Dear Old John,

thank you for the effort of bringing these sources together.
While I really like the guys with helmets, if only because they look cool and provide some diversity on the table, I'm no longer so sure about the sources. The problem is that people often tend to first like a picture, then to rely on the authority of the artist and after that look no further. Many newer artists simply copy from older sources but don't check for historical accuracy. And if the artist/writer doesn't say where he got his information from, all that's left to us is assume he has done his homework. A scholarly study would consult manuscripts, paintings and museums housing uniforms/armor of the period and even these informations will lead to open questions. The problem is, the further we move down the timeline, the less information we have.
While I really enjoy the pictures of Ottenfeld, Hoffmann, MacBride and others of armored Austrian/Bavarian cuirassiers, I've not yet found a single painting from the period showing them thus equipped. On the contrary, all paintings showing austrian cuirassiers (from the Italian theatre of war) show them with tricornes. If you find one with helmets, let us know! This doesn't necessarily prove they never wore helmets during the WoSS, it's just that.
So in the end it comes down to personal taste, I guess. I like the looks of them with helmets, so I'll probably buy some (if available) or try some conversions (at least for Bavarians).

Stay safe and enjoy the hobby
Cheers Flambeau

A very useful list of references, Old John; and clearly quite a book collection you have there too! Thank you.

It is beginning to sound a little as if the 'armoured cavalry with or without helmets??' issue is one that can never be resolved with 100% certainty, since the first hand sources are not there.

I am sympathetic to the view expressed by Flambeau that some helmeted cavalry on the table-top breaks up the serried and endless ranks of tricornes, and I will probably want to have at least one Bavarian cuirassier unit in helmets...if only 'just for show'. My theory is that some Bavarian (and perhaps Austrian) squadrons might have worn the helmet early in the War of Spanish Succession (1703/4: so including Blenheim) but soon after replaced these with tricornes with an iron skull cap for head-protection. Probably more functional and not so hot...those helmets in the heat of a German summer must have been uncomfortable to say the least.:sunny:

Let's see what Strelets produce when the full set of armoured cavalry makes its appearance.:grinning: