Clipity Clopity get off my Property: Royalist Cavalry for VBCW!

Cavalry! As much as tanks and machine guns rule the interwar period, there is still very much a place for the ‘humble’ cavalry(ha!). While relegated mostly to scouting for larger formations, they can still catch poorly disciplined troops off guard, and are great for taking advantage of breakthroughs. In Very British Civil War, cavalry are very popular among players for looking dashing, anachronistic, and a great chance to stretch your painting muscles for something unique.

I had bought these Great War Miniatures Early War British Cavalry, which I chose to get with swords, on a lark a few months ago. While really nice sculpts, I expected a lot of work on them, and with my life getting very, very busy lately, I just didn’t have the time.

Or, so I thought. It turns out that these are amazingly easy to build, posing little to no trouble!

The next trouble was how to paint them. I figured I would start with an English Uniform spray, as if nothing else the horses would be easy. Then I posed the question to the VBCW Facebook page. I got many great suggestions, and the one that I went with was looking at Yeomanry regiments! I wanted to avoid red uniforms, as my buddy Ty over at https://hussarsandhandgrenades.ca is doing Mounties eventually.

Whilst the Yeomanry themselves had mostly been converted over to other roles by 1938, I figured that the very flashy uniforms would be popular among militia units who want to look ‘dashing’, ‘cavalier’, ‘bold’. I looked at first the Dorset Yeomanry, as my VBCW takes place in a fictional town in that region.

I then looked at the Hampshire Yeomanry, which have a simpler, but just as dashing uniform! I was quite taken with it, and while in the end I just used the pants, it was the primary inspiration.

With a paint scheme mostly decided, it was time to prime…and it being a beautiful day in my part of Canada, I decided to prime all the remaining VBCW figures I owned!

With a productive day well spent, I figured I’d start the militia cavalry early the next day.

Now these may be militia cavalry, but they are Royalists fighting for King Edward. So with that in mind, I got cracking on the painting, and learned something really annoying half way through; there was a massive mold line running right down the face of half the models! But, c’est la vie, it was too late. So I just hunkered down and finished them.

Lets have a look at the finished unit eh?

All in all, a solid two days of work from blister to fully painted. They are not the fanciest cavalry ever done, but they were meant to be a relaxing build and paint, and who knew, they turned out to be!

Now for some alt-history for them! These fellows will be members of a fictional unit.

The Loyal Dorset Dragoons are a volunteer militia unit raised by General Fuller’s command as they move toward Harrington on Sea. As the local gentry and aristocracy holds a lot of sympathy for King Edward, many have snuck past the Anglican lines and been given basic cavalry training. Acting as local scouts for the army, their job is to report troop movements and harass the local Anglican forces.

If only someone told them that! The rascals of the Dorset Dragoons tend to pillage Anglican settlements, hitting hard and fast before the LDV can muster in full to see them off. More interested in loot and glory then acting as scouts, they often neglect to report even their own movements, much to Fuller’s annoyance.

They also tend to neglect their rifle training, preferring the sword. Many have grown up on their grandparents tales of glorious cavalry charges in far flung parts of Empire. While these tactics worked well on less well equipped foes, and have proven effective against the LDV’s they encounter, it may well be the end of them should they try it against the hardened Anglican and Albertine forces mustering at Harrington On Sea.

Their uniforms are ‘officially’ just khaki service dress, but many have chosen to wear fancier, Yeomanry inspired trousers. Their service caps have a bold blue stripe and white button for the enlisted, and blue caps with a white stripe and silver button for the officers. Completely against uniform standards, but the General has better things to do then to reprimand them.

And that’s all I have for them so far! Who knows, they may just prove decisive, or be shot down by machine gun fire. It’s anyone’s guess!

As my 100th post, I’m quite happy with this! The whirlwind last two weeks have proven crippling for my view count, but that is okay. As long as my peer’s both here on WordPress and over at the Facebook page for VBCW enjoy the content, I’ll keep making it!

But for now, that is all I have. Happy War-gaming wherever you are, and God Save King Edward!