They were never
split (in the catalogues) into Union and Confederate, and while there was the
whole 'old school' kepi vs. slouch-hat rule going on, it was only in the mind
of the painter/wargame if he wanted it to be!
These are the
kepi infantry poses; three figures in the standard walking forward stance of so
much of Eriksson's output, and you can see they came in various colours over
the years, the unpainted five being Norfolk production, the painted ones being
older, a couple even coming back from Italy via Darius - a Blog reader.
The Sloch-hat
infantry, as far as I know there were only the two - similar - poses (pack or
blanket-roll) and I would be interested to know if there was a third plastic pose?
Below them is a slouch-hat cavalryman, there is a kepi version listed in the
metal range still available, but he's never been listed as having been available
in the plastic range?
This chap is
himself a late addition, the 'staff officer' being the only cavalryman in the
ACW range for 15/20-odd years; and he seems to have been converted from the
Napoleonic lancer by Ron Spencer Smith or Peter Johnson rather than Ericsson?
Speaking of
'staff', these are the command and control elements with a slouched-hat
officer, kepied junior/field officer or SNCO and a bugler, the 1860's
equivalent of the platoon radioman!
Which - closing
the 'staff' circle - brings us back to the chap mentioned above. Originally the
ACW cavalryman, he is now known as the staff officer and only available in
metal, he is a much nicer sculpt than the replacement who is too skinny, almost
semi-flat.
What the
Napoleonics are missing - gunners! I love the beard on the moving-wheel guy; he
wouldn't look out of place in a Hoxton coffee bar, this weekend, having all-day
'brunch' and plotting Remain, or a dot-com start-up!! While the flash on the
tip of the swab-guy makes it look like he's weaponised his ramrod - with a
pen-knife.
Listing
Mid
1970’s Production (approximately 1974)
Standard
Range
American
Civil War
-
Bag of 24 Cavalry (walking pose suitable also as staff officer)
-
Bag of 80 Infantry (12 officers, 6 buglers plus enlisted men)
-
Bag of 30 Artillerymen (officers, buglers and gunners)
Early
1980’s Production (approximately 1981?)
Standard
Range (1980’s)
American
Civil War
-
Bag of 8 Cavalry (walking pose suitable also as staff officer)
-
Bag of 30 Infantry (officers, buglers plus enlisted men)
-
Bag of 30 Artillerymen (officers, buglers and gunners)
-
Bag of 2 Cannon (field)
-
Bag of 2 Cannon (howitzer)
Move
to Norfolk
Plastic
Range
American
Civil War
P1
- 30 Infantry in Kepi (charging, Running, Advancing)
P2
- 30 Infantry in Slouch-hat (advancing, walking at the ready) Hard Plastic
P3
- 20 Officers and 10 Buglers
P4
- 8 Mounted Staff Officers (original cavalryman sculpt, switched to metal
mid-run)
P5
- 8 Cavalrymen Sabres Drawn - Hard Plastic (later; soft plastic, converted from
Napoleonic lancer)
P6
- 24 Artillerymen
P7
- 2 Guns (1 each of 2 designs? Can be used as Napoleonic Howitzers and
Field-guns)
P8
- 30 Indians
P9
- 30 Frontiersmen
P10
- 4 limber wheels (all one size, smaller than all gun wheels)
Plastic
Sample Packs (contents differ)
SP3 - Standard - American Civil War (11 foot, 1 mounted, 1 gun)
SP3 - Standard - American Civil War (11 foot, 1 mounted, 1 gun)
Metal
Range
Metal
Sample Packs (6 foot, 1 mounted)
SM3
- Standard - American Civil War
American
Civil War
C1
Infantry in Kepi Advancing
C2
Infantry in Kepi Charging
C3
Infantry in Kepi Running
C4
Infantry in Kepi Standing Firing
C5
Infantry in Kepi Marching
C6
Infantry in Slouch-hat Advancing (became C7a)
C7
Infantry in Slouch-hat with Blanket-roll
C8
Zouave Advancing
C9
Officers (pack of 2)
C10
Bugler
C11
Drummer
C12
Flag Bearer
CC1
Mounted Staff Officer
CC2
Mounted Cavalryman with Sabre Dawn
CC3
Dismounted Cavalryman (ex-AWI backwoodsman)
CR1
Artilleryman (pack of 3)
CR2
Cannon (duplicates as Napoleonic British 9-lbr.)
Metal
Additions to ACW Range
P4
- 8 Mounted Staff Officers (originals were plastic)
P11
- 4 Wagon Wheels (2 large, 2 small)
Other
Items
P28
- ACW Beginners Pack (270 foot, inc. gunners, 66 mounted, 4 guns, rules, some
metal)
Internet/Metal Years
Standard Range
Civil War Range
C1 - Infantry in kepi advancing
C2 - Infantry in kepi charging
C3 - Infantry in kepi running
C4 - Infantry in kepi standing firing
C5 - Infantry in kepi marching
C6 - Infantry in slouch hat marching
C7 - Infantry in slouch hat (with rolled blanket) advancing
C7a - Infantry in slouch hat advancing (with pack - previously
C6)
C8 - Infantry in slouch hat standing firing (with pack)
C9 - Infantry in slouch hat standing firing (no pack)
C10 - Zouave advancing (previously C8)
C11 - Officer in kepi (previously 50% of C9)
C12 - Staff Officer standing, sword raised (previously 50% of
C9)
C13 - Bugler (previously C10)
C14 - Flag bearer (previously C12)
C15 - Drummer (previously C11)
CC1 - Staff Officer on horse
CC2 - Cavalryman with saber drawn (on horse) Confederate
CC3 - Cavalryman with saber drawn (on horse) Union
CC4 - Dismounted cavalryman (ex-AWI backwoodsman,
previously CC3)
CR1 - Artillerymen (pack of 3)
CR2 - Cannon (duplicates as Napoleonic British 9-lbr.)
Knocked-up between editing and publishing!
2 comments:
Oddly enough, in the 1950's/60's there was a range of metal moulds for kids, allowing them to cast copies of 54mm Marx ACW figures - 2 of which moulds had what appears to be a copy of an Ericsson ACW cavalryman, 1 in hat, 1 in kepi. The moulds are still available, so you can further augment your armies.
Cheers Tim - got your eMail too, at some point I think Prinze August carried Eriksson moulds? All replaced with better ones now I think? And the Japanese copied the style - looked at on the blog ages ago - which may be the flag-bearer in the moulds you sent?
H
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