Cavalry Refit: French Hussars
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| 2nd Hussars |
After mustering out four units of British heavy cavalry for the refit and reorg process, attention turns to the French. This time, two French hussar regiments trot off from the workbench after having added one trooper each and undergoing a rebasing. Figures are Front Rank.
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| 4th Hussars |
What remains in this mini-project? One unit of Vistula Legion lancers remains to be upgraded and rebased as does a French unit of chasseurs a cheval. The Polish lancer figure is in hand but the chasseur a cheval unit is a Brigade Games' figure from their early Napoleonic range. I will wait on the chasseur a cheval until I need to place an order from Brigade Games. I really can see the light at the end of this tunnel!
They do look the biz Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ray!
DeleteAnother nice job Jonathan - but tell me, did you have a small pile of extra FR cavalry lying around, or did you have to purchase one of each unit/figure to facilitate this reorganization?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Keith!
DeleteMost of the additional figures I needed were purchased to fill out each unit of horse. One or two surplus figures remained in The Lead Pile that were pressed into the reorg but most were purchased after the fact.
A lovely paint job Jonathan, my favourite regiment is the Third hussars, but then any French hussar regiment is a pleasure to behold.
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated, Robbie! French hussars are a smart looking group, in general, and all are a pleasure to behold.
DeleteTwo lovely hussar units!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks!
DeleteVery nice, it is amazing how good a brown uniform can be made to look, especially considering they are on brown mounts. I did some Austrian artillery bases a few years ago and agains was surprised how pleasant a brown uniform can look to the eye.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Norm.
DeleteThe brown uniform is a handsome one, for sure. Perhaps not as flamboyant as other French hussar uniforms but striking in an understated and aesthetically pleasing way, nonetheless.
I must admit I prefer the French!
ReplyDeleteA true Francophile! Thanks, Fran!
DeleteNice work as usual Jonathan! I think Front Rank are among rhe best out there.
ReplyDeleteYou are most kind, Mike! I agree with your assessment; Front Rank are some of the best.
DeleteI am liking the expansion, and looking forward to seeing the lancers.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I like the expansion from 8 to 9 too. Have not started the lancer yet. I am missing the pennon and may need to place an order with Front Rank to get the missing piece.
DeleteNot all of the cavalry are leaning as shown in the photo. I am getting a little distortion from the close range photo in the light box.
Yes! Really fantastic work!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteLovely work Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mark!
DeleteNicely looking cavalry units, Jonathan!
DeleteThanks, Dmitry!
DeleteBeautiful minis!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteGreat looking minis...ans fantastic painting!
ReplyDeleteFront Rank cavalry are first rate.
DeleteLovely work, as always. I am interested in your reorganisation of the cavalry, in its own right. My Napoleonic cavalry units are all of strength 10 - I have wished for years that I'd gone for 12, and squeezed them together a bit on the bases. For most of the forces I couldn't really do an upgrade now - the figures are unobtainable and there really isn't that much time available! I guess I'll stick with the 10s, and I'll continue to explain to visitors that though that unit looks like 4 pairs and two singles, it's really of strength "3 bases" (or 4 bases, or whatever). It's not a big problem, really. I can't actually remember where the convention of "two dozen infantry or 10 cavalry is a unit" came from - it obviously pre-dates the National Characteristics orthodox doctrines of the 1970s. Once you have been doing something for a certain length of time, a change becomes almost impossible! My ECW units of horse are standardised at 12 figures on 4 bases, but I often wish I'd gone for 9 on 3 bases - that's easily arranged of course - just redistribute the bases for the day!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tony, for the kind comments on the hussars.
DeleteMy organization (actually reorganization) to cavalry units of 3x3 vs 4x2 is a bit complicated and not too unusual based upon your organizational processes outlined above. Thanks for your insight on your organizational thought process.
My 30mm ECW project has always used a 3x3 cavalry organization and I really like the look of three figure stands and three stand units. An odd number of figures and an odd number of stands provides a symmetry I find pleasing.
The 28mm Napoleonic project began life as a complement to a friend's Napoleonic collection so that I could field some troops when we gamed.
The steps to conversion (sounds like a religion, doesn't it?) was three-fold.
1. My project has grown and grown to become gameable in its own right and we have not joined Napoleonic forces in several years so sticking to that earlier basing was not paramount. Besides, Scott has a large collection of Napoleonics on his own.
2. I really like the look of the 3x3 cavalry configuration on aesthetic grounds.
3. Mark, over at "1866 and All That" blog has been churning out a steady stream of both Napoleonic and Carlist War cavalry units in the 3x3 configuration. With each unit he posted, my resolve to maintain the earlier organization weakened.
Finally, I could take no more and fell to the desire to rebase. Now that it is almost over, I am glad I took that step.
You certainly seem to be getting a lot of variety in your painting regimen Jonathan, with having to do one figure for each of these units. Really nice work, and you have far more patience to undertake a task such as this than I do!
ReplyDeleteVariety keeps me motivated. Something different will be coming off the workbench next. No more 28mm Napoleonics for awhile.
DeleteGlad you like these hussars and the reorg!
Keep chugging away! Nice looking cav. You deserve a treat at the end. 😀
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stew! My treat at the end is that all of the cavalry will be rebased!
DeleteThese look just great Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteChristopher
Thanks, Christopher!
DeleteLovely toys Jonathan...
ReplyDeleteAll the best. Aly
Glad you like them!
DeleteGreat looking Hussars; I presume a standard is forthcoming for my beloved 4e Hussards?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Peter! Yes, someday the 4th will get a standard. Perhaps they need to earn it battle first?
DeleteI like those officers. They have more animation than you usually see with Front Rank
ReplyDeleteYes, nice sculpts, for sure.
Delete