This is a tricky set to review. Terrorism of course has been around for centuries and practiced by many nationalities, but apart from the 'modern' label this set is non-specific. It is an oft quoted phrase that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, so the definition of terrorist is, of course, a political one. All this makes it hard to discuss accuracy, appropriateness and so forth.
The usual Caesar formula provides 10 multiple poses plus two solo ones. The poses are mostly firing or running with their weapons, and to be honest are familiar from media coverage of a large number of troubled areas from all over the world. When civilians are fighting a large and well-equipped military force they obviously do this mainly with bombs and sniping, none of which are particularly suggested in these poses apart from the man feeding a mortar. These poses seem more appropriate where fighting is taking place between armed groups, as in a civil war situation, rather than defending an area against an army.
When it comes to accuracy then we are clearly in very murky political waters. When terrorists operate in countries that have an effective law and order infrastructure, such as Europe and America, they deliberately dress and act like those around them, but these figures are clearly in a situation where concealment is not a concern, such as is the case in several countries today. Several have covered their faces, which could be to protect from dust or to avoid identification, although for the female fighter (third row, second figure) this might be for religious reasons. The trousers and the fact that she is armed make this figure inappropriate for some religious groups. Some are wearing what we would describe as an Arab or Asian style of clothing, although others are dressed in Western style. The preponderance of short sleeves and the man wearing sandals all suggest a hot climate. Draw your own conclusions!
The weaponry mostly looks to be the world's favourite weapon, the AK47 in one form or another. This simple but excellent rifle exists in vast quantities and is very often used by such people. We were pleased to see many have had the stock removed - a common sight when concealing the weapon might be necessary. Two men are using something much larger, a machine gun, which is not a particularly likely weapon as it is both difficult to carry and very hard to conceal. Another man is using a mortar - another favourite in some conflicts. Finally there is one man with a rocket-propelled grenade. These again are very popular and available in large numbers, so we felt there could have been one or two more poses using this weapon, instead of at least one of the heavy machine gunners. Of course terrorists use whatever weapons they can get, but all those in this set look fine.
The sculpting is the usual excellent Caesar standard. The proportions and stance of each figure are perfectly natural and the clothing with all its folds has been well done. One or two of the figures have been given a three-piece mould to improve the pose, which always improves the final model. These are not figures with a high detail requirement, but where it is needed, such as weapons and ammunition packs, it is pretty good, and of course no trace of flash anywhere.
In recent years terrorism as a concept has been given a political emphasis which makes products like this more controversial, but Caesar are to be commended for avoiding that distraction and producing another fine set that reflects its subject pretty well and has certainly been in demand for a long time.