Thirty Years War figures from Horcata Miniatures - A Review

Horcata Miniatures Light Cavalryman.
(The Horse is Front Rank)

When visiting SALUTE this year I had arranged to meet up with Czech miniature producer Emil Horky, the owner of Horcata Miniatures. Emil was there for the second time, and was accompagnied by his son who is also interested in the hobby.

It was a real pleasure meeting the Horkys, and their miniatures deserve some attention here on the blog. Something for all you interested in the Thirty Years War or ECW.

Same miniature seen from the other side.
Lovely clean sculpting with clear details = easy to paint!

I first found Horcata Miniatures when searching the internet for really good Thirty Year War miniatures in 28 mm. For me this means modern sculpting, naturally proportioned miniatures and reasonable prices.

Their website give away Horcata Miniatures as a very personal project run by a period enthusiast, and my God the miniatures were fantastic. Sculpted by Paul Hicks, and with both cavalry and infantry in abundance, I couldn’t keep away.

Bugler

Packaging:

The figures are delivered carefully wrapped and packaged.

There is no branded packaging or extras, just high quality miniatures.

Cuirassier discharging pistol.
Perfect for your caracole formation.

Sculpting:

The range is sculpted by Paul Hicks, and in all the positive ways imaginable this shows.

It’s very clean and crisp sculpting, with well-proportioned miniature looking incredibly inviting to paint. Also there doesn’t seem to be a lot of recycled figures/poses. They all look very individually made, and this will of course add character to the finished units.

Size Comparison:
Left to right: Foundry, Horcata and Warlord.

Size:

The horsemen are about 30 mm from heel to tip of the head.

This is about the same size as for instance Warlords plastic ECW cavalry.

Comparing them with Foundry and Warlord, I find Horcata mixes very well with both,

and should anyone have a collection in the mentioned makes, I wouldn’t think twice about mixing in some of the Horcata minis, even in the same units to spice them up.

Cornet

Price: 

Each figure is GBP 1.40 - cavalry and infantry alike.

However, the horses will add an extra GBP 1.90 (see Range),

so each cavalry figure is really GBP 3.30 per figure & horse.

Foundry is about GBP 4.00 per figure & horse

Warlord metal blisters are about GBP 2.33 per figure & horse.

Warlord plastic cavalry about GBP 1.66 per figure & horse.

Light cavalryman skirmishing

Range:

At the moment Horcata offers 17 different cavalry figures and 33 different infantry figures. That is actually really good, when considering in a normal plastic kit you’ll get 2-4 dollies with a few arms/heads options. So there is real potential to add some character to your ranks with Horcata.

A note about the cavalry; Horcata offers only the riders. Each miniature is sculpted with saddle to fit the horses from Front Rank Miniatures, which is OK, as long as you’re aware of this. 

The infantry range is full of character!

Fluff: 

The website contains both historical info on the Thirty Years War, a blog with regular updates on the range and a webshop which helpfully have imagery showing the miniatures washed in black for better view of the sculpting. 

Lovely animation in the sculpting.

Rating: 8/10. 

Horcata Miniatures would get a clear 10 points for the quality of their miniatures, but with a deduction for not having their own horses and the lack of branded packaging (which could really push this amazing product) I’m at 8 points in total. 

So, dear Wargamers - if you don’t have these minis in your TYW or ECW collection, you’re missing out on some real characters for your ranks.

Thank you very much for reading!