The Blues ....

After Blenheim at the Wargames Holiday Centre I had a taste for black powder (the period and the rule set) and I wanted to get into them in some way. 6mm, naturally, but what conflict exactly? I have always had a bit of a yearning for the classic 18th Century Imaginations campaign, and I am also interested in finding out more about the AWI. However I feel it helps to have a basic knowledge of the period and combatants when starting something new - so you instinctively understand the difference between a Guard and a Grenadier, for example. That way you don't have to go back to check every detail before making a move. I have a reasonable grasp of the combatants and narrative of the American Civil War, so I decided to start there.

When I was down at Salute I picked up two Baccus starter armies, one Confederate and one Union Eastern Theatre. I also got the Black Powder supplement for the conflict, Glory Hallelujiah! One question I wanted to decide was the basing structure, and so I started out by painting and basing a single infantry unit for each side. The Baccus basic infantry element is four figures lined up side by side, 20mm wide. I decided that a standard unit (a regiment) would be two bases, each 40mm wide by 15mm deep. Each base would have two ranks, each of eight figures, two elements. On one of the bases, one of the front elements would be a command element, which Baccus supply as part of the unit, with flags, drums and an officer. I will also have skirmish screens - each one will be 40mm x 20mm, with four skirmishing figures per base. So a regiment will be 32 figures, 40 with a skirmish screen out.

I started with a Union regiment, and I was pleased with the results. Next I will do a Confederate equivalent, then try some other units - command, artillery, cavalry and Zouaves.