ACW: 33rd New Jersey Zouaves

 One of the few zouave units that fought in western campaigns.  The figs are from Raven Banner, 28mm size.  The uniforms were blue with red trim including trefoils (french knots?) on the trousers and tunics.

Hasty Breastworks for ACW

 Currently producing a bunch of hasty breastworks for use with 28mm ACW figures.  Each piece is 10cm wide (infantry bases are 40mm wide).  Base is expanded PVC sheet, air dry clay piled on and shaped, Logs and posts pressed and glued into place.  Ballast added for ground cover; I went with the red ballast so I get the "red Georgia clay" look.  I plan on fighting a lot of the Chickamauga battles.  Brown and Sepia over all, some grey on the logs followed by light grey highlight on logs and sand highlight on ballast.  A little flocking and some other foliage details.  Varnish and viola.  Should have about seven feet of breastworks when I finish up in a few days.  

ACW Western Theater Sharpshooters

From Wikipedia, "The 66th Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment originally known as Birge's Western Sharpshooters and later as the "Western Sharpshooters-14th Missouri Volunteers", was a specialized regiment of infantry sharpshooters that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was intended, raised, and mustered into Federal service as the Western Theater counterpart to Army of the Potomac's 1st and 2nd United States Volunteer Sharpshooters ("Berdan's Sharpshooters").

The Western Sharpshooters were armed with a variety of weapons, most notably Henry Repeaters later in the war.

These are Perry Miniatures.

Some Rough and Ready Rebels

 A couple of rebel units without jackets.  These minis are Perry rather than my usual Sash and Saber.

Militia Mustered into CSA

 The figures are Sash and Saber VMI Cadets but as I am building western ACW units, there were no VMI Cadets.  So this a bit of a fictitious unit I'll say is a militia unit mustered into CSA service.  Provides some variation from the normally ragtag rebels.

Wilder's Lightning Brigade Troops

 Some troops for Wilder's Mounted Infantry Command.

In their mobile form

And deployed for battle

New Additions

 Added some Napoleonic and ACW units to the collections.

Saxon Infantry Battalion.  18mm Eureka Minis.

French Infantry Battalion.  18mm Eureka Minis.

Dismounted Confederate Cavalry.  28mm Sash and Saber Minis.

Snake Rail Fences

 So I cranked out 12 feet of snake rail fences in the style shown on the Tactical Painter blog.  They worked out well I thought, good enough for me anyhow.

A CSA Regiment

 Another Confederate regiment takes the field.  This group used a more brown & grey palette

compared to the previous blue & grey palette.

All are Sash and Saber 25mm figures.

A Regiment of Rebels

A new "regiment" of rebels for the ACW collection.  Sash and Saber figures.  When painting a bunch of CSA troops I usually pick either a blue-grey palette (as these fellas use) or grey-brown palette (as the next batch will have).  That way I get some semblance of a uniform within a "regiment" but still get variety across the battlefield.

A picture of the primed troops under the LED lighting.  

A picture of the troops with base coats applied.

A pics of the ready to roll rebels

More US ACW Troops

 Another batch of US ACW figs for the growing collection.

First photo is the sky blue pants and exile blue tunics.

Next photo is the filler going down on the steel bases

And last photos are completed minis.  These are the first photo I've used with subjects under the new GameCraft Minis LED lamp.    The lamp can be used for painting also.  Main feature is "daylight" temperature of the light and the "arc" of light that reduce shadows.  $44 bucks.  I may get another one so I don't have to move it between painting station and photo station.

ACW Artillery & Crews

 Finished some CSA and USA artillery and crew.  the artillery is just sitting on the crew base so I can switch out 12lbr, 3", 6lbr, and Howitzer pieces.  These are Sash and Saber 28mm figs, nice figs as usual.

And Union Cav All Mounted Up!

 Again, Sash and Saber minis.

Dismounted Union Cavalry

 These are Sash and Saber 28mm minis.   Need to get some more flags . . . 

A Rabble of Rebels

This time something for me . . . more 25mm Confederates.  Minis from Sash and Saber.  Twelve stands total plus some dismounted cav.

28mm ACW Confederates

Latest batch of 40 Sash and Saber Confederates coming off the painting table and ready for basing.

I've been looking at ACW rules to use with the new figs.  Fire and Fury Regimental would work well, as would On To Richmond!  OTR is slightly simpler than FnF and may resolve multi-division battles quicker.  Looking forward to giving it a try with the new figs in 2020.

28mm ACW USVA Figs

Painted and based more 28mm ACW figs.  US Volunteers this time.  Figs by Sash and Saber, Flags by Flag Dude.

Battle of Wilson's Creek

Bloody Hill

The Civil War Battle of Wilson's Creek

William Riley Brooksher

An excellent book that covers the 1850-1861 history of the Pro-Slavery and Abolitionist struggles in Missouri as the civil war approaches.  After the start of the civil war, Brooksher moves into a military history structure concerned with the structure and characteristics of the rival forces in Missouri as they maneuver and bring about the battle of Wilson's Creek.

https://www.amazon.com/Bloody-Hill-Civil-Battle-Wilsons/dp/1574882058

28mm American Civil War Minis

Started a new collection of 28mm ACW figures.  First purchase was Yankee and Rebel skirmishers from Sash and Saber

Figures are mounted 3 to a 40mm wide by 30mm deep base.  This basing will be suitable for Fire n Fury or any number of other rules.

I've based 28mm figs individually before but this is the first time mounting multiple figures on a base, so I decided to spend some time with the bases.  The bases are covered with "scenery mortar," a powder that is mixed with water and spread on the base and pushed up around the figure bases.  The scenery mortar seems to be a powder mix of fine sawdust and glue that binds all together with the added water.  Model railroader use this stuff a lot and for me it is easier to work with than spackle compound from the hardware store.  Added some ballast and rocks to the wet mortar.

Anyway, after the mortar dries, about 8 hours, I brushed it with Earth Undercoat (Woodland Scenics product) mixed with water and white glue to add color to the mortar and some more binding to the ballast and rocks.  When that dried I then added the tall grass and static grass followed by dry brushing of the base.  Viola.

Next I'm doing the Yankees.

Easy ACW Fences . . .Which is more better?

I need more wood fences for 10mm ACW battlefields.  I don't want to buy, I want to make.  And I want simple . . . not fiddly and fragile fences made from individual sticks.

So I have crafted three alternatives from popsicle sticks and other bits.  

#1 Easy to make

#2 Easier to make

#3 Easiest to make

I'm thinking I'll go with #1 and if that gets to fiddly I can always drop to #2.