La Mancha Lancers

This is a unit I hadn't planned on incorporating within my Spanish 28mm Talavera project, mainly because they weren't there. A combination of what little I have read about them and the fact that they were available through Eagle Miniatures at the same time as I was placing an order for Spanish hussars and chasseurs, meant I couldn't resist.

These are markedly different figures from the newly remodelled Eagle range which are very nicely done, and I am not sure that they are to everyone's taste, including my own when I first saw them. To my mind they looked slightly more Hinchcliffe than Perry on the notional continuum. That said, I quite like the result when they are painted, and they do make for a unique-looking unit:

One thing to mention about the Eagle customer service is that they are now under a new owner, Ian McCullough. When I came to paint these figures a year and a half after ordering, I realised that I had inadvertently been provided with incorrect arms (these are three-part pieces, or four by the time you add the lance). Ian kindly sent out the replacements that day, with a few extras thrown in.

The lances are from North Star, and the pennants from GMB flags:

One thing I really like about these figures is the raised insignia on the shabraque. It makes them much easier to paint and is a good idea which I wish more manufacturers would incorporate in their designs.