First Legion: TYW026 Polish Winged Hussar with Hussar Battle Standard

First Legion Ltd. Thirty Years War 1618-1648 Polish Winged Hussars The Thirty Years War was from 1618 to 1648 and was one of the bloodiest, most destructive conflicts in human history. The roots of the war grew out of conflict between Catholics and Protestants but over time the war spread to involve most of the great European powers of the age and became much less about religion and much more about political hegemony. The destruction brought by the war had a far-reaching effect and was one of first examples of the concept of total war where civilian loss of life far outpaced battlefield losses through a combination of disease and famine. In some nations, total population had been reduced by as much as 25% over this thirty-year period. The Polish Winged Hussars were a prominent cavalry force in the Polish-Lithuanian Army from the 16th to 18th Centuries. At the very earliest stages, they served as light cavalry but by the middle of the 1500's they were transformed into heavy shock cavalry as we have presented them here. As the primary tactic of the Polish Army of the period was the heavy cavalry charge, the Winged Hussars played an extremely important role on the battlefield. Made famous the by the "wings" made from wood with feathers from various large birds, they appeared to be much larger and more imposing when issuing their charge. One thing is certain, they were certainly among the beautiful of the horsemen of the period with ornate and colorful uniforms and large battle standards. First Legion has presented them as they would have appeared from about 1587-1632 under the banners of Sigismund III, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and they bear his standards of that period. We think that you will agree that these are amongst the finest figures First Legion has ever created and represent something a bit more special than the standard "toy soldier" currently available and a real value in terms of their price relative to the superb quality of the figures. We hope you enjoy the new figures and direction of our Thirty Years War figure range as much as we do!

Returns Accepted for this item if it's within 14 Days