I seem to have developed a Dark Confederacy problem.

Having finished the posse, including Reverend Malachi Graves, Quantrill, Bloody Bill, the Ragged Veterans, assorted hired guns and the compulsory collection of gentlemen who have failed to notice that they are dead, I looked into the box and discovered that I still have enough figures left to start a small rebellion.

The problem is not insignificant. There is another Necromancer lurking about, along with two Ragged Veterans armed with muskets, several with rifles, two with shotguns, five with pistols and another ten zombies. Apparently, when I decided that I needed a few extras for Dracula’s America, the word few was interpreted rather generously.

There is, however, the beginnings of a sensible solution. I will keep two of the riflemen for whatever terrible idea is beginning to form, while the remaining riflemen can quietly return to the 7th Cavalry box, where they can resume something approaching a respectable military career and, more importantly, stop encouraging me.

That still leaves another Necromancer, two muskets, two rifles, two shotguns, five pistols and ten zombies, which is far too much lead and plastic to put back into storage and pretend that I have somehow demonstrated restraint.

There is really only one logical answer, and that is another Dark Confederacy posse.

After all, it is the Dark Confederacy and this is supposed to be the aftermath of the American Civil War, so surely nobody can object to a little civil war within the Dark Confederacy itself. Reverend Malachi Graves cannot possibly be the only lunatic wandering around the West who believes that the Lost Cause might have gone rather better if somebody had thought to reinforce it with the dead, and somewhere out there another ambitious Necromancer must be reaching exactly the same conclusion.

He already has eleven armed veterans to choose from and ten zombies who are unlikely to complain about the conditions of service, although some of them may have difficulty signing the enlistment papers, particularly those missing fingers, hands or most of their lower jaw. These are merely administrative problems and, given the general standards of the Dark Confederacy, probably not especially serious ones.

The prospect of two Dark Confederacy posses also has considerable appeal, because sooner or later Reverend Malachi Graves and his rival can meet across the tabletop, each convinced that he alone represents the proper future of the Confederacy and each backed by a collection of heavily armed veterans and decomposing supporters. A civil war within the aftermath of the Civil War, fought between rival Necromancers using men who have already died once and therefore really ought to know better, seems entirely appropriate for Dracula’s America.

Best of all, the surplus riflemen can go back into the 7th Cavalry box, while almost everything else finds a home in the new posse, thereby allowing me to claim that this is not another unnecessary miniature project at all, but simply a sensible exercise in stock management.

Waste not, want not, especially when you can raise the dead.

Hopefully some finished tomorrow.