Osprey releases five new ACW titles

Osprey Publishing has long been a staple of the wargaming industry, as well as the general military history community. The company has long been noted for its consistently high-quality combination of original commissioned paintings and map graphics, succinct and accurate text, profuse illustrations, and incredibly diverse array of topics from all periods of world military history.

The latest group of offerings concerning Civil War topics does not disappoint. Each of the most recent five books in Osprey’s catalogue are of the usual high standard we have come to expect from this global publisher.

Osprey’s Campaign Series is arguably the company’s most popular grouping of titles. Mark Lardas’s Nashville 1864 is #314 in the long string of interesting books in the Campaign Series. Adam Hook, long a key part of the Osprey team of illustrators, provides his usual excellence in interpreting battle action through his detailed paintings. Steve Moon likewise capably illustrates the first volume on Gettysburg, title #374 in the series. Author Timothy J. Orr is no stranger to Osprey readers. Both books check in at 96 pages apiece, making them long enough for the reader to get a good grasp of the respective campaign while not getting bogged down into details. Useful bibliographies provide source material for those readers wishing to explore the topics in more depth.

Each book provides an outline of some of the key fighting that led up to the titular battle. For example, the above illustration shows the description of the battle in the ravine at Decatur, Alabama. Similar pages cover other aspects of the lead-up to the Battle of Nashville. My own great-great-grandfather, Pvt. John D. Sisson, fought at Nashville in the 51st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, so this book is of particular personal interest. My late mother knew him quite well when she was a girl; her stories of him are still vivid.

This map of the action on July 1, 1863, on the first day of the fighting at Gettysburg neatly shows the relative positions of the opposing forces, key terrain features, and tactical situations the commanders faced.

Ian MacGregor’s interesting little book, U.S. Civil War Battle by Battle, exceeded my expectations. From the size and dimensions, I was surprised by the amount of useful text that accompanies his battle maps. This is an excellent overview of some of the Civil War’s best-known battles, with a few more obscure ones tucked in. The author includes more than 30 battles, including examples from the Eastern Theater, Western Theater, Trans-Mississippi Theater, and the Old Southwest. Each battle has a series of full-color illustrations to accompany the verbiage. At 128 pages, this is an easy-to-read, well-illustrated booklet that would make a great gift for folks just starting to learn about Civil War history or who desire a broad overview of battles they may not know much about.

Sharpshooters grew in importance as the Civil War progressed over its four-year course. The Union army began raising specialized regiments of sharpshooters, the most famous of which was Berdan’s Sharpshooters. Colonel Hiram Berdan hand-selected marksmen after public tryouts. The men that he deemed as the finest shots to volunteer became part of the 1st and 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters. They were noted for their distinctive green uniforms, said to better blend in with their surroundings than the traditional dark blue coats and light blue trousers. Andrews’ Sharpshooters from Massachusetts and other designated units also received praise for their contributions to battlefield success at Gettysburg and elsewhere. Similarly, Blackford’s Sharpshooters and other Confederate skilled riflemen also became famous for their skills.

Martin Pegler’s Sharpshooting Rifles of the American Civil War: Colt, Sharps, Spencer, and Whitworth and Gary Yee’s Union Sharpshooter Versus Confederate Sharpshooter (Volume 41 of the Combat Series) nicely dovetail with one another. Together, they provide a complementary overview of the typical sharpshooter, his tactics, and his rifle of choice.

New Gettysburg regimental-level scenario book!

Talented wargame scenario designer Brad Butkovich is among the upper echelon of today’s generation of Civil War regimental-level wargamers. The Georgia-based Butkovich is well known to Charge! readers from his previous series of excellent scenario books, mostly based upon battles in the Western Theater.

Now, Brad has produced an interesting new booklet covering various actions at the July 1-3, 1863, battle of Gettysburg. It’s an area of keen personal interest to me! Some of you may recall a two-volume set, Enduring Valor: Gettysburg in Miniature, which I wrote for my friend and graphic designer Ivor Janci more than a decade ago. They have long been out of print, so Brad’s fresh look at the battle is much appreciated and timely.

Here is the table of contents for this book, which may be the first in a series (let’s all hope!). Brad’s research is compelling and accurate, and his take on how to break up the battlefield into bite-sized scenarios is of strong interest to Civil War gamers everywhere. The scenarios are adaptable for almost every major regimental-level rules set. They are designed for 15mm gaming, but of course can be modified for other figure scales.  Brad also presents data for rules based upon 10-minute, 15-minute, and 20-minute time intervals per turn.

Gettysburg East Cavalry Field in 15mm at Fall-In 2011

Here are a few photos from my 15mm Civil War wargame at Fall-In 2011 on Saturday morning in Lancaster PA. This view looks south from the northern edge of the battlefield toward the Rummel Farm (top center) and Cress Ridge (top right).

We had 7 players for the game; all are long-time members of the Johnny Reb Gaming Society and are veterans of many Johnny Reb 3 wargames at HMGS conventions over the past decade. The scenario was adapted from my book Enduring Valor: Gettysburg in Miniature.

Click on each photo to enlarge it for easier viewing and more details. I apologize for the picture quality; lighting was not great and I did not have a tripod set up (and autofocus was off unfortunately). At least you get an idea of the table layout.

More Fall-In 2009 photos – my 15mm Monocacy game

And, here’s a photo taken at the 2009 Gettysburg Remembrance Day showing what might have been happening in one of the miniature tents shown above…

For more photos of Remembrance Day 2009 in Gettysburg, please see Part 1 of my Cannonball blog, sponsored and hosted by the York Daily Record newspaper.

Flames Beyond Gettysburg now shipping to customers!

I am now filling orders for personalized autographed copies of the newly released Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863. These are $23.95 plus $5 shipping, and tell the story of the Confederate invasion of southern Pennsylvania in the week immediately before the Battle of Gettysburg.

You will much better understanding Day 1 at Gettysburg after you read this book!!! It sets up how and why the Confederate troops were in the locations in which they began the Battle of Gettysburg.

PayPal accepted! Priority mail shipping.

Dioramist Dennis Morris now has a new website!

Master Gettysburg dioramist Dennis Morris has set up a new website with photos of some of his very nice HO scale dioramas of the Second Day of the Battle of Gettysburg.  Filled with vignettes, battlefield descriptions, and troop movements, his website is sure to be of interest, especially as he expands it and adds more photos and text.

Dennis is a New York-based hobbyist who has been slowly expanding his Gettysburg diorama since its modest beginning in 2005.  Some of his excellent photos grace my Brothers Divided wargaming scenario book, which is now on sale from Marek/Janci Design.

Check out what he has in place already!

Some more from master dioramist Dennis Morris

New York hobbyist Dennis Morris has just completed another section of his massive diorama of the Battle of Gettysburg. Here is a view of the Union defenses on Little Round Top, looking toward embattled Devil’s Den.

Some more info on the old Dobbin House diorama at Gettysburg

A vintage photograph of the Gettysburg Battlefield Diorama in the old Dobbin House on Steinwehr Avenue in Gettysburg.

Background post: The long gone Dobbin House diorama at Gettysburg

A Charge! reader sent me some interesting information on the Gettysburg Diorama that used to be located in the historic Dobbin House in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The diorama was constructed by a York, PA, man, Curvin Heiss and his son. Heiss hard carved the molds and then cast the figures. He and his son Curvin Jr. then hand painted the 54mm Civil War figures.

East Cavalry Field at Gettysburg in 15mm

(Click to enlarge the photo for better viewing of the details)

Elements of Albert Jenkins’ brigade of Confederate mounted infantry from (west) Virginia form dismounted skirmish battle lines on Cress Ridge (right center) during the Battle of Gettysburg. In the foreground is Col. John R. Chambliss’s mounted brigade on Hoffman Ridge. Photo of a game presented at Historicon a few years ago by Scott L. Mingus, Sr.

In the center of the above photograph is the Rummel farm, which changed hands several times during the often savage encounter. To the upper left along the Stallsmith farm lane is the Virginia brigade of FitzHugh Lee, which will later launch a major mounted attack that will be met by a pair of Michigan regiments. At the right center, dismounted Federals of George Armstrong Custer’s 6th Michigan skirmish with Jenkins’ men, now commanded by Lt. Col. Vincent Witcher. In the distance (top right corner) is John McIntosh’s Union brigade, which includes the 3rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry.

28mm Pickett’s Charge diorama at the old Cyclorama Center

For the last couple of years that the old Cyclorama building was in use at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the lobby was graced by a large and quite impressive Civil War diorama of Pickett’s Charge. Constructed and painted by a local hobbyist in Gettysburg, the collection is no longer on public display. However, Larry Reber of Gettysburg Soldiers took a few photos to memorialize this now defunct diorama. Here are some of Larry’s photos.