From LeeH: Cossack Opolchiene & Leader (90 Points)

I need to add more cavalry to my army so when I purchased the Gun and Limber that I painted last week, I also bought this unit of mounted Opolchiene from Perry Miniatures. The set comes with lances for all, however, there are also several muskets/carbines in the pack, so I decided to give a couple of them firearms instead of lances. These are militia after all, and uniformity is not a word I would usually associate with a unit of this type. 

I’ve already painted a couple of units of foot Opolchiene, but there were also a series of short-lived cavalry formations. These were formed in July 1812 as ‘Cossack’ (ie mounted) militia regiments. The Moscow militia had two regiments, but other regions were able to raise considerably more. All were disbanded in 1813-14 once the crisis of Napoleon's invasion had been defeated. 

I probably won’t have time for more cavalry before the Challenge ends, but I am carefully considering adding a few units of Uhlans to my army to give it more mobility and lethality. Let's see if I have the energy (and the money) once the challenge ends!

Scoring: 9x28mm Cavalry = 90 Points

Great work again, Lee! Nice figures, and a fine paint job as always. You are definitely ending up with a very varied and versatile force! I like it very much that you are mixing in some of the more unusual troop types, and these mounted militiamen are a great example. I am very much looking forward to whatever you may have in store for us next, and yes, of course no Russian army can do without some Uhlans!

That's 90 points added to your tally.

Martijn