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Sadly (not waited for review in PSR) I didn’t do ‘due diligence’ before parting with my money.
Both Bavarian and Austrian are wearing ‘lobster-pot’ type helmets. Having made researches, I cannot find any reference to either wearing these lobster pot helmets in the Western arena, where they wore tricorne hats so these are useless for the main campaigns of Eugene or Marlborough.
Sad. Wasted nigh on forty quid unless anyone can point me to a source that shows otherwise.
Bearing in mind (a) that uniforms and equipment in armies of the period might take years to replace with new/newer and (b) that the pictures/tapestries of battles of the period were painted/created some years after the events they depict, generally by an artist who was not there in person, then I think it quite possible that cuirassiers in the first years of the War of Spanish Succession might have fought in helmets rather than tricornes (with an iron 'secret' underneath).
It is pretty well impossible to prove categorically, either way.
In which case, a little artistic licence is quite acceptable I would say. If cuirassiers wearing tricornes are required, then it is either a case of waiting for the Dutch cuirassiers set, or head-swapping the lobster-potted Bavarian and Austrian sets. If the latter, then one box of (say) French musketeers on the march will provide (almost) enough heads to swap with 4 boxes of cuirassiers.
Absolute historical accuracy is difficult to achieve, and the look of one's model army is a matter of personal choice of course. If we were being entirely accurate, then for example the British infantry Firing Line and In Attack sets would not have their figures sculpted with marching order packs still on their backs; these would have been taken off and taken to the rear before action.
Thanks for the in depth reply there -much appreciated.
I haven’t seen the Osprey but all the sites I could find (not THAT extensive!) did say the lobster pots were only worn in Eastern campaigns. I am wracking my brains to work out why!
Thanks for the in depth reply there -much appreciated.
I haven’t seen the Osprey but all the sites I could find (not THAT extensive!) did say the lobster pots were only worn in Eastern campaigns. I am wracking my brains to work out why!
That reply has made me much happier.
Thanks
The Austrian cavalry fought differently in the east. More slow moving, and much more compact, to stop the Ottoman horsemen getting in amongst them. The Ottomans were known to be better fighters and also wore more complete armour, including helmets like lobsters.
It's possible that several units wore them at Blenheim: http://www.thewaroffice.co.uk/Blenheim/Index.htm
For printed sources I have the Marlborough's Army Osprey, Funcken Lace Wars volume 2, and a nifty little book called Uniforms of Marlborough's Wars, illustrated by Lt Col Frank Wilson.