"Best ACW battle to start a new collection around" Topic

In your opinion, which single ACW battle would be the best to use to frame a new collection starting from scratch?

Possible criteria:
Balance of armies/chance to win.
Representiveness of period/armies

Probably in 10mm. Rules shortlist includes [R]F&F, OTR and Bull Run to Gettysburg.

I like Antietem…

When I began my collection a few years ago, I looked at cavalry engagements to force myself to amass good blocks of cav units. It was a toss up between Brandywine Station and Miner Creek; which in the end I chose Miner Creek as rebel forces outnumbered the Feds and had large numbers fighting dismounted as well as 12 artillery pieces.
Since then I have added infantry( zouaves, and others) and union artillery. I also should add I made a nice terrain board with a stream that lends itself nicely to other battles since it has modular terrain and I had the foresight to make additional end boards to expand the battlefield.
I would recommend a similar approach, finding forces and a battle you can get enthusiastic about makes the collecting and modelling much more awarding!

Stonewall's Valley Campaigns may be a good start – relatively smaller forces etc.

I started with New Market and the vmi cadets (liked the history of everything from the cadets to a former US Vice President as a commander) – then moved on to Perryville and now Franklin

But also agree Stonewall's Valley Campaign is a good start as well

while antietam is indeed a very interesting battle,for many game systems, its not a "workable" battle. heres what i mean:
alot of the regiments/brigades, esp. the rebs, were tiny. in a game like johnny reb(any of the 3 versions. and i'm a big JR fan), they can't stand after taking even a few casulties. and in the real battle, they stood their ground.
same for morale. in most games, when the unit gets shot up some, its morale falls. in game, it can't stand. IRL, they stood.
its hard to represent a 80 man regiment. or a brigade of 5 regiments with 270 between them.
i'd say go with gettysburg. not the whole battle, just the first or second day. many agree both armies were are there best, in morale and in numbers, at gettysburg. and there are any number of fights, both big brigade actions and small regiment vs regiment fights, in the first 2 days to keep you interested for a long time.

Plum Point Bend. Quick to collect, paint and can be quick to play. The forces are balanced, the times I've run it we have had equal results. Plus there are some spectacular models available from Thoroughbred and Bay Area Yards.

Gettysburg. Everything you want in a battle.

Hi,

I started 15 month ago witt ACW and painted now 1st Bull run in 25mm. I started with the CSA and than the union. Last month have I painted the rest for Blackburn Fort.

For me was it logic to start with the first battle in the war. All nice units are there like the Louisiana Tigers and Garibaldi Guards, Alexandria Rifels, Black Horse Cav… Ect… I took the Cardgame from Columbia/ Dixie Bull Run and painted all the units accordingly.

Was a perfect start for me…
Now I take a look what I need to paint for Shiloh.
Greetings and have fun

I recommend that you start small with something like the Battle of Mill Springs.

I took the Cardgame from Columbia/ Dixie Bull Run and painted all the units accordingly.
>>
OooooH I hope you didn't..
Not a very accurate resource if I do say so…

Bob

Chancellorsville.
Not too early, not too late.

OOOOPS!

Good to know after ca. 600 Figures painted!

@95th: can you point out the errors per card than I would repaint/ reflag my figures. Thanks for the support.

Greetings and have fun

The theater and time period will dictate your choice of flags and your Reb unis. I think the grays in the west were generally lighter. For me it doesn't matter. I like a mix of stuff and when I eventually get to where I can field a large battle it will look weird with some stars and bars flags from the east and trans Miss, but I don't care.

One easy way to start is with the DBA variant DBAcw. It gives a surprisingly good game that even "feels" right. It is somewhat abstract, but will let you paint up just a few figures a side and still get a fun game. It uses 40mmwide stands so you might just tack your figs to temporary bases while you amass troops for a larger battle.

Incidentally, I base all my horse & musket periods 2 15mm figs per 20x15mm deep base. I use metal bases and then make movement trays out of sheet magnet when I'm using other rules.

2nd day at Gettysburg. Longstreet's two divisions and Union 3rd corps would be a great start. You even get sharpshooters and zouaves for the Yanks.

My army is generic. I can change a label and the unit can become any unit I need for any battle I do. But I am interested first in the game not uniform accuracy. Uniforms are a snapshot in time.

Generic is the way to go, really.

However, if you want a well balanced battle with a reasonable amount of variety, I would recommend Chickamuga.

Both sides are fairly balanced. Most brigades are about the same size.

A good variety of units. On the Union side you have the Lightning Brigade of mounted infantry, with repeating rifles. So does the 39th Indiana Mounted Infantry. You have the Regular Brigade, though at this point of the war I wouldn't rate them any better than the volunteers. The 21st Ohio had revolving (repeating) rifles. A good variety of regimental flags, and cool brigade, division, and corps level designating flags. Cavalry divisions are only two brigades each.

On the Confederate side, you have a wide, wide range of different flags. Polk pattern flags, Hardee pattern flags, 1st National Flags, and ANV flags. You can paint up Longstreet's men from the ANV in more or less uniform medium blue jackets and light blue pants, with a good mix of other colored pants thrown in. Then you have stand out units like the Orphan Brigade, and the Texas Brigade. Forrest's Cavalry Corps played a major part in the battle. Pegram's 2-brigade division would be relatively easy to paint up.

A large, evenly matched battle with a lot of variety in the troops.

You can find a lot of information below, as well as a complete Order of Battle.

link

In addition, there is a good scenario book with a complete Order of Battle, tailored to miniatures, and lots of scenarios.

link

I second the 2nd day of Gettysburg using Longstreets corps. I have done it in 15mm, 25mm, and 40mm. When I get around to it I will start 6mm and 10mm using that order of battle.

VR
James Mattes

I usually have gone with a Western Theatre battle backdrop.(Chickamauga,Murfreesboro-aka Stone's River,Shiloh,etc.)

Why bother with a particular battle? ACW is so generic that troops in the East can fight in any battle at nearly any time. Likewise troops in the West.

If you have zouaves or the Iron Brigade, only then are you limiting yourself to specific battles. Even then, every gamer must have the Iron Brigade fight in every battle--I think it's a law or something. ;-)

So just make some generic units and don't get the knickers in bind. :-)

"@95th: can you point out the errors per card than I would repaint/ reflag my figures."

I'm sure Bob will chime in but just let me say this: Throw the cards in a box somewhere and forget them. Use REAL reference material and research. Some of the cards might be fine and some are wrong. There is little point going card by card. I did a basic and generic guide on my blog (below). That will get you started. It is generic so it will apply to 1862-65 for both sides. There are no silly early war uniforms there though.

Don

actionfront.blogspot.com

"Who ever saw a dead cavalryman?"

Either the Opequon or Cedar Creek, 1864, Sheridan vs. Early in the Valley.

@ d effinger …

Enjoyed reading your blog and found your post regarding Union uniforms a very good read, thank you!

Either of the valley campaigns: Jackson in '62 or Early in '64.

Perryville remains a favorite from the west.

GamesPoet,

You are welcome. Glad you like it.

I actually just updated it today. It's a painting update.

Don

I'll check it out.

- – -

Still got time on the editing clock …

Looks like you've been making an effort on those color bearers. Way to go!

And now I digress … by the way, the bit on the Tremain book was good to know. I've always bought books and stayed away from Kindle. Then found out I could get Parkman's book on Frontenac for free! I was stunned, but it lured me in. It felt like I should be paying. Now I've actually been tempted to buy others, but haven't yet.

Thanks very much everyone.

I am building around Gettysburg but also focusing on having mostly generic troops. What I have done is produce extra command stands with various state flags, so I can switch out which regiment a group is just by changing that one stand.

When I get bored with generic units, I paint up a few stands of something different such as Zouaves or a cavalry unit. Since I get bored often, I'll end up with a variety of uniforms and even bend a little on timelines to do so. My Irish Brigade has some of the early uniform flash, gray pants and green cuffs IIRC though those uniforms would have worn out long before 1963.

I also vote generic because it provides more flexibility. However if you are looking for a pocket sized action in the east later in the war, I believe New Market is a good candidate. I also like vojvoda's idea of doing a smaller portion of a larger battle.