"Victrix Imperial Lancers" Topic

I managed to get clean, and give up painting even more Napoleonic figures a few years ago. However a brief dally with WOTR and never mind the billhooks, has weakened my resolve. I really like the look of the Victrix Imperial lancers, but I probably have too many Guard units anyway. Can these be used for Regular French line Lancers ? Can they be used for Prussian Uhlans? The box suggests they can, but I wonder if they need replacement heads or some serious kit bashing ? Filing off an imperial sign or two is no problem. What makes these figures Guard units as compared to regular line?

(Obviously if they cant be easily converted, it would help me stay clean and not take up anymore cupboard space)

I believe they could be used as the 7th and 8th Line Lancers (ex-Vistula Legion) and the 9th (ex-Hamburg Dragoons), but definitely not as the 1st-6th who wore helmets. They could also probably pass as Russian uhlans, but not Prussian (who wore shakos). There are probably various minor differences in plume type and position, horse furniture, etc. but I think their general silhouette is good enough for wargame work.

For Prussians, the 2nd Silesian Landwehr cavalry , the Guard Uhlans and the 4th Uhlans wore czapkas. I can't comment on the rest of the uniform and equipment. Have a look at the recent thread on Best Book on Prussian Uniforms.

Funny enough, it would almost be easier to convert them to British Light Dragoons than French Line lancers. The jacket is an elegant kurtka with a very different cut to the "Bardin" style lapelled jacket, with turnbacks on the tails, of the line lancers.

Guard status? Well the aiguilettes, the shako plate and of course the saddlecloth all helped.

Prussian Silesian Landwehr Uhlans stood out as dressed very similarly at their colonel's great expense, even wearing the same style jacket

Were the Silesian Landwehr cavalry
At Waterloo ? I can't see them on the mont saint jean site ?

link

That site shows the 3rd Silesian LW Cav (rather than the 2nd) as wearing the czapka, as well as the 7th Uhlans (although that regiment has dolmans rather than kurtkas). Also in the 1815 campaign you have the Brunswick Uhlan squadron in traditional Polish uhlan rig (albeit in funeral black).

Wasn't there a unit of Spanish guerillas who "liberated" and wore French lancer uniforms complete with czapka?

The main problem is the horse furniture. The Guard lancers had a pointed ended cloth shrabraque while the line lancers had a sheepskin saddle cloth like the line chasseurs a cheval. The Victrix lancers are good, but you can already buy plastic Prussian/Russian uhlans and other Prussian cavalry from the Perrys which obviates the need for complicated conversions. The figures wanted already exist elsewhere so it seems a little pointless to buy excellent figures just to convert to these other troop types. Just an opinion.

@artilleryman, yes I've just been looking at the Perry allied cavalry, you can buy lancer arm sprues for £2.00 GBP, and they seem much closer to the majority of the Prussians units. I assume for 100 days war I just use the short tail coats and follow the mont saint jean site for colours ? I got inspired by the victrix models, but they do seem very niche. The blurb did say you can convert to Prussians but gave no indication how. I'd forgotten how blummin' confusing napolionics was. For wotr, noone really knows anything, you can paint everyone pink, and noone can prove you wrong. Muskets are cooler though.

The Guard lancers jacket (A kurtka) was a very elegant design. Piping on all the seams, better cut than the line cavalry lapelled coat.

But the tails were very different. The line had conventional turnbacks, widest at the base. The Kurtka inverted them! Widest at the top and tapering to a tip at the base.

Seen in the Silesian Landwehr, the Brunswick Squadron and Some Russian Uhlans. But above all, how strange, in all the British/KGL Light Dragoons, those not converted to hussars.

Thanks for the info.
I'm not getting back into to Napolionics, but I have now ordered the Perry cavalry. And some horses with sheepskin. And some lance arms.
And a cannon….

But now my allies have more cavalry, so maybe the imperial brigade should have those victrix horses. Then the British could have the union brigade…

But I can give up, anytime I want..