Making A Board for Pickett's Charge.

      I recently had picked up quite a few individuals for mat-making. And though, I thought about going back to work for retail like I have been doing all my life, I have been pausing at the fact that I have been getting commissions that is about what I made in two weeks to about a eight of the time, and I enjoy making them. It is not to say I do not like the public. I actually love service jobs, because I enjoy people. But in this case, making stuff for people to play games on and enjoy is rather rewarding.
     However, in the last project, it felt a little more special. I had an client would wanted to do a scenario based on Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, PA on July 3rd, 1863. It was a pretty cool thing for me to do, because it is the first commission based on a scenario that I was asked to do, The second part that was awesome was the I have been to the battlefield and walked on it. So now, I have to do it justice!
    Out of searching for research, below was the scenario that he intended to do. In fact, as an idiot, I did not realize that this was the same person I was doing this for.
 

    As you can see, the map had a nice grid for it. The whole scenario was just General Pickett's men. General Trimble's men would be off the table on the far left. The whole thing was to take place between the Angle and copse of trees. The whole board is 6' x 8'. This is fairly reasonable for wargamers who want to get the flare of the battle. Being the way that I am, I know that the battle should be about a 12' x 26' foot table. General Trimble forces should be another of the same dimensions. I, also, realize that the buildings in front of Kemper should be on the other side of the road and off the table. Also, the Tanneytown Rd. should be another 3' to 4' feet back. But apart from that, realism seldom plays out in historical wargaming. After all, if the Confederates won in this scenario based on the die, how can one not really say that this is historically-based fantasy?

     I ended up choosing colors based on the Google Maps of the area  and the report of weather in 1863. May seemed to have been wetter than the beginning of July. It was not out of the question for grass to be a little greener, but still not a true green for favorable weather with lots of rain. This seems like a boring detail to know, but I believe in trying to be accurate with the visual colors. After all, part of the fun of modelling is to get it correct. I ended up using six different greens, four different yellows, a white-like color, one brown, four different tans, and a peach color. Crazy, I know! Below are the results with my friend, Hugh's Civil War figures. We were hoping to play a game as well, but it did not pan out. Either way, enjoy!