mysteron | 04 Nov 2015 4:37 a.m. PST |
Got the rule set Guns at Gettysburg- Check Picking the Perry's Battle box up tonight- birthday present from the Mrs – Check Info on the confederate uniforms from your goodselves- Check So how is it best to organise the units? Do you guys chose generic ? Actual Regiments and brigade them as you please depending on your game requirements ? Or do you stick rigidly to actual brigades with the correct regiments within them ? Or a combination of all of the above ? Some pointers and ideas would be appreciated Cheers guys |
CATenWolde | 04 Nov 2015 4:54 a.m. PST |
The ACW is a war where it is easy to have your cake and eat it too … by which I mean, you can be perfectly historically accurate by collecting the bulk of your figures in fairly "generic" uniforms, but then have some fun by throwing in more specific uniforms for special regiments. This is admittedly easier for the Union, with their multiplicity of Zouaves and so on, but for Confederates you can also throw in a few units in special uniform issues – nothing is stopping you from painting a regiment all in kepis and nice, new dark grey coats and contrasting lighter gray trousers, because somewhere that regiment existed as it marched from depot, even if only for a few weeks. You can also have fun by painting a variety of command stands with various flag options – here the CSA has the edge, with their collection of state and army flags and the transition from the first national flag (my personal favorite) to the battle flag of the ANV. I would be (and was) practical about it – paint enough easy, generic units to get started gaming, and then throw in the "specials" as you enlarge your collection. Cheers, Christopher |
avidgamer | 04 Nov 2015 5:05 a.m. PST |
So how is it best to organise the units? Do you guys chose generic ? ---No I don't… yes, sort of. I paint lots of bases of generic guys to go with any sort of generic regiment in both eastern and western regiments. Not including the command stand I usually paint up 24 riflemen per regiment and then move on. I wanted to start playing and get something on the table and this seemed to me to be the most sensible thing to do. Later I expanded the extra stands once I had sizeable brigades for both sides. Actual Regiments and brigade them as you please depending on your game requirements ? ---I pic my favorite brigades and regiments (Usually eastern) and get those flags. In the 'command' stands I use specific specs for uniforms but I leave the riflemen generic. Of course I don't do 'generic' Zouave regiments. Or do you stick rigidly to actual brigades with the correct regiments within them ? ---Yes usually I do. I'm anal that way. Makes it seem more… real to me. I'm crazy. ---When I first started my Corps for both sides I did one regiment per side. Got the hang of the painting and then switched to painting two regiments for one side then switched back and forth. Kept it fresher for me. |
MajorB | 04 Nov 2015 5:05 a.m. PST |
All my ACW units are generic. |
FreemanL | 04 Nov 2015 5:07 a.m. PST |
I use a lot of GMB flags for my 28mm minis and that has served at times for my research direction. Whatever regiment is represented by the standard, I do a quick search for to see if there were any uniform differences. Quick, easy and painless with the internet! I've also got them based on 40mm x 40mm bases and use Rank and File or Regimental Fire and Fury for my rules. The basing works for the former and I use each base as two company stands for the latter. Larry |
Oh Bugger | 04 Nov 2015 7:19 a.m. PST |
For most regiments only the flags serve to identify them that said some did look different and if you want you can do them. For once in wargames terms its hard to go wrong. |
79thPA | 04 Nov 2015 7:21 a.m. PST |
Just about everything of mine is generic. |
Stosstruppen | 04 Nov 2015 7:22 a.m. PST |
With the exception of a handful my units are all generic, regardless of the flags they may carry. Since I play mostly at a brigade level I have the Iron Brigade, the Irish Brigade and a few units painted as Zouaves. My confederates are all generic. |
Frederick | 04 Nov 2015 7:58 a.m. PST |
I would say to start generic units are best, then you can develop favourite units as your collection grows – the good thing as noted about ACW is that this gives you a ton of scope This from the guy whose first four ACW units included the Iron Brigade and Berdan's Rifles! |
Scott MacPhee | 04 Nov 2015 8:19 a.m. PST |
Start with generic units: Union in forage cap and sack coats, Confederates in a mix of butternuts and greys. That will be the correct uniform for 90% of the troops from 1862-4. As your collection grows, you can start adding zouaves, Iron Brigade, and nattily dressed rebels. But add them sparingly. One of the great things about gaming the Civil War is that you really do not have to paint specific regiments. |
uglyfatbloke | 04 Nov 2015 3:30 p.m. PST |
Also, if you buy second-hand figures, just re-basing them to a common style will generally give the army a reasonably homogeneous look as units – just avoid mixing the work of different painters in the same unit unless the style is very similar. It's worked for us and we have about 100 units for each side. |
idontbelieveit | 04 Nov 2015 4:55 p.m. PST |
I'm kind of on board with what everyone else is saying, go for the most generic. I did NOT do that with mine. You can see a lot of them on my blog: link I went with early war Western theater. I'm fairly confident about most of the uniforms for those, but still not entirely certain. I don't regret it, but generic is safer. Someday I'll finish the rebs for Shiloh. Or at least the corps that contains the brigades I've done. Or, very minimally, the division, which is really just one more brigade. |
mysteron | 05 Nov 2015 5:13 a.m. PST |
Thanks guys I think I will play safe and go for generic at first although I will need to do an actual unit of Zouaves as the battle box contains some. I think going this way it will be easier to get units on the board and also I can ask my local store to paint some units for me to speed things up. Many thanks |