Here are the Empress’ Dragoons based up and parading with the Horse Grenadiers. These two squadrons will be brigaded together to form one twelve figure unit in my French army. Under my rules
Muskets & Marshals Guard heavy cavalry are the equivalent of Tiger tanks in WW2 – almost unstoppable.
All the figures used are vintage Hinton Hunt castings (which only seems right) they are:
6 x FN/60 Empresses Dragoon (Mounted charging)
6 x FN/300 Horse Grenadier Guard (on horse FNH/2)
Next I’ll be turning my attention to the Guard horse artillery to support them.
27 comments:
Bit of a quibble - I have always thought of French Dragoons as “medium” cavalry - not sure why, maybe from an early set of rules - but British Dragoons as heavies. It doesn’t really make much sense, unless you have to distinguish between Dragoons and Cuirassiers/Carabiners, which are definitely heavies. Instinctively also I would say horse grenadiers are heavy but I don’t really know about Gendarmes. I clearly haven’t thought this through!
They are lovely. The gross varnish merely adds to their already glittering uniforms.
Clive - you have a point however it seems to me that the French used Dragoons as heavies (at Waterloo in any case). As it is a combined unit I think I can get away with the heavy classification!
Thanks Conrad I agree that they can glitter even without gloss but that's the French for you!
Blogger is having one of its occasional sulks when it won’t let me comment as myself today (Vintage Wargaming). The previous comment took about ten rounds of captcha photos to verify I wasn’t a robot.
Ian - it’s a case of your rules so your rules (if you see what I mean)
Your new combined guards regiment is wonderful, Ian. Their Tiger-tank qualities can be a double-edged sword, however. I discovered this when I sent my Empress Dragoons up against the Leib Hussars. The Dragoons simply didn't know how to run away. Instead they just kept hacking away, despite losing two rounds of melee, until there were none left!
Just plain lovely.
Magnificent cavalry Ian, I spent quite a bit of time studying those fine photos and the attention to detail is excellent, especially the black lining of the belts etc. Just a thought, can I ask how many painted figures your collection now comprises?
WM - any fight with the Leib Hussars is going to be a tough one!
Matt - thanks, the gloss varnish does help to elevate them in their loveliness!
Lee - I had a quick tot up and it is just over 900! Although as you know, they have not all been painted by me.
If this unit is the equivalent of a Tiger Tank in your rules I wonder what would be the equivalent of the Italian M13/41.
Prussian Lutzow Uhlans or the Cumberland Hussars perhaps.
Lovely as always. I would agree that most French dragoons are midway between cuirassiers and carabiniers and hussars and chevauxlegers. Indeed Napoleon was unhappy with the performance of the Dragoons and banished them to Spsin where they would not meet such tough opponents as Austrian and Russian cavalry. However, I am not so sure about the Empress dragoons as they are guard cavalry, not brigaded with the line dragoon regiments . So it would not be inappropriate to brigade them with the 'big boots' as heavies.
Mark - not sure but definitely NOT Prussian Landwehr!
Roy - glad you like them!
Delightful but I'm sure 'the Gods' will have something to say about being relegated to the second rank?
French dragoons are the exact equivalent of British Dragoons, their Chasseurs à Cheval are the equivalent of British Light Dragoons. 'Medium' cavalry really has no meaning it's just really poorer quality heavy cavalry meaning a bit less élan and poorer quality mounts.
A beautiful unit...
Personally I would have a whole unit of Dragoons and a whole unit of Grenadiers... but I’m greedy that way.
All the best. Aly
Rob - perhaps but surely it's safer in the second rank?
Aly - I might too but I don't have enough figures, anyway that might be going a bit too heavy on Guard cavalry even if I did!
Lovely figures, they do look good, but 2 whole units of guard heavies would be a powerful force to hold in reserve.
Regards
Paul
Paul - I agree they would be useful, maybe one day?
Oh dear Rob, now you have said that the French Guard Chasseurs a Cheval are equal to British Light dragoons.. Non Non Non mon vieux fromage! The Guard Chasseurs beat Russian guard at Austerlitz. I know, I was there...lwell at the battlefield to see the still largely untouched site.
The Empress Dragoons are going to be better than the run of the mill, sent to Spain to hunt guerillas, french dragoons and that that!
LG, old cheese, I made no mention of ‘Guard’, I was referring to line units. On the other hand British hussars (still officially Lt Dragoons) gave your Gd CaC six of the best pants down at Benavente - not been there but did do Austerlitz a couple of years ago and found no trace of the incident you allege.
But the Dragons de l'Emperatrice are a guard unit. Not sure if they thus get better horses and stiffened morale, but I suspect they do more tgan guard her coach on picnic trips.
The terrain at Austerlitz, as you must have seen is pretty well untouched, one if the benefits of 50 years of Communist rule, doubtless. The area of ground on the French left where the French cavalry fought off the Russian guard cav is still...well flat around that little hill that Napoleon fortified.
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As to the Chasseurs of the Guard at Austerlitz:
The regiment and the Mamluks greatly distinguished themselves at the battle of Austerlitz (2 December), where two squadrons and the Mamluks were led to the charge by Napoleon's senior aide-de-camp, General Rapp, inflicting heavy casualties on the Russian Imperial Guard and capturing Prince Repnin, the commander of the Chevalier Guard. At Austerlitz the Chasseurs suffered 19 officer casualties, including Colonel Morland, killed, and three squadron commanders wounded. Dahlmann now succeeded Morland, and Claude-Étienne Guyot became major. ( Wiki)
😉
LG - I like the sound of guarding the Empress' coach on a picnic trips, the Eclaireurs (chocolate or otherwise) might be very useful for this to!
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