25mm Nap. French - Chasseurs a Cheval

Well, I've shown a lot of men on foot; it is about time I got away from the infantry and to the other branches of the French army!

First up, some of the mounted boys. In this case, I thought I would start with the light cavalry, or Chasseurs a Cheval. These guys are best used in hunting down skirmishers, riding down artillery crews, and harassing retreating and routing units.

All of my cavalry units are split into two halves, with six men per half. This unit is actually different than the rest in that it has no true command half; instead, there is a mounted commander for each piece of the unit.

The first half, featuring red busbys, are led by my favorite mounted figure; this dashing fellow, mounted on the only white horse in the entire French army. The horse is actually a bit of a conversion; originally it was just galloping along. A little twisting and turning, and I made the horse rearing, one hoof on a rock, the other in the air. The officer atop the horse is a dashing fellow, clearly motioning to his fellow cavalry to either hold fast or, more likely, follow him!

The second half, wearing yellow busbys, follow this austere looking fellow to the left. As with his mate, I did some conversion work on the horse; since this is light cavalry, I imagined their officers would look best with their horses in a very dynamic pose. He is charging forward, sword raised, leading his men to charge some poor, doomed target!

The troopers themselves wear green, which sets them off nicely from the vast sea of blue that a French army seems to be at times. The colors of the busbys in particular came out very vibrant; I am not sure if they come across in the photos!

All of these cavalrymen are from Old Glory 25mm.