28mm ACW

Here are two new projects fresh off the painting table:

The 14th Brooklyn from Sash and Saber Miniatures. I had actually finished two stands of these in May to use for Nashcon, but I just recently got around to finishing the entire unit (5 stands), so here they are! I really enjoyed painting the S&S sculpts!

The 14th Brooklyn from Sash & Saber Miniatures.

The 14th Brooklyn - these were the first two stands I painted.

The next project was to make a converted Gen. Hood for the Nashville campaign. By 1864 he had lost his right leg and his left arm was severely wounded. I used a Sash and Saber figure for Hood and the other two figures are from Old Glory. Thanks to Stephen Huckaby for sending these figs to me!

Hood on crutches outside of Franklin, TN.

Gen. Hood, with amputated leg!

Good Gaming - Cory

Some recent 15mm ACW pictures

Hey Guys - just sharing some of my recent 15mm ACW pictures! I got in a game of "Across A Deadly Field" recently and am looking to play some "Longstreet" or "Johnny Reb" in the near future too!

Good Gaming - Cory

Confederate attack on the Union position at Shiloh.

Give them double canister!

The attack on the Union camps! No coffee this morning boys!

15mm Naismith artillery defends the Hornet's Nest!

My 15mm Battle of Nashville 1864  table. The terrain is all ready to go and now I just need to add the troops!

Shiloh - A stubborn East Flank

We played a 15mm ACW game of "Across A Deadly Field" yesterday. It was a refight of the same scenario I ran at Nashcon, but this time we used three stand 15mm figure units instead of two stand  25mm figure units. The scenario was written by John Hill and portrays Albert Sideney Johnston's vicious mid-morning attack on the Federal brigades of Stuart, Williams and McArthur. I believe this scenario will be included in the ADF - Western Scenario book from Osprey next year.

This is a small scenario for ADF which is perfect for two players.  Dean took the Feds and I played the Rebs. Turn one saw a general CSA advance (although it was slooooowwww through the woods and ravines) and almost no firing, with the Feds reacting to some of the Rebel movements.

Each turn in ADF has a lot of "play" in it  since one side has an "action" and then the other side may "react", and then the active side takes another "action". Once the active side has completed all of its actions, the opposing side now becomes the active side. It's a great game mechanic that really causes the player to plan out and prioritize his actions carefully.

Turn two opened with some CSA and USA artillery fire and and a Rebel charge that got stopped and thrown back, but another massed  CSA brigade charge broke the Union line near the peach orchard and caused one unit to rout and a couple other units to shake. We paused the game at that point to fire up grill for some lunch. By that time a couple other gamers had showed up and we just kept grilling and talking gaming into the evening and it was too late to return to the game before everyone had to go home. It was a great day of ACW gaming, friends and BBQ and we all planned to do it again soon!

The mat was commissioned by John Hill and I think it really looks fantastic! These might be available commercially later this year.

Here are some pics from the game:

Some of McArthur's brigade moving up to support the Union line near Larkin Bell's field.

Dean West moving his troops.

The Union  Brig Gen Stephen Hurlburt surveying the grim situation.

My friend Chris photo-bombing me (in black shirt) and Dean in my gaming room.

The big rebel charge that broke the Union line. I think if we would have played a few more turns, Dean could have easily stabilized the situation.

The Union gun line of four batteries holds the center. These guns were firing through the camps keeping the Rebs at bay.

An overview of the game during turn two. The Rebs have punched through the center of the USA line, although they are now exposed themselves! I think Dean would have cleaned this up quickly had the game continued. This is about the point where we stopped to BBQ.

After the battle....

Good Gaming - Cory

More 15mm Naismith ACW

Well, as promised here are two more units I painted from my most recent Naismith 15mm ACW eBay purchase. I really love these old figures! They have a lot of charm and animation, although a few of the weapons are oddly sculpted. I'm getting ready for a big "Shiloh" game soon and painted these units specifically for that scenario. We'll be using "Johnny Reb 2" and playing the eastern flank of the battle.
I'll be sure to post an AAR. Good Gaming - Cory

The 5th Mississippi defends an orchard. I left the huge lead flag on one figure and cut it off the standard bearer at the rear. 

The 1st IL Battery  - defends an orchard at Shiloh

The Rebel firing line!

Will these boys hold the line and save the day for Grant?

15mm Naismith ACW

I fell in love with the 15mm Naismith Design miniatures back in the late 80's. As I recall, I was at a convention in Jacksonville, FL (Suncoast Skirmishes)  and one of the vendors had a case full of these figures. Up until that point, I had only been painting 15mm ACW figures like Stone Mountain, Minifigs, Falcon, Donnington, etc. I walked up to the vendor and the Naismith figures just jumped out and slapped me! They were highly detailed, full of character and well animated. By today's standards they are not the best 15mm figures you can buy, but in the late 80's I would have ranked them at the top.

My old 1990 Navwar catalog 

 I was in college at the time and didn't have a lot of money, so I just bought a few packs. I remember placing a mail order a few months later after I was able to save some extra "miniatures money" and picked up a few more units. I think I sold some along the way (which I regret) but I still have quite a few of these old, cherished units in my collection.

Navwar are still in business, but from what I can tell they don't manufacture the 15mm ACW figures any more. I'm guessing the molds wore out, which is common with older ranges. If anyone knows the exact details of why they don't offer the ACW range anymore, or if anyone else does, please let me know! Here is a link to their website - http://www.navwar.co.uk/nav/


So basically I have been trolling eBay looking for these figures. They do pop up every once in while and I try to snatch them up! Here are some pictures of some packs I recently picked up:

I got these for steal on eBay! This will be enough for a unit and a few mounted generals.

AC 1 - private, campaign dress, kepi, advancing

And here are some pictures of the mounted command figures painted. I'll post pics of the infantry units when they are finished.

Two USA command stands and two CSA stands. These will likely serve as divisional or Corps commanders.

Great sculpting for 15mm figures! 

A Federal General

The four stands I finished recently. They will be put to good use soon in another Shiloh game.

15mm Naismith

Next to an old apple orchard built by my friend Bob Freeman.

14th Brooklyn - 28mm Sash & Saber

Here is the newest unit off the painting table - the 14th Brooklyn, or the "Red Legged Devils". These were a joy to paint and are excellent Sash and Saber castings by Chris Hughes. In a rush to get some additional units completed for Nashcon, I  painted just two stands of the regiment for a game of "Across A Deadly Field" (10 figures). The remainder are on the painting table right now. Here is a link to some information on the unit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Regiment_(New_York_State_Militia)

 Here are a few shots:

The 14th Brooklyn advance! 

When it comes to gaming, I prefer thick bases so that the gamers have something to grab besides the figures. 

The 14th holds a fence line. 

Like most freshly painted units, these guys routed in their first game! 

The Battle of Shiloh - the Stubborn East Flank at Nashcon 2014

This last weekend I ran a game of John Hill's new rules "Across A Deadly Field" at Nashcon. The cool thing was that I ran the game with John Hill! Well, actually we both ran the game, but we also had support from Patrick Lebeau and Dean West. It was truly a team effort!

The historical situation involved the Rebel brigades of Chalmer, Jackson, Bowen and Statham slamming into the weak, and extremely strung out Federal extreme left flank at Shiloh held by the brigades of Stuart, McArthur, and Williams. The game was played in 28mm using 15mm buildings for ground scale.

John had a terrain mat printed, which is a great idea and a quick way to set up a game! Thanks John! He mailed it to me and I spent a hurried couple of weeks painting a few last units, making fences (about 1,000 toothpicks) and sanding down an insulation board to lay underneath the terrain mat to make 3D ravines.

The rules played fast and furious and we were able to play to a conclusion in a few hours. I really enjoy these new rules and they are definitely my new favorite rules for the ACW. They will be published by Osprey in July for release at Historicon. Here are a few pictures of the game:

Here is the table with all of the terrain ready, but no figures. 

The Rebs advance through the woods. Picture by John Hill.

One of the Federal players (Kermitt H.) studies his options.

The Rebs advance towards the Union position. ACWGamer.com  gave us some rulers to use for the game. Thanks!

The terrain mat had the names of key geographical features printed in it. It was great for observers and the players to use as reference points to explain the battle.

Dean West (with chart) explains the rules to some of the players.

The Rebs were able to drive the Yanks back to their base line and were declared the winner!

John Hill (left) looks over the battlefield.

28mm Sash and Saber ACW Mounted Officers

I recently ordered some Sash and Saber figures from Chris Hughes. Chris is a great guy and sculpts S&S when he has free time from his full time sculpting gig at Old Glory. I ordered a pack of mounted USA officers, Gen. John Gordon and three packs of the 14th Brooklyn (1x command and 2x marching). The figures arrived in about a week, well packaged and with no damage. I was impressed with the sculpts and the customer service and will be ordering from Sash and Saber again. These are really great figs and I rank them right up there as "tied for first place" with Perry Miniatures ACW.  Here are some pictures:

The five mounted officers -  I ordered pack OUS20 - Mounted USA General Officers (4 figs). I painted them as CSA officers, except for one. Also pictured (left) is OCS1 - Gen. John Gordon.

I painted these specifically for a game of "Across A Deadly Field" at Nashcon 2014. I was short a few officers!

CSA Gen. John Gordon - pack OCS1 from Sash and Saber.

Observing Federal movements at Shiloh 1862.

Charge! 

A Federal officer. The farmhouse is by Perry Miniatures.

Another  mounted officer. I'm not finished with the 14th Brooklyn, but I'll post some pics as soon as I finish. Now I'm off to work on some terrain for the Nashcon game!