In many ways the Great War was dominated by artillery, particularly on fronts where all armies were dug in such as in France. Most of the artillery used on these fronts consisted of large calibre guns which did not have (or need) line of sight to their targets, but smaller infantry support guns such as that included in this set were also extensively used.

The focus of this set is of course the gun. The packaging claims this is an 1896 n/A 76 mm gun, though in fact this should read 77 mm, one of the most famous pieces of German artillery from that war. The gun comes in several pieces that fit together very well to produce a most pleasing and accurate model. Once assembled (for which glue is required) the gun is approximately the same height as a man.

The crew for this gun is rather less impressive, consisting of two men holding shells plus an officer. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with these figures, none of them are actually touching the gun - it would have been nice to have poses that actually interact with the gun, particularly a crewman sitting on the gun seat actually firing it. The crew wear the later-war Stahlhelm and uniform, but the officer has elected to wear the earlier Pickelhaube, which includes a spike, identifying him as Bavarian (all other contingents wore a ball instead of a spike). He also has a scabbard for his sabre which is far too short to hold the weapon.

Two standing firing infantry poses are included, presumably to bulk out the set. One of these has a telescopic sight on his rifle, which would suggest a sniper. The final figure is of a machine gunner firing his MG 08 machine gun. This gun has one front leg separate to avoid a block of unwanted plastic between the legs. This is fine, except the separate leg does not fit securely into its position. Also, the machine gunner should have an assistant feeding the ammunition, but none has been included.

Calling this set artillery is perhaps stretching things a little. Half the figures are infantry, and those that are artillery men are bringing up ammunition rather than directly serving the gun. However the gun itself is excellent, and crew could be provided by the artillery sets from Airfix or HaT.

All the detail is very nice indeed, and though there is some flash it is not too serious. As with the infantry set, none of the Stahlhelms have the side lugs to support the extra shield, but apart from that we had no complaints about authenticity. Poses are well done and natural, and this is a good but incomplete set - an opportunity to portray a full artillery team that was missed.