"Noob question about french cav at minden" Topic

Just getting back into painting after a three year hiatus. Need to restock some of my Vallejo paints. What is the best USA website to order the paints from. My old supplier is no longer in business.

Looking at the minden oob at project SYW

Many of the French cav uses cuirass.

Yet the only figures in 15mm with cuirass are cuirassier de Roi. But those have bearskins not tricornes.
Did most of the cav not use their cuirass?
And if that's the case, are the dragoons or Chevaulegere the appropriate figures?

lot of the cuirasses were worn under the coat or discarded on the march.

AFAIK the Cuirassiers Du Roi are the only French cavalry regiment that wore the full cuirass rather than simply breastplate, and the only regiment to wear it over the coat. The remainder, when they wore their breastplates, put them on under their coats.

All regiments of Cavalrie = Heavy Horse and they wore a tricorn hat and wore the cuirasse underneath the coat. So they are the equivalent of Austrian, Prussian and Russian cuirassiers. British regiments of Horse are also the heavy cavalry of the British army but the thinking is that they did not wear a cuirasse.

The cuirassiers du Roi wore bearskin hats and full front and back armor outside the coat.

"German" cavalrie in French service would have worn Bearskin hats and the cuirasse underneath the coat.

But i don't see any cuirassier on any 15mm french cav except di roi.

They have, Chevaulegere, dragoons, and du roi.

They dont have "cavalrie"

Or do you mean vest when saying coat?

I mean the cuirass should be visible if under the coat but over the vest.

The available figures are wrong

The French "Horse" were called "Chevauxleger" at this period. Don't ask!

Mollinary

Chevau-légers. Commes from 16th century tradition, as lighter than gendarmes. AFAIK.

How many times is it already told: the name "cheveauleger" is just a historical name and in fact the French cheveauleger were in fact the heavy cavalry.
It comes from the fact that the old knightly warriors were called gendarmes/Gendarmerie and the lighter component of the "lance" were chevauleger. So just a historical name.

Of these heavy cavalry, one regiment wore a front and back plate and the others only front plates.
At the battle of Minden a lot of cuirasses were found which were thrown away when the French cavalry fled.

Probert -- I have found the Warstore (thewarstore.com) to be a good supplier for all of the Vallejo ranges.

Thanks custosarmorum.

Yes, 'Chevaux-Legers' or sometimes 'Cavalerie Legere' were simply the formal names for the very numerous class of line heavy cavalry regiments in the French army. So any figure range quoting those names or 'line cavalry' should be depicting the same type of soldier.
The Cuirassiers du Roi were actually classed as one of these leger units too- but had retained the full cuirass as a regimental distinction.

Although the British Regiments of Horse did not wear cuirasses in peacetime- or on service in the WAS- contemp records indicate that the three regiments deployed to Germany in the SYW (Blues, 3rd and 4th Horse) were given cuirasses, but returned them to storage after the war.

No problem, Probert. BTW, I quite enjoyed your postings of WWII painting guides!