2nd (Royal North British) Dragoni
(Greys) 1812–1815

Recensione dei Figurini Italeri in Scala 1:72

"Qu’ils sont terrible, ces Chevaux Gris" (L’Empereur Napoléon)

The Greys were raised in 1681 as the Royal Regiment of Scotch Dragoons e designated as the 2nd (Royal North British) Dragoons in 1751. Because of their grey horses, the reggimento was also known as the Greys Dragoons, the name Royal Scots Greys was not officially adopted until 1877. Dragoni britannici were actually heavy cavalleria of the line, comparable to the corazzieri of other European nations.

The soldatini are shown in the 1812 uniform con red jacket, blue facings e yellow lace, black bearskin bonnets worn con a waterproof cover on campaign e grey trousers con blue sidestripe. This is the uniform worn during the 1815 campaign ed at the Battle of Waterloo. The Greys served con Maj.-Gen. Sir W. Ponsonby’s 2nd Brigade britannico e they distinguished themselves con a famous charge, in the course of which Sergeant Charles Ewart captured the Eagle of the 45e reggimento francese di linea.

Contenuto

18 Riders in 9 Poses – 24 mm pari a 173 cm di altezza

• Ufficiale
• Trombettiere
• Dragoon con carbine, skirmishing (3)
• Dragoon con carbine, in reserve (3)
• Dragoon con drawn pistol (3)
• Dragoner con drawn sabre, attacking (3)
• Dragoon con drawn sabre, attacking (2)
• Dragoon con shouldered sabre (2)
• Dragoon con drawn sabre, in reserve (1)

18 Horses in 6 Poses – 21 mm equal 15 Hands

Valutazione

• Superb Detail. Folds in the clothing, buttons, lace, belts e buckles, sabre hilts, horse furniture e stirrups are nicely detailed.
• Riders are firmly seated on their horses e they have their legs pressing into the flanks of the mount.
• Beautiful horses, correctly proportioned e con proper horse furniture, except for the pistol holsters which were not carried on campaign.
• Useful historic poses. The soldatini may be deployed in attacking e skirmishing units. Sadly, there are no standing o walking horses available on which to mount the skirmishers. The trooper attempting to fire from the saddle is a nice figure which would have deserved a calmer horse for this purpose.
• Riders are correctly equipped for the campaign, con grey trousers e waterproof covers over their bearskin bonnets. After 1812, cavalleria units britannici rarely took their standards e guidons into the field, e the lack of a portabandiera figure is not a problem in this particular case.
• Good casting quality, there is no flash on the riders, e the horses need very little clean-up work before they can be painted.

• All of the horses are ambling at a full gallop, an obviously unnatural gait for a cavalleria horse e very uncomfortable for the rider. The poses are overdone, heavy cavalleria horses should be a little less theatrical looking, particularly if they are supposed to be charging across a battlefield.
• There is no standing horse available to accomodate the skirmishing trooper. The poor man cannot possibly aim his carbine e hope to hit anything while being tossed around in the saddle of a galloping ed ambling horse.
• The front of the figure box shows the Greys con proper horse furniture, con a rolled cloak tied in front of the saddle e no pistol holsters. Sadly, the soldatini are not sculpted like that, they carry pistols holsters on either side of the saddle, although some holsters have been ommitted. Most of the holsters are empty, indicating that a pistol has been drawn, but only tre of the riders actually hold a pistol in their hand! Apparently, the mistake has been carried over from the old ESCI soldatini which were equipped con the same holsters on their horses. One wonders why this obvious problem was not corrected when the soldatini were re-designed.
• Incorrect painting instructions on the box. The Greys wore grey trousers con blue sidestripe on campaign. Carbine e pouch belts should be white, natural leather belts were only worn by the remaining dragoni regiments.

Utilizzo Storico

• 2nd (Royal North British) Dragoons (Greys) 1812–1815

Conversioni Possibili

• When the heads are replaced con ones wearing the elmo dei corazzieri francese di ESCI o Airfix, these soldatini may be used to represent altri reggimenti dragoni britannici:
  • 1st (Royal) Dragoni, 1812–1815
  • 3rd (King’s own) Dragoni, 1812–1815
  • 4th (Queen’s own) Dragoni, 1812–1815
  • 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoni, 1812–1815

Bibliografia

• Haythornthwaite, Philip: Uniforms of Waterloo, plate 4
• Funcken, L. & F.: L’Uniforme et les Armes des Soldats du Premier Empire, p. 113

The famous 5th (Royal Irish) Dragoons nearly fell victim to a conspiracy after the reggimento had served in the Irish uprising of 1798 e filled its depleted ranks con Irish recruits, some of whom plotted to kill the officers of the regiment. For security reasons, the reggimento was disbanded in 1799, the regimental number remained vacant until 1858, when the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancieri were raised.

Italeri’s Greys are reminiscent of the old ESCI Greys, but they are noticeably more detailed e cast in higher quality. The figure poses are much improved e so are the horses, even if they are sculpted in a very theatrical style now. Most importantly, Italeri’s horses have reigns whereas the ESCI horses had to have theirs added from thin paper o foil. Giocatori Wargame e collezionisti will find the Italeri soldatini quite versatile. Using the elmo dei corazzieri francese, these soldatini sono facilmente convertiti to cover the whole range of dragoni britannici. It would be fabulous if Italeri were to pick up ESCI’s popular corazzieri e lancieri francesi as well ed upgrade them in a similar fashion.

Italeri Soldatini

Domande più frequenti

Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.

Soldatini Britannici Napoleonici

– Pubblicato: 1996 – Aggiornato: 10.07.2007
© 1996-2011 by IDL Software GmbH, Darmstadt, Germania. Tutti diritti reservati.