The purpose of this article is to give gamers some ideas on making their Federal units more realistic. Players should consider three things when beginning work on a new regiment: 1) figures to use; 2)unit history (if possible); and 3) what paint to use.

When deciding what figures to use to represent a unit, the gamer should consider what kind of unit he or she wishes to represent. I usually build units for Johnny Reb, and try to build brigades rather than regiments. This is assuming, of course, that the brigade being built had served together for some time. (My Union army is built around the Army of the Potomac in 1862, around the time of Second Manassas and Antietam and after.)

For a brigade that has been together for awhile, I attempt to put the regiments in similar poses (shooting, attacking, or marching), a similar state of uniform wear, and give the regiments a similar strength. For a brigade that hasn't been together very long, I still put the regiments in similar poses. The figures would have a mixture of packs and blanket rolls (or have neither) and would be of a similar size, say 300-400 troops each. If a brigade was thrown together or had new regiments added to strengthen it, it might have all regiments in blanket rolls with the new regiments still wearing packs and older regiments being small, say 300 men, while the new regiments would have between 500 and 600 troops.

When considering a unit's history, there are several factors that can be taken into account and used to balance the unit's appearance. Aside from the regimental sizes mentioned, one should also consider the unit's length of service and origin. A unit that has been in the field for awhile would probably have discarded packs in favor of blanket rolls. So an early war or new unit might have nothing but packs. While as a unit's time in the field increases, you can put in a higher percentage of blanket rolls.

Also remember that, if a unit had a chance to drop its packs in a secure area, it would have done so. So a unit should either have packs and/or blanket rolls or it shouldn't have any. It would have been unlikely that some troops would have dropped off their gear while others kept theirs. I use the unit's origin as a guide to the percentage of slouch hats to forage caps or kepis in a unit. Thus, a unit from Ohio or western Pennsylvania will have a larger number of slouch hats than a unit from New York or Maine (although one New York unit, the 16th, went into the Seven Days Battles wearing straw hats provided by the colonel's wife). Western armies would have a greater number of slouch hats than eastern ones.

Avoiding "Cookie Cutter" Appearances

When painting a unit, I have attempted to avoid the cookie cutter appearance that characterized my earlier work. I have done this in several ways. First, I vary the shades of blue I use for both coats and pants. Remember that these uniforms were provided by contractors all over the North and that dark blue from one factory would only be a medium blue from another. The same goes for pants. I generally put all the troops from one regiment in the same shades of blue as if they would have received their issue together from the same depot. Thus, I have five different shades of light blue for pants and three different shades of dark blue for sack coats.

Also, troops would wear older uniform parts until they wore out. So, going back to the unit's history, if the unit had been initially outfitted in gray uniforms, such as the 2nd New Hampshire, then the painter can mix some gray trousers in with the regulation light blue. If the unit had originally been issued frock coats, mix in a few frock coats with the sack coats, if you are painting the unit later in its career. If the unit started its career as a Zouave regiment, such as the 11th Indiana, and switched to issue informs, give a few figures their old red kepis.

If anyone has any doubts about this practice, just ask anyone in the military. Troops hold on to or buy extra equipment that strikes their fancy. I've been in formations where there have been literally ten different styles of camouflage utilities, spanning twenty years of issue. I can recall one formation during the Gulf War when my battery turned out in issue desert cammies with issue headgear, privately bought headgear, Marine style hats, desert camouflage parkas, night cammy blouses, night cammy pants, and night cammy blouse and pants. You get the idea. And this was probably the best supplied army in history! How much worse was it 130 years ago when discipline was far more lax and the troops had four years rather than four months to modify their issue?

If painting a unit in winter overcoats, remember that the Federal government had a great deal of trouble meeting its needs during the first year of the war. During the winter of 1861-62, troops were issued not only the regulation light blue, but dark blue and even brown overcoats as well. Also, even though officers were supposed to wear dark blue overcoats, this made them very obvious targets and were often discarded in favor of the light blue overcoats of the privates.

Finally, I like to "dirty up" my troops to get rid of the parade ground effect. I do this in one of two ways, or a combination of the two. The first is to put a heavy black wash on all your troops and flags. This tones down the paint and gives the troops a dirty look. [Editor's note: We hate to contradict Daniel, but black can be a very tricky color to use for shading; some painters avoid it completely. Proceed with caution! ]

Secondly, I like to dry brush entire figures with a light tan or dun color. This gives the troops a dusty look and if applied heavily around the feet and lower legs, it makes the troops look like they've been marching through the mud of Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, or Pennsylvania.

Well, these are my thoughts. I like the effect they give my Federal army. I use the same techniques on my Confederates, though I have different theories on color choice. I hope some of my ideas will be useful to you.

Some Hints on Painting Confederates

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