"Some painted 'Epic' Rebs & some thoughts on them." Topic

I know these are going to be everywhere, but here is just a quick personal view of the Epics and how I found painting them.

They are SMALL, that we knew, the comparison shot with an AB figure shows the difference in scale. But of course these were never intended to match an existing scale, Warlords marketing strategy made sure of that. I have no issue with the size (as the Actress said to the Bishop!).

They can be painted really fast and still look good. I'm astonished that I can paint 3 strips of rebs in around an hour and a half, not including basing, that's to the level seen below which when you stand back at arms length is not too shabby I think?

Yanks will probably come in around the same time as I need to allow time to trim down most of those hats to kepis which is pretty easy to do if you want to go down that route.

In less than a week I will have painted 3 x 60 figure units, a couple of guns and a mounted Brigadier General which seems to have been effortless, close to 200 painted figures in a week which included my first Covid jab which knocked out for 36 hours :)

The Black Powder book is very nice indeed, beautifully printed but I'm damned if I can read the thing! I took it up to bed last night for a read and gave up after about 60 seconds. I can paint these figures aged 63 without the need for glasses but that text size was just a blur.

I really like the strips of figures which leads me to approach them like 6mm rather than 15mm and I think that's a major factor in the ease and speed of painting.

In conclusion, I like these a lot and will no doubt continue to knock them out as lets face there are 2.500 of the little beggars in the box with more offerings to come. I doubt I will use units larger than 60 figures and will probably go with alternative rules.

Please let me know know your thoughts guys as judging from what I have heard the launch has exceeded even Warlords sales projections times 4 so a lot of us are going to painting them.

Cheers
Lee.

Yours look great. Although I appreciate that they may be easy to paint, the size is still a problem for me. From what I've read, that is the problem with most current ACW gamers.

Does the success of this launch mean there are a lot of gamers out there who have jumped into ACW gaming?

And how many more would have bought into this if Warlord had made them 15mm. Me, for sure.

Agreed. If they had been 15mm I'd already have bought two armies' worth. As is, I won't be doing so as they don't fit with anything else in my collection and I'm not switching to the "Warlord Games Hobby".

I agree they are of no use to collectors of existing 15mm figures, but having sold all mine off a few years ago they have tempted me back!

This is a clear marketing strategy by Warlord and it seems to have paid off as the demand has way exceeded initial sales projections from what I have read. Be happy, this means an awful lot more folks getting into the ACW :)

And one major factor is cost, around 3p per figure if you buy one of the starter boxes, you have to hand it to Warlord for that alone surely?

Cheers,
Lee.

It will be interesting to see if gamers are really "getting into ACW" or just like the idea/scale of the figs and are buying product. We all know gamers who have stacks of 1/56th tanks, piles of 28mm lead, etc., because they like the scale, have plans for doing an army, etc., but never actually finish much of anything.

I for one am getting into ACW with it, a period I love to read and study, but never quite could get into playing. Or wanting to plunk down a boatload of cash for, I have too many hobbies for that. And too many periods as described above already.

I get everyone's angst on the size especially those who already have armies, I quite like it smaller than 15, although I can also see why some might not like it. I actually painted up the sprue that came with the magazine in record time for me, just a couple of hours. I found it relatively easy to do, and it looks just fine. i like not having to paint all parts of every figure, and basing it soooo much easier.

the box, set, when I get it, will probably stay blue and grey, as my attention span will quickly shift to being outside for the summer. too bad it couldn't have come in January, or even Christmas.

I plan on playing with it blue and gray and gradually paint it. heresy to some, but its mine right?

The follow ups are a different story, not really planning on buying many, may be a few cav. Can't bring myself to pay those kind of prices. I can make do, i don't plan on many cavalry raids and such. The skirmishers are ridiculously priced.

Wish there was a compatible on this side of the pond.

I don't dislike Warlord, I think they do a great deal in the hobby for historical gaming. Its refreshing to actually see historical gaming which for a while was non existent/in hiding where I live.

Great job, Grambo.

Grambo, your rebs are some of the best painted examples I have seen of this product. I like your painting and basing style on these.

Thanks for the feedback/comments.

Just to correct my timings noted above, a 3 base (6 strip) unit is coming in around 4.5 hours or 1.5 hours per 2 strips finished. I have settled on painting 3 strips at a time in line with the above timings. I know timings are not that important to most but as an ex commission painter I just like to work it out in advance and it helps with motivation when facing a bloody huge box of sprues like this one!

At four and half hours to finish a 60 figure regiment I can see this will be a very manageable project that won't consume my entire hobby life :)

I think with the 'extras' when they come along (June is it?) it's going to be a matter of selling off unwanted sprues on ebay to get some of the money back, I honestly don't need hundreds of zouaves or Iron Brigade!

Lee.

WarWizard, thank you, that really means a lot.

My method is described in detail on this blog post with colours selected for good coverage.

link

Cheers,
Lee.

Nicely done – great point about them being more like 6mm for painting purposes

Thanks also for providing the scale comparison in your last photo

My apologies if I missed it…

1. What is the width of a stand?

Your basing and painting looks GREAT!

2. What size are your inf bases?

3. What is the size of your arty bases?

Thanks!

Photos on you blog look even better. I agree about not adding highlights for this scale, not needed, and results are great. Looking forward to seeing your Yanks.

Yep, I would certainly have considered getting these if they had been 15mm. As it is, I'll pass. Warlord's loss not mine.

BTW, Grambo, Great job on these and thanks for sharing even more details about how and how long on these paints.

so appreciated!

Hi Lee, I have always thought your 6mm work among your best, and the transfer of that style and technique to these larger figures is, in my opinion, a stunning success. As others have said, I have not seen these figures better painted by anyone.

2. What size are your inf bases?

3. What is the size of your arty bases?

60 x 20 and 30 x 40 mm

Great brushwork Grambo! They really pop and excellent basing. You're making even more excited for my box set to arrive.

Those look great!

Oh man, those look awesome!!

Superbly done and thanks for the paint timing. Very helpful.

I'm glad some you found this useful, it felt a bit daunting when I first opened the box and looked at all those sprues waiting to be painted! Getting the timings down to acceptable levels for a decent standard of finish was important to me as I also paint on commission for a couple of long time friends (different periods) so needed something for myself. These seem perfect for that.

@warwizard: you mentioned highlights, well I did cave in eventually and add some selective highlights as in the last pics above. Again using strong colours and only touches here and there so Japanese WW2 Uniform (!!) over the Flat Earth and Light Grey over the London Grey (all Vallejo) seems to work?

@Mollinary: Thank you Andrew, means a lot and as you say once I started to think of these Epic strips in terms of 6mm strips such as Baccus rather than conventional 15's they almost painted themselves!

@Baranovich: you mentioned your re enactment days in another thread, I'm in awe as my time was with a UK society so numbers were far smaller but still very enjoyable and a wonderful insight. We had a lot of US guys come over for the bigger events and one bought his original Springfield used by his ancestor in the war.

3 Union regiments next up for me.

Cheers,
Lee.

Great job. Warlord is like the crack dealer. Tempts you with cheap plastic figs, then when you are hooked, ups the price with resin follow up minis. A good thing Kallistra minis are a good fit at 12mm. That is where I got all my cavalry from.

"Complete Lines" or the perception such will be forthcoming is a greater sales incentive than scale. What with the vast number of incomplete or abandoned lines and manufacturers. Purchasing a 4K 3d printer however is a more attractive option in the long run.

Beautiful painting! Incredible Speed! Wrong size of minis for me! But they're yours. Enjoy!

Thanks for the details on how you painted these.

Just a few final pics showing the first 9 Reb bases painted together with a couple of guns. Also early stage Union strips with hats trimmed down to a more kepi like appearance. At 3p per figure I can afford to play around with them!

Lee.

Wow! Great job getting these painted so quickly!
Very nice job too. 😀

Very nice job – thanks for posting!

I just got through the first ten sprues or so of infantry from the starter set and finally have several regiments painted up.

It's very interesting to look back at yours and see the different ways people are painting these.

I did all of mine with Citadel Contrasts. It certainly creates a very different look from using traditional paints.

The one thing I wanted to comment on is that I think that your technique of direct paints and the kind of block highlighting that you do may actually work better from a tabletop perspective than doing them in inks and washes.

Yours seem to "pop" better at tabletop height and are definitely brighter. I think for a massed effect the way you have all the details so brightly popping is the best way to go.

The Contrasts give a pretty decent look but it's definitely duller and more subdued than yours are.

Yes, really lovely work! Thanks for sharing. You don't happen to have a blog where you show how you do this more step by step, do you??

For those looking to supplement their Warlord 13.5mm figures, Raven banner have commenced a range of 14mm ACW that's compatible (imo). Available both sides of the Atlantic. In UK from The Little Corporal. Done command personalities for each side and marching Union so far.

I bought the Raven Banner Command figures for both sides and painted a few of the Rebel generals they fit in perfectly. I also bought some Kalistra figures which fit in pretty good but the cavalry horses are a tad undersized. I sincerely hope Raven Banner makes a few more sets soon!!

By the way Great painting Grambo!! My morale failed on my second strip of figures trying to cut down the hats to kepis…

Thanks for the late comments guys, I just noticed them!

Must admit I did move on from them and sold them all off (as you do!).

'Stalkey' I did/do have a blog, these are the 2021 posts that relate tp how I approached the painting of them back then, hope this helps.

link

Lee.