Hussars on Hold
Since I had completed Bruyère’s brigade (see Post 164), I thought it would be fun to paint up the other brigade of the French light cavalry division commanded by the great Lasalle himself. I had already finished painting the 16th Chasseurs so all I had to paint was the 8th Hussars. I got happily stuck in but when I began to paint what I took to be the French hussar officer figure progress suddenly ground to a halt. It was obvious that the single figure supplied in the Pendraken pack wasn’t an officer at all. Firstly, he was armed with a carbine – a definite faux pas for a self-respecting Napoleonic French hussar officer! Secondly, he had a trooper’s sheepskin saddle. So, obviously, he was not an officer. He was, in fact, an excellent figure of a French hussar trooper. Checking the other miniatures made me recall the difference I had noted in converting my French and Austrian ADCs (see Post 93). The French hussar I chose to convert didn’t have a carbine. This made it much, much easier to convert. I should have realised at the time that this was actually incorrect. He should have been armed with a carbine! It wasn’t that he was the officer as he also had a trooper’s sheepskin saddle. Sadly, it was just that there was no Pendraken French hussar officer. Furthermore, half my troopers were without carbines. What to do? I put the 8th Hussars on hold.
POST 168
168
