"Brigade Games French Dragoons" Topic

Greetings from snowy France,

I've decided I'd like some more 28MM French dragoons and have been considering the Brigade Games ones.

They look pretty good on their website but the images are too small to really judge how splendid they really are so I wondered if anyone has got some better images or even has some painted example to show off?

Also, does anyone in France ordered any from the USA?

Cheers,

Paul

I can't help you with the Brigade models, but I would like to observe that in English, "Ancient" refers to Antiquity (avant le Moyen Âge).

Cheers,

Ron

If you like work of Paul Hicks, then you will like these figures.

I bought some samples, and they are excellent. As MiniShips said, they're sculpted by Paul Hicks and cast by Brigade Games, an excellent combination.

One word of warning though – these are late Revolution/Egyptian campaign dragoons, not Imperial. This means no chin scales on the helmet. Also, one of them comes with a turban, since they were originally designed for Brigade's Napoleon in Egypt line. Most importantly, however is that they don't have the square saddle cloth. Instead they come with the sheepskin most often seen used by French light cavalry.

So the horses come with this:

Instead of this:

Hi Mserafin,

That is very useful info.

Sadly I was after Imperial so will just have to get some more Front Rank or Elite chaps.

Shame that Perrys don't do Dragoons (other than the Empress dragoons) in metal. Or maybe I should get the Empress Dragoons and boost my Guard cavalry.

Meanwhile, dunno how I cross-posted this to Ancients.

Ho Hum!

P

FYI – The mounted dragoons can be requested without the one in turban as we do that all the time.

As far as mailing to France. We mail parcels to France almost every mail day.

Offensive Miniatures makes very nice French Dragoon with the square saddle cloth. link Perry do make plastic French Dragoons if you like plastic figures. link Brigade French Dragoons are very nice also! I have all three lines.

Mes Amis,

I'm very impressed by how helpful and quick to respond Brigade Games are! Maybe I should get some of their Dragoons as I must have some of their super French artillery.

And many thanks to HussarL as I'd forgotten about Offensive Miniatures and their Dragoons look good too.

Probably just have to get a Regiment of each plus the Perry Empress Dragoons.

I also love the Perry plastic sculpts but am just so very anti-plastic I'll continue to pass on those.

Cheers,

Paul

French dragoons are often shown with lambs wool over the shabrqaue. It might be easy to put thin metal under the back end of the lambs wool to depict this. One might have to shorten the rear of the lambs wool cover to make it more "correct," and then use "green stuff" to shape the cantlepack and rolled cloak.

Here are some illustrations by Rousselot, sent to us earlier on TMP. The basic troopers would had a cream-colored, or off-white, lambswool cover:

link

GdeP

My favourite figures are Front Rank
Pre 1812

Post 1812

very nice painting – inspirational

link

Here is a picture of the horseman of the 23rd on horseback as displayed in the Musée de l'Armée in Paris.

No sheep skin on the saddle, and those mannequins are reputed for having been assembled by the master Lucien Rousselot himself decades ago.

Cheers.

Funny thing is you are all right, according to my understanding of what you have all posted here.

In Egypt the Dragoons sat on just a sheepskin over the leather saddle (no idea if that is right, but that is how they are shown). This is how troopers, rank and file, of French Line Light Cavalry turned out later, whether lancers, hussars, chasseurs.

Then we see the dragoons wearing a cut away coat (an inverted V cut out of the midline, to expose the waistcoat). They use the saddle cloth (shabraque) with the double pistol holsters, covered in the same material.

Then along comes Bardin. "1812" they say….almost. Now the Dragoons wear a more "modern" rig. A shorter jacket, shorter tails, but the front bottom of the jacket is now horizontal (like a Levi denim jacket basically). With that, everyone now shows them using a sheepskin over the previous schabraque (saddlecloth) as for Cuirassiers, Carabiniers or Perry Dragoons.

So the horse rig varies with time and the rider's outfit. Heck…who cares? I know nothing about les dragons de France, but worked this out from above pics….and may be wrong!