Charbens Mounted Cossack Painted

 Cossacks have both a romantic and a brutal reputation. They were ruthless and cruel when called on to put down any unrest under the Tsars. In battle they are known for swift guerilla warfare on wiry ponies but also a penchant for indiscipline and looting. They also fought hard for the freedom of their Cossack countries.

Wars they fought in include Napoleonic, various wars against Turkey, WW1, the Russian Civil War, freebooters in China for warlords, nationalist army and even the Japanese as well as British service in Hong Kong. In WW2 they fought on both the Russian and German side. Many of the latter had been POWs where the Russian government refused to accept the German offer of following the Geneva Convention and sending food packages. On the other hand the Nazis had a low regard for Russians and were not inclined to treat them well. Most of the Russian POWs began with little love for Stalin and the Soviet Union enough to ignore the nastier side of their new allies..

 Cossack nations were treated brutally by the Bolsheviks and the Cossacks not see themselves as traitors but any captured were immediately killed  if the Soviets were the captors. The great shame of Britain is it turned over two million Russians to the Soviets after the war and most were either executed or worked to death. Many of these had fled Russia at the time of the Russian Revolution and many were Cossacks. This is  holocaust unknown to most people.

Cossack uniforms varied greatly although with a major colour for each regiment. The top colour of the fur hats varied according to the type of Cossack. Red army Cossacks often wore peaked caps with fur caps for parade but a hard and fast rule is unlikely. The colour of the coat was most likely the same as for the rest of the army, a drab khaki. Trousers were typically dark blue with red stripes. German allied Cossacks generally wore field grey coats.

Given all that historical background my featured figure is more about replicating the original Charbens' colour scheme although in a mounted version. The uniform cut is not the typical Cossack long coat but it does look spiffy. The coat colour is a pleasant light grey-green. 

I may decide to add a pistol holster, red stripe on saddle blanket and flock on the base. The flat stones I gathered on  camping trips and I stuck them there to add extra strength to the legs hold with Super Glue.