Lancer Miniatures
10mm 1809 plans had certainly taken a knock as long ago as two years back due to the fact that not a single 1809 battle could be fully represented with what was commercially available. With nothing new for 10mm 1809 Napoleonics since Pendraken’s Bavarian releases back in September 2013, it was great news that a brand new 10mm Napoleonic range had been launched in April 2015. Lancer Miniatures new 10mm Napoleonic range was based around the early Imperial period – characterised by the French Line still being in bicorne hats. Longer term plans were to produce all the figures necessary for the Battle of Austerlitz. This meant a range of early Napoleonic Russians as well as Austrians and French. The bicorn hat was, of course, a fashion that predated most 1809 uniforms. However, many of the new Lancer castings touched on 1809 and some of these plugged the gaps in what was so far available in 10mm.
I was more than happy to see shakoed French Léger with side plume. These would
be very nice for adding a bit of variety to my army. And according to one modern
source, at least one Léger unit still retained the side plume in 1809! The side-plumed
Léger would also provide the opportunity to have a stab at Tirailleurs Corses
conversions. These light troops had been on the Pendraken will-be-done list from the
beginning, back in 2010, but I guessed were unlikely ever to be sculpted. The Corses
were, importantly, essential for the Battle of Ebelsberg – a project I was keen to work
on one day.
Lancer’s early French cuirassiers were also perfect to replace the erratically sculpted
Pendrakens – one trooper lacked a scabbard and the other was unfortunately armed
with the later carbine. French cuirassiers were only armed with the carbine from 1812
onwards. It was seen by many as a sign that the French heavy cavalry were no longer
of the calibre they had been. It was perhaps also for this reason that
many cuirassiers made considerable effort to avoid carrying
them. For anyone collecting a French army of the Glory
Years, cuirassiers with carbines were simply an
anathema, if not an insult to the pride of that arm of
Napoleon’s army – sacré bleu!
If the Lancer figures could also provide Austrian
grenadiers with the proper armchair style hat,
Austrian cuirassiers without backplates, and a
French hussar officer without a carbine and with
an officer’s saddle, then the 1809 projects could
begin to make some advances on the figures front
once more!
ABOVE Lancer Miniatures French Léger Marching
BELOW Lancer Miniatures French Dragoons
POST 193
193
