I grew up in the New Forest in England and used to ride horses. This might not sound strange to wargamers in the Southern States, but in England, horse riding is the preserve of little girls on Thelwell cartoon ponies. But stemming from it I alwavs liked using cavalry on the wargames table - something to do with being able to get stuck in quickly and smash holes I suppose. Reading Buck Surdu's article about wargames projects in the September '98 edition of this magazine, I was tempted to look through my boxes of "projects" and to my delight, among them I discovered my first regiment of wargames horse which were the pride of my early years and the scourge of my first opponents. I hope many people can recall the enthusiastic reception each little box of Airfix figures received in those days and the release 'The Seventh Cavalry' was no exception. I remember somebody purchased a box in Manchester. Mid Southampton had not even seen them. When they reached the shops 'in town,' I could not get in quick enough to buy two boxes. They looked great in their dark blue plastic, in review on the deck of the Ferry, but even better when painted up hours after getting home. They were on the verge of a glorious career, well worth an Osprey! They first came to the table as two troops of ACW cavalry, both Union and Confederate, careening all over the place in loose order, slashing at anything that dared get in their path. Somehow having a bash at each other resulted in very few casualties but riding down grunts was a speciality. Then other, more concisely organised and 'named' units began to appeal beside the Union Horse, and fearing centralisation and disbandment, they defected to the Confederates, where they were welcomed with open arms and a tin of grey paint. A quick change of jacket - they were allowed to retain their dark blue kepi as a mark of honour - and they swelled the ranks of their long-standing rivals, proving that they could give as good a rebel yell as if they had been from Virginia. They roamed every battlefield from 'Platteville Valley' to Bull Run, from Gettysburg to the repulsion of a Union assault of Lepe Beach, Hampshire. They sent those 'organisd' units reeling as nothinu could withstand their headlong, wild charge Spencer-Smiths were bowled over despite all their 30mms, and metals were no match as Scrubys went down beneath their flashing blades. But the AWC davs were numbered. I had ventured too far into the world of Wellington and Napoleon and was fast being seduced. A pilot venture was dreamed up, and two small mythical annies put into the field. The 1st Cav weee chosen to form the mounted arms--how could they be left on the shelf? Retaining their assorted collection of horses, they all received new uniforms. They were reissued in fine scarlet jackets fringed in gold with light turquoise blue breeches and kepis. The others received an all-while strip with red facnings and silver lacing. They both made a splendid spectacle. This fine soldiery, once so wild and undisciplined, now showed that it could deploy front column and line, wheel and form fours with the best of them. They were quick learners, those lads. Well, they pioneered the Napoleonic movement and they were on the field at my first engagement against Nigel L'Empereur Mottram who, although my first regular opponent, was not the first to develop a healthy respect for those uniformed horsemen--nor the last! However, the day came for the disappearance of my mythical kingdoms as the Napoleonic maw engulfed state after state. The 1st Cav were reunited into one body except two who changed heads with a couple of cuirassiers and enlisted in the French Dragoons - later sold into slavery. The others became Spaniards. Given a plasticene helmet comb these gallant horsemen rode into battle resplendent in yellow and blue as dragoons of 1806 on page 145 of Funcken Vol I. The ravages of war proved too much for them. Flung against the solid squadrons of advancing Minifig/Alberken 20mms, all but three lost their combs, paint flaked off, and they broke from their bases on innumerable occasions. Their morale dropped - a Spanish problem! They needed a 'pick-me-up,' so a new uniform was definitely in the cards. The three who had managed to keep their combs were drafted into a newly converted regt of Bavarian chevaux-leger, in whose ranks they still serve somewhere in Canada under General Sniffy O'Neill, the inventor of the tactical rout. For the others, a hot knife down the side ofthe debrinulled kepi. Iresh coats of green and tan paint, the chestnuts, blacks. palaminos, roans and pie-balds all metamorphosed into sleek 'greys' and the Grenadiers a Cheval d'Espagne (Funcken page 145 again) took the field in bonnets de police! This Spanish elite horce, summoned quickly to the derence of their homeland, liming, no time to change out of stable dress, gave sterling service for the remainder of the Peninsular campaigns. Then came Waterloo and the Wessex Military Society visits to Belgium, and I read several of those famous books on the One Hundred Days and became hooked. Oh how I wish even today that I had more time for actual wargaming and less time to think about reorganising my British cavalry as small and no heavies - who needed it for the Peninsular" So somebody was required to boost their numbers who would it be? The 1st Cav. naturally. With those new plastic French cuirassier hordes to face, they would have to be made of stern stuff. They could not suddenly change into metal, but they could become the Scots Greys and they did have the mounts already. Into red, blue, and yellow they went. They all lost their heads in the euphoria of joining such an illustrious regiment. but a box of Airfix Guardsmen supplied replacements. They were issued new straight swords of the clipped-pin pattern and their greys were given new furniture and saddle-cloths as well as being embedded into plaster of Paris bases. At last they were ready, and came out for their first engagement glittering and rattling as they marched onto an almost flat battlefield For three moves both armies waited, virtually at a standstill, as they trotted across (in front of the enemy guns, just out of range). They then wheeled perfectly into line displaying the precision drill they had learned in the ranks of the mythical kingdoms. On move four they began moving forward at the trot, then canter, then full gallop of the charge, the French batteries played upon them. emptied a few saddles but could not shake their resolve, Boot to boot, they rode down a bunch of scruffy voltigeurs who lacked the sense to clear out the way. Then, with a shock that rattled the entire table they crashed into a regiment of Minifig, carabiniers and destroyed them. Counter attacked by Polish lancers they stubbornly hacked on as only the 'Greys' could. They chopped and sliced until most Poles had been toppled from their saddles. Their morale was the best the dice could afford so they rested for one move and rallied, only to watch the Chasseurs a Cheval de la Garde begin to draw up between them and the British lines. They were reasonably compact, quite rested and on a high, so what need the reform and the risk of being caught stationary and disordered. They set spurs to flanks and off they rode in the wild open order charge they perfected in ACW days. I believe several Johnnie Reb yells were heard that day issuing from the throats of those stolid Scotsmen, but I cannot swear to it. Catching the Chasseurs still forming. they whalloped into them, burst through them to scatter and despoil them like a hail storm deals with precocious spring flowers. Although fewer than before, they slowed to a trot as they rode back behind their lines of cheering infantry What a day. What a first engagement! They never did let me down in all their years of excellent service, surviving reorganisations and even an assault from a large rubber ball. They met their demise in 1972 when I was presented with a box of metal Scots Greys. Pursued by their old enemies, better figures and scaled units, they hid in the wargames cupboard for a few months then burst onto the scene once more in fresh uniforms and a new nationality in the ranks of the Chasseurs a Cheval de la Garde de Wurtemburg- Funcken Vol II page 73. Once more they soldiered on for many years until their nemesis loomed over them again. Airfix just wasn't what you played with anymore, and converts had become a thing of the past too - some manufacturer, somewhere, produced what you wanted. Sadly they walked off the parade ground and into the project box and have been in retirement for about 20 years. However. thanks to a passing few paragraphs in HMGS Dispatch, they are on parade again, lukewarm washing-up water has freshened their apparel and they look quite smart. I must get a small display case for these veterans, What stories they could tell. What battle honours they could carry. What heroes ... I wonder if I should risk a clandestine salute. You know, you can get quite sentimental about a few plastic figures, especially if they are the very first cavalry you ever had, and the best! Back to Dispatch Dec. 98 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com