79thPA  | 30 Jul 2026 8:51 a.m. PST |
For example, I am mostly Polish, so I started a 1700s era Polish Commonwealth army many years ago just because it matched my DNA. I might assemble a small force of German peasants to give a nod to that part of the family tree. |
robert piepenbrink  | 30 Jul 2026 9:38 a.m. PST |
Me. I've worked my ancestors in northern and western Germany pretty hard--Hanover and Westphalia, mostly, and a spot of Brunswick--Marlburian, SYW, French Rev, Napoleonics and 1866. |
Frederick  | 30 Jul 2026 9:40 a.m. PST |
Three – a motley horde of 18th century cossacks to commemorate my mother's ancestry from the Zaporozhian Sich (who would give your Polish lads a good run for their money!) and two more recent ones, a WWII North Eastern Europe Canadian army and a Riel Rebellion – British Colonial Canadian army (including my favourite unit, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, aka The Little Black Devils) For my dad's side I suppose I should at some point paint up some German Swiss/Bavarians but I guess some of my medieval knights would work for medieval Bavarians |
LaserGrenadier  | 30 Jul 2026 9:42 a.m. PST |
I built force for a SYW Austrian army to honor my ancestry with a regiment of Bohemian infantry, a regiment of Moravian infantry and a squadron of Bohemian cuirassiers. I supplemented these with a regiment of Hungarian infantry and some artillery to round out the Austrian force. I had everything painted and complete except the cuirassiers when the gaming group decided to move on to a different period. I have never gone back to the SYW. (I did not stay much longer with the group either.) |
| Korvessa | 30 Jul 2026 9:43 a.m. PST |
I have WW2 US Airborne as a tribute to my father (507th PIR). I also have a medieval Scotts-Irish army (inspired by Somerled) to fight Viking hordes (in a slightly anarchronistic way) as my ancestors come from that neck of the woods. |
Red Jacket  | 30 Jul 2026 9:52 a.m. PST |
Same here. My entry into Napoleonics consisted of Polish troops followed closely by Bavarians, the countries where my Family originated. At the time, my entire knowledge base for the Napoleonic Wars was a Hinchliffe 25mm catalog. It was a beautiful thing, it was bound like a "collectors" magazine and had line drawings of all of their figures. I would pore over it for hours planning out my grand armies. Then they stopped operating, or at least that is what Tom at the game store told me, and I had to switch to Minifigs. One of the first searches I did on the "new" internet was for "hinchliffe" once I became convinced that computers were not a passing fad and I got a computer. Yes, we are talking the stone ages. I'm still not fully convinced about computers, however. |
DisasterWargamer  | 30 Jul 2026 10:25 a.m. PST |
More individual units that ancestors served in – or individual figures |
| William Warner | 30 Jul 2026 11:11 a.m. PST |
Texans for Texas Revolution and Republic of Texas. And, of course, their Mexican opponents. |
John the OFM  | 30 Jul 2026 11:45 a.m. PST |
I no longer have the figures, but I did 1919 Irish Rebellion and Irish Civil War. Also, I guess it goes without saying that I do FIW and AWI. |
Grattan54  | 30 Jul 2026 11:58 a.m. PST |
I have a strong interest in Medieval Germany because… My family is from Germany. If I did Napoleonic I would for sure do Wurttemberg as that is where my family comes from. |
ZULUPAUL  | 30 Jul 2026 12:13 p.m. PST |
Not really. My heritage is Polish but my favorite army is a Zulu army (go figure). I also have Parliamentarian troops for the ECW even though I'm a Catholic. I do have a number of Michigan units for my ACW since I live in Michigan but our family didn't arrive in the USA until 1914. Paul |
Flashman14  | 30 Jul 2026 1:36 p.m. PST |
I put my own family crest on a knight:
|
| BW1959 | 30 Jul 2026 2:25 p.m. PST |
I've done DBA a Celtic army for my Irish ancestry as well as a Medieval Irish army. Also have a Irish Brigade for my ACW, even tho my ancestors were never in the Irish Brigade but did fight for the Union in the war. |
Shagnasty  | 30 Jul 2026 2:30 p.m. PST |
Lots of English/British for me. |
| BillyNM | 30 Jul 2026 2:40 p.m. PST |
Nope, just those armies from conflicts that interested me. |
| Balin Shortstuff | 30 Jul 2026 3:12 p.m. PST |
Did it in reverse, I started painting Napoleonic Württemberg THEN found out that's where some ancestors came from. |