Lifeguard Horse

These elite heavy cavalry may be slow, but they more than make up for it with a devastating charge.

The Lifeguard Horse troops are members of Russia’s Imperial Guard. They are a terrifying sight to behold on the battlefield. In close combat, they wield straight heavy cavalry swords and the armour they wear provides them with protection against enemy blows. Their horses are slow, but very strong, and they use them to batter and intimidate enemy infantry with powerful cavalry charges.

In 1800, army reforms split the Tsar’s Lifeguard cavalry into several different regiments: the Horse Guards, Lifeguard Hussars, Lifeguard Cossacks and, most senior of all, the Chevalier-Garde. The Lifeguard first saw action against Napoleon in the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, but were driven back by cavalry of Napoleon’s own Imperial Guard. It was Napoleon’s victory at Austerlitz that effectively destroyed the Third Coalition against France and thereby altered European politics.