Hello Planeteers,
Recently, I've posted a few pictures of a new vignette sculpted by Vladimir Danilov.
This one:



I said that it was finished. Well, it seems that I misinformed to you because he added a more figures to it.




And more:

Wonderfull piece. It will be casted?

only WOW!

Incredible work again

Holy cow, Danilov is an absolute top-notch sculpting machine.
In my opinion, there are very few out there who create models with such a balanced interaction between the different elements, from his small ones (man & dog) to his show-stoppers such as this vignette.
Looking forward to seeing one of his latest works being painted up...
Karl

Really GREAT !

Now that what a call a real 'melee'... Exceptional !
Billy

Stunning sculpture, well done Vladimir.
Steve

That is some truly amazing stuff, bravo
Steve

All great pieces but I don't think the sapper(?) would look right used with the first piece. That looks like a first impact situation and the
later piece seems like something that would be happening after the event, as a result. Either are great on their own though.

And just a wish list for Vladimir to consider though. Maybe some Dragoons next? They do tend to get overlooked.



David

The sculpting etc. is superb. Did Cuirassiers ever break a British Square though? KGL Cavalry broke two French squares in the closing stages of Salamanca

Mike.

Think so, Mike,.....the 69th foot were pretty much rolled up by cuirassiers, and had their colour taken.

Alan

Hi Mike, Although squares are generally considered impregnable it would largely depend on the reliability of the troops, the discipline of the officers and whether the attack was being supported by artillary / infantry.
The incident of the 69th at Quatre Bras that Alan quotes may not be that simple. In his book "A desperate business" Ian Fletcher quotes Lieutenant Pigot of the 69th as saying ""Captain" Lindsey halted the grenadier company, and companies 1 and 2, in the act of forming square, in order to face about and open fire on the cuirassiers 'but for that we should have got into square, as it was these companies ( that) were really cut down."
This incident could be therefore depicted with the castle miniatures model.

Allthough the squares at Waterloo are said to have been unbroken it's worth noting that contrary to the popular belief that the French cavalry were unsupported, they did have some horse batteries which blasted the squares while the cavalry were regrouping.

Andrew w Field in his book "Waterloo the French perspective"quotes a French lancer as saying " It has been said that the Dragoons and Mouunted grenadiers...broke several squares.....(but) personally I did not see it"

To avoid French bias,Field then goes on to quote only allied sources. Constant-Rebecque comments on the Nassau contingent composed of young and inexperienced troops who he said had to be "brought back several times" and who were put into "complete disorder when a shell exploded amidst their ranks"

Field also quotes Beamish's history - "the two squares formed by Kielmansegge's brigade were terribly mutilated .......and an opening was almost effected in this part of the Allied line for one flank of the right square was swept away, the square being reduced to the form of a triangle.......and the left square fell back nearly broken."

More tellingly, Field quotes a KGL officer as saying "While busy keeping the men firm in their ranks closing up the vacuities as the balls (cannon) swept off the men...a regiment of cuirassiers darted like a thunderbolt among us". Field concludes that the square must have been broken but reformed after being saved by a counter charge by the Horse Guards.

A "British soldier" is also quoted as saying "The next square to us...were unfortunately broken into and retired in confusion followed by the Cuirassiers but the Life Guards coming up the the French....were obliged to retrograde and the 33rd and 69th returned their position in square.

Due to the Regiments quoted this last quote could also refer to the Quatre Bras incident but the Horse Guards involvement doesn't support that.

Overall, solitary eye witnesses reports, in isolation, cannot always be taken at 100% veracity due to the confusion of battle, Regimental pride and blatant self publicity which could be being exercised. I personally think squares, under the right (or wrong), circumstances could be broken, but it would be the rare exception.

David

Not Napoleonic and not cavalry but the Mahdist's briefly broke a British square at the battle of Abu Klea, forever immortalised in the lines "the sand of the desert is sodden red, red with the wreck of the square that broke; the Gatling’s jammed and the colonel dead and the regiment blind with dust and smoke…….’Play up! Play up! And play the game!"
Steve

Oh my gosh that is wonderful. A really great dynamic.
What regiment is is depicting, any particular one?
Looking at the comments it could depict any of the regiments in the Prince of Oranges Division as he "deployed" his infantry at Quatre Bras and Waterloo and on both occasions were hit by Cuirassiers in the open or act of forming square, I believe.
Excellent sculpting, well done.

At the time of Quatre Bras, the 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment was woefully inexperienced, with one third of its other ranks under the age of twenty. It proved fatal to so many of them in the rye fields that flanked those seemingly innocuous crossroads that day, when they failed to form square against skirmishing French Cuirassiers. The Prince of Orange himself was said to have caused confusion by countermanding an order, and for many years was blamed for the failure. These days however, it's believed that the height of the crop was more of a crucial factor - it being so tall that the enemy horsemen were not noticed until it was too late. Timely support from the Guards averted total disaster, but about 150 men (near enough 40%) of the South Lincolnshires fell as casualties. Two days later at Waterloo they occupied part of the line between the farm of La Haye Sainte and the chateau at Hougoumont. After the debacle at Quatre Bras the reduced ranks of the 69th formed square with the similarly diminished 33rd. During the middle phase of the battle, in response to withering French artillery fire, they were ordered to flatten themselves on the ground to reduce casualties. But the relentless cavalry assaults that followed the bombardment overwhelmed the square and caused it to break in panic, and flee. Hardly surprising really, in the face of what some historians regard as the largest massed cavalry action in history !

Morris of the nearby 73rd wrote.... “The next square to us, was charged at the same time, were broken and retired in confusion, followed by the curassiers. The Life Guards came up and the French in their turn, were obliged to retreat, and the 33rd and 69th resumed their position, in square, on our right, and maintained it during the rest of the day.”

Mike