Confederates for Sharp Practice and Black Powder - the 4th Kentucky

One of my very favorite pieces of Civil War art

You may have noticed Sharp Practice and musket-era wargaming dominating the blog lately. Its fair to say its my favorite period to think about and research, and now that there are some really accessible games to play, it has been what I've been spending my time on.

I finally finished my force that I've been painting for Sharp Practice! I have something around 90 Confederate infantry painted up with officers, musicians, and standard bearers. I am finishing my second deployment point and some wagons for support. I also have an artillery piece to finish then I'll really be ready for some games!

This is the force I painted to with some extra models thrown in for good measure. Obviously I painted way too many dudes but I wanted to also put together a brigade for Black Powder.

Here you can see the overall force. I've used the sabot bases from Warbases and Supreme Littleness with magnet holes in them (seen here). They worked out really well, with almost no difficulty painting them up and getting them ready.

In the front you can see the two groups of skirmishers. I think I like the three bases of two better than the one base of six.

I mostly tried to emulate the Columbus Depot jacket, which was made of jeancloth, and mostly light gray to a light brown once worn. Many of the troops have the blue cuffs and collars that you can see below.

Taken from the excellent Orphan Brigade site

Most of the models I used are from Sash and Saber, Old Glory, and Perry Miniatures (plastics and pewter). Perry makes amazing miniatures but I have to say my favorites are definitely from Sash and Saber.

The skirmishers are mostly in action poses, either loading, firing, or moving, as they would be when they're skirmishing in a pair.

I love the super-dynamic posing on the dude who is yelling at the enemy while standing, and the guy who is reaching into his cap box to pull out a percussion cap. The officer behind this group of skirmishers with the field glasses is probably my favorite (from Sash and Saber artillery crew).

The focus is bad on this one, but you can see here the two groups of eight who are marching at shoulder arms. Two of the gents on the right have gotten a little excited and leveled their weapons at the enemy.

A better look at the dudes in the back - as well as the band that is used as the deployment point. The guy in the middle in the back in the cadet gray actually has corporal stripes molded on, which is really really cool.

The officer leading this group is Major Monroe, my fifth great-uncle. These guys are mostly Perry plastic and Sash and Saber. They're moving forward at the right shoulder shift to get into battle as quickly as possible.

A little better shot. You can see here the number of men who have blue collars and cuffs. I did throw in some sky blue pants that have been captured before the battle from the Federals.

Some support options - a standard bearer and drummer. Looking at it now, the standard bearer seems to be fogged from bad gloss, but I'm not sure, it may just be the camera. Will have to check him tonight. I'm not exactly sure the flag is actually accurate, either.

This is probably a better flag to use for this force, as I'm modeling them as they were around the battle of Shiloh in 1862. This is definitely the flag associated with the Orphan Brigade by most Civil War historians.

Some more overall shots of the force. I'm extremely happy with how they turned out and really excited to get them on the table.

To finish out this force for Sharp Practice I am going to paint up one artillery piece (Graves' Battery) and a small cavalry unit (Morgan's Cavalry). After that I have to start batch painting guys to represent the whole brigade for Black Powder.

I also have one more deployment point to do, which is a diorama of the guys above - will post a photo when I'm done! After all this, I'm onto my provincials for AdeptiCon. After that, I'll be painting some Federals to oppose these guys for FlintCon. Thanks for taking a look!