3 replies to this topic

[Trotsky]

Just finished painting up some H&R cossacks - castings were a little rough but they painted up OK. Just need to think about a senario for them, maybe an anti-partisan action? Any ideas?

[Sacha]

Those are pretty cool. Especially with the swords pointing out for the charge.

[Mark 1]

I like the Cossacks very much. Nice job. Inspiring to me.I have some H&R Soviet Cavalry (also featuring raised sabres). I like them quite a bit.And I have several packs of the Cossacks, too, which are waiting to be painted and based. (Hence the reference to being inspired!) But in my case I chose them as the closest approximation for another type of cavalry, and plan to paint them up as Spahis de Marok for French North Africa 1942/43 games. I figure the Cossack gray/black sheepskin hat and black cape can be painted up to approximate the Spahis' traditional off-white arab headscarf and red cape. Now if I can just figure out how to get some cavalry in Kepi's and capes to be the French officers ...As to scenarios ... I guess the first question is whether you plan to restrict your Cossacks to German forces? I always considered it a bit of odd packaging on H&R's part to label the Cossacks as German troops. Cossacks served in the Soviet forces at a ratio of more than 10-to-1 versus German forces. The models themselves should be just about indistinguishable, so you may well wish to consider them Soviet forces, and you will probably find it easier to get them onto the battleboard.My Soviet cavalry are always in my mind whenever I do a 1942 or 1943 Eastern Front scenario. These were the times when the Soviets operated the largest numbers of cavalry. During 1944, the cavalry could also appear during any scenario involving Soviet high-speed deep penetration maneuvers or pursuit of dis-organized axis forces, or ... and this is my favorite ... during river-crossing scenarios. By late-war Soviet cavalry operated more often as horse-mobile infantry (fighting dismounted) than traditional cavalry ... although this comment applies to regular army cavalry more than to Cossack units. But even with Cossack units, the Soviets were particularly inclined to use their cavalry for deep penetrations and river crossings. One great advantage is that horses swim pretty well for distances up to a few hundred meters, making cavalry essentially a self-propelled amphibious infantry force for all but the widest or fastest rivers. Of course, it's a little hard to get the horse-limbered AT guns over the rivers WITH the cavalry. Oh well, no scheme is perfect!-Mark 1

[Mark 1]

Oops. Double post. :unsure: Edited to remove duplication.Well, I probably like the Cossacks enough to say it twice anyways. So there. ;) -Mark 1