Not mine, yours, if you please.
I've amassed and am now ready to start working on a prodigious collection of wild west and plains war figures in 15 mm and am looking for ideas beyond my own imagination on how to put these to use. Let's start with a run down of what I have:
CAVALRY
The 7th cav, 12 troops plus command
Provisional Regiment of cav, one battalion each of 2nd, 4th, and 9th (2nd and 4th generic and, of course, the 9th can also be the 10th)
One Brigade HQ company and HQ command plus two Army supply wagons, a pack mule train, a herd of horse as remounts, and a herd of beef cattle as provision on the hoof
two troops of native scouts
two limbers with attendant gatling guns
And a garrison for a fort - (artillery and crews and infantry can be borrowed from my ACW)
FRIENDLY LOCAL NATIVE FOLK
360 mounted plains warriors (8 groups of northern plains and two groups for southern - apache, etc)
288 foot warriors (as above)
258 villagers (twelve groups of 36 each for separate villages and the balance with travois to represent a village on the move)
36 wigwams and other bits and pieces to make 6 separate villages (or one really big one)
a pony herd of 72 horses
a buffalo herd of 108 beaties
a pronghorn antelope herd of 24 or 36(?) beasties
near two dozen deer
and a pack of wolves
ABOVE THE LINE TALENT (for you hollywood type)
Marshall, Sheriff, Reservation Police; Rangers, Pinkertons, Scouts; Magnanimous Dozen, Cowpokes, Hardluck Cowboys; Range Boss, Gun Hands, Rustlers; Mexicans, Comancheros, Desperadoes; Outlaws, Robbers, Bandits
- these all are in groups of twelve with mounted, dismounted, and dead figures, plus enough standing horses to represent each stands horses when dismounted (one for three) -
"INNOCENT" BYSTANDERS (by the gross, more or less)
The Rollers:
Horse drawn wagon train, ox drawn wagon train, two different stage companies represented by 4 stages, the freighting company with the hearst annex, trainmen (to crew the train), stevedores (to load the train), and a yard crew (to mow the grass on their roofs
)
The Out of Towners:
Prospectors, Miners, Trading Post, outstation, farm one, farm two, ranch one, ranch two, shepherds, and pioneers
Upstanding Folk:
Town Fathers, Tophats and Undertakers, Speculators, Mormons (?), Shopkeepers, Shopping Women, Women and Girls, Children, Passengers (for the train or stage), Armed Men
Working Stiffs:
Civilians including blacksmith, Workmen, Townsmen one, Townsmen two, Hangtown to include the preacher, Militia, Militant Veterans, Lost Expedition (some naval types), Working Celebrants (stay tuned below), Armed Women
Ethnics (oh, don't start, its just a descriptive
):
Shaolin temple crew, Chinese Men, Chinese women and children, Freedmen, Freed women and children, Mexican men, Mexican women and children, Native Indians in town (breeds?), Native women and children in town, and Missionaries
Libations and Ladies:
Barmen, Gamblers, Saloon one, Saloon two, Serving wenches, Drunks, Card players one, card players two, Dance hall girls, and Temperance Marchers
-- these are all in groups of twelve but not more than one in five are armed, if that, plus there are some more recent arrivals that will add a few more groups - some fancy ladies - on the right side of the track (maybe), figures to make a snake oil salesman wagon and a traveling photographers crew - and, hey, just though of this one, the crooked governor (with a mistriss
)...
and then there is Sister Veronica and her two pack mules (perhaps it is only a rumor that she sometimes goes by Veronica Voluptous-but I've got the two figures, just in case!)
And then there is the town I'm building - currently named Anachronism but that may change as may the territory where it's located, Jodaho. And I've got a model of the Far West and other riverboats. Train is the one thing still not solidified but I'm working on that.
So, if that didn't exhaust your interest, toss out ideas on how to use this collection. The genesis of this, by the way, was Hallelujah Trail so ideas with tongue in cheek are gladly entertained. You may have noticed that the basic unit for all is 12 figures and basing will be three to a base. The cavalry has one for one dismounts. Lots and lots of casualty figures (two per group except for those ego happy Talent above the line), plus a plentitude of dead horses, also many dozen cacti and plans to build a mine (copper or lead?). Owe, I forgot the herd of longhorns - 48 but can jump to 72 by borrowing some Zulu style cattle. And a herd of sheep as well as other animals to stock the farms and ranches.
Ideas, ideas, ideas, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure we can all come up with the obvious but what about the more imaginative?
I do plan on a convention game to be entitled "The Whole Wild West - All At Once"
That is, if I get all painted before my bones turn to dust!
Damn, that pile is intimidating.