New 28mm Cavalry from HäT

On a rare visit to my friendly local model shop - Well it's about 15 miles away, but that's still pretty local, especially for my American readers - I was caught off guard by the appearance of some new figures from HäT.  28mm Napoleonic British cavalry:

Two sets no less

 I wasn't aware these were in development, or at least, close to production, so this was a surprise.  £10 gets you a dozen cavalry models, a full regiment for most people, and half the price of the equivalent Perry or Warlord models.  Not to say, around a third the price of typical metal miniatures.

That said...

One of three identical sprues in the box

There are points that will dissuade some gamers, including perhaps myself.  Firstly, unlike previous HäT 28mm sets, these are in a soft plastic, much like their 20mm output, and unlike all other 28mm plastic figures.  How bad this might be off the sprue I couldn't say, but on the sprue they felt a bit bendy to me.  I know that suitably cleaned and prepared, holding paint wouldn't be an issue, but it is still the sort of thing that makes many gamers turn their nose up at soft styrene models.

Secondly, they are very slight models.  They'll scale well to other HäT figures, and are nicely proportioned, but next to even Perry's they will look slim.  Compared to Victrix or Warlord they may well look tiny, Indeed I feel the box actually calls them 25mm.  They will however sit very nicely with classic ranges like Hinchcliffe, Foundry or Eagle.

Thirdly, and only a minor gripe, each set includes four figure poses, with some variable arms and heads; but only two horse poses.  HäT do this a lot, and I think it's a little lazy, give us four horse poses please!

Concerns aside, the photo's on their website do show how well these models can paint up:

(C) HäT

I don't think they will find their way into my British forces, but I may consider them as conversion material for some Portuguese or Spanish horse.