Regiment of the Month 5: I cheated!!!

Another month has passed, and the 5th instalment of the Regiment in a Month has arrived.

Ever since I started my ACW force, I wanted a unit skirmishers, but most rules suggest just putting your bases a bit apart or to base less models together... no thanks, i wanted something special, and when I read the Osprey Elite 140 - The American Civil War in the Indian Territory... I had my regiment of skirmishers.

Delaware Scouts

Native Americans in the ACW fought a war within the war, with many family and tribal feuds being fought over with a savagery far exceeding the `normal` war acts. Scalping for one, or the execution of relatives from an opponent was more the norm then the exception as these fierce and proud warriors fought for their homelands.



Perhaps best known is the Battle of Pea Ridge, but a lot more smaller actions where fought out in the Trans Mississipi region, that acted as a buffer between the Union and the Confederacy. Indian troops where poorly equipped, having to rely for the most part on their own private equipment and mostly by foraging the battlefields, making the units look even more rag tagged then some southern regiments near the end of the war.



So now I had to find models, and as this is a very unplayed part of the ACW, I couldn`t find any manufacturer for Union native americans, so I had to resort to the oldest trick known to any wargamer. Not converting, not sculpting... no, I had to resort to downright cheating!

I bought a few packs of Indians drawn from various `tribes` from Conquest Miniatures Plains War range and 500 Nations range, and added just a few hardee hats and caps in the regiment. And then the cheating began by painting their normal tunics in blue and trousers in sky blue, with the odd civilian colouring in between.
That way, they LOOK like they are wearing blue uniforms if one takes the `1 foot rule` into account, even though not one actually wears a military costume.



Ely Harper, Stand Whaitee... just some of the more famous names that fought in the Civil War, and the culture is so rich and flavored I always had a soft spot and intrest in them, and now they will march onto glory in my collection!

But it looks the deal on the tabletop, which is fine enough for me...

And so we are of to the finale of the project, with the 6th month at the doorstep. It will be another unusual ACW regiment for me... another one very unlikely to be featured much on the table top, but which I`m painting up as a `centrepoint unit` just for those times they will.

Ciao ciao