"Warlord games problem with new Civil War ambulance model" Topic

I was looking at Warlord Games' latest releases for their Epic Battle American Civil War range.

One of the new models is an ambulance model.

The vehicle itself is quite nice, based on the Tripler Ambulance design:

link

But I noticed something that could be a problem because I believe Warlord doesn't understand the context of the insignia they put on it. Every single ambulance model you get, (and Warlord is assuming you can use this ambulance for either Union OR Confederate) always comes with this detail is why I came to this conclusion.

Warlord includes a raised "medical" cross emblem on the side of the wagon. And on their product sample model they painted the cross in red.

I think Warlord thinks that this is the universal "Red Cross" medical symbol and that it was used in the Civil War, when in fact what they actually saw was a period photo of a Civil War supply wagon or ambulance with a Union SIXTH ARMY CORPS BADGE on it in a vintage photograph, etc.

Now, the Red Cross symbol as an official world-wide medical badge and badge of neutrality was established in 1864 by the Geneva Conventions if I'm not mistaken.

But I don't believe that the symbol was ever adopted during the last year or so of the Civil War and was never actually used on Ambulance Corps wagons on either side. In 30+ years of reading and research, I've personally never seen a period photograph of a Civil War ambulance with a red cross medical symbol.

NOW, where this gets kind of wonky however – is that we know very well that in the Union army, wagons DID have corps badges painted on many of its supply wagons and other various service vehicles. The Confederate army did not have corps badges, and so their supply wagons and ambulances were marked with a variety of I.D.'s, some simply saying something along the lines of "commissary", "provisions" or "ambulance", etc. perhaps followed by the unit they were attached to, or other markings.

And so for the Union army we get to an image like this:

Now this of course a Union army wagon, looks like a typical supply wagon or perhaps it's a standard wagon fitted for ambulance purposes. But the badge on it is NOT the medical "Red Cross" symbol. It's the badge of the 6th Corps, and since the photo is in black and white, it could be either RED (for 1st Division) or BLUE (for Third Division), we don't know. (We know it can't be white for 2nd Division because it's too dark.)

Whoever researched this model at Warlord, perhaps was not aware of the corps badge system in the Union army, and they saw a photograph like the one above, assumed it was the universal medical "Red Cross" symbol and so decided to sculpt it onto their ambulance model as a general thing.

The other interesting thing is the placement of the symbol. Most of the corps badges I've seen in vintage photos are painted up on the canvas portion of the wagon, not down on the wood. But that doesn't mean 100% it was never painted on the wood.

However the larger issue is that if you order a cluster of these ambulances, three or four of them, you're going to want to file off that cross symbol. Unless you are specifically buying a group of them as Sixth Corps Union army ambulances. But if you just want generic ambulances for either side, it would need to be removed as a "medical" badge.

Everything else in the range is half-assed so no reason for this not to be.

@79th Pa,

Indeed. Thing is, I absolutely love the scale and basing system. It's utterly frustrating they couldn't get simple details right. I mean Google searches can get you photos of thousands of soldiers and vehicles, etc. Not that hard to replicate.

The other wonky thing is, what's up with the Union signal tower guards with the WHITE haversacks on the RIGHT side of their body where the cartridge box should be?

Reason I bought the starter sets and painted them is because they are small enough that the infantry as a mass on the table looks really good.

Just don't start looking any closer, lol.

The Red Cross symbol was first designed in 1860s – overseas and was not used in the United States until well after the Civil War

link

My understanding – the ambulances in the US Civil War could have been attached to the Ambulance Corps, Individual Corps commands or to Private Agencies like the United States Sanitary Commission.

Most Symbols or names were on Canvas if at all

Note – a couple of the Sanitary type agencies used a "cross" as one of their symbols the Sanitary Commission also had another

@Baranovich, I agree. I've painted 1,000+ infantry, and I like the look en masse. Fortunately, the sculptor's sins disappear from view when the figures are placed on the gaming table. They have grown on me, but such a great opportunity to do it right wasted on poor research and sculpting.

79thPA agree wholeheartedly. I'm fine with the scale.
I'm not fine with the strips. I'm not fine with the uniform choices. I'm not fine with the mixture of headgear. I'm not fine with the godawefull artillery.
Looks like they might have fixed the wheels on the wagon though.

I'd just paint the cross the same color as the wagon, seems like it would blend in easily enough. If it's still annoying, hide it under a glued-in piece of wire on the side like the framework in the Union army pic above… ;-)

There's a lot of research faux pas in historical figures these days. Unfortunately, sculptors are sent a few photos off the web, and they just go to it, not really knowing anything about the subject. It just baffles me.

Most disappointed figure line I've seen. In my option there is very little that is ACW correct with them.