Saturday 28 November 2015

7YW Cavalry.....but which Regiment?

Over the past few years I have been building up a Prussian army for the 7 Years War, some of which has featured on this blog and that of Vauban & Shandy  The quality of modelling hasn't been as high as the period deserves due to the limitations of my skill and patience, both of which are intolerably low, but they have a naive charm to them which works for me. 

So what is this ramble all about?  well, since before I started this project I've always wanted to have a unit of Hussars in mirliton helmets and about a year ago I picked up four suitable heads from Alexanders Toy Soldiers (ATS) - this is what I did with them:

The ATS heads on Dulcop Napoleonic hussar bodies and mounted on horses by Jean Hoefler, the later are a bit "My Little Pony" but I quite like their jauntiness and they paint up nicely.

Since then I've squirrelled away enough body parts to make 24 figures, which in my little Toy Soldier world equates to three Regiments - but what to paint them up as?

My original thought was one of those black clad Totenkopf outfits but now that seems a bit dramatic for the table top and in any case I do like a bit of colour.   Also, what to do with the other two Regiments?  I currently have one each of Cuirassiers and Dragoons so three units of Hussars would surely be too unwieldy?

I draw heavily on the Kronoskaf site for research and I'm currently recruiting for the armies of  Brandenburg, Austria and Russia, as well as others outside the 7YW period, so my question to you dear reader is what should I paint these three Regiments up as?  Your consideration in this matter is much appreciated.

10 comments:

  1. Brian splendid looking chaps!
    Why not paint them in rose uniforms as a unit of frei hussars led by a soldier of fortune from the Duchy of Tradgardland?
    If you do I will kindly donate a regimental colour to you from the Duchy.
    best wishes
    Alan

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    1. Hmm, hussars in pink, what would Alte Fritz make of that I wonder? The regimental colour does sound tempting though.

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  2. Excellent work so far...... I look forward to seeing them appear on the tabletop.

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  3. I love the light bkue of Bercheny's but since you didn't mention France my fallback is Yellow Rusdian Hussars. Red pants and green dolman will get you into almost anyone's army being a popular combination.

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    1. A combination that can double up for other armies is very appealing, especially as storage space is always an issue with 54mm. France isn't in the hat at the moment but I don't know how long I'll be able to resist so I'll keep Bercheny in my back pocket, thanks for that.

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  4. The boys in black are always rather stylish. Though Von Zieten wear a fetching blue if memory serves.

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    1. There's no denying they are always rather stylish, rats, I can already feel my resolve slipping away!

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  5. The 7YW Prussian Hussar regiments used to be popularly known by the predominant colour of their uniforms. Probably the most well known were the 5th (von Ruesch) Regiment, a.k.a. the Black Hussars. I bit red relieves the black a bit.

    The 4th regiment were the Puttkamer Hussars, a.k.a. the White Hussars. Their uniform comprised white pelisse and shabraque, with light blue dolmans, leggings and saw-tooth edging on the shabraque. The sabretache was white with a light blue cypher. Wheneveri get around to paint my second Electoral hussar regimet, the Puttkamer Hussars they will be. The 1st (Green) and 2nd (Blue and red) and 3rd(Blue and yellow) make for greater variety.

    Check out this site... http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Prussian_Army#Hussars

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  6. Thanks for this Ion, I quite like the sound of the 3rd Hussars, blue and yellow are my favourite colours.

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