I've been doing some refurb work in odd spare evenings, encouraged by the cooler weather. I bought in some pre-owned cavalry, added a couple of command figures, and here we have the Austrian Lobkowicz Cuirassiers, ready for action.
This is my fifth Austrian Cuirassier unit, all refurbs, and all the previous four have blackened armour, but I rather liked the appearance of the existing paintwork on this new unit, so kept them in the natural steel. I'd be embarrassed to try to justify this distinction, primarily because I'd be making it up, but in my reading I was interested to learn that Imperial cuirassiers units from the region of Lothringen [Lorraine] deliberately kept their armour unblackened. Not really relevant here, but it shows that there are options.
This particular regiment was raised in Silesia in 1682 by Count Veterani, was taken over in 1695 by Zanthe von Merl (who was from Luxembourg), after Veterani was beheaded by the Turks; by the time of Blenheim the inhaber was Prince Lobkowicz, who was a Czech. The point is merely that it is almost impossible to say where this unit came from! In the Imperial army, they were officially designated KR 17.
Figures are 20mm Les Higgins, as ever, the trumpeter is an SHQ man (from their 30YW range) mounted on a Higgins horse.
Another lovely looking unit Tony…
ReplyDeleteI really like the look of the steel finish breastplates… They should make fine targets on the table 😁.
All the best. Aly
Hi Aly - Robocop lives...
DeleteVery nice indeed, I hope they do well on the table, the look splendid in their steel breastplates, nice to see something that wee bit different.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donnie - this has been one of those last-minute swerves; for a couple of months, I've had the colour chart prepared for them, including black for recoating the armour, and on the actual painting evening I decided they were fine as they were!
DeleteThey look lovely and have way more justification than needed, or wanted, for the unblackened armour; just liking them that way or wanting some visual distinction between units would be more than enough.
ReplyDeleteHave your armies outgrown your table yet?
Oh yes - far too many for the table! We are talking "campaign armies" here, or maybe just "plenty of choices"! Hope things good with you, Rob.
DeleteA fine looking unit of Horse, Tony!
ReplyDeleteThank you Peter - I'm easing myself out of a long break from painting, so all encouraging noises are welcome!
DeleteA brave looking unit Tony.
ReplyDeleteI'm tempted to coin the punchline from Stan Boardman's famous joke:
Eammon Andrews, "I should point out that 'Fuggers' were a unit Austrian heavy cavalry".
Jan Sobieski, "That is correct Eammon, but these Fuggers were Lobkowiczes".
You wascal, sir.
DeleteCrikey - Stan was a class act - a real throwback; I once saw him appearing at a charity dinner at Liverpool Town Hall, and his act was mostly him giggling hysterically at his own material. There is a legend that he once was booked for a private "do" for the players and staff at (I think) Leeds United, and they refused to pay him because his jokes were too racist. It seems to me that this must have been a remarkable achievement.
I was honoured to take the actual [20mm] Graf von Fugger prisoner in a recent Zoom game with the JBM. One of my favourite brigade commanders. I am also very taken with the Marquis de Silly, of course.
Very nice - I remember having a very few of these as a spotty youth in the mid 70's, great little figures.
ReplyDeleteHi Keith - for some subtle reason, Higgins' 20mm ECW boys (because these are such, before addition of putty cravats etc) are a little larger than their 20mm Malburians, though they share the same horses. That's OK - cuirassiers are supposed to be big fellas!
DeleteSplendid stuff, Tony! This triggered a bit of browsing in books and on-line, looks like these chaps were still going 50 years later as the Stampach Cuirassiers ( 10th Cuirassier regiment in 1769 numbering ), and were commanded in 1756 by one Joseph, Prince Lobkowitz. So they kept it in the family, so to speak..
ReplyDeletehttps://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Stampach_Cuirassiers
Thanks David - I am glad that someone else likes this "pocket history" aspect of collecting; anything which adds to the character of a unit - especially when it's easy for the details and the colour to get lost in the weight of years - is always welcome.
DeleteFor no particular reason, I am reminded of a friend who used to refer to his Napoleonic units by some characteristic - one classic was "the infantry with the cross-eyed drummer". He also used to hand over the dice during games with the incantation, "Right - do your worst, you swine". Rituals. Not necessarily estimable, but his own.