In 1805 Bavaria had four regiments of Cheveau-Légers and two of Dragoons, but in 1811 the two Dragoon regiments converted to Cheveau-Légers. The differences in uniform between these two types were mostly ones of colour and minor detail, so the figures in this set could represent either.

The four poses are all OK if a trifle stiff, and all face forward in marching or charging attitudes. Two of the poses are provided with ring hands, and separate sabres are included for these. In addition, each sprue contains a cavalry guidon, which is correctly sized, but has no design engraved on it, and is perfectly flat, so does not look at all natural. Courtesy of the protruding peg on the staff, the guidon can be 'carried' by either figure with a ring hand, though neither would be a realistic pose, but modellers could perhaps alter the angle of the arm if desired, and at least it is better than nothing. It should be noted however that the Cheveau-Légers, the bulk of the Bavarian cavalry, did not carry standards such as this, so it is perhaps more of an addition to the general selection of accessories available between many HaT sets, than one particular to this one.

The uniforms are correctly, and very nicely sculpted for the 1799 to 1815 period, including the subtle differences of the cavalry Raupenhelm compared to that of the infantry. The coat with short tails and closed facings is properly done, as is the rest of the uniform, so with a suitable paint job either Cheveau-Légers or dragoons can be modelled (our painted examples are, from left to right, a dragoon, a Cheveau-Légers pre 1809 and two Cheveau-Légers in the post 1809 uniform). All the figures wear breeches and long boots, which is fine, but in the field such troops often wore overalls instead, which would perhaps have been a better choice. Detail is good and well defined, and the various folds on clothing etc are reasonable. The figures and horses do have a fair amount of flash along all the seams; nothing excepional, but some cleaning up will be required. Happily, the men are a very comfortable fit in the saddles - something many manufacturers find hard to achieve.

The two horses are both moving forward, are fairly well sculpted, and have correct harness and saddle furniture for the Cheveau-Légers. Here is the only difference between those and the dragoons, for the dragoons had a square shabraque rather than the larger one coming to a point that has been modelled on these two animals, so purists might like to source horses from another set should they wish to portray dragoons. Nevertheless, these are amongst the nicest horses HaT ever produced.

This is a good solid set of Bavarian cavalry that can represent any type from the turn of the century until the last year or two of the war, when cuirassiers and hussars were first created. With good sculpting and complete accuracy, all you could really want is for more poses, and some with a bit more life to them. There is no officer, and the inclusion of a guidon makes little sense in relation to the poses available, so while this is a small set, it introduced Bavarian cavalry into the hobby for the first time, and so far no one else has thought to do the same, so although it is about a quarter of a century old, this set remains the only option for such troops, though far from a bad one.