"Project ACW in miniature" Topic

I am a traditionally a Napoleonic's collector/player. I had started my ACW some time back in 15mm. Now that Historicon has come and passed and with it my 9 mo. 200th anniversary project for it, I hope to restart again in to build Armies in the next few months.
With some support of wisdom from the wealth of gamers from the TMP, I hope to have a solid master plan.
The goal (job) will be to have the elegant mass effect that the smaller scales can provide, along with a more simple ( paint through qty faster/less effort and still look great at 2 feet away) paint scheme that should go with the smaller figure. My typical Napoleonics at 15mm fall in the 7.5-8.5 range of paint quality – (good but not nearly to some of the extremely talented painters out their like Rafa A at 9.8-10.0 range) but are very slow to complete. My current Confederate force is 15mm of OG and stone mountain painted and ~2x qty unpainted which I plan to sell for my initial funds.
Rules are still not concrete yet but I have most familiarity with OBFnF and may stick with it (go in the 150 scale play so individual unique regimental units may become represented).
I am good on OOBs to build too

What Figures?:
My first request of the TMPers is the scale. I see fabulous figs offer in 10mm with Bill's Good Ground miniatures and Pendragon. Then there is the 6mm with Baccus and Adler( I am very familiar with).

1) Which would get the job done the best and why.

What Uniformalogy?:
I have only one old osprey book on the confederate army.
I have seen in late in the TMP that, with exception to the transition period for the supply system and some other excepts during the years of campaigning, the Confederate army was clothed better and more consistently to the several shades of gray than first thought.

2) So I was wondering what is the better updated sources to look at/for to determine uniforms, that would need to be considered in the figure purchase, and best guide in the painting scheme.

Period impact of uniform?:
I believe there were essentially three periods of importance. Early war 61/62 with the many militias & Nat guards, transition ( Butternut and gray) and the standardization ( typical to regulations).
3) Clarification to this would be the third question I have.

Flags:
Did all units carry a battle/Nat flag and a state flag? And for all periods? These are questions in this area I will need to answer soooooo…
4) What sources are best to research to capture this sufficiently to determine best course of action?

Thank you for your kindly support to the launch of this life long project.

MG

For your last question, the Union regiments did carry both the National flag and a regimental or state flag. Most of the Confederate units only carried one flag and what type depended on period and theater. There are a number of good reference books and web sites on flags and uniforms.

Good luck!

Jim

For the figs it depends a bit on what type of gaming you want, although I would guess Grand Tactical and both 10mm and 6mm work well for Grand Tactical. I have used 6mm and like them but most of my ACW are 15mm. That being said if I were to do it again (jump back 25 years) it would probably be in 10mm

There are a lot of ACW sites – here is one for Union uniforms

link

I have pretty much all the Ospreys – if you have a specific question, be happy to look it up for you

When I started ACW gaming it was with generic infantry brigades on each side (Union blues, Confederate grey and butternut)

Here is a link to a great 10mm blog. Has comparison pictures of major 10mm lines as well as fantastic AAR.

oncampaign.blogspot.com

I personally game 10mm as well.

Duane

You can find a wealth of great figures in all scales.

In 10mm I am partial to the Old Glory line. link The figures come in strips, marching shoulder to shoulder. It makes for great looking units. My gaming buddy has large armies in this scale, which we use to fight grand tactical battles using his home-brew variant of "Republique."

My own armies are 15/18mm Blue Moon, which I think are some of the best ACW figures in any scale. I pack them in tight on their bases, so I still get the grand scale look.

I too have read all the posts on Confederate uniforms, and I am not sold. There are just so many primary source accounts of Confederates dressed in a wide variety of uniforms to be ignored. Honestly, I think the best sources are historical art painters. Pick up Don Troiani's and Keith Rocco's books on the Civil War to see their interpretations of Confederate dress. I make my units very motley. It does take longer to paint, but they look more like MY idea of Confederates.

If you want interesting battles, you are best off focusing on 1862-3. 1861 saw almost no serious large scale fighting. By 1864 the battlefield was dominated by field fortifications.

All federal units carried national and state flags. The national flag goes to the right (as the unit is facing the enemy). Confederates usually carried just one flag, usually the Confederate battle flag. Some units also carried a state flag (and in this case the STATE flag goes to the unit's right), but this was rare.

Another reason for considering 15/18mm is that GMB makes a beautiful range of flags.

You don't write what rules you are considering. Do you already have some in mind? For tactical battles, I recommend Regimental Fire and Fury, which has given us many enjoyable battles.

I'm not sure about all Federal units carrying two flags, IIRC the 20th Me didn't.

I agree with most of the above. Personally I would choose 10mm over 6mm. For me 6mm is just too small. From 2 feet away the regiments end up looking like bumpy counters while 10mm still has a "figure" look.

'Bumpy counters' my a…………….

I've found 10mm better than 6 as I can paint them up to 15mm standards.
My blog
zealandbayonets.blogspot.com
is devoted to wargaming in 10mm with lot of pictures.

Leon, those are lovely.

Duane

Thanks guys for your replies!
I still do not know what uniformology resources I should seek/purchase to clarify what the uniforms that must be considered for a period of interest to determine which figure sets to buy, once I decide on the scale.
There must such, on more recent information, beyond that of the ospreys?

MG

The old Blanford gives a lot of the basic stuff and is around fairly cheap, theres a lot of newer Ospreys on the subject ( often to be seen in the second hand section at shows) but not familiar with them.
Plenty of enthusiast web sources out there too.
L

Ospreys are quite good. Remember that as the war progressed, troops dropped their fancy uniforms and wore blue or gray.
You can do 80% of your US troops in standard dark blue/sky blue outfit, while 95% of your CS army in different shades of grey/grey blue and beige, just as shown on Scomac's photos above.

Leon

Those look very nice. How do they look from 2 feet away, not backlit and with a green/brown background?

Dan,
they look very nice anytime, any place ( cue Martini advert music) but you might need to get closer to see the whites of their eyes……….
L

That's funny

Duane