Some ACW Union Regiments

As I mentioned in an earlier post on painting my first Confederate brigade, the Perry plastic ACW figures are both very nice and fairly easy to paint. Union troops if anything are even simpler, with a comforting degree of uniformity, unlike the rebs. I also give them 2 flags rather than a single battle flag, which also helps. Decided to go with right shoulder shift again, as I think it really suits the period and protects the muskets and bayonets a bit more. With 5 figures to a base, rather than the more traditional 6 in 2 ranks of 3, you can jumble up the ranks a little to give that slight sense of disorder in a regiment moving briskly to the front. You also get 6 bases for the price of 5 with 30 figures - a considerable saving. 

I am working on and playtesting a home brew set of rules with my regular wargaming mates which use a scale of 1 base to 60 men. A "typical" regiment is therefore between 4 and 6 bases, although they can be larger. Smaller regiments are a bit flimsy in action and best avoided. 

As before the rank and file are plastic, the command figures from the Perry metal range - I use a complete metal pack with each regiment in order to get the two standard bearers that I need; my Confederate regiments can get by with half a pack (3 figures) each.

The exception is the Zouave regiment, in this case the 114th Pennsylvania, which is all plastic. They really do add a splash of colour to an otherwise fairly sombre army, although I do find that long lines of blue and grey can still look very appealing on the table.

I try to have a couple of batches of ACW figures on the go in various stages of completion as often as I can; it is one of those periods that, for me, is really do-able through the "little and often" method.  When painting more "formal" units, I usually prefer to do all 24/32/40 at once to maintain uniformity. With an ACW collection a dozen figures a week, before you know where you are, you have a couple of brigades a side and a game in the offing.

Am aiming for 16-20 infantry regiments a side, so still a way to go, but Gettysburg wasn't built in a day! Add 3 or 4 batteries and a selection of command bases and you are done. Cavalry is something I am still mulling over; not very prominent on most battlefields but would add a real degree of variation in our games. Couple of brigades a side - what do you think?