The position of Hungary within the Habsburg monarchy and, from 1804, the Austrian Empire, was complex and changeable, but throughout the Napoleonic Wars the Kingdom of Hungary (which at the time included large parts of Transylvania and Croatia) provided a large part of the emperor’s armed forces. In 1809 the Austrian army was the third largest in the world, and about a quarter of its 61 line infantry regiments were ‘Hungarian’, although in fact the average ‘Hungarian’ regiment was larger than the average ‘German’ one. The Hungarians enjoyed a reputation as fearsome warriors, and unlike in much of the rest of the empire their ranks were filled through a feudal system organised by the Hungarian Diet rather than direct conscription.

The feature that immediately dates these figures is the shako, which with its twin peaks, cockade, pompon and Feldzeichen (field sign) was first introduced in 1806. As usual such a new issue took a long time to reach the whole of the army as existing helmets were allowed to wear out first, but Hungarian regiments were amongst the first to receive the shako, so these figures would be suitably attired from quite early after 1806. The remainder of their uniform is correctly done for the period, consisting of a single-breasted coat with short tails and the Hungarian pointed cuffs. The most apparent Hungarian characteristic however was the pantaloons tucked into short boots, which had lace decoration down the sides and on each thigh. All this has been correctly sculpted here.

Equipment followed the standard imperial pattern, and was typical of any army of the age. All the men here have a knapsack held by straps over the shoulders joined by a third across the chest, a rolled greatcoat on top, cartridge pouch, water bottle and bayonet scabbard. Since these men are not grenadiers they have no sabre, so as with the uniform, everything is correct here.

Even though this set is specifically stated to be just ‘action’ poses, five is a pretty ungenerous number to offer, although as is true of other HaT sets, few poses is better than none at all. There are two men advancing, two firing and one standing in line, so the absolute basics are covered, but without any of the variety that a diorama-builder would be looking for. Nevertheless the poses are all perfectly usable, and the reloading man is as good a compromise for a very tricky position as any one-piece figure. The stance of the standing firing man is unusual in that he seems to lean back slightly, and is not looking where he is pointing his musket, so not the best example of the type ever made, but good enough for most people. There is not a lot of action here, but then again Napoleonic battles tended to be mostly large blocks of men moving in formation or standing still, so that is understandable with only five poses. The lack of any command figures, musicians, flags etc will disappoint many, so it is to be hoped that a command set may appear in the future.

The sculpting of these figures is very good indeed, with the detail on the pantaloons and shakos being the highlights. The detail is not as deep as in some sets, but that is to say that the depth is realistic, rather than exaggerated as is often the case. The proportions are also excellent, and you would be hard-pressed to find any flash anywhere, and certainly no excess areas of plastic, even if that is achieved with some strategic positioning of some hands. The men’s packs and other equipment come as a single separate piece (see sprue image above) which fits onto a peg on their backs, and this is a really good fit. The pack has a slot rather than a hole, allowing the customer to vary the height of the pack, although we would recommend the highest position. The fit is good enough not to need gluing, although if the figure is to be handled then gluing would still be recommended. Nevertheless this greatly improves the look of the back of the figure, and works very well to our mind. Our only really negative comment is with the bayonets, which are fixed in all cases, but are essentially no more than pointy extensions of the musket barrels, with no apparent offsetting at all, so are easily the most disappointing element of an otherwise commendable sculpting exercise. One other very minor detail is that the right-hand turnback on all the men is poorly done, not reaching to the bottom of the skirt and looking very odd, though this can be largely hidden with painting.

As we have said, the Hungarian regiments were a major part of the armies of the Austrian Empire, which was one of the most persistent foes of Napoleon, so sets such as this are long overdue. Although technically nicely done and with no accuracy problems, the limited number of poses hardly does justice to these men, even bearing in mind the companion set of marching figures released at the same time. HaT need to work on their modelling of bayonets, but otherwise these are lovely figures and a welcome return to form for one of the most prolific manufacturers in the hobby over the years.