This is another really unusual subject that is great to see in 1/72 scale. All armies relied on their sources of supply – even the French, famous for living off the land, had to bring their ammunition with them. This set contains two pack animals which it seems are attached to the artillery because an artilleryman is minding them. Both animals seem to be stationary, and one of the loads has the cover off (a separate piece as shown, so it can be attached if required). Also included in the set is a mounted man; presumably part of the Fuhrwesen service which was charged with transport such as this. He sits astride his mount and looking behind him, presumably at the artilleryman attending to the supplies. All the poses are beautifully done and very natural.

The gunner is wearing the standard artillery uniform, including the bicorn and, most notably, a large plume. He has a sabre on a belt over a shoulder, and on other crossbelts he also carries the artillery tool bag on his right hip and a gunner’s satchel on his left. The bicorn seems to have been worn to varying degrees throughout the Napoleonic Wars, so this fine figure has quite a wide range of appropriate dates. His mounted companion also wears standard uniform, but with a shako, which began appearing from late 1806. He has a sabre and canteen and again is entirely accurate. The figures and horses are all really well sculpted, with a depth and natural gait that can only be achieved in conventional plastic figures with multiple parts. The detail on both the men and the animals is excellent and the proportions perfect, although interestingly the mounted man is quite a lot shorter than the dismounted man – a quite normal disparity in human sizes that is rarely reflected in figure sets. This is a great set that we liked very much, and as well as being a delight to behold it also provides some figures that were previously missing from the hobby, so full marks all round.