Smith's Brigade

The smallest Brigade in Early's division at only 4 stands. Also a picture of the 2 pieces of artillery attached to the Division. Not too sure if I got the carriages the right shade of green but I like the look of them.



I managed to finally base up the cavalry. Just need to purchase some dismounted figures and a horse holder. They will take on the role of Hampton's Brigade. Most of the figures are Lancashire apart from the command from peter Pig. Size wise they match up well, though the Peter Pig horses are more chunky.



Finally 2 Divisional Commanders representing Early and Birney. These models are both from Warrior miniatures, nice figures and match in well with the others.

Hay's Brigade - Louisiana Tigers

The last Brigade for Early's Division is that of Hays, or as it was more commonly known, The Louisiana Tigers. The Tigers started as a common nickname for certain infantry troops from the state of Louisiana. Originally applied to a specific company, the nickname expanded to a battalion, then to a brigade, and eventually to all Louisiana troops within the Army of Northern Virginia. Although the exact composition of the Louisiana Tigers changed as the war progressed, they developed a reputation as fearless, hard-fighting shock troops.

I'm looking forward to this as I can paint up a couple of stands of the Zouaves, adds a bit of colour. Whether any of the units were still in Zouave uniforms or had adapted the Grey colours is open to debate. The unit strength is only 6 stands.

I've also started on the 2 artillery pieces that I need to finish off my first division.

De Trobriand's Brigade

Some pictures of my first Union Brigade from Birneys Division. The figures are all old glory, which despite looking a little rough as bare metal, paint up surprisingly well.

At Gettysburg this brigade was made up of the following units
- 17th Maine
- 3rd Michigan
- 5th Michigan
- 40th New York
- 110th Pennsylvania

I've got a second union Brigade undercoated and hope to get them completed over the next few days. It's 11 stands. I've also managed to finish Smiths Brigade and the rest of my cavalry. Will start on the artillery and Hays Brigade to finish Early's division.

Gordon's Brigade

A couple of photos of Gordon's Brigade. This is a 9 stand unit and also forms part of Early's Division.



I have also managed to paint up my first union brigade, that of De Trobriand, which was part of the 1st division of III corps. These figures are old glory 15's. They are slightly larger than the Peter Pig figures, mainly due to the length of the bayonets. They have painted up okay and are now awaiting basing.

A new package also arrived from Peter Pig with some artillery and crew as well as some mounted command for the handful of confederate cavalry that I have. The 2 spare figures may be use for either a second unit or form part of a Corp stand for Ewell.

Daniel Sickles

Daniel Sickles was a Major General in the Army of the Potomac and was in command of Union III corps at Gettysburg. III corps is made up of 6 brigades split into 2 divisions.

Gettysburg was to mark the effective end, of Sickles's military career. Meade had ordered Sickles's corps to take up defensive positions on the southern end of Cemetery Ridge, anchored in the north to the II Corps and to the south, the hill known as Little Round Top.

Sickles was unhappy to see a slightly higher terrain feature to his front, the Peach Orchard. Perhaps remembering the beating his corps took from Confederate artillery at Hazel Grove, he violated his orders and marched his corps almost a mile in front of Cemetery Ridge. This had two effects: it greatly diluted the concentrated defensive posture of his corps, by stretching it too thin; and it created a salient that could be bombarded and attacked from multiple sides. Meade rode out and confronted Sickles about his insubordination, but it was too late. The Confederate assault by Longstreet’s corps, smashed III Corps and rendered it useless for further combat.

During the height of the Confederate attack, Sickles fell victim to a cannonball that mangled his right leg. Carried by stretcher to an aid station, he bravely attempted to raise his soldiers' spirits by grinning and puffing on a cigar along the way. His leg was amputated that afternoon

Gordon's Brigade

Just finished painting the Brigade of BG John Gordon. this is the largest brigade within this division at 9 stands. A very effective unit. At Gettysburg this brigade consisted of the following regiments.

- 13th Georgia
- 26th Georgia
- 31st Georgia
- 38th Georgia
- 60th Georgia
- 61st Georgia

I'll post some pictures when I manage to finish basing the unit. I also managed to finish enough cavalry to give me 3 stands, not much but its a start. This unit will eventually reach 6 stands once some command figures arrive.

Next up I'll be painting Smith's Brigade and 1 of the union brigades (not sure which one yet)

The road to battle

A picture of the road into Gettysburg where the fighting was to begin. You can image the soldier in the picture pointing and saying "there the enemy be"

Jubal Early

Just a quick profile of Jubal Early during the Gettysburg Campaign. Most of this was obtained from Wikipedia, a very useful source of information.

Early commanded a division in the corps of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell. Approaching Gettysburg from the northeast on July 1, 1863, Early's division was on the leftmost flank of the Confederate line. He soundly defeated Brig. Gen. Francis Barlow's division (part of the Union XI Corps), inflicting three times the casualties to the defenders as he suffered, and drove the Union troops back through the streets of the town, capturing many of them.

During the second day at Gettysburg, Early assaulted East Cemetery Hill as part of Ewell's efforts against the Union right flank. Despite some initial success he was repulsed due to the arrival of Union reinforcements.

On day three, Early detached one brigade to assist Maj. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's division in an unsuccessful assault on Culp's Hill. Elements of Early's division then covered the rear of Lee's army during its retreat from Gettysburg on July 4 and July 5.

Update

Just update my links to some of the other blogs I like to keep an eye. Plenty of glorious figures to enthuse and good ideas for scenery. I've also started myself a new blog 'Rebel Yell' to track my progress on an ACW project.

Avery's Brigade

A couple of photos of the first brigade painted, that of Avery. Next up is Gordon's Brigade, 9 stands. I have also painted the Divisional commander Jubal Early, but I'm awaiting a package from Warbase to allow me to base him up. I've also started painting 6 Lancashire Miniatures Raider cavalry, not the best sculpts but add a little variety to a predominately infantry game.

First unit

Decision made and the first brigade I am painting is that of Colonel Isaac Avery of Jubal Early's Division. This unit is only six stands for Fire and Fury. Each stand will have 3 figures, giving a total of 18.

At Gettysburg this Brigade was made up of the following regiments.
- 57Th North Carolina
- 6Th North Carolina
- 21st North Carolina
- 1st North Carolina

I should have this unit finished tomorrow and will try and post some pictures before I base them up.

For bases I am using 25mm x 20mm MDF obtained from http://www.warbases.co.uk/ They are very reasonable and offer a quick turn around on delivery.

Boards pt3

First up a couple of photos of the terrain boards laid out just to ensure they match up correctly and make any necessary adjustments.



Jon and I gave the boards a base coat of chocolate brown mixed with PVA glue and sand, kindly prepared by Harry. I have also given the sea a coat of gloss velvet blue, which as drying seems to be okay, probably need a second coat. I'll add in some white to represent the waves against the coast.

The paths have been marked in ready for its next coat. Through the week Harry will dry brush the boards before giving the designated grass areas a good coat of Woodland green, mixed with PVA and sand. A couple of photos to show progress so far.

I've still got the jetty to do, using a piece from TSS, as well as a footbridge, which I'll construct from balsa.

Welcome

I've set this blog up to follow my creation of forces for the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. Between four of us, Mick, Mike, Jon and myself, we have split up the forces for Gettysburg. We will be creating the battle 15mm and using the original Fire and Fury rules.

The forces I have been allocated are the Confederate II corps under Ewell and Union III corps under Sickles. I will also try and complete Buford cavalry division. This should give me about 14 confederate brigades and 9 union brigades for the game.

For figures I will use a mix of manufacturer. I'll probable post some sizing details for compatibility. So far I have some Peter Pig and Old Glory infantry and about 12 Lanacashire cavalry (very old sculpts but use able)

Battle of Blenheim

I was fortunate to be involved in a re fight of the Battle of Blenheim at the weekend. At one time there were as many as 9 players and 2 umpires. Unfortunately for myself and Confederate allies we failed to replicate the feats of Marlborough and Eugene with the Franco Bavarians holding off our attacks on the Saturday. On the Sunday we fought the battle into a second day in game turns and this became a very hard fought slug fest with both armies ruing missed opportunities and finding their armies fought to a standstill.

The rules by Mike are quick and easy to pick up, and the fatigue factors highlight the need to try a preserve your Elite troops for those vital moves in the game. Overall a very enjoyable game, played in the right spirit with a great set of wargamers.

The pictures below don't do justice to the spectacle of the game and the figures painted by Mike and Mick.

The armies arrayed for battle

Confederate cavalry advance on towards Lutzingen in the background.

The English cross the Nebel supported by Imperial Horse

Dutch and Imperial Horse drive back the French

View of the Imperial forces of Eugene

Imperial deployment for Sunday, note the severe lack of infantry after their bloody reverse at Lutzingen.

Dutch horse supported by their English counterparts prepare to engage the French Gendarmerie.

Boards pt2

Couple more photos of the work in progress on the terrain boards. Both Jon and myself finished off sculpting the last 4 boards. They now just need to dry out and we can then start flocking and painting. Jon has the good fortune of a trip to B&Q to obtain the green and yellow paint.

The four boards already sculpted just frying out.

Two of the boards we were working on for the headland, weighted down with wood as they dry.

On a different note, this weekend I have the pleasure of going up to Micks for a weekend re fight of Blenheim, really looking forward to this. Will post some pictures on my return.

Fury of the Norsemen

Thought I'd post up some pictures of the finished vikings. There are still another 8 awaiting basing which will bring the force up to 68. I also have the last of the Saxon defenders to base to bring them up to 30 including civilians.

First up a couple of pictures of the battleline.

Beserkers ready for action

Vikings doing what they do best

Boards

Made a start today on the boards. I've ended up using ceiling tiles. the main issue with these that when you lay flat 4 tiles they fall just short of covering the boards, bit of patch work war required. So far I managed to glue the tiles to 4 of the boards. These cover the central part of the table. I'll give these a couple of days t dry properly and make a start on the remaining 4 boards.

Basing

Today I managed to finish painting another 4 vikings and a couple of vignettes. The other 56 vikings have all been based, i'll post some pictures after they have dried. I've also started basing the villagers and some of the saxons that are already painted. Hasn't been a very fruitful few days, I've been unable to get hold of some polystyrene sheets for the base board, bit of a concern when the show is only a month away. At the weekend will have to travel further afield to try and locate some.

Update part II

Made a start on the game boards, gave all a good coat of PVA glue to help seal them. Best to leave for 24 hours. The boards are 2ft x 2ft hardboard, been lying around the club for years and only occasionally used (the other side is painted green). During the week I'll try to get to the club and make a start on sculpting the polystyrene.


I've purchased the Impetus Ancients rules along with the army list from book 2. Only had a quick read and like the look of them. I've been using WAB for years, but seem lately to be enjoying the games a bit less. These could be the change I need to re ignite my enthusiasm for ancients.

In preparation for a re fight of Gettysburg in 2011 with Mick, Mike and Jon, I made my first purchase of figures from Peter Pig. I'll be putting together the Confederate II corps. The irony of this is that I used to have 2 of the divisions previously painted (mainly old glory and table top minis), I sold them when my brother unexpectedly sold his union troops and left me without an opponent.