Finished Book, Bought Book

1. I finally finished Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 by Albert Castel. Great book. Probably one of the best campaign studies I've ever read and certainly one of the best ACW books I've ever read. That perfect balance between a high level study of command and a more detailed study of the many battles in the campaign. As I've noted before almost all of my Civil War reading has been about the Western campaigns and this book fills in one of the notable gaps. The Atlanta campaign was, arguably, the campaign that won the war. Not because the armies of Johnson and Hood were decimated (that was Thomas's (sp?) job in late 1864) but because Sherman had the responsibility to politically castrate the defeatists in the Union (and thus end the sole remaining hope of Confederate victory) by first pinning Johnson's armies in the South and then maneuvering himself into a position that would cause Atlanta to fall. That done the fighting spirit of the North would be reinvigorated. This he did, imperfectly, but did nonetheless and with Lincoln's reelection in November the fate of the secessionist was sealed. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a great read.
2. Old news to most of you, but I picked up the H&C French Army of 1918 book. Worth every penny and exactly what I need. Colors are clear and unambiguous, all kit and insignia shown. For the miniatures painter this is what you need as a guide. Not much organizational info but enough and way superior to some uniform guides in terms of usable images. I will begin to paint my French figs this summer, maybe...

Yet another update...

1. Currently I'm painting another regiment of Union ACW Infantry. I've finished 2 of 5 stands including the command stand. Trying to get this unit done by March 13th which seems unlikely.

2. We have tentatively scheduled a WWI in the Middle-East game for late April. This means I will probably return, briefly, to painting WWI figs once I finish this ACW unit. Probably I will run either Iraq 1916 or Arab Revolt 1917. Any minute now the Woodbine Design Company should be releasing new Brits or Indians that will work for me... so I'll need those. They've got new heads that are perfect now just for the bodies in shorts.

3. I feel overwhelmed by the number of unpainted figs I have even though by most peoples standards it's not a lot. Makes me feel bad about ordering any more lead, even though I have definitely cut back. Right now game activity consists of 80% reading, 15% painting, 5% playing. Not ideal.

Crusader Minis-- US Volunteer Infantry

Did you think I would ever ACTUALLY post any photos? I wasn't sure myself... (there are 4 total, scroll down; click on photos for larger view).

Anyway, here they are: 20 Crusader Miniatures Union in Frock Coat & Hardee Hats figs painted up in my own "special" way. There is definitely some variance in the stands regarding the hat cord color and the way I chose to paint the flesh areas. Probably the pants aren't bright enough but the coats are (in my opinion) the best shade of blue.

They are shown in Assault Column at top, Close Order Line in the middle, and with 4 coys deployed in skirmish line in front of their regiment (which is in extended order).

The last photo is of the Command base for my next regiment (Crusader minis Union in Frock Coat and Kepi), the glue wasn't even dry when I took the photo...

Still trying to get the flag thing down. Not my best work...

Now to finish at least 2 more regiments... sigh... and a battery....

Mutterings...

1. Technique: I've never used a paint pen before. I have used a flexible tip marker to try and draw Moko on my Maori figs, which sort of worked, but using a gold paint pen for buttons really works well. We'll see if there's any problems with "materials compatibility"...
2. Books: I've read many Civil War books in my time but I, for one, will never feel like an expert on the subject. As you may or may not know I work in a huge, super high-volume used bookstore and one thing I can tell you is that I see at least 2 ACW books to every 1 WWII book and probably 10:1 (at least) ACW books to books about any other conflict. My problem right now is I have three books in line on the ACW that I really want to read: Brent Nosworthy's newest book Roll Call to Destiny which looks very interesting, How the North Won by Hattaway & Jones, which is apparently a classic strategic study, and In the Trenches at Petersburg by Earl Hess a locally based academic. Why is that a problem? Because while my kids are young my reading time is severely curtailed...
3. Miniatures: I've started the command base of my next Union ACW regiment. Painting a unit in "Kepis" will save me a step or two as compared the Hardee Hats. This unit will be a base-by-base project as I will probably break away to work on WWI or maori-war colonials depending on what I decide to run this spring.
4. Boardgames: Really wish I could find a good naval ACW boardgame, but none seems to be in print now. I do not want to start dropping $hundreds$ of dollars on another miniatures project, so ACW is naval is out of the question right now. Eagerly awaiting the release of many Boardgames (most of which I might play once) I wish I could play the Kaiser's Pirates some more as it's a truly great game. VPG is apparently working on a solo fall of the Ottoman Empire game for their Sate of Siege system, probably a ways off, but Tattered Flags (see image at right, of playtest game, stolen from ConSim World) is playtesting so hopefully I'll be able to get that soon!