Having narrowly lost several hard fought battles, it was time for the Army of the Origawn Republic to fall back, regroup and reorganize.
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| The Black Horse, raised in the NorthWest, the second senior cavalry regiment in the army, and now the senior regiment of the 1st NorthWest Cavalry Brigade, leads a march past in their new coats (of paint). |
There had long been a tendency towards an unofficial division of the army into North-Western and Eastern regiments. The Joint Committee now ordered that this division be formalized and that to ease logistics, only the Eastern Regiments were to continue wearing Oberhilse Blue uniforms, while the North West Regiments were to all adopt the Grey or Drab uniforms that were already popular amongst the Volunteers from that region.
The war was not over yet.
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Postscript: For those who are curious why I actually bothered to repaint the coats and hats, there are three main reasons.
Firstly, I would like to have an option to use these figures to play a small 54mm ACW game, probably with a guest. Since I've run out of room, adding more 54mm cavalry units is something I'd really like to avoid, especially since there are piles of 40mm in the queue for several other eras.
Secondly, I want to make it easier to tell the two Division/Brigades apart when packing up or laying out. The plan had been to leave the two Blue cavalry units alone and add a second Grey/Butternut unit but then the idea of a lancer unit came up and I needed someome for Captain Jinks to command, so I ended up with three Blue and 1 Grey cavalry unit. Rather unbalanced.
Thirdly, and most importantly, when I painted them, the plan was to continue with the historical fiction setting witha late 1870’s Canada and US border clash on the prairies. So I painted them like US cavalry on the plains. The problem was that whever I look at them, with their buff hats turned up in front, I think "F Troop". (60's historical sitcom) Despite their successful and dashing career, I just can't shake it.
Now all those issues are sorted with 15 minutes work!
A fine looking unit! Your F-troop comment is one reason I skip over that era whenever I start looking at expanding my gaming!
ReplyDeleteI built a VERY solid lookout tower for my fort...
Delete>...why I actually bothered to repaint the coats and hats, there are three main reasons.
ReplyDeletepfft! I distinguish MY different 5mm units from each other by whether the figures are wearing white or yellow metal buttons!
Yes well, I did the same as my old strip minifig 15's which weren't much bigger than 5's are now...
Delete'The end of the Civil War drew near when quite accidentally' - Forrest Tucker was the sergeant I believe? Showing my age...
ReplyDeleteThat's the one. I only got to see it occasionally when visiting a friend or one of my uncles. It was only available on American tv and for that in Montreal, you needed a roof top antenna and all we had were rabbit ears on the tv set. (I suppose that might as well be greek for some readers...)
DeleteI really do like the way your units have their own history and uniform updates along the way. Even if it is for practical identification reasons.
ReplyDeleteWell, that was the official excuse. At least they got to keep their nickname "the Black Horse "
DeleteThe units look great and I enjoyed reading the rationale.
ReplyDeleteThanks
DeleteLarry Storch and Forest Tucker--now that's a trip down memory lane. Your rationale (F Troop included) makes perfect sense to me (having just gone through a similar thought process to decide on distinctions for a set of units on the workbench).
ReplyDeleteGood to know. Things can get a little strange in my head during these internal debates.
DeleteNice work on the refitting, Ross! Out West, we pronounce it, "Orygun."
ReplyDeleteAh, good! Thanks for that, I like to try to make sure that my fictional places aren't easily mistaken for real ones while still having a certain atmosphere to them.
Delete(Of course, this originally started about 15 years ago as a 40mm not quite serious Historical 1840's 'what if' with Britain and Mexico allying to lock the US out from the Pacific Coast. It got a bit lost on the way .
Believe it or not we were able to watch F-Troop in the UK (mid 60s?) as kids and my brother and I loved it. Also really liked 'Branded' - "and they say he ran away" - the troops look great btw!
ReplyDeleteWhat a stylish unit.
ReplyDeleteRegards, James