Re cycled Rebels.

 A slowish week, but I did manage to paint up some dismounted rebel cavalry and base them up. They are actually the Perry dismounted Union troops, but I have a lot of Foundry figures to replace these, so I painted them as rather well dressed rebels.

I think most wargamers who have followed me, know that I like buying poorly/ badly painted older wargames figures and recycling them.I have struggled as regards the ACW period, as very few reasonably priced figures come up for sale.I was lucky enough however to buy 19 painted figures, I thought they were Hinchliffe, and they arrived last Saturday. They clearly weren't Hinchliffe, but were very nice with a lot of good detail.

 So these are how they originally looked, they were fine to be honest, although some had been knocked about a bit.

And these are how I repainted them and re based them up. I had to pad out the unit with fencing to make them into a regiment. I must admit they are a really neat old unit, and have great facial details. So although I didn't plan for these in my armies, I have got a really nice looking extra unit.

John and I fought a titanic Picketts Charge game on Thursday, five brigades a side. John used the full rule set with the extra details, ie snipers, off table reserves etc. It was a terrific encounter, where my badly trained rebel army nearly won a great victory, but was let down by poor leadership. The more we use these rules the more I am impressed by them. I know I seem to wax lyrical about various new systems, and to be honest I will still use Glory Hallelujah for really big battles, but Dave Brown has created a really enjoyable set of rules with some lovely mechanisms to create friction and uncertainty.Well recommended.