"Just starting out..." Topic

Not having enough projects on the go, I would like to explore ACW gaming. I'd just like a bit of advice before I begin please.

I know I'll need to do quite a bit of reading but reading takes time so I'd like to do it while I have some minis en route – so this question is really what minis do I need for my embryonic forces so that when I have done some reading and start to paint I have the right minis in front of me?

I'm intending to go for 6mm using Anvil of Freedom rules. Bacchus is my supplier of choice but I'm bewildered by the choices – shell jackets, frock coats, kepis, hats, etc.

As starter packs to get painting could anyone give me a steer?

Also – I see that units carried two flags: I assume one was the national flag and the other a unit flag. Any good online resources for these?

Many thanks, and I'll keep you posted!

Nick

Also – I see that units carried two flags:

Where did you get that from? Not all units had two flags. And of course, it begs the question as to what you mean by "unit"?

Look at mine:

link

Look at mine:

OK, so what are the two flags on that unit and what evidence did you refer to when deciding to give the unit two flags? And of course, this is but one example and thus not a general rule?

There are going to be exceptions to pretty much anything we tell you.
Union regiments usually had two flags, one a 34 star national flag (Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state in January, 1861, before the fighting started, but after most of the Southern congressmen had left Washington). The other was usually dark blue. Confederate regiments were more likely to have just one flag. At the beginning of the war, many militia companies had their very own flags, often made by the ladies of the town.

Hats vs Kepis--Traditionally, at least back to the days of Airfix plastic figures, Union troops wear kepis and Confederates wear hats. Actually, it was mixed. In the North, the eastern army (Army of the Potomac) tended to wear kepis and the western armies tended to wear hats. Hardee hats were pretty much a Union only thing, tended to go away as the war went on, and were limited to specific units, like the Iron Brigade.

Grelber

The American Civil War was fought overwhelmingly by single-battalion regiments, grouped into brigades, divisions and corps. The First South Carolina Rifles. Terry's Texas Rangers. The Pennsylvania Bucktails. The 54th Massachusetts. It's more flavorful and specific to call them 'regiments', rather than 'units'. Brigades, divisions and corps were also 'units'.

As has been noted, the eastern vs. western armies looked a bit different. If you want to play the biggest, most famous battles: Antietam, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, then you want to build the eastern armies first: Army of Northern Virginia vs. Army of the Potomac.

Sack coats and kepis for nearly all your AOP Yankees. Anything else was very exceptional and needs documented. Shell jackets and slouch hats for nearly all your ANV Rebels after 1862. Through mid-1862, ANV uniforms were less standard, there was more state issue in evidence. However, the ANV was always fairly well uniformed, and should be mostly grey and grey fading to butternut, not multi-colored ragged rebels.

It was regulation for Federal regiments to carry two colors, national (stars & stripes) and regimental (blue with eagle). It was regulation for ANV regiments, and regiments in most other rebel armies, to carry one color (the southern cross battle flag in the ANV and most other armies). Exceptions were…exceptional.

Your reading should include Bruce Catton's Army of the Potomac trilogy.

Bozkashi, the colors (correct terms for what many call
'flags') carried by a regiment were, in the North, the
National Colors (Stars and Stripes) and in many cases a
regimental color, dark blue background with a state crest
in the center, or other heraldic device. 'Flags' in
the ACW period were typically used for signaling.

Notable exception would be the colors of the Irish Brigade
which had a green background and a harp as the center
device.

Confederate units carried different colors, many of them
state related. Examples would include the Palemtto
tree device on the colors of some South Carolina
regiments, the Pelican device on the colors of
Louisiana regiments, etc. Many Confederate units
just carried what many call the 'battle flag'.

The internet has a lot of regimental webpages, many
are the product of reenactment group, others are
supported and maintained by the states from which the
original regiments were formed. New York particularly
has a number of visuals of colors of NY regiments.

Grelber's comment about regimental or unit colors can
also hold true for the uniforms of militia units raised
locally. These usually reported for mustering-in in
their own home-grown uniform and were issued regulation
uniforms when officially mustered-in. Hence, very early
in the conflict, there are (very few, but some) US
infantry in grey and Confederate infantry in blue.

Good luck and enjoy !

In 1862,when Lee took over command of the ANV,he ordered the removal of all state flags while in the field. Only the "Battle Flag" was to be flown on either parade or in battle.

The only CS regiment that seems to have disregarded this is the 1st Texas. Otherwise, CS ANV units from April of 1862 should use only a single CS Battleflag.

You will often see 2 very small flags on the flanks of both US & CS battalions. These are "flank markers" and are carried in order to help mark the line while the unit is marching and/or engaged in battle. Most gamers don't use them, but in real life they were there.

If you are just starting out, start with a bunch of generic troops:

Union – dark blue sack coats, light blue trousers, dark blue forage caps (not kepis, but in 6mm who can tell)national and regimental colors

Confederate: Various shades of grey shell jackets and trousers, grey kepis or various colored slouch hats, one color which would be the battle flag.

You will get bored with this, so feel free to toss in a zouave regiment or two for the Union, maybe a Confederate or Union regiment in frock coats, anything to keep your interest.

For uniforms, particularly the Confederates with all the controversy about what they wore, looking at any, or perhaps all, of the books by the artist Don Troiani would be a big help. I doubt if there is anyone alive today who knows more about ACW uniforms and equipment than Don. He has one of the most extensive collections of original ACW uniforms and artifacts in the world.

I am not exactly new to ACW, but I just sold my 25s and am starting my 15s. I am most interested in Gettysburg with Regimental Fire and Fury rules.

There is an unbelievable wealth of information in Don's books. I helped him on some of the minor research on one of his earliest paintings, Come On You Wolverines, and I was incredibly impressed by his attention to historical detail.

Just search for books under his name on Amazon. Or, try your library.

Tom

What Garryowen said…depending on how detailed/accomplished a painter you are in 6mm I would echo John the Greater as well.

For my two cents worth, I much prefer the western theater for variety in the size of battles, composition of forces, quality of generals, and complexity of terrain. The western theater also is free of "the Reb's are super soldiers/Northern generals are incompetent" dross that permeates the east in many cirlces. Of course you can use the same units for east and west but if you are a stickler there are many differences as already outlined above.

I am a crap painter so all my figs are generic…

Best set of books for research…"Echoes of Glory"…

This is all great advice

Most of my ACW Confederate units have only one flag – mostly the ANV battle flag – while about half of my Union units have two flags and half only the National Colours

Starting generic is a great idea – slam out a few units for each side plus a battery or so and a general and have at it

If you are set on using Altar of Freedom as the rules, then be aware that each base represents a brigade, so you would not be expected to represent the flags and uniforms of individual regiments. You can therefore use the generic approach suggested above.

Thanks guys – some really wonderful advice to get me started.

Yep, using AoF rules means a base equals a brigade so even though I'll base each to appear as a single battalion with skirmishers up front it will represent three or four such battalions. On this basis I'll stick with the generic units to start out – and you've all helped tremendously in defining what would look 'typical'.

To be honest I have no idea how good my painting is – I'm a naval gamer mostly so I'm comfortable with blues and greys, which is a start. We'll see how I do with the other colours when I get to them!

Cheers,

Nick

Watch out for butternut. It is not a brown or mustard color, many illustrators get this completely wrong. Rather, cheap grey dyes faded in use to a dusty grey-brown, almost a khaki. Since uniforms usually were issued by brigade or division, those large units would tend to show a fairly uniform degree of fading throughout, rather than being a patchwork of different shades. There were times in the spring when the whole Confederate army would look very grey in fresh uniforms, other times after a few months campaigning when everyone would look fairly worn.

Do you have an illustration of butternut, or a favorite paint you use?

I wish you well but I have to say what no one else did – in 6 mm, though I appreciate the sculpting efforts at figure variation – almost no one will notice. And once a game is joined, good gamers are focused on tactics to a much greater degree than on the figures. And, mind you, I'm not a snob towards smaller figures, not at all. Thinking about SYW in this scale, maybe even smaller!

Do you have an illustration of butternut, or a favorite paint you use?

Here's the best illustration I could find to link you to. Of course, the way it looks depends some on how your screen display is color adjusted:

link

This is an original Confederate uniform jacket, currently in Don Troiani's collection. It's in such perfect condition that it appears not to have been worn, but through sheer old age it's faded to a terminal butternut.

The paint I currently use to capture this shade is Vallejo Model Color 988 Khaki. It's maybe just a short curly hair too brown, but it's mighty darn close.

Thanks very much! I'll have to use that. I'm just starting myself, and am still figuring out how to paint ACW stuff.

Take a look, also, at the link Joe Cairo just posted re 'drab' Confederate uniforms. I may have been too hasty to rule out mustard and dirty brown as possible uniform colors:

TMP link

I have heard before of drab (or 'white') uniforms being issued, but this article added much to my knowledge. My impression is that most were issued to the western Confederate armies, in the Mississippi and Trans-Mississippi theaters, and it seems the mill that manufactured the cloth was in Texas.

I've read William Tunnard's memoir of service in the 3rd Louisiana, and he recounts 'white' uniforms being issued to many troops in Pemberton's Confederate army, that defended Vicksburg. The uniforms were very unpopular with the troops, who considered them to be slave clothing (they were), unfitting the dignity of free men.

From the linked article, it seems drab uniforms were more widely worn than I had known.

You have gotten some good information from some very informed people about how things supposedly were. I am going to try to justify some exceptions.

1. Despite the efforts of Beauregard and Lee, flags other than the ANV version of the Confederate battle flag were still carried by the ANV from 1862 on. The tendancy of Texas brigade regiments to carry their flag has been noted. There is information suggesting that at least two NC State flags were carried in the Maryland campaign, one was captured at Chancellorsville and others were captured in 1865. Information also suggests a couple of North Carolina regiments carried other flags with them after Lee's order, one of which was captured at Antietam. There was also supposedly a Virginia state flag captured from the ANV as late as April 1865.

While most of Lee's army remained together throughout 1862-65, you do have certain commands that joined later. These may have carried their former flags for a time.

3. US forces tended to carry two flags, but there were times when they only had one. Not all regimental flags were blue. Tere was some creativity with the national flag, either in the arrangement of stars or placing regimental information on the stripes.

A large amount of information on actual civil war flags can be found on the internet.

2. The Confederate Quartermaster Corps did a better job uniforming Lee's Army than some (usually older) sources imply. If you had the misfortune to be away from your unit when new uniforms were issued or if something happened to your uniform, there was not a sutler following your troops around willing to sell you a replacement. I therefore believe that you did have some troops in the ANV that resorted to using civilian clothing or what they could pick up off the battlefield.