Wargames Atlantic Horses

 The other day I picked up some cheap Fife and Drum cavalry from  eBay. The reason a lot of them were cheap is because they didn't have horses to ride on.

The nice thing about the Fife and Drum riders is they come with their saddles moulded on. I immediately started looking at the Essex horses, knowing them to have the same arrangement. The price was soon mounting up...so I decided to give these new plastic horses a go from Wargames Atlantic.

I'm very glad I did, as I think they work perfectly! The nice thing about plastic is it's very easy to work with. I found by using a sharp scalpel I could shave away the girth straps and get the to riders to fit.

It appears the whole range of Fife and Drum figures fit these new horses. Above is a British officer and below, a trooper from the 16th Dragoons.

Apparently any two halves of the horses can be combined to create countless variations. Four separate heads and three different tails also adds to the options to create different mounts. I did try something like this with the plastic ECW horses from Warlord Games, but these horses are made for the job.

I find the horses ears quite poor as they don't really look like horse ears to me. However, they are good enough and the rest of the sculpture easily makes up for it.

A mounted Militiaman races to the rescue.

Always make sure you have somewhere safe to keep your mounts when not in use.

A model showing some cut down girth. It's possible to keep cutting and filing away until you get the perfect fit. I know I have some Essex troopers that need horses, but they need very narrow mounts. I'm sure these horses will work for those too, with a little extra work.

Here we can see one of the lead horses that are meant to come with the riders. I think the two mix well together and should blend nicely.

I managed to buy a box off eBay of these horses for £22, which works out at £1.22 a horse. Very hard to beat that in metal.

The horses have a nice cantering feel to their poses and so would work with a number of riders. Charging figures brandishing sabres or troopers with rested arms both look good.

I'm very pleased these horses worked out, it's saved me a lot of money. 

I also have to say they come with optional saddle clothes if your riders don't have moulded saddles. It's a nice idea and will save other gamers a lot of money too I imagine. Recommended!

UPDATE:

Since posting, I've had a chance to create some more horses. I did try to bend some of the heads in hot water, but this did snap the reins. A quick fix with plasticard but not really worth it. There's enough variety not to need to do this.

Here is a unit of the 16th Dragoons. I've noticed while cropping these photos that some of the troopers are in American hunting shirts, which is a nice touch. A much more cooler and comfortable garment in the hot south.

You can see above one of the few original horses that came with the purchase. I think the plastic nags fit in very well.

 They haven't got the rein and harness detail maybe, but this shouldn't really matter when painted up. You can also cheat detail with some silver paint. 

Once painted up all these horses should blend together well. The cantering pose goes well with walking and galloping poses as can be seen here.

To do a whole unit in one go...time to dig out the Dremel!

UPDATE: I'm itching to paint up some of these new horses. So today I thought I would just crack on and do it. I will paint six, so that can act as a unit in Yankee Peas and Crackers.

It might be a squeeze, but the idea is to create two bases with three riders on each.

I did notice on some, there was a crack left where the two halves are glued together. This I covered with Superglue Gel, the glue will act as a tail strap when painted.

The tail strap was the only bit of horse tack that wasn't included on the horse. The Superglue line corrects this. I also cat the horses tails down to resemble those of the British cavalry. It certainly works and they look good flicked off to the side.

I didn't mess around with this squadron, I just started slapping browns on. The muscles on the sculpts work very well for quick dry brushing.