1st (Tsarevitch) Dragoons

Hello again.

It is almost a year since I bought the first of my 10mm Crimean War figures at the WMMS show last March. I painted up all except the cavalry unit I got with that first purchase - one of Pendraken Miniatures' Russian Army Packs - within a few months, but that final unit of dragoons lay dormant whilst I moved onto other things and did a bit of on/off research.

That research largely concluded with the purchase of Laurence Spring's "Uniforms of the Russian Army During the Crimean War 1854-1856" at the Derby show last October. Talk about a one stop shop for Russian uniforms! Well, almost. I have other books with colour pictures!!! What Spring's work does include however are orbats and, under the auspices of the 2nd Reserve Cavalry Corps is the 1st Dragoon Division under Lieutenant General Montressor. The 1st Brigade consists of 1st (Tsarevich) Dragoons and 2nd (Grand Duke Constantine Nicolaevich's) Dragoons.

The Tsarevich Dragoons can now take the field with their foot-slogging comrades.

I have really enjoyed painting these 10mm figures and will be doing more, not only the ones I have already bought, but I foresee some others coming along too.

What do I like so much about the 10mm I have done so far?

• They are obviously a LOT EASIER than my usual 28mm figures!
• As a result of that greater ease, they can be finished a lot more quickly.
• When I paint 15mm or 20mm, I feel obliged to paint them like smaller 28's, i.e. still with attempts to shade and highlight accurately. I still do this with 10mm figures, but it somehow seems like the effect is easier too and not just because of the size differential and reduced workload. They just seem to suit the style I paint in.
• They cost a lot less, although this is partially offset by the need to paint more figures and the need to buy more as I want bigger units.
• It is worth putting in the extra bit of effort with 10mm compared with 6mm figures, as you can still see it, especially en masse.
• Easier storage, less weight on the shelves and all those other practicalities that prevent my house from collapsing under the weight of lead in my proverbial mountain!

In truth, I have only painted Crimean War Russians so far, which are hardly the most difficult paint jobs around. I may feel a little different when it comes to the rather more sartorially-dressed British. Also, my other purchased range so far is American Civil War, so that should not tax my skills too much either, but we will see. I like the scale/ size so far and expect to continue to. Watch this space!!!

Anyway, the pictures show my Tsarevich Dragoons in all their "glory". I have another complete Pendraken Miniatures Russian Army Pack to paint, so the 2nd Dragoons will ultimately join the 1st to form the whole brigade. However, that is it for now whilst I finish my latest FIW regiment.

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The complete unit so far, all seven bases of it. I may add more in due course.

A quick close up.

The command element.

And the whole army. One Brigadier (actually a Dragoon Officer figure from the pack - I only needed 14 figures out of the 15 in the pack for the unit), 2 battalions of Jager, 1 battalion of Naval Infantry, 3 battalions of the Minsk Regiment, 3 artillery pieces and the dragoons.