I am finally getting back around to ACW gaming again. This period has always held a special place in my gaming heart. My interest in the Civil War started when I was a lad cultivated by the many road trips I took with my family south visiting various battlefields along the way. Of course, Gettysburg will always be holy ground to me. That interest blossomed into Reenacting with the 140th NYVI, playing Fire and Fury when I was stationed at Fort Bragg and latter Brother Against Brother for skirmish battles with my local club friends.
Along comes Alter of Freedom and 3d printing. This ruleset intrigued me with some of its novel ideas and mechanics and I really like the campaign scenarios. I'm not really much for fighting historical battles because mostly those have an inevitable feeling and are constrained by - well - history. I prefer to use plausible armies fighting in scenarios which are historical-adjacent (how's that for PC!). These are much better games in my humble opinion as they allow the player to exercise strategic and tactical judgement and when combined with a good ruleset that encourages the use of period correct tactical doctrine make for a great well-rounded gaming experience.
Oh so many figures...
Most of the Horse and Musket periods however can be a daunting challenge based on the sheer number of figures required to field these large armies. Even more so if you are a solo gamer or don't have support or interest by other members in your club. Thank God for smaller skirmish or company level games that still let us dabble, but it's not just the figures. I can buy mounds of figures easily enough. It's all the painting and basing that comes with them! I'm a decent painter but certainly not very fast and basing, while not difficult is rather monotonous to me.
Enter 3d Printing
As you will see on this blog, I have found 3d Printing quite useful and rather fun to do. I have accumulated some basic skills that allow me to produce most terrain. My initial interest in the Napoleonic War ruleset Blucher led me to create 3d printed armies for it. So, I thought to myself - why not do the same for AoF. With this process, I could print large armies, fast, and at very low cost.
What's Needed for Gettysburg
As mentioned above, Gettysburg is a sacred place for me and represents one of the largest battles of the Civil War with regard to troops required on the field (50 Union Infantry BDEs and 37 Confederate). So, I set about to make everything I need to play Gettysburg using AoF.
Infantry and Cavalry Brigades
In order to simplify play I wanted to continue to use the same measurements as listed in AoF for 6mm. To do so, I used the same base sizes of 2.5"x1.25" for Infantry and Cavalry Brigades by creating a movement tray of this size. In that tray, I created two stands, each with two Regiments on them in line of battle. This system allows you to use the stands placed side by side to create a battle line of 2.5" or to rotate them into a column position with a front of 1.25". I reduced the troop size to roughly 4mm so that the units look more like regiments.
 |
| Here are to Brigade in line being encouraged by their Corps Commander! |
Artillery Batteries
I departed a bit with the Artillery base size choosing to use the same width of 1.25" but to extend the depth to the same as the Infantry and Cavalry Brigades. This allowed me to depict both the business end of a battery (the guns) and the movement end (the limbers) while using the same movement trays. I think this better represents the depth a battery takes up on the field and allows me to once again flip the stand to depict Limbered and unlimbered formations. Not necessary for the game but fun to look at and gives you a better feeling of playing Civil War Armies.
 |
| Infantry Brigade in Column supported by a Limbered Artillery Battery |
Other Accouterments
To round out the other necessities to play the game, I created Corps and Army Leader Stands, Corp HQ's, Army HQs, Supply/Ammunition Wagons, a train and a whole assortment of fences and fortifications. For Houses I bought a ton of Monopoly houses on Ebay for a small price.
 |
| I'm working on the forces currently for the Vicksburg Campaign. Grant's troops are split into 3 Corps. Painting for some of the Artillery, Army Commander and Army HQ still WIP as you can see to the right. 28mm AWI Figure include for scale. |
 |
| Test Confederates - one more butternut based and one more gray. |
 |
| Rebels assault a Federal Division |
 |
| Union Corps HQ |
 |
| Primed Cavalry Stands |
 |
| Sample of housing |
 |
| House and figure scale |
Conclusion and Other Observations
It's true that I have printed out the full orders of battle for both Armies at Gettysburg. What might surprise you is that painting still takes some time! They are not masterpieces in any sense - some sky blue to suggest the pants, some black and brown hats sprinkled amongst the ranks and a daub of flesh for the faces - paint the flags and you're done - oh and the ground. That actually takes more time that you think but still way less than figures of larger scales.
So, what are the benefits - Cost is minimal, storage is very easy, playing space expands (Gettysburg can actually be played on a 4 x 6 table). It gives you a sense of real scale. While 28mm figures are lovely, they are always out of scale visually with the real thing.
What are your thoughts?
If you are interested in the Altar of Freedom rules you can pick those up from the guys at Little Wars TV.
Little Wars TV - Home
What do you think of my approach? Do you like the smaller more ranked figures and the approach I have taken? Would there be interest in me making all of the items available to folks?
Till then...
FORWARD BOYS!
