By the last months of 1805 Russian artillery was organised into 11 regiments, one of which was of horse artillery, and this regiment had two battalions. Naturally the horse artillery could move much more quickly than the foot, since all the gunners were mounted, and so it often supported the cavalry. Generally one horse battery was allocated to one cavalry division, but they could be used flexibly as the situation required, and their speed of movement made them a very useful asset on the battlefield. Horse batteries were equipped with light 6-pounder guns and 10-pounder unicorns (howitzers), but at Austerlitz they performed poorly, which is generally put down to poor training and co-ordination.

In 1803 Russian cuirassiers and dragoons were issued a new leather helmet with a tall crest, and the same helmets were also issued to the horse artillery. These are the helmets we see in this set, which is correct for 1805 and beyond, and has been properly done here, even on those figures that face the mould, when there is limited ability to mould such helmets with side detail. The rest of the horse artillery uniform was like that of the dragoons, but in this set all the men wear a greatcoat over that, and so completely obscure it. The greatcoat is correctly done, however, with a single row of buttons down the front and an open collar at the neck, and this item must have been very welcome in cold weather such as during the Austerlitz campaign. Kit is mostly limited to a sword on the left hip for most, and a cartridge pouch hanging on the right side from a belt over the left shoulder. Certain specialist items of kit are also present, but all of the clothing and equipment looks good for 1805.

The gun in this set is labelled as a 6-pounder, which was obviously the same calibre as that in the foot artillery, but was mounted on a smaller, lighter carriage to aid movement. The gun carriage here is the usual double-cheek design and is 36mm (2.6 metres) in length, with wheels 17 mm (1.22 metres) in diameter. This is a reasonable size for horse artillery, and is the same carriage as used in the HaT set of 1812 horse artillery, though with a different barrel. The most interesting feature of the carriage is that the elevating mechanism is a screw-quoin, something only recently being introduced in Russian artillery, so this would have been a new gun in 1805 as the older ones used a wooden wedge to change elevation. The carriage lacks a pintle hole for attaching to a limber, but otherwise is a pretty nicely detailed little model. The gun barrel is 19.5 mm in length plus the cascabel, which is about right for a light 6-pounder, and has been modelled with some attempt to show the ‘dolphins’ handles, so pretty good.

Turning to the crew, the set contains a very decent seven poses, engaged in all the major elements of handling such a gun. The first man carries a linstock, which is a device for holding a lighted match, so if alight it probably would not be held this close to the chest, but we can overlook that. This man also has a long case, probably for his portfire, which is what he would actually use to ignite the gun, which is fine. Beside him is the man holding the combined rammer and sponge, held in a relaxed way, so clearly some other part of the gun crew action is taking place at the moment. He also has some sort of spiral thing attached to his belt, which we are guessing is supposed to be a dragging rope, though it is not clear. The action actually being performed by this crew is to move the gun to the firing position, because the next two men are using their handspikes for this purpose. The next man is running and carrying a cartridge, and he also has a large bag to carry these. The penultimate pose is stooping – probably laying the gun before firing it – and the last man is in charge and perhaps observing possible targets through a telescope. All of these poses are good and appropriate, and make for a healthy number of men serving a gun.

The sculpting of the gun is very nice. Some good detail on the carriage and gun itself, and it goes together easily enough, though will need gluing to stay together. The crew are nicely done and well proportioned, and the uniform is fairly simple anyway, with little detail except on the helmet, though what detail there is is a bit soft. Faces are okay if rather overwhelmed by the large helmets, and most of the men have moustaches and their hair in a short queue, which is correct for 1805. There is almost no flash, and only occasional ridges where the moulds meet, so these are nicely presented.

Having already produced a set of foot artillery in summer uniform, it makes sense for HaT to produce the horse artillery in a winter uniform, so those that wish to can swap heads to match the season. As with the foot set, this one provides some good realistic poses and a decent gun, considerably expanding the options for both men and guns for the period. Having no accuracy concerns helps too, so this is another very good set for a subject not previously covered – something HaT have been doing repeatedly over the whole of their history.