Tuesday 27 October 2009

Hold on to yer hat

When I painted my RHA limber I had completely forgotten that I had a limber rider lurking in the Hinton Hunt lead pile so he missed out. Having just come across him I thought it only proper to paint him up and seat him in his rightful place. The figure is BN26 Gunner riding on limber (right side).

I must admit that the overall effect is now more reminiscent of someone engaged on a pleasant pony and trap ride rather than thundering into action with the Royal Horse Artillery. I think this is due to only having a two-horse team rather than the six required for a serious bit of kit. As I’ve said before this is due primarily to a lack of HH limber horses in my collection but also because such a large model would take up too much precious room on the wargame table.

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to see the King’s Troop RHA put on their display at the Devon County Show. It was a stunning sight (only to be equalled by seeing the Naval Gun Team at the Royal Tournament as a kid) and I was very impressed with their skill at manoeuvring the limber teams at speed. It gave me a small glimpse of what a Napoleonic battle may have looked like and it occurred to me that just watching the enemy deploying in battle must have been a very unnerving experience for the participants - no wonder the Duke of Wellington preferred his men to lie down on a reverse slope where they couldn’t see what was coming.

9 comments:

lewisgunner said...

Yes, the limber rider makes the whole look odly unbalanced.
Why don't you make up a pair of horses on a separate base to go in front?? That would solve the problem for display purposes and then you could remove them for gaming?/
Roy

Rafael Pardo said...

Hi
I agree with Roy: use an aditional pair of horses in a detachable base. I use it for wargaming purposes and the ffect is enhanced. Moreover, use two seated gunners and the martial look will be superb!
Regards
Rafa

Stryker said...

Thanks chaps - you are of course correct that I need to add an extra 2-horse base to make the thing look balanced. I'm going to have to have a bit of a re-think on how I represent limbers in my army and as I still have French, Russian and Austrian limbers to add I need to count up those horses.

Ian

Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com said...

2 more thoughts, 1 is to use 4 horse for the dashing horse artillery and only 2 for the plodding foot guns. Seems to me Peter Guilder suggested using 1 full limber & gun for a battery of several guns instead of a 1:1 ratio of limbers to guns. Ross Mac

Stryker said...

I like the way you're thinking Ross because this is exactly what I am now considering! I think 2 horses for the boring old foot artillery and 4 for the glittering horse artillery is a good compromise. I'm going to sort through my limbers, horses and riders tonight to see what I can do. Thanks for your comment.

Ian

Redlancer said...

Hi,
I also agree with Roy. I seem to remember reading an article by Peter Guilder many years ago where he advocated using a separate base for the front pair of horses of the team.
Richard

Stryker said...

Hi there Redlancer - thanks for dropping by. On reflection I am going to make all limbers up to 4-horse ones including a detachable 2-horse base for each one. This way they will look right on the table. However they will probably remain as decorative items as I will only be fielding one per nationality.

Ian

lewisgunner said...

That's a pity (fielding 1 limber each) Gun batteries have a large area of clutter behind them, limbers, caissons, spare whjeel wagons and sometimes a forge. I like to represent that with the limbers. Having just the one means that you cannot show all the kit. Mind you,, painting all the stuff is a daunting task. I'd have thought two limbers per nationality would be a minimum.
Roy

Stryker said...

Ok then Roy, I'll tell you what - I'll try and do 2 per nationality if I can get the horses!

Ian