I've been involved in 15mm American Civil War gaming for several years now, and have bought, sold and traded my fair share of figures. When John Hill changed his rules for cavalry regiments from twenty-figure companies/regiments to regiments/companies with twelve and eight figures, I decided I wanted to try to set up the battle of Brandy Station, the largest cavalry engagement during the war. I figured I would need approximately 600 mounted figures for a Johnny Reb III scenario. This worked out to twenty-two 12-figure stands and four 8-figure stands for the Confederates, and nineteen 12-figure stands and eight 8-figure stands for the Union, not counting the dismounted figures. Needless to say, that's a lot of figures.

In order to fill out the number of cavalry I desired, I canvassed wargamers I knew to see if they wanted to make any trades for mounted 15mm Civil War figures. I ended up getting eleven 12-figure stands (practically) free, and although much of the way I did it is simply common sense, I thought I would share with you the process.

Before I present you with the steps, however, I want to make clear that I support the two wargaming hobby stores in my immediate area and order from other hobby stores and manufacturers on a regular basis. I know that if I do not support the retailers, I will not have a place to go to purchase anything. My goal, then, is not to get everything free, just to supplement what I can afford to purchase at retail.

First, I never turn down any free lead. This may seem obvious, but many gamers I know refuse free lead all the time. I appreciate that, because their relative discriminating taste leaves more for me.

The core of the Civil War mounted figure trade revolved around an unpainted 15mm Essex ancients DBA army that a former apartment tenant gave to me when he decided he no longer had the time to be involved in miniatures. I was not, and still am not, particularly interested in ancients (although I am now putting together armies of 25mm Vikings and Knights), but I did not turn down the gill. Several years later, another friend gave me about a thousand unpainted 15mm Civil War figures for doing some landscape modeling work for him. Others have given me fantasy figures, ships, etc., because they know I have a way of putting everything back into the gaming steam. The Essex DBA army and a few hundred of the Civil War figures convinced another acquaintance of mine to part with approximately 108 mounted 15mm Civil War figures with relatively nice paint jobs.

Second, I needed to remount them. I use mat board with strip magnets on the bottom and was purchasing both the board and magnets for quite some time. I got to thinking that framing shops might have some scrap mat board. So one day when I was buying a picture frame, I asked. One of the workers said the store did not have many scrap pieces, but I was welcome to what I wanted. I was happy to see that what the employee didn't consider much was enough to keep me in figure bases for quite some time. Furthermore, I was invited back to get more any time I wanted. The magnets are a bit more expensive and were harder to get, but I managed. You know those magnetized signs that go on the sides of cars during parades, etc.? Well, I was part of a local parade that displayed the magnetized signs on the sides of the dignitaries' cars. The honored guests were told to take their signs with them as they departed, but--as could be expected--not many of them wanted that kind of a souvenir. I asked if I could have the remaining signs. I have been sizing them with a paper cutter and gluing the pieces to the bottoms of my stands for a few months now. When I run out, I may go straight to the businesses that make the signs to see if they have any scrap pieces.

Third, I learned from some wargaming friends that fairly cheap acrylic paints can be had for just cents during sales at craft stores. They were correct. Even so, to paint up a bunch of bases for flocking can be expensive. That's when I realized that most hardware stores will sell reject gallons of paint for up to 75% off retail. I purchase a gallon of green, put a little into smaller containers, and save the rest until I need it. Needless to say, a gallon will last quite some time and works out to a cost of (practically) nothing per stand.

Fourth, I discovered that model train swap meets are a good place to pick up many things for wargaming: buildings, trees, fences--even trains! Lots of hobbyists are looking to get rid of what they no longer use, including ground cover. For just a few dollars, I've purchased boxes of "junk" with enough ground cover in them to suffice for the next few years.

Fifth, how did I get eleven 12-man regiments (a total of 132 figures) from the original 108 figures? Go back to the first suggestion: I never turn down any lead. I always save or pick up the odd 15mm figure, and in the last few years I've collected several cavalrymen. Since Johnny Reb III no longer requires horseholder stands, I also had more than a few horses as well. The wedding of the spare riders and horses just about filled out the regiments. Most manufacturers, such as Stone Mountain or Musket Miniatures, are also willing to sell riders without the horses, so I did order a few more figures from them. Simply by drilling a small hole through a rider's hand and placing a bit of wire through it, I came up with flag holders, something I like every one of my companies to have. A few spare conanand stand packs, and I'm ready to raise the final four or five regiments I need for Brandy Station.

Last, the carrying box came from another friend who took empty computer boxes from his place of work. I cut out and glued to the bottom of the box a piece of metal grill work I found in the basement of the house when we moved in (I never throw much away) and-- voila!--I have my (practically) free cavalry stands ready for the road.

If you've got any ideas from this article, great! If you have any lead you want to get rid of, just let me know.