HaT British Light Dragoons - a Review

About a month ago I finally received my long-awaited British Dragoons from HaT, both heavy and light. I had joined the crowd-funded project to produce these, entering in late when they were indicated as 90% completed on the HaT site. The delays in production of this set have been well-discussed on various forums, but for whatever the reasons it was still more than a two year wait from the time I joined the campaign,when test sculpts were already circulating, to when they arrived. So to say these were much-anticipated would be a serious understatement.

That's a lot of cavalry! My ten sets of light and heavy British Dragooons (plus a bonus box of mixed cavalry) arrived loose with boxes flattened - okay with me as I'm sure it reduced postage.

The British dragoon sets fill a big void in figures for those of us who are gaming the Peninsular War, as the only 1/72 plastic figures for British cavalry previously available were for 1812 and later (with the possible exception of the hard-to-find Strelets cavalry, marketed for the Egyptian campaign but which would be suitable for pre-1812). So for the past few years I have been spinning my wheels, anxious to get my teeth into historical scenarios that require British cavalry, but with only a single regiment of KGL Hussars to take the field.

Review

When they arrived, at first glance I saw much that I liked about this set. There were a lot of poses, with extra arm choices to increase the options, including a trumpeter. All the gear seemed appropriate to the time, with the braided jackets and heavy curved cavalry sword, and there was a real campaign look to these figures, with overalls, canteen, bread bag and cartridge box as well as enough carbines in the box to equip every figure with one. One curious decision on the part of HaT was to not give the Tarleton helmet a plume, whereas most illustrations of these dragoons show them with one. I can only think that perhaps the plume was not generally employed on campaign, but I think most collectors would have liked to see it included.

Unfortunately there are only two horse poses, but both are quite good and well-sculpted, and all are with the sheepskin saddle cover edged with wolf's teeth. The tails are not bobbed, as they generally were for the Peninsular campaign (causing a great deal of discomfort to the horses in that hot climate!) but I was happy to leave them long.

However on closer inspection I noticed the detail was a bit blobby, the faces, hands, cuffs and other detail not well-defined. There was also a disturbing amount of flash along the mold lines that required a fair amount of trimming with a sharp scalpel. (Fortunately the plastic is not the spongey untrimmable plastic that some infamous HaT sets are made from!) On the face of one figure a disturbing mold line runs right across it, and after trimming required a bit of reconstructive surgery to give it some shape.

Probably most frustrating, as this is entirely unnecessary, was the fact that the optional arms had holes that did not connect well at all with the pins, making them virtually impossible to attach properly! And the carbines, also separate pieces, were tricky to attach as well. Finally (and I promise my complaints will end here) the figures themselves did not grip the horses well and required pinning across the board.

Trimmed, patched together , pinned and ready to be primed.

Close up of the six figures per box that required arm assembly, showing the variations available along with the extra reinforcing on the arms that was required to get them to fit.

After having waited so long for these sets, needless to say I was crushed. I had even doubled my order to six boxes of the light dragoons and four of the heavy, and I started to wonder it it would be simpler to try to part with them through E-Bay (although I would have felt guilty passing them along!) After bulling ahead with the first set, and discovering all of the above-mentioned failings en route, I buckled down on my second box and simply did all the prep work properly from the start. Flash was hunted down and carved off, arms were pinned manually and then reinforced with putty, carbines carefully glued on and then reinforced with a coat of white glue and all of the figures faithfully pinned to their horses. It made the second box much more enjoyable to paint and I would recommend anyone tackling this less than perfect set to do the same.

A Bit of History

"I considered our (British) cavalry so inferior to the French from the want of order, that although I considered one squadron a match for two French, I didn't like to see four British opposed to four French: and as the numbers increased and order, of course, became more necessary I was the more unwilling to risk our men without having a superiority in numbers." -Lord Wellington

A corporal of the 13th along with a trooper of the 14th. This illustration indicates the trooper's dress dated from 1808, notably without the Tarleton helmet but rather a tall cap. Note the bird image on the canteen - the HaT figures also have some sort of motif on them, but I was unable to find more information about this.
Postscript: A TMP poster provided me with the probable answer. He tells me that the UK War department would often mark its property with an arrowhead design. That would jive with this illustration if not with the HaT figures emblem. He went on to say that there has been much debate over the years about what emblems the water bottle did carry and how much the entire idea is owed to the Crimean war in practice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

Wellington’s cavalry in the Peninsular War were not well loved or trusted by their general. The British cavalry were considered to be better than their French counterparts individually and up to squadron level but when operating in larger formations rapidly gained a reputation for being impetuous and undisciplined. In reality they generally performed quite well and had a number of marked successes, at Talavera, Fuentes d'Orno as well as many other Peninsular battles and engagements.

Although rarely fielded in as large numbers as their French counterparts, they played an important role in Wellington’s eventual success in driving the enemy from Portugal and Spain.

14th Regiment Light Dragoons

The 14th was first raised in 1715 and fought in the Jacobite Rebellions of 1715 and 1745. Although light dragoon troops had been introduced to regiments in the second half of the 18th C., in 1759 whole regiments were raised. The 14th was converted to light dragoons in 1776, the second of the dragoon regiments to be converted. 

They fought with distinction throughout the Peninsular War, from the battle of Porto in 1809 through to the end, and were involved in their last engagement at Bayonne in 1814.

The 14th regiment, the first of many to come, all painted up. I used two boxes of light dragoons to create this.

Troopers, one built with the optional arm holding a carbine.

Rear view. Note the mystery motif on the canteen.

More troopers.

Rear view of same.

Trumpeter stand, with a figure with optional arm holding a pistol. I was unable to determine if the light dragoon trumpeter would wear reverse colours, but given that an Army Order of 1812 banned reverse colours one can only assume they existed previously! 

Rear view of same.

A second trumpeter.

Rear view of same.