Wednesday 18 July 2018

Austrian Cavalry reinforcements

Adding to my Austrian Cavalry is one of my painting plans for this year. I've started with the Cuirassiers and Dragoons/Chevaulegers, to be followed by the Hussars and Uhlans.  

I've shown some of these figures before but I've doubled the numbers since then and taken some better photos.

Here's a group shots of all the Dragoons (2 regiments on left), Cuirassiers (4 regiments in middle), and Chevaulegers (2 regiments on the right).  

Very similar looking uniforms on these cavalry! The key different being that the Cuirassiers and Dragoons have larger horses than the Chevaulegers (though in practice they would likely take whatever they could get), and of course the Cuirassiers have the Cuirass or armoured breastplate.

Cuirassiers. The only difference between regiments is facing colours, so I'll show only one regiment of these (and of the Dragoons and Chevaulegers where the same principle applies).






Dragoons. Same as the Cuirassiers but no breastplate.






Chevaulegers. No standards for the Chevauleger as these were light cavalry, used for scouting.





Lastly some comparison shots to show the subtle differences between these different types of Austrian cavalry! From left to right Cuirassiers, Dragoons, Chevauleger. Cuirsassiers have the breastplate, and slightly larger plumes, but Dragoons and Chevauleger look very similar indeed!

Difference between them is that the Dragoons rode larger horses and were battle cavalry, while the Chevauleger rode smaller horses and were used for scouting/foraging. The difference in horse size is clear when you see the models close up, but not so much from a distance! Some Chevauleger regiments also had green uniforms, and I'll probably add a couple of those at some point but at the moment my cunning plan is to be able to interchange these Dragooons/Chevauleger as needed. 

I like the colour combination of bright white, red and yellow, though it does get somewhat repetitive to paint! Fortunately the Austrian Hussars and Uhlans are a riot of different colours, and reinforcements for those will be coming sometime soon.


Would be great if someone were to make a plastic kit for these three troop types, all you would really need is a torso variant (one with breastplate, one without) and you could use it for all of them! 

22 comments:

  1. Impressive group of cavalry. I really like the the look of your arid basing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. There is something special about Austrian cavalry in war games, and you do them justice, Mark! Earlier this year I bought some Minifigs Cuirassiers and Hussars - having just one regiment of each. I've been halfway through painting them for the past 5 months...



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ion, yes this uniform has quite a splendid look I think, to say nothing of the Hussars and Uhlans! I bought four of these regiments some months ago, but have only got around to painting them this July.

      Delete
  3. Your are simply ridiculous Mark! I have not painted a figure in 6 months and you do hundreds in what seems like only a few days

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Paul. Will have to get you guys around for another game of course, just been so busy with other things that I haven't had time to set up a decent sized Napoleonic game!

      Delete
  4. What a wonderful collection of cavalry Mark - truly impressive and hearty congratulations in getting them out so blooming quickly! Must have been staying up late watching the World Cup perhaps? I do like the Austrians in this period so much and you are doing a truly superb job on your massive collection of "The White Menace"!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Carlo, no footy but many podcasts in this case! Thanks again! :)

      Delete
  5. This is a truly impressive force - 6 regiments, well painted, beautifully based - top class work all round! And Front Rank figures to boot - still one of the nicest ranges in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ross, these are all Perry actually not Front Rank, though Front Rank would have done the job too!

      Delete
  6. Beautifully done. I stumbled across my Front Rank Austrians the other day, and I'll be coming back here for some inspiration when they finally get to the front of the queue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lawrence, yes get them painted up! ;) As mentioned these are actually Perry but Front Rank also looks good!

      Delete
  7. That is a truly impressive bunch Mark!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gorgeous Austrian cavalry,I was going to paint my chevaulegers in green jackets,but I like your cunning plan and might have to adopt it! The Perry figures are lovely and as always you have made them pop with your splendid painting,it will be some time till I get round to painting mine but I'll be referring back to this post!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many thanks Iain, best of luck with yours too!

      Delete
  9. These look amazing en masse, being a "big battalion" man I'm seeing 4 x 24 or even 2 x 48 being Austrian. Great work, enjoy gaming with them.
    Best wishes,
    Jeremy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jeremy, and yes I was thinking of the 24/48 as an option too, easy to do with these units in particular :)

      Delete
  10. Very beautiful Austrian cavalry, Mark! Most gamers do the green coated Chevualeger regiments, owing to the subtle differences between the Cuirassiers, Dragoons, and white coated Chevau-legers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi thanks Peter, yes will have to add some of the green coated ones later :)

      Delete
  11. I see 2 Years later Perry are going to bring out plastic Austrian Cavalry packets , this year ? Yippeee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes hopefully! I will still buy a few packs!

      Delete