Paddy Griffith: ACW Book: Empire Interactive - American Civil War Game

I recently (well fairly - this or last year[?]) read Paddy Griffiths ACW book (and it is very interesting to hear American commentators, perhaps shall we say not so praiseworthy reviews, of the book) but knew that upstairs in the loft was an old bag of computer games, one of which was Empire Interactive's Battles of the American Civil War in which was a paper book supplement, written by Paddy. Yes back in the days computer games came with physical instruction books, so with some spare time on my hands (don't tell the wife) off to the loft I went (see below, amongst the cobwebs my efforts were rewarded):  

It is a classic info book. A good guide to get the basics into perspective and introduce themes to a general audience rather than an in depth or comprehensive historical reference or treatise, but I would say it also goes slightly beyond that and hits the wargamers "sweet spot" and gets them salivating. In the words of an old football coach, "Nobody ever gets cut for spending time practising the basics" and this my friend is a good grounding text to return to so you know you "have it right" (see below, nicely illustrated, some 48 pages and a lovely thing to dip into): 

In combination with my recent purchases of Warlord Games Epic ACW and the Worthington Games (solitaire) Gettysburg wargame, it is a nice fit. 

ACW Musings and Distractions

My recent wargaming discovery is that of the late Paddy Griffith, his literature and his life's work in games (courtesy of the gentlemen of Wargames Developments and The History of Wargaming Project) (see below, two of his most inspirational books, let the reading begin):  

On the back of this inspirational reading I decided to finally try and paint up some of the Warlord Games ACW (Epic Scale) ACW I had purchased over the last year of lock-down. To help me I followed the following painting tutorial for inspiration (there are tons available, not even sure the one I ended up using is in amongst this lot:

Confederate: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMQ3GAt546o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrnemzCAXxs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VPdrB094go

Union: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e28316C7S4g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZNgX3-8zhc

And in Spanish: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsVKxVMXTFU

Yes, the first pilot was significantly over painted (as is always the case)! So it is one ten man sprue down only 239 to go (gulp)! Time to have a look at the Union troops now ;) 

Oh When The Saints .. EPIC Warlord Games ACW .. "off the sprue"

Well there certainly is a lot of them (see below, but the nice thing about the stands is that they seem to have an amount of "gravity" and "believability" about them - they are "marching into battle"): 

The three pieces of the sprue - infantry, artillery and a commander - look good next to each other (see below, I do want to see how "good" they look "in mass" together):  

From one sprue .. this is a lot (see below, five infantry regiments, one artillery and a commander per sprue - and there was twelve sprues a side [Union/Confederate]): 

These look perfect for Bob Cordery's "The Portable Wargame" rule set and Neil Thomas' "One Hour Wargame" rules. I am putting off painting them and concentrating on getting them cleanly off the sprues (they come off really cleanly but I am trying to be patient, the only issue I have hit is with the artillery and my "fat fingers"), I keep getting this heretical thought - "Do I really need to paint them?" Even if I do "paint them" - then to what degree? A spray can, a wash and a little bit of flock. I know the artists at Warlord Games have done some fine painting - but why wait, through these chaps into a game asap? Black Powder does not look like a simple set of rules to pick up .. why not throw them at a simpler set?