Winged Lancers ~ Winged Hussars

 

After completing my first unit of Warlord Games Winged Hussars, I think it is safe to say, that I am a fan of Winged banners on my cavalry models.

Sometimes in Fantasy

Or in 15mm

Or in 6mm

I am sure it is related to my love of Sengoku era samurai models with their colorful sashimono. The Polish Winged Hussars have long been some of my favorite cavalry from history, and I remember happily purchasing a collection of "Kislev Winged Lancers" when they were released for WFB in the early 90's.  (They were originally meant to fill the space of 'standard cavalry' when GW consolidated all the existing Imperial Types into one heavy cavalry stat-line.)

The unit in blue seen above is the cleaned up version of that original unit.  While working my way through my unpainted lead I found some more of these models waiting for my attention.  Rather than add to the existing unit, I opted to paint a second unit with some more vibrant reds.    

Kislev is meant as more of an analog for Ivan the Terrible's Russia than the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, which makes this unit seem like an odd fit.  Fortunately fantasy means that I can adjust it how I see fit, so I decided to alter the look of my units to match the Poles rather than the Russ. I substituted out the large GW wings with a pair of smaller wings from The Assault Group for some diversity.  I believe the shields are from the same source. For the standard I decided to replace the Bear iconography with a White Eagle, while retaining the same hanging banner.  

Duel back-banners because I wanted to. 

The Tzarina with an armored retinue

The Warlord unit is the most recent addition to my Renaissance collection.  I picked up a selection from a black Friday sale at some point in the past and finally decided to paint them.  I found the metal horses that were provided to be a little too small, though the detail is excellent.  I opted to replace the Warlord provided metal horses with some Wargame's Atlantic plastic horses taken from their Renaissance Heavy Cavalry set.  The set also provided some pistol holsters to make them a little more detailed.  

I have another 6 models on the painting table now, and I am sure to pick up more later when the opportunity presents.  For now, I have also finished my existing Streltsi models which might become the nexus of a small Muskovite army to oppose them in the future.  I have always wanted to collect a Polish-Lithuanian Army to add to my later Renaissance collection, so we will see what the future brings.  Thanks for looking.