Saturday, June 13, 2009

25mm ACW - Federal Infantry #1


Well, I have finished my first EVER 25mm American Civil War unit... so here it is!

So; the background story first. Like with all of my recent collections, this one was bought with a specific plan in mind. When Sash and Saber had their big sale in May (was it May?) of last year I went ahead and bought three
new armies... a 25mm Napoleonic Austrian army, and matching 25mm ACW Federal and Confederate armies. This is the first unit of my ACW collection, which will have 10 units of 20 infantry, 3 artillery pieces, and 12 cavalry, with the appropriate officers and limbers and such.

These guys are a unit of 20 infantry mounted five per stand to match a buddy's ACW armies... that way they can deploy with his guys and not stand out.

I have always loved Sash and Saber figures. The incredible variety and details match up well with a nice standard pose to make a very neat and wargamesy unit of infantry. I painted these guys very simply over a black undercoat, just picking out the colors with a single fairly dramatic highlight. I then gave them all a dip in Army Painter Quick Shade of the Hard variety.

I did have some problems with the varnishing... I destroyed a bunch of figures with a foggy Games Workshop varnish (not my first...) and even the replacement bottle didn't spray... well, perfect. I don't know, it is mainly noticeable up close.


However, they have come out pretty nice. Very very simple to paint; I did them in two short evenings, and then a day for the mounting and grassing and all of that. Sand is standard, along with a few pieces of bark as rocks and some GW flock. Topped off with some Flag Dude flags, and these guys honestly have turned out very nicely.

Figures courtesy of Sash and Saber.

5 comments:

Gunfreak said...

Love them, but I must be honest, I think your brush work is so good, you don't need the dip.
That they look a little dirty is ok for ACW figs, but I don't feel it would work with Nappys.
With nappys you want the super bright colors and prestine uniforms, even if they never were that prestine

Author said...

Hey Gun!

Yeah, I only plan to use the dip with my Austrians, who are white; my Russians and French will stay undipped. The ACW guys actually look better in person; it is hard to see the dark blue that makes up the majority of their color, it comes out in the photos almost looking black. I'll see if I can get a photo that looks more accurate.

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

They look good! I like your unit sizes very much, what rules will you be using???

Author said...

Hey man!

No rules in particular... I just base them according to what looks good, or in this case, to match my buddy's army. Not sure about the rules yet, although my home set is perfect for them!:)

Anonymous said...

Wonderful picture. I liked it.
wow gold