“The 1st Alabama Infantry Regiment…”

“...Was a Confederate volunteer infantry unit from the state of Alabama during the American Civil War.”

These ten 15mm scale plastic Confederate soldiers are produced by “Warlord Games” and came free on a sprue accompanying Issue 393 of "Wargames Illustrated". Later released as part of the Nottingham-based company's "Epic Battles: American Civil War" game for its Black Powder rule-set, the line of infantrymen are the second of two I needed to form a single stand of miniatures, and are based upon the uniforms of an Alabama unit.

The figures were all primed using a double-coat of "Citadel" Abaddon Black and then slowly had their somewhat intricate details 'picked out' from the ground up. Originally, I was awfully tempted simply to stick to basic black for all of their shoes, but as with the first line of troops I painted, I decided to apply a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade to the footwear of three models.

"For a year it staffed the batteries at Pensacola, then with 1,000 soldiers moved to Missouri."

I then did something similar with the miniatures’ trousers too, as I didn't just want all of them to be marching in the colour pants. As a result I pigmented six with "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, a couple with Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and the remaining two with “Vallejo” Steel Grey and “Citadel” Drakenhof Nightshade.

For the Confederates' jackets I either went with a mixture of "Vallejo" Sombre Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade, or Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Such colours might seem a little odd for a Southern unit but the Alabama recruits actually wore "a dark blue frock coat" and "black broad brimmed felt hats at the war's start," so I wanted to capture that uniqueness with my palette choices.

"Games Workshop" WIPs - A tiny Space Marine, a Rhino, and a larger (Second Edition) Space Marine

I gave all the Kepi hats a dash of "Vallejo" Sombre Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, their blanket rolls a smidgeon of either "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna or White with a wash of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and their belt buckles a touch of "Vallejo" Gold and (more) Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter". Finally their hands and faces were layered with "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, shaded in "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade, and later highlighted with extra dabs of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone.

With the last of my Weekly Challenges now completed, and the first of my "Epic Battles: American Civil War" infantry stands finished after a ten-month delay, I have been able to fully focus upon the first batch of “Epic” figures by “Games Workshop” I want to submit to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. All of these plastic 6mm models had already been previously painted in some way, shape or form, so I am turning them all into the Space Marine Chapter Black Templars, so as to be able to eradicate their previous paint-jobs with a layer of “Citadel” Abaddon Black…