Cutlers Brigade

After importing the posts from my other blog as I hadn't done anything on the ACW front for quite a while, I feel rather embarrassed for this next post. Cutlers Brigade is the 2ND brigade in the 1st division of the Union 1st Corps. Based for fire and fury it comes in at 10 stands. The figures are all from Warrior Miniatures apart from the officer and ensign who are Peter Pig figures. These figures had been staring at me for months part painted and so I finally succumbed and finished them off.



To Finish the Union 2ND Corps I also completed the final artillery battery that I required. Again these figures are from Warrior Miniatures, Not as detailed as Peter Pig, but take paint well. This means I now have 2ND, 3rd and 5Th Corps finished.

Baxters' Brigade

Sorry for not posting for a while, been stuck on other projects and I guess I just needed a break from ACW. Not sure of the make of these figures as I picked them up off EBay. Just require a little touch up and re basing, to blend in with the rest of the force. These are done to represent Baxters' Brigade from Robinson's Division.

Union OOB

I've just updated my union OOB with the latest painted figures, namely the brigades of Willard, Carroll and Hall. I'll try to get out tomorrow and get some photos done of the latest units. I just need to finish 1 more artillery piece and II Corps will be finished, giving me 3 full infantry corps.

To help speed this project along a couple of the lads at r=the club have agreed to contribute some troops. Paul is going to do AP Hill's Corps for the confederated, meaning once I finish I Corps that is them completed. Bayley is going to do the union VI and XI Corps, this leaves only I and XII Corps to finish. These should definitely be done in time for the anniversary of Gettysburg.

Painting table

I've just updated the Union page for some completed troops. I've just finished the stand for Hancock, Division leader hay as well as Hall's brigade and 3 pieces of artillery. Just got to get the bases finished on them.

Pictures at last

Finally managed to take some photos of the latest additions to my union forces. First up the Iron Brigade. These figures are all original tabletop miniatures.

Next up is Smyth's brigade. The figures are all from Peter Pig.

And finally my Zouaves that I'll be using to represent Webb's brigade. Again the figures are all from Peter Pig.

Progress update

No pictures today as I have run out of static grass to finish my units. So far I have managed to finish 3 more Union brigades from II Corps. Cross's 4 stand brigade to complete the 1st Division, Webb's brigade from the 2nd division and Smyth's brigade from the 3rd division. This only leaves 4 brigades, 3 artillery pieces, 1 Corps leader stand and a division leader stand to complete the Corps. Hopefully I should finish these by the end of this month.

I have painted up one of the brigades as Zouaves, because I wanted to. They are painted up as the 9th New York or Hawkin's Zouaves. I will post some pictures once the static grass arrives.

V Corps

Thought it was about time I posted a picture of this completed Corps. It was commanded by Sykes and consisted of 3 divisions.

The majority of the figures are old glory, though some are also from Warrior miniatures, Peter Pig, Essex and a couple of Mini figs. Now to get cracking on II corps.

Orders arrived

Just received another batch of figures from Peter Pig in the post today. Now that is excellent service as I only ordered them on Sunday. I've also got a slip from the postman yesterday for a package that needs to be collected from the sorting office. I'm assuming these are the figures from Warrior Miniatures, also ordered on Sunday. Must say that I cannot fault both companies for both the quality of the products and the promptness of their service.

With these figures I will have more than enough to be able to finish the Union II Corps under Hancock as well as add another brigade to I Corps. I did though get enough figure to do 2 units of Zouaves, now these won't be historically accurate at a brigade level game, but what the hell I want to paint some and add a bit of colour to the game. Besides 2 Zouave brigades out of about 20+ is not OTT.
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Neil at the club has also agreed to complete 2 further union Corps while another player has some confederates to paint up as III Corps. With luck the club should be able to put on a re-fight of Gettysburg next year.

Quick update

Just up dated my two pages with the latest figures to be completed, namely the Union Division leader Gibbon from II Corps and Robertson's cavalry brigade as part of Stuart's division. No pictures at this time as been feeling a bit under the weather and just don't have the energy.

Battle of Gildons Crossing

This is the 3rd installment of a mini fictitious campaign I've been running at the club. Following on from the Confederate victory at Bakersville, Longstreet advanced his 2 Divisions north to Gildons crossing.There he was awaiting re supply to replace much of his lost artillery. It was then in the early hours of the morning that Hampton rode in with his Cavalry the General Early had crushed the Federal forces at Cedar Creek, but that a force was marching upon Longstreet's position. His orders were to hold until reinforcements could arrive by rail.

Federal forces however were in much need of a decisive victory after receiving two bloody noses against the rebels. With a quickly assembled force they realised that Longstreet was isolated in the vicinity of Gildons crossing. They were to proceed with haste with available forces to destroy Longstreet before he could be reinforced.

Confederate forces consisted of 2 infantry divisions of 7 brigades, 2 artillery batteries and Hampton's cavalry brigade. Opposing them were 3 Federal infantry divisions of 9 brigades and 4 artillery batteries. The battle opened with the Federal forces advancing towards the rebel positions behind Gildons creek and into the town itself. The Rebels decided to contest the creek and hold until reinforcements arrived, that was until one of Mclaws' brigades crossed the creek straight into the face of 3 Federal brigades. It was then that a furious struggle ensued as the outnumbered rebels were slowly destroyed. On the Federal right the Division of Caldwell led by the Iron Brigade advanced towards the creek to be met with the rebel yell and were promptly thrown back into the woods and hotly pursued by their enemies.

Iron Brigade emerging from the woods

The rebel positions

Hampton's dismounted troopers

With the Rebels hurriedly bringing up the rest of Mclaws' division to reinforce their right flank as Federal forces quickly crossed the creek. One of his brigades smashed into the advancing federals temporarily throwing them back across the creek. It was at this point that the union artillery began to find its range and began to pummeling the 2 remaining brigades of Mclaws, eventually destroying his division. On the Federal right things were not going well. Despite the Iron brigade beginning to live up to its reputation and doggedly hanging in, the other 2 brigades of Zook and Brooke were destroyed by the advancing rebels.

Hood's division in position

Federal troops pushing the rebels back

By now things were beginning to go wrong for Longstreet. With the destruction of Mclaws' division and no sign of reinforcements, discretion became the better part of valour and he decided to break off the engagement and save the remains of his Corps. A hard fought and much needed Federal victory.

 Overall for my nephew who took on the role of Longstreet, his first ever independent command, he did okay. made a few mistakes, but at least learned from them i.e. don't attack unsupported. he was though assisted with some uncanny luck in melee, rolling 6 tens in 8 combats. Turning what should have been defeats into unlikely victories.

A few extra pictures of the battle.

Iron Brigade

To add to my union forces I've decided to do the Iron Brigade next. This was prompted by seeing some relevant figures on EBay. The figures were originally produced by Tabletop miniatures back when I was a little lad. Not sure if anyone is producing these anymore. Anyway managed to pick up 27 figures for £1.80 including postage. that is less than 10p per figure.

Now these figures hold a slight sentimental nostalgia with me. When I first painted a 15mm ACW union army (passed on to my brother who promptly sold them) I painted up the Iron Brigade using these figures. Now's a chance to re do them, hopefully better. I've had to add a couple of command figures to finish the unit off. I''ll post some pictures once I finish the unit.

Battle of Cedar Creek

After last weeks Battle of Bakersville at the club, it was decided to do a follow up battle. The situation was as follows. After the defeat of 2 Union Corps at Bakersville, Lt General Ewell (Me) advanced a little north of the town and rested the Corps, whilst Longstreet pursued the remenants of the Union forces further north. Arriving late at the Cedar Creek Lt General Ewell called a halt and the Divisions of Rodes, Johnson and Early settled down in their current locations.

As dawn broke, Brigadier Hampton and his cavalry whom at earlier been dispatched north of the Creek sent back a messenger with the news that he was in contact with the lead elements of what he estimated to be a full Union Corps. He estimated that they were no more than an hour away before they would be upon our encampments.

Rodes' and Johnson's Divisions were positioned as shown on the map below. Early was somewhere to the East and would be marching to the sound of the guns.

The Battle unfolds

As the union Corps of Sykes advanced down the lane they were met with a hail of shot from Hampton's troopers which checked their initial advanc. it then took a number of turns for the Union forces to begin to deploy north of the Creek. This allowed Johnson to bring forward his Division while Rodes prepared to defend Bolton farm and the main ford.

Hampton's brigade quickly re mounted in the face of heavy pressure and rode of to the west to try and find a way through the woods and circle behind the union troops. The Union V Corps then began to deploy its artillery while pushing forward their infantry across the creek to meet Johnson head on. It was at this time that Early arrived from the East and fell upon their flank. It took over 6 turns of heavy fighting and stubborn union resistance to finally force them across the creek.

Johnson's Division advances

Early's Division appears

It was at this time then General Rodes' saw his left flank threatened by the appearance of a second union Corps emerging through the woods to cross the creek. They was also supported by a Cavalry Dision. Rodes quickly re aligned his defenders and re positioned his artillery to meet this threat, despite being heavily outnumbered.

Union III Corps arrives

It was at this time that disaster befell the union V Corps, despite gallantly hanging in they eventually wee swept from the field. Of 8 Brigades, only one remained. General Sykes himself was captured by Avery's brigade along with 2 reserve artillery batteries. For the Union III Corps things did not go much better when finally getting into position to launch an attack on Rodes, the Confederates promptly charged them, sweeping aside Humphreys brigade. With both Early and Jonson advancing to support Rodes' gallant defenders the III Corps broke off its assault and retreat back into the woods, leaving the Rebsonce more in charge of the field.

Some extra photos of an enjoyable game

V Corps finally driven back

2 Confederate brigades prepare to defend the ford

update

Finally got my temperamental camera to work and get a couple of photos. A single photo of Brooke's and Zook's brigades from Caldwell's Division. Bringing the strength of my union forces up to 18.

Next up I painted up some test figures for a 28mm confederate brigade. I followed the same colour schemes as I had done for the 15mm but with an extra layer of highlights. They've come out quite dark (even more so in the picture) but that is the way I like them.

Where next?

After doing the re-fight of Gettysburg I've been spending some time pondering on where I take this project next. For the Confederates I completed II Corps and have completed Hoods Division and 3/4 of McLaws' Division from I Corps. With a small Division of cavalry under Stewart this gives approx 24 brigades a fair size for club games. For the Union I have both III and V Corps support by Buford's cavalry Division giving me 16 brigades. The union is rather heavily out gunned. So to balance things out I've decided to complete the Union II Corps under Hancock, or at least a couple of the Divisions.First up will be Caldwell's Division as I got enough left over infantry figures to complete the 2 small brigades of Zook and Brooke. I'll post some pictures when they are finished and if the camera decides to work.

After this I'll need to make a decision. I'll either push on and try to complete both sides, a rather mammoth task or I can switch to some 28mm. I've got 2 boxes of the plastic Perry miniatures and 1 artillery piece. I may paint these up for use with Black Powder, got the rules but never done anything with it. So far the 28mm's are looking favourites.

Re organising

Following the re fight of Gettysburg, I've decided to re organise the troops that I had painted up for the Western theatre into suitable units for Gettysburg. For the union I have managed to just about put together V Corps under Sykes. All that I need to add is 1 Corps Leader stand, 2 artillery stands and 1 brigade at 7 stands. Once these are done and I combine forces with Jon, between us we will have the following Corps, III, V, XI & XII and Bufords' Cavalry Division. That would only leave I, II and VI Corps to complete the union troops. That's more than half completed.

For the Confederates I am trying to put together Longstreet's Corps, namely the Divisions of Hood and McLaws who fought on day 2. So far all the troops are done for Hood and only 2 brigades to paint for Mclaws along with the supporting artillery. That is not an insurmountable task. Best get the paints out again.

Gettysburg Refight

Just got back from Micks, re fighting the 2nd day of Gettysburg. I took the role of General Ewell with II corps. My initial orders were to capture and hold Cemetery hill and Culps Hill, supported by Dave in his role as AP Hill. To say our attack was successful was an understatement. We both smashed into the union XII and I Corps and proceeded to remove each brigade from the game before any assistance could arrive from III corps. We did benefit from being able to attack at 4 AM which meant many of the union Corps were still to arrive on the table (got to make the most of your opportunities). After the initial assault the game settle down into a bit of a slug fest with neither side being able to claim a victory. Eventually with honours even the Confederates were allowed to withdraw with the union unable to mount any form of assault. It seems that just like in history the union managed to check the threat towards Washington.

I did manage to take some photos which are below. However cannot remember which action was which. Hope you enjoy.

Army of the Mississippi

To further expand my ACW forces I've decided to add the Army of the Mississippi from the Battle of Corinth led by General Rosecrans. This is mainly to expand my forces for club games (didn't see much point in doing extra units for Gettysburg and just duplicate others' work). Corinth isn't too large a battle, also not too bothered if I don't get all the units done. So far I've got 2 divisions completed apart from all of their artillery support.


First up the Division of Stanley, made up of 2 brigades each of 10 stands. I picked these up from EBay, gave the a quick wash with GW Badab black and picked out some of the details to blend them with the rest of my troops.



The 2ND Division is that of Davies. The figure are predominately Warrior Miniatures tho 1 is from Essex.

Buford's Division

Finally managed to finish off the 2 brigades of Buford's Division, Gamble and Devin. The mounted figures are all from Warrior Miniatures, nice and easy to paint up. The dismounted figures are a mix of Warrior and Peter Pig.

John Buford

During the Gettysburg Campaign, Buford, who had been promoted to command of the 1st Division, is credited with selecting the field of battle at Gettysburg. On June 30, his command rode into the small town of Gettysburg. Very soon, Buford realized that he was facing a superior force of rebels to his front and set about creating a defense against the Confederate advance. He was acutely aware of the importance of holding the tactically important high ground about Gettysburg and so he did.

His skillful defensive troop dispositions, coupled with the bravery and tenacity of his dismounted men, allowed the Union I Corps, under Maj. Gen. Reynolds, time to come up in support and thus maintain a Union foothold at strategically important positions. The importance of Buford's leadership and tactical foresight on July 1 cannot be overstated in its contribution to the eventual union victory

Union III Corps

I finally managed to finish the command stand to represent Sickles. This now completes the whole Corps. Just have to start on Buford's division now