Genesis of My TMP Moniker

Just asked over on The Miniatures Page is how did you come by your moniker on TMP.  Well as many of you can guess, mine is "Col Campbell" from my very first painted wargame mounted commander - from the venerable Airfix Waterloo Highland box.  Since Campbell is one of my family names, the mounted officer became Colonel Campbell and has led my Napoleonic British forces since the early 1970s.  And yes, even though an Airfix plastic figure, he's still going strong.

And realizing that I've never posted a picture of the figure, here it is:

Please click on photo for a larger image.

He was painted during my 1970-1971 third year at university, not long after meeting my long-time friend and wargaming buddy, Lord Sterling.  We've been gaming together now for 49 years!!!

15mm Pegram's Cavalry Brigade

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have now changed my Confederate cavalry basing from their temporary "Fire and Fury" basing to my permanent "On to Richmond" basing.

Here is the still to be completed brigade of Confederate cavalry commanded by Brigadier General John Pegram.  It consisted of the 1st and 6th Georgia, 6th North Carolina, and 10th Confederate Cavalry Regiments and Rucker's (cavalry) Legion.  The brigade was commanded by Pegram until Bragg formed a second cavalry corps to be commanded by Brigadier General Nathan B. Forrest.  At that time Pegram was elevated to a division command and turned his brigade over to Brigadier Henry B. Davidson.

The brigade is incomplete, missing 7 mounted and 3 dismounted stands.  They will be procured in the near future to complete the brigade.  Another horse-holder stand will be created out of on-hand figures.  The horse-holder stands will be used to show the position of the brigade's horses when the troopers are functioning in their dismounted capacity.

I also plan on raising a second Confederate cavalry brigade in the near future but an unsure of which one it will be.  There were eight cavalry brigades in the Army of Tennessee at the time of the Tullahoma-Chattanooga-Chickamauga campaign which is the timeframe I'm using to raise my Union and Confederate forces.

Polk's Brigade of Cleburne's Division

While I was painting Confederate cavalry for our just completed Chickamauga game, I also finished painting and basing another brigade for Hardee's Corps of the Army of Tennessee.

Polk's brigade of Cleburne's Division

This is the brigade commanded by Brigadier General Lucius Polk (no relation to the Bishop) and consisted of the 1st Arkansas, 3rd/5th (consolidated) Confederate, and 2nd, 35th, and 48th Tennessee Infantry Regiments.  The figures are 15mm Old Glory miniatures and are dressed in my rendition of a "drab" colored uniform which was common in the Confederate west.  They are based for the venerable "On to Richmond" rules.

Now I just have to paint Wood's Brigade and I'll be completed with Cleburne's Division.  That will put my half-way through painting my Confederate infantry forces, leaving just the three brigades of Breckinridge's Division and the two brigades of Bowen's Division (borrowed from Pemberton's command in Mississippi).

15mm Confederate Cavalry

I should have uploaded this several days ago.  This is almost all my contribution to our just completed Chickamauga game (Saturday, Sep. 21).

The four mounted stands plus more than enough horse-holder stands and four of the ten required dismounted stands.

They are a mix of various 15mm manufacturers.  Although currently mounted for "Fire and Fire" they will be remounted this coming week as Pegram's Cavalry Brigade of the Army of Tennessee.

Pirate Lass

On "Talk Like a Pirate" day, my grand-daughter's school had a "dress like a pirate" day, their mascot being a pirate.  We outfitted her with a head scarf, a jeweled parrot pin, and a treasure map.

Arrghh, matey!  Shiver me timbers!

Another Two American Revolution Units

In between painting my 15mm Union cavalry (see previous post), I've also been working on two additional units for my American Revolution armies.  I'm running a game on Saturday, August 31, and felt I needed these two units with their different characteristics.

First, a battalion of Miniature Figurine British grenadiers:

The 1st British Grenadier Battalion, composed of companies from the 4th, 5th 10th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 35th, 38th, and 40th Foot Regiments.

The British army in North America removed the grenadier (and light) companies from their infantry battalions and "converged" them into 10-company battalions.  Initially formed for the New York City campaign in 1776, they remained on the order of battle until the final actions at Yorktown.  Losses were filled by drafts from the original regiments or others if the originals had been deployed elsewhere.  This battalion will eventually be joined by the 2nd Grenadier Battalion.

Second, not a new unit but two new commanders:

Hessian Colonels von Donop (left) and von Schamm (right)

I've had these two mounted officers for a while and decided to go ahead and get them painted while I was in a revolutionary frame of mind.  I'm sure you'll recognize Colonel von Donop, who was the inhaber of the Musketeer Regiment von Donop and led Hessian forces in North America.  But you may not be familiar with Colonel von Schamm, who attacked an American fort at the "Battle of Bagle Heights" and when defeated joined the American cause, saying that he was "... a Hessian without no aggression" and "If you can't beat them, join them."

Third, my first American militia unit, the Southern District Militia Regiment.  This regiment is not patterned on any particular state's militia but labeled so that I can use it just about anywhere.  It is composed of Miniature Figurines and (probably) Frontier figures.

The American Southern District Militia  Regiment

They will eventually have three compatriot regiments - the Northern District, Eastern District, and River District regiments.

They will be in action on Saturday.  I hope they do well.

15mm Union Cavalry

My friend Electric Ed is developing a club game for us to play on September 21.  He is using the "Fire and Fury" rules with the 1st Day of Chickamauga as the setting.  But the challenge is that Ed doesn't own any 15mm ACW figures.  So three of us are helping him out - Phil with Union infantry and artillery and most of the Confederate cavalry, Larry with Confederate infantry and artillery, and me with Union cavalry and the balance of the Confederate cavalry.  So for the past month or so, I've been working on painting enough Union cavalry for 11 mounted stands (at 2 figures per stand), 8 dismounted stands (at 3 figures per stand), and 3 horse holder stands.

I'm using almost all of my Union cavalry figures in this endeavor from several different manufacturers.  Although they are currently based for "Fire and Fury" rules, they will eventually be permanently based for the "On to Richmond!" rules.

Eleven stands of Union cavalry which will later be divided into Wilder's mounted infantry ("Lightning") brigade and Minty's cavalry ("Saber") brigade.

Eight stands of dismounted cavalry and three stands of horse holders, which also will later be divided into Wilder's and Minty's brigades.

I know that the dismounted command stand's flag is incorrect for a cavalry unit, but it will go to Wilder's Brigade which carried the standard Union infantry colors.

Now to get to work on the Confederate cavalry, which will be reported separately.