"Naming fictional ACW regiments" Topic

We are going to do a multi game fictional battle, as this will allow us to attach all the interesting rules to units. What do people think I should do about regimental names? Just appropriate them and not care what the historical named unit was like?

Just pull them out of a hat. It's fictional; it doesn't matter. If the campaign is based on anything historical, it is easy enough to pull unit identifiers out of OoB.

znerk

One of the charms of the ACW is that you have so much sheer Americana to play with. Why waste that opportunity?

34th Ohio, The Toledo Pork Belly Exchange Regiment
18th Kansas, Logan's Looters
313th NJ, Atlantic City Giant Grenadiers (2nd Atlantic City German Volunteers)
294th NY, The Long Island Sanitation Engineer Zouaves
23rd Wisc, The Lumberjacks
14th Alabama, Secession Guards
23 Ark, Razorbacks
35th Tenn, Sucks County Lincoln Sodomizers
42 Miss, Logan's Looters
etc.

The Chicago Board of Trade Battery…

The 15th Alaska and the 44th Puerto Rico.

My personal favorite is Co. A of the 23rd Georgia, the Bartow County Yankee Killers. I agree with Zippy, use bits of the real names

Patton's Legion

NY Brewers Brigade

Zeppelin's Zauves

Burnside's Smarter Brother's Brigade

I know of a campaign in which local towns were used as names much as above, but my favourite was the Virginia Hams.

1st San Francisco, "The Queens Own".

Also the New York Bagels and the Chicago Pizzas and of course the Georgia Onmyminds.

For our ACW campaign we cheerfully made up regimental names/nicknames and histories

Build a few charts based on which region your fighting in, then dice for the results. Roll separately for state then Regiment number.

A brigade of Pittsburgh steel mill workers: The Ironic Brigade.

My own Civil War Game, "Magnolia's Mint Julepz N' Gritz" is a one page both sides adaptation of Don Featherstone's Game. I have cast this game into the realm of "Imagi- Nations" where the two armies are named after the food the corrupt contractors have given them. So the Union Army is the Onion Army of the Passaic, commanded by General Sterling Silver Service, so called because the silver services seem to disappear from each Southern Plantation he liberates. The other side is the "Cornfederates" under General Holden McGroin. Also getting into the story are their fiancé's Miss Belle Starbuck for Service and Miss Fidelia De Leigh for the Cornfederates. The rebel yell for the Cornfederates is "Fiddle De Deee!"

Anyway I don't have too many regimental names, I concentrate on the Brigade commanders that make up both armies.

For the Onion Army there is

Gen. I.M. Worthless' Brigade
Gen. Abnegation Doubleplay's Brigade.
Gen. Moe Howard's Brigade
Gen. Custard's Brigade
Gen. Schicklegrubers Militia Brigade (Damn! Dutchmen!)
Gen. Paddy O'Bock's Irish Brigade.
Gen. Casey Jones Railroad brigade and Tunnell Train.
Gen. Lothario (Lo) Blow's Artillery Reserve
Gen. Willy Nillie's Brigade.

On the Cornfederate Side

Gen. Uriah Stuckee's Brigade (acting commander, Col. Sanders
Gen. Stoned head Jerkson's Brigade
Gen. Jubal Jujubee's Brigade
Gen. R.S.V.P. Sase's Brigade
Gen. Mushmouth's Brigade
Gen. Punkinpuss' Brigade
Gen. Jonathan Hunt Ketchup's Brigade
Gen. Forest Tucker's Brigade

In the campaign system, there's a complex iteration, but you get to chose the battles you want to fight at. The battles are named..

Bulldung Run (FirstBull run)
Shinola (Shiloh)
Second Molasses (2nd Bull Run)
Aunti-Tum's Creek (Antietem
Grittysburg. Gettysburg
Fredericksburg of Hollywood (Fredericsburg)
Chumpchangeville (Chancellorsville)
Peckersburg (Petersburg)
Freemuff'sboro (Murfrees boro)
Chattahoochiecoochie (ChattanoogaO
Chickehammenahammennahammena (Chicamagua)
Vickis Burgers (Vicksburg)
Gnoshville (Nashville)
Mylanta (Atlanta)
New Oilins (New Orleans)
Fort Sumppump (Fort Sumpter)
The Valley Girl Campaign. (Jackson in the Valley)
The Drive on Santa Claus (Shelby's operations in the far west)
If it's Tuesday this must be Marvin Gardens (Seven Days)
Gen.

Friend of mine painted up the "Fighting 69th San Francisco" with some very non-PC scenario rules for their deployment on the field.

We have used names of whiskys and liquors, such as the Tennessee Sour Mash Regiment, led by Col. Jack Daniels. Another favorite were names of well-known universities.

I must admit I hadn't thought of actual names,I was thinking of regimental numbers.

Thoughts on numbers!!!

If you're going with numbers then the sky's the limit; you could have the 101st Vermont if you wanted. :)

I have hazy memories of an ACW game I participated in that was part of a campaign where all the states were fictional, either made up or pull from other media. I think my brigade had regiments from Newmont, Gotham and Arkham, IIRC.

-Will

Ohio 57th (Heinz Irregulars)?

I think I'm going to name after State capitals rather than states!

It is only a hobby and they are your armies so you can name them what you want. Just need to point that they were almost (hate to use the word all) all named after the state they came from or Regulars. Would very well have nicknames though as in Bucktails, Fire Zouves, and the like.

444th NY, the regiment from the Red Badge of Courage.

666 Massachusetts Miskatonic Valley Volunteers Col Jupiter Pickman commanding

Don't know why you would just makeup regiments? This is a great opportunity to paint some specific real regiments that wore unique uniforms, even if they wore them only a few times.

Well for beginners or new to the period like me its adding a little flavour to generic units. I quite like the idea.

I luv those Logans looters but possibly for a Confederate cavalry unit:)

Well that's not quite the same thing. I have a mounted cavalry unit, that I call the "1st Missouri Rifles". As far as I know there never was a regiment named that.

I use it to represent units like Quantrill's Raiders or William "Bloody Bill" Anderson's bunch. The figures are Friekorps 15, "Missouri Border Raiders". I tried to paint them as period as I could.

This is different form the OP. I don't know why but it is. It took some research to get that unit right.

Other than that I don't really see a reason just to make up names out of the clear. Just use the names of actual units. It's not that hard to do. Goodness knows there are plenty OBs available. Just find a brigade that sounds interesting. Maybe one or two regiments with an interesting uniform.

I'm fighting a completely fictional battle. I'm actually using Town and City names, instead of states.