18 mm ACW Confederate Generals

I've recently finished John Keegan's 2010 History of the American Civil War (ACW) which I picked up from one of my local charity shops.

I thoroughly enjoyed his approach once I'd got used to his somewhat tortured prose style. When I'd finished the book I felt I had a good grip on how the war was fought and it's unique characteristics. The only thing I found confusing was the geography but I sorted that by downloading a blank map from the American Battlefield Trust.

Needless to say the book inspired me to buy some figures. During my annual visit to Britcon (Manchester UK) I bought a partial pack of Confederate generals, there's a missing fourth figure, but they were cheap enough and I only wanted them to paint not lead an army.

Believe it or not, these are the first AB figures I have ever painted. They have such a stellar reputation I expected them to be joy to paint.

I have to report that one (Stuart) was and the other two weren't. There's a lot of detail but the various edges weren't as well defined as I would have liked. In fairness all the horses were relatively quick to paint.

Plus after decades of painting medieval & renaissance figures the demands of painting "modern" figures with well known uniforms was a challenge I found a bit too onerous. For example, I spent quite a while researching the sash colours in the Confederate army; far too long in fact.

Anyway here are the results of my labours.  They'll soon be listed on eBay if you'd like them: