Don't get put off by all this type these rules are very simple yet not simplistic.
When I'm 52 and my eyesight is going, why 10mm? So I'm cruising EBAY and I spy packs of ACW figures, 38 to a pack for $9.95. That's close to 240 figures. I like lot of figures on the table, I don't like to move a lot of figures, it takes too long. But I can mount one pack of 10mm on one base & I'm moving 40 figures at a e. I go whole hog, I bid & win 13 of these auctions, Cav & Inf. I was the only bidder. For $130.00 & postage I now own 1500+ inf & some Cav. with some misc figures my friends, who have some 10mm unpainted they didn't know what to do with, I'm e to mount a force of 42 inf units of 38 figs each & 5 Cavalry units of 12 figs (each Cav unit also has a stand depicting the unit dismounted). I mount one officer on a 1x1" for every brigade commander & one for the division commander.
The packs arrive I bust one open. I have some 1 1/2 masking tape. I ripe off about a foot of tape, tuck the ends under stuck to a ripped off cardboard box flap. I stick on the figures, two ranks deep toward the front of the base keeping the nets from overhanging. The unit looks good at 6" wide. I mount a mounted officer sideways, back center & it looks pretty good. I've arrived at my base size 1 1/2 x 6.
Once upon a time I bought rules & mounted my figures according to the rules. the rules went out of fashion & I had to remount my figs. I actually did this whole Armies. Now I mount things the way I like em & write my own rules. times when I sell figs at a convention people buy em & say "We'll just remount O.K. but I have a set of rules here that go with those that you can have for e. "No, that's okay we only play "File & Flurry". I'm drifting here, aren't I.
The Bases
A piece of 1/4" plywood cut 1 1/2 x 6". 38 inf, 1 foot officer front and center, 1 mounted officer rear center parallel to the rear rank. 12 Cavalry charging replaced with 9 firing & 3 horse holders. Since I didn't get any Artillery on ebay I bought some from Division After Division & mounted em. 3 to a 1 1/2 x 4 base with assorted artillerymen & a mounted Officer. Each base is one regiment a battery.
Painting the Figs
Open a pack, cut off the waste on the bottom of the base. This took the longest of anything I did. Cut a cardboard box into 2 x 8 stripes. Squirt Elmers glue, not a lot, a line near both lengths. Stick on the figs all facing the same direction with Cavalry at 45 degrees to the edge. After some driving, I bought a can of flat spray grey, flat brown, flat black & glossy Navy blue, couldn't find flat blue). I put an old sheet on our outside picnic table & primed everything black. When that dried all the Cav was sprayed brown, the rebs grey, the yanks blue. It was then I realized I didn't have to prime the union black first.
The Figs: I use craft store squeeze bottle paint which runs a buck each & last for years. I paint 4 regiments at a time
- 1. dab dab dab - flesh face & hands
2. dab - white cotton sack
3. dab - black kepi bill & backpack
4. dab - light color blanket or blanket
5. dab - various colors if slouch hat
6. dab - rifle stock & hair
7. Union pants & mounted troops took a tad longer but neatness is not an issue as your going to be looking at a tiny figure thats on table top over 3 feet away, so REALLY!
You're done. let em dry. Then with silver enamel paint do all the bayonets. After the prep you can paint & finish 4 Regiments an evening!!!!
When dry mix up some muddy water/paint thin soup. Use a bigger brush & slop the soup over all the figures. You just did a wash. While your waiting for the soup to dry paint the wood bases. You can do these all at once before hand so all the base colors match. Get a pair of old needle nose pliers & some plastic picnic dishes. Get a big brush & three shades of green. Grab a base with the pliers start with the darkest & paint all the bases covering the entire surface & edges. Next grab a painted base & dab dab smear with the lightest green, then right away with the medium, then the darkest. This makes a mini mottled base. When everything is dry glue on the figs, touch up the fig bases & spray with dull coat & your done. When I finally got the art & painted em up, the whole set , Union & Confederates, came to 1901 individual pieces & took less than 2 months to do, working only in the evenings.
The Battle of Shiloh is the first one I found On-line that gave me Brigade/Regiment info so that's what I'll use for my Army makeup. They average 4/5 Inf regiments & 1 Art battery per Brigade. So I typed out the Regiment names I was using on my computer in Photoshop, white letters on a green background, type face was Helvetica Bold 11 pixels high. I printed these out, cut em out & glued em to the back right top of each base. Now your ready for a game, almost. On the front & back length of each base of Infantry & Cavalry make a visible mark every 1 1/2 inch this divides the unit into quarter sections.
Unit Strengths & Rosters
On a sheet I typed Division, Brigades & Regiments
Here's my example:
Lee Wallaces Division
M.L. Smith's Brigade
- 11th Indiana 000000000000 12
24th Indiana 0000000000000000 16
9th Missouri 000000000000000 15
5th Ohio Cavalry 000000000000 12
9th independent Indiana Light Artillery 000000000000 12
Infantry starts with a base number of ten plus a six sided die roll.
Cavalry & Artillery start with a base of 6 and a six sided die roll.
This is your units strength. As a unit takes hits this number gets reduced and is indicated by crossing off the O's.
On To Richmond is the Copyright by The Courier Publishing Co.
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© Copyright 2001 Hal Thinglum
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