To match the several sets of winter Germans Zvezda have produced for their Art-of-Tactic wargame series we have this one depicting a machine gun crew with their MG34. While the weapon is commonly done in this scale, it is a pleasant surprise to see it shown with the full tripod here, giving it the role of a medium machine gun. Both figures and weapon are made in multiple parts, which means the tripod has been modelled with no compromises or excess plastic, making a terrific little model. Also welcome is a more realistic crew, with not only the gunner but also a man feeding ammunition from a belt and another observing through binoculars. The poses are great, and they really interact with the weapon in a thoroughly believable way that many traditional sets struggle to achieve.

Sculpting is very good, although we had great difficulty in putting some of these parts together. We found pegs just too tight for the holes, and on more than one occasion we abandoned the effort, extracted the parts, cut away the peg and glued the pieces together. The result was still a great model, but Zvezda figures are usually better engineered than this. The men all wear standard greatcoat and battle arrayed equipment, which is fine if rather too regulation and neat for the often desperate reality, so with that caveat we can say these are quite authentic.

As a game piece these figures are not meant to be seen in isolation as they are above, but all placed on the only base provided, which as can be seen here includes a section of wall. The group is excellent, with the men close together as they would be in reality, which again is hard for conventional full sets to achieve with each man having his own base. This is a very well presented collection beautifully produced, but about the hardest to put together that we have yet encountered from Zvezda.