Sunday 9 October 2011

Leibgarde Uhlanen-Regiment

Whilst waiting for the plastic bits and pieces to arrive (they have now - more of which later) I had a think about the cavalry component of a "Napoleonic" era B-S army.

By this time the State had expanded eastward and the main enemy remained the perfidious Turk.  Added to this foe are the various petty warlords in the colonies.  Considering the near-Medieval nature of Oriental armies, it seemed only natural that armoured lancers would be desirable.  Such troopers would have a degree of protection from missile fire plus the extra reach to hit the enemy first - well that's the idea anyway!

The components.
Trawling around for figures I realised I would have a limited choice, namely Cuirassier standard/guidon bearers.  I didn't want to go French as the geographical location and politics of my ImagiNation do not suggest Francophilia.  The choice was further simplified by a trip to Leigh-on-Sea (to collect a parrot - bizarre I know) which is pretty close to the Essex Miniatures factory...

I made a shortlist and went into the showroom for a browse.  I decided that the best figures for the project were the later Russian Cuirassiers.  The only downside was that they sport the "brush" type crest rather than the caterpillar I wanted.  Yes Essex do the earlier style but the standard bearer does not have quite the right look for use as a lancer.

I have tentatively selected a Dixon horse as it is a great little figure and there was one in the spares box.  Yes the shabraque may need work but this will be determined as I go.

Working on the plume re-sculpting has been most frustrating as my usual putty mix didn't work well - this will be the subject of a future posting.  I want to simplify the conversions as I need 10 of these (plus command) for the Regiment so the work will be kept as minimal as is possible.

More to follow...



2 comments:

  1. Promising!
    An Austrian 'brother', the creator of Herrschaden -unfortunately 'off the wargaming loop' for more than a year now- similarly intended to build whole units of standard-bearers minis to have lancers in 18th C. dress (cuirassiers du Roi, Mousquetaires, British and French Grenadiers a cheval) as cavalry of the Knight Order successor state of Langdouc. It was even decided to give the 4 regiments horses corresponding the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse, by order of 'seniority'!

    Please don't forget 18th C. B-S!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Abdul!

    Thanks for the support. As always a positive response.

    My true love remains the C18 but I just got a new appetite for the Napoleonic era recently.

    Now that all three children are at school I am hoping that I will have the time to devote to the whole wargames thing.

    ReplyDelete