On Campaign With General Bt Sherman

10mm American Civil War Project Update (March/ April)

General Bt Sherman — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:59:21 +0000

It has been two months since my last project update. Since then I have completed a batch of 400 advancing Union Infantrymen and a batch of 240 Confederate firing Infantrymen. I am now working on a batch of 240 Union firing Infantrymen. All of these figures were manufactured by Pendraken. I have never been a fan of the firing infantry pose but I see the esthetic advantages of using these troops in defensive situations. Pendrakens firing infantry or battle line are particularly nice figures. Each of the two sets comes with around six poses. I can’t wait to get these troops based and on my table.

Some of my newly painted advancing or attacking Union Infantrymen. Figures were manufactured by Pendraken.

Some of my newly painted firing Confederate Infantrymen. Figures were manufactured by Pendraken.

As summer approaches I am anticipating that my painting output will drop for a time. I have nearly 1300 painted troops that I need to get based and I also want to spend some time working on new terrain. Besides these projects, I’m hoping to play several battles over the summer months including, Fair Oaks (Seven Pines), The Dump (2^nd Manassas), Parts of Antietam, and several smaller battles. I’m expecting that my painting productivity will pick up once again in the September/October time period.

Here’s a photo of everything I have painted so far this year. (Note: All Pendraken so far)

On a final note, I am currently looking for a regimental scale scenario for the cornfield at Antietam. If you’re reading this and know of a scenario or have one that you want to share please contact me at General_btsherman1864@yahoo.com or leave a comment below.

Thanks

Bryan

New battle report posted- The Battle of Shiloh Church (Sherman’s Stand)

General Bt Sherman — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:05:10 +0000

Last weekend, I commemorated the 150^thanniversary of the battle of Shiloh by refighting Sherman’s stand at the Shiloh Church. Below are a few images from the game. The battle report can be seen here: Link

Keywords: The Battle of Shiloh Wargame, Shiloh Church, Pendraken 10mm, ACW 10mm, American Civil War 10mm, Guns at Gettysburg Scenarios, Civil War Miniatures

Pendrakens New 10mm American Civil War Range Part 2

General Bt Sherman — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 23:14:20 +0000

A few months ago I posted some photos of Pendraken’s new Confederate and Union infantry. Since then Pendraken has releases some photos of their new specialty troops including Zouaves and the Iron Brigade. Let’s take a take a look at these new troops.

First up, we have the Zouaves. One of my biggest complaints about Pendrakens current ACW range is that they only offer Zouaves in kepi. Thanks to all the requests on Pendrakens forum that issue has been corrected with their new range. Pendrakens new range will now offer Zouaves in Fez, Turban, Kepi and Straw hats. Each type will come in four poses.

Zouaves, Firing

Zouaves, Attacking

Zouaves, Command

Next up, we have the Iron Brigade. They will come in four marching poses and three command poses. Personally, I’m very excited to see these troops because they were lacking from the current range.

Iron Brigade, Marching

Iron Brigade, Command

Next, we have Berdan’s Sharpshooters. They will come in four poses and three command poses. After these photos were posted on Pendrakens forum there was a comment made about the lack of a firing pose. The poses that are offered are really nice but I do agree that a sharpshooter unit should have a firing pose.

Berdan's Sharpshooters

Berdan’s Sharpshooters, Command

Finally, we have Infantry in Greatcoats. These figures will come in four poses (two Union and two Confederate) and three command poses. To be honest the lack of poses offered here maybe a disappointment if you were planning on painting a lot of these. Personally, I have no plans to paint any Infantry in Greatcoats, so this is not a problem for me.

Infantry in Greatcoats

Greatcoat, Command

Since my last post the release date for these new figures has been pushed back to May. Next time we will take a look at the new mounted and dismounted Cavalry figures.

Links:

Pendraken’s Web Page: Link

Pendraken’s Forum: Link

Key Words: Pendraken, ACW 10mm, American Civil War 10mm, Pendrakens New Civil War Range

10mm American Civil War Project Update (February)

General Bt Sherman — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:41:27 +0000

My main focus for the month of February was painting a batch of 400 advancing Confederate infantrymen from Pendraken. Up to this point I have painted mostly marching infantry. As I expected, Pendraken’s advancing infantry is just as good as their marching infantry. The only downside is the Confederate set only comes in two poses, but these can be mixed with the Union set to give you five poses. I’m hoping to have this batch of troops completed before I leave for Cold Wars.

This photo was taken on 1/24/2012. Looks like I have a lot of work before me.

This photo was taken today. Almost done.

I also spent a small part of my time painting up a few more of my buildings form Jerry’s Hobby Junction. I’m so happy with how these buildings turned out that I plan to purchase more of them from Battlefield Terrain Concepts at Cold Wars.

So what’s next? I want to keep my painting momentum going, so I plan to put off basing my newly painted Confederate infantry for a while and instead move on to painting 400 advancing Union Infantrymen. Once these are completed I will go back and base both batches of infantry.

That’s all for this month.

-Bryan

AND THE WINNERS ARE!!!

General Bt Sherman — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:00:52 +0000

The winners of Pendraken’s annual painting contest were announced yesterday and to my surprise I won first place in the Open (Anything Goes) category. My winning entry was a photo that I took during the Battle of Bull Run game that I ran last September. This victory will definitely fuel my motivation to continue expanding my American Civil War project. Thanks to everybody at Pendraken.

My Winning Photo

All the winning photos can be viewed on the Pendraken forum: AND THE WINNERS ARE!!!

New Gallery: The Battle of Pea Ridge (First Day, March 7th, 1862)

General Bt Sherman — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:36:23 +0000

Just in time for the 150^th anniversary here are the photos from the Battle Pea Ridge game that I ran back in January. Below are some of my favorite photos from the game. The entire gallery can be seen here: The
Battle of Pea Ridge Gallery

Enjoy the photos

Key Words: ACW 10mm, American Civil War 10mm, The Battle of Pea Ridge, Elkhorn Tavern, Syracuse Wargaming

10mm Roads

General Bt Sherman — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:05:14 +0000

I’ve had several people ask me what I was using for roads ever since I started to share my Civil War game photos. I will use this post to answer that question.

Roads are one of those terrain features that can make or break your battlefield, so when I decided to do my American Civil War project in 10mm scale one of the first questions I had to ask myself was “what will I use for roads”. As always, one of the first places I checked was the TMP forum’s to see what other people were using. Unfortunately, the most common answers were felt or sand. I was not satisfied with these answers, so I continued my search. While browsing the blog, “CHARGE! Civil War gaming” by Scott Mingus, I discovered a review that he did on 1” flexible roads from Monday Knight Productions. In this review, Scott included simple step by step instructions on how he enhanced the appearance of his roads. I had seen the unfinished version of these roads before, and I really was not impressed with them but after seeing how Scott was able to greatly enhance the appearance by simply adding a black wash and then flocking the edges, I was convinced. I have not looked back since buying my first set. What I like about these roads are: 1) They are extremely flexible. 2) The straight road section comes in 22” length; these can then be trimmed to any size you desire. 3) The road surface is 1” wide and in my opinion they look great with my 10mm figures. 4) The roads come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. 5) You can find these roads for sale in the dealers’ hall at most HMGS East conventions. The only downside to these roads is you need to store them flat or they will become wrinkled.

For more information on these roads, I recommend that you check out Scott Mingus’s review. I followed the same modeling steps that he lays out, except I used a dark brown wash instead of black. To sum things up, if you’re looking for roads to use with your 10mm armies I recommend that you give Monday Knight Productions a try.

Links

Monday Knight Productions

Flexible 1” dirt roads from Monday Knight Productions, By Scott Mingus, Part 1, Part 2

Some of my roads after being finished.

My storage method

I hope this helps

-Bryan

American Civil War Project (Phase 2)

General Bt Sherman — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:37:28 +0000

2012 is here and its time to begin phase two of my 10mm American Civil War Project. Last year I was able to paint just fewer than 400 bases of infantry (1600 figures), 30 artillery bases and various commanders. My main goal for this year is to double the size of my armies. With that in mind my goals for 2012 are:

Paint 200 bases (800 figures) of Union infantry
Paint 200 bases (800 Figures) of Confederate infantry
Paint 30 bases (90 Figures) of Mounted Confederate Cavalry
Paint 30 bases (120 Figures) of dismounted Confederate Cavalry
Paint 30 bases (90 Figures) of Mounted Union Cavalry
Paint 30 bases (120 Figures) of dismounted Union Cavalry
Paint 10 bases (40 figures) of Union Artillery
Build/Paint 6’ of entrenchments
Game 15 battles from 1862.

These goals are somewhat aggressive and a lot depends on when Pendraken starts to releases their new range of figures. If I can meet or come close to meeting these goals, I will feel like I had a productive year. My plan is to post monthly updates on my progress here, so be sure to check back. Now onto what I’m currently working on.

I have spent the past few weeks working on painting mounted and dismounted cavalry. I have found that Perrin’s mounted cavalry are the best offered in 10mm scale and to my disappointment nobody really makes great dismounted cavalry. Below are some photos of my progress so far. I will share more details and photos once I get them based.

Union Cavalry

Confederate Cavalry

Preparations for my first game of the year are also underway. This game will be based on the first days fighting around the Elkhorn Tavern during the Battle of Pea Bridge. For this game I will be using the scenario published in the “Guns at Gettysburg Scenarios 2, Frontier” book by Paul D. Stevenson. The game will be held at Walt’s Hobby shop on January 22^nd. Below is an image of the buildings that I’ve been working on for the game.

These building will serve as the Elkhorn Tavern and Clemon’s Farmhouse for my upcoming Battle of Pea Ridge game.

Pendrakens New 10mm American Civil War Range.

General Bt Sherman — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:31:45 +0000

Several months back Pendraken announced that they were in the early stage of re-mastering their 10mm American Civil War range. At first I was a little reserved about this news but after a short time, I realized the potential of having a brand new range that would be compatible with my existing army. For the time being Pendraken will also continue to produce their current Civil War range as well. Combined these two ranges will arguably be the most complete 10mm American Civil War range offered by any company. Below are some photos that Pendraken has released of some of the new greens. Be sure to check Pendrakens website and form for up to date news.

Pendraken’s Web Page: Link

Pendraken’s Forum: Link

Union Infantry Firing Line

Union Infantry Advancing

Union Infantry Command

Confederate Infantry Command

Union Infantry Marching

Confederate Infantry Advancing

Confederate infantry Marching

Pendraken has stated that these figures will begin to be available in the March/April time period. I for one can’t wait!

Key Words: Pendraken, ACW 10mm, American Civil War 10mm, Pendrakens New Civil War Range

Battle of the Hornet’s Nest Game Gallery Added

General Bt Sherman — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:05:18 +0000

Below are some photos from my most recent American Civil War game. The game was based on the fighting that occurred at the Hornet’s Nest during the Battle of Shiloh. The full Gallery can be seen here: The Hornet’s Nest (Shiloh 1862)

Key words: Battle of Shiloh, The Hornet’s nest, American Civil War 10mm, ACW 10mm, Rally Round the flag Rules, Guns at Gettysburg Scenarios book 2,