193 : Lancer Miniatures

10mm 1809 plans had certainly taken a knock as long ago as two years back due to the fact that not a single 1809 battle could be fully represented with what was commercially available. With nothing new for 10mm 1809 Napoleonics since Pendraken’s Bavarian releases back in September 2013, it was great news that a brand new 10mm Napoleonic range had been launched in April 2015.

Lancer Miniatures new 10mm Napoleonic range was based around the early Imperial period – characterised by the French Line still being in bicorne hats. Longer term plans were to produce all the figures necessary for the Battle of Austerlitz. This meant a range of early Napoleonic Russians as well as Austrians and French. The bicorn hat was, of course, a fashion that predated most 1809 uniforms. However, many of the new Lancer castings touched on 1809 and some of these plugged the gaps in what was so far available in 10mm.

I was more than happy to see shakoed French Légère with side plume. These would be very nice for adding a bit of variety to my army. And according to one modern source, at least one Légère unit still retained the side plume in 1809! The side-plumed Légère would also provide the opportunity to have a stab at Tirailleurs Corses conversions. These light troops had been on the Pendraken will-be-done list from the beginning, back in 2010, but I guessed were unlikely ever to be sculpted. The Corses were, importantly, essential for the Battle of Ebelsberg – a project I was keen to work on one day.

Lancer’s early French cuirassiers were also perfect to replace the erratically sculpted Pendrakens – one trooper lacked a scabbard and the other was unfortunately armed with the later carbine. French cuirassiers were only armed with the carbine from 1812 onwards. It was seen by many as a sign that the French heavy cavalry were no longer of the calibre they had been. It was perhaps also for this reason that many cuirassiers made considerable effort to avoid carrying them. For anyone collecting a French army of the Glory Years, cuirassiers with carbines were simply an anathema, if not an insult to the pride of that arm of Napoleon’s army! Sacré bleu!

If the Lancer figures could also provide Austrian grenadiers with the proper armchair style hat, Austrian cuirassiers without backplates, and a French hussar officer without a carbine and with an officer’s saddle, then the 1809 projects could begin to make some advances on the figures front once more!