First To Fight

Polish Uhlan Cavalry, 1939

These figure sets look to augment and complement the First To Fight (FtF) wargaming kits, similar to the 1/72-scale Zvezda figure sets.
The box art above shows six troopers on a mix of brown and white horses. We can make out the tips of the metal saber scabbards sticking out under the rider’s leg. This artwork is helpful in making the reins for the horses and the gear hanging from the saddles: note there are no lances.

Uhlan are light cavalry and the title was also used by Lithuanian, Austro-Hungarian and German cavalry. By the 1930’s the Polish cavalry had given up their lances though kept their sabres as well as light tanks, horse drawn field artillery and AT guns. The story of Polish cavaly charging German tanks with lances in 1939 is a myth. See: the Charge at Krojanty on 1 September, when two squadrons of the Polish 18th Lancers armed with sabers scattered German infantry before being caught in the open by German armored cars.[14]

The boxart below on the rear of the box shows assembly of the trooper and horse figures and is a painting guide. The set consists of 6 trooper and 6 horse injection-molded styrene plastic figures, in three different poses. There are not many or no other smallscale figures of Polish Cavalry so this is a welcome figure set.

This page is from the 10-page booklet in FtF set 071, all in Polish, with historical and painting information. The historical photos and artwork are helpful but I wish FtF also included an English translation in their booklets. The German artillery crew set 056 came with no booklet. The Polish wz.29 rifle is essentially the same as the German K98 rifle and the wz.28 is a licensed copy of the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) in 7.92 caliber. German artillery figures, set-056 came with no booklet.

Review sample purchased by the author.

Article Last Updated: 13 July 2021