Reply To: What’s the difference between British heavy and light cavalry

I stood in a field a few back with my wife’s friend’s horses: One was 15.5 hands the other was 14. Remember that’s the height to the shoulder, not the head. It occurred to me that I was looking at a British horse and a French chassuer / hussar horse. The difference was huge. Not just in total height, but also then in terms of overall bulk and mass.

IO is right, all (most) French horses in 1813 are poor and chassuers could be as good as (or as bad as!) hussars or Dragoons. In a proper fight armour can make little difference when a horse guard is using his helmet as a boxing glove!

I’m more and more convinced that, at least in British service, the titles light and heavy are meaningless. But Napoleonic rule writers (and players?) are wedded to a very 16th – mid 18th century view of the combat role and worth of cavalry. In BP-AT1 French Dragoons default to heavy in some form (8 dice hand to hand and heavy cav D1) while British hussars are light (6 dice hand to hand) – so the British cavalry should lose.