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Saturday 26 December 2020

American Civil War wargaming

One of the first complete collection of wargame armies I owned was an American Civil War one. It was made up of Airfix figures, and they were almost painted. (Almost, because they were mainly left in their original mounded colour, and had their muskets, faces, and hands painted. The exception was the artillery, which were moulded in a brown plastic, and which got a basic overall coat of blue or grey paint.)

I had many enjoyable battles with these figures, including a refight of Donald Featherstone’s action around Plattville, but when I began buying metal figures, my ACW collection went into storage ... and eventually got ‘lost’. (I think that my mother may have given it away to a neighbour’s child after I had left home.)

I resurrected my interest in the ACW in the early 1970s, and I painted quite a few of the then-new 25mm Minifig figures as Union soldiers ... but I never painted any Confederates, and these figures were passed on to another wargamer only relatively recently. I had another attempt in the mid 1980s, this time using Minifig 15mm figures ... but the project was never completed and most of the figures were permanently loaned to another wargamer.

Recently, I decided that I would try again, but as I did not want to go through the trials and tribulations of painting a whole load of figures, I began to look around for some table-ready figures. I trawled through eBay, but found that any figures that might do were either already based and would need rebasing or were not very well painted, even by my standards. Essex Miniatures sell complete ready-painted ACW armies, and they were one option I considered. I also looked at buying some of Peter Dennis’s Paperboy figures because they were cheap and required only a small amount of work on my part to get them ready for use on my tabletop.

At this point, I was introduced to WoFun figures. (WoFun is an abbreviation of ‘World of Fun’, and it is a Romanian company that prints Peter Dennis’s figures on plexiglass.) I considered that they might be a simple and fast way to acquire an ACW collection, and about a month before I went into hospital, I ordered a complete collection of 18mm ACW figures from them. They arrived whilst I was in hospital, and my wife unpacked them for me to look at a couple of days after I got home. They looked even better than I had expected, and once I am a bit more mobile (hopefully sometime over the next few days) I intend to get the figures out of their box and based. Once I have, I’ll write a review of them.

28 comments:

  1. Hi Bob,
    That is good news that you have ready made ACW armies in 18mm - the WoFun figures are rather nice and excellently made- I look forward to viewing them later on. Christmas Day is over here and we're having a quiet time of it. Best Wishes. KEV.

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    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      From what I have seen of the figures, they are a very quick way for a wargamer to acquire and field wargame armies, and I look forward to seeing what they look like on my tabletop.

      We had a quiet Christmas Day, and are now enjoying Boxing Day ... well, the first of three days which this year seem to be called Boxing Day in the UK!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. I really enjoyed the then and now nature of the post. I look forward to seeing your figures in action and you writing about them in a review. I enjoyed many a game with my Airfix fellows using the rules from Introduction to battle gaming by Terry Wise. My Airfx went long ago but I bought some painted ones a few years ago to replace my collection.

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    1. Tradgardmastare,

      I’m please to read that you enjoyed my reminisces. The ACW has always been of interest to me, and I felt that it was about time that I finally acquired a figure collection that I could use.

      I never used Terry Wise’s rules, although I do have a copy of his book. My rules were firmly based on Donald Featherstone’s rules, although they were inevitably tinkered with!

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. I too was introduced to wargaming through Airfix figures; although in my case these were their Napoloenic range. We had a lodger who was a student at the local university and he was a wargamer. He had a large collection of Airfix Naps and I got introduced via him. Good times.

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    3. Red_Cardinal,

      There must be a whole generation of wargamers whose introduction to the hobby is down to Airfix figures and meeting someone who was already a wargamer or finding a wargame book in a library.

      Keep safe and keep well,

      Bob

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  3. I was looking at the Wofun figures with an eye on their ECW , maybe in the New Year !?

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    1. The Good Soldier Svjek,

      I understand that David Crook (who writes the ‘A Wargaming Odyssey’ blog) has ordered the complete 28mm ECW collection, and no doubt that once they have been delivered, he will do a review of the figures. Seeing them might help you to decide whether or not to buy them.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  4. Bob, glad to see you're recovering well enough to post. Were it I, it would likely be a long while for a return.

    As to the WoFun figures, I have the ACW set that I received as my Kickstarter reward. Yes, they do look good.

    I won't steal any thunder from your upcoming review, so will save my other thoughts on them until that time.

    On related note, I pre-ordered the Epic Battles ACW starter set from Warlord...

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    1. Justin Penwith,

      I’m getting better slowly, and each day sees some small but important improvement.

      I hope to write my review of the WoFun figures over the next day or so, but I’d be interested to read you opinion of them.

      I saw the bee Warlord Epic Battles figures, and I must say that they looked very impressive.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  5. Airfix was the only option with my pocket money and we had many good times playing with them in the garden, in bedrooms etc. I don't recall having the ACW figures but they were always being converted into other troops in articles in the superb Airfix magazine. Many happy memories for sure!

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    1. Steve J.,

      I’m old enough to remember buying my boxes of Airfix figures for 2/- from the local branch of Woolworths, and doing conversions using a hot knife, pins, plasticine, and banana oil!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  6. Hello Bob, good to see you back blogging again and hopefully we are all heading towards a better 2021 all round. A thought provoking post this one, I still browse the photos of my old Airfix Guide to ACW wargaming with great fondness, packed full of Airfix figures. Funny enough for me it was my Uncle Bill who bought my first box, in my case the US Marines with the two part dingy, that was a couple of days after he took me to see ZULU on release at Peckham Odeon, he sure started something!

    I think the WoFun figures work even better in the smaller 18mm scale personally, I hope they will give you a lot of pleasure.

    Regards to Sue, take care,
    Lee.

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    1. ‘Lee,

      Like a lot of people, I’m hoping that 2021 will be better than 2020. I’m getting better slowly, and regard being able to blog as indicative of how much better I am.

      I can remember the first box of Airfix figures that I bought. It was the Guards, and they were moulded in pink plastic!

      I’m impressed by what I’ve seen of the WoFun figures, and I suspect that you are right that the smaller figures will work better than the larger ones ... especially with my PW rules.

      I hope that you and your family had a great Christmas, and may I wish you all a Happy New Year.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  7. Glad to hear you are getting better...

    ACW wargaming wasn't something I had played much until I started with Battlecry and I then decided it would be nice to play the game with figures.

    Not having the time or inclination to paint a collection, I wa lucky enough to pick up a vry nice 20mm plastic ACW collection from Ian Hinds. Of course, I ended up buying the whole lot instead of just the figures that I needed for Battlecry but that seems to happen a lot! (Hence my 750 figure FPW 25mm collection...)

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    1. Mike Lewis,

      I am recovering slowly but surely.

      I have both the original and latest versions of BATTLE CRY, and have enjoyed using them. I did consider buying some painted figures to replace the unpainted figures that come with the game, but never thought of trying Ian Hinds’ website as a potential source of suitable figures.

      I’ve always wanted to own a FPW collection, but somehow I’ve never managed to get around to acquiring one. Perhaps WoFun will produce some suitable figures at some time in the future. Who knows?

      Keep safe and keep well,

      Bob

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  8. Keeping up with the cutting edge as usual Bob. Sounds like a good idea, Practical one might say.

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    1. Ross Mac,

      I’m always willing to give new ideas and concepts are tryout ... and the WoFun figures were good value, easy to store, and reasonably priced.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  9. Time was, Airfix was a good cheap way of building a pretty decent sized ACW army. My early paint jobs were at least as minimalist as your own, but I gradually improved upon them over time.

    Great to see steady progress towards recovery, Bob. Looking forward to more postings on your blog.
    Cheers,
    Ion

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    1. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      My favourite early sets of Airfix figures were the first edition German and Afrika Korps figures ... the ones that came with the light anti-tank guns. They were produced in the ‘right’ coloured plastic, and just a touch of paint here and there produced passable results.

      My recovery is slower than I had hoped, but I have noticed minor improvements day-on-day,

      Keep safe and keep well,

      Bob

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  10. Hi Bob, the Wofun figures are really nice. I've resisted so far but have paper soldiers armies for the Jacobite Rebellion. Santa brought me the Peter Dennis Little Wars book so some large scale paper soldiers are on their way at some point.

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    1. Alastair,

      I’ll be writing about my recently-acquired WoFun figures later today ... I hope!

      Having played FUNNY LITTLE WARS - which are based on H G Wells’ rules - I can assure you that you’ll have great fun wargaming with larger figures.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  11. Looking forward to seeing your new acquisitions in action Bob.

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    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      I hope to use the figures as soon as my wound is properly healed and I can get proper access to my toy/wargame room.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  12. I am trudging on with the painting of the Union half of the ACW 20mm (Revell) collection. It is my "Holy Grail" project from youth for several reasons

    The WoFun stuff looks an "instant hit" and I am battling the madness (or attractiveness) of the 12mm-15mm Pre-Order Warlord bargain bundle epic game

    Have fun and I am looking forward to the AARs

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    1. Geordie an Exile FoG,

      I can well understand why your current ACW project is your ‘Holy Grail’. My equivalent is my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project, which I’ve wanted to do ever since I saw the photographs of Lionel Tarr’s wargames in Donald Featherstone’s books.

      The Warlord figures look nice, but I’m pleased that I opted for the ‘ready to go’ WoFun figures.

      Keep safe and keep well,

      Bob

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  13. Hi Bob and Happy New Year,
    Living in the US in Virginia (Fredericksburg), you might think I'm quite up to speed on ACW. I've been to Gettysburg, PA too, and of course the site of the Battle of Fredericksburg. But I'm still struggling to get this wargaming period to the point where I can just start a solo campaign and have at it. I solo wargame in Ancients and Napoleonic (your book The Portable Napoleonic Wargame was a great source of ideas and rules), and have a pretty good "library" of campaign rules and scenarios where only a minor tweaking here and there is all I need. But for ACW I'm still looking for the variety in battle rules that I like. Ross Macfarlane's Plastic Army of the Potomac is a great ruleset. But in each period I usually like 2 or 3 rulesets e.g. some battles may be division level, others might be corps level). Very occasionally brigade level. Anyway, I read one of your goals for 2021 was to create a Portable ACW Wargame. I would really be interested in seeing how this works out because I always pick up something new from your ideas. Are you thinking of developing them using a similar basic concept as the Portable Wargame Rules, or do you think it might take a different direction? Just curious.

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    1. Dalethewargamer,

      May I wish you and yours a Happy New Year!

      I suppose that there are people who would assume that living in Fredericksburg would make you knowledgeable about the American Civil War, but I know from friends that live near English Civil War battlefield sites, that is a fallacious assumption!

      One of my plans is to produce ACW rules that cover brigade, division, and corps-level battles in the same way as my Napoleonic rules do. In fact, it would not take much to convert the rules in PNW to make them suitable for use for the ACW.

      I do have ideas for a set of operational-level rules for the late nineteenth and early twentieth century ... but I’m not sure how much progress I’ll make over the next few weeks and months.

      All the best,

      Bob

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