writes:In this wonderful miniature wargaming hobby of ours, many of us have more dreams of future wargaming projects that we can possible fulfill, and so we have a tendency to dash from project to project.
In an effort to break that cycle of rush-rush-rush and too much self-pressure, I am trying to pause and celebrate each project as it is completed. Even if I haven't fielded it on the tabletop yet, which may have dependencies on other projects not yet completed… let's just celebrate the completion of each miniature force or faction or army or project. 
So here's my complete (for now) Union army in 1:72nd scale, built from three plastic boxed sets.
Our friends in Sri Lanka, Fernando Enterprises, were asked to paint the figures to match the box art, which they did.
The infantry and cavalry have both command stands (single figure/model) and fighting stands (two or more models). The idea is that any unit can be formed by combining a command stand with the appropriate number and type of fighting stands.
The five infantry command stands shown above each have a black magnetic strip, which can hold a unit label. So my force can field five infantry units so far.
I also have mounted and dismounted cavalry.
I can field one unit of mounted cavalry, since I have one command and four fighting stands.
I can also field two units of dismounted cavalry, since the set mix allowed me two dismounted command stands and five fighting stands. So not everyone can mount up at the same time!
For artillery, I have two guns (large and small) and one limber (and one more gun if I ever find the lost wheel!).
This is my first experience with ACW gaming in 1:72nd scale. Obviously, I also need some Confederates, and they will soon be on my workbench. I realized my Union force needs more infantry, so I have another boxed set coming as reinforcements to my workbench soon. (We'll see which gets there first!)
I'll start thinking more about scenarios once I have both forces based up. I'm just happy right now to see this little project complete.