The ACW is probably the period (along with WWII) that really got me into history. Reading the American Heritage book with the maps depicting tiny soldiers will do that. That and actually visiting battlefields while heading south to Florida to escape Michigan winters on family vacations.
I'm not 100 percent sure how the collection started, but I suspect it had to do with the fact the FLHS had Dixon 25 mm figures in stock. These were the days before the internet, and even before I had ready access to catalogs for mail order. And I didn't have much money at any rate. Over the years it has grown, but Dixon has remained at the core. Somehow even with the Princess Leia hair they have a charm all their own. I do have some Foundry, which are very nice, of course, and even some Redoubt. Curiously, I don't have any Old Glory. I admire the Perry minis and may get some, and I also have my eye on some Sash & Sabre. But I have so many Dixon in the box to paint, I can't really justify any new orders on these yet, especially with the other things going on.
As for rules, I've never really settled on a set. Not that I ever play, anyway. I have taken part in some 15mm games at cons, but my own minis haven't seen a table in years. At that time, we used a home-brewed variant of The British Are Coming! and called it The Rebels Are Coming!, and it worked out OK. I have Johnny Reb III, which while I've played it at cons, I just never quite latched on to as "this is it!" If I had an immediate prospect for regular gaming, I'd be tempted to look at Regimental Fire & Fury.
Anyway, here's a taste of what I have. I've done up both Union and Confederate units. One of these days I'll do a roll call and post up exactly what I have. While many of my Union troops are of specific units (Iron Brigade, Irish Brigade, etc.), this is just a generic group of guys in blue who can fill in for almost anything, from early to late war, Eastern or Western theater. Oh, and General Hancock.
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