in, I am going for 3 regiment Brigades and will want 3 - 4 brigades per side in total, representing 1 division.
Once I get enough regiments to do the above, I will increase either one or two brigades to 4 regiments in size, just for flexibility in coping with a wider variety of scenarios.
Amongst all of that, each side will just have 1 regiment of Zouaves as a representational thing and each side has one cavalry regiment, that at the end of building everything else, I might upgrade to two cavalry regiments.
I quite like the idea of having a ‘contained’ army, simply because it fits my table, my storage space and allows for other contained armies from other periods to also be owned.
FifteensAway:
Norm, sounds like a good plan.
And Kingsmt, nice to hear from you.
I think what I need is someone to 'figuratively' whack me over the head with a rubber mallet and yell at me, "You fool, you don't need that many figures! Go smaller."
The good side of this is I already have a lot painted. Just trying to get more rational in the overall size. Or just plain sell the lot and focus on other areas. Like the AWI - which Kingsmt will appreciate!
vtsaogames:
Keep the numbers down? Three regiments per brigade then, two cavalry.
Another choice for variation in painting Union troops: the Vermont brigade had grey trousers.
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