MIR are a company that first seemed to have appeared in 2002 with a highly unusual selection of figure sets. They are cast in resin, but though this is much harder and less flexible than the standard plastic these figures are entirely compatible with their plastic brethren, and so have been included on this website, despite its name. This first set is typical of the unusual subject matter that this company has chosen to portray.

The set is exclusively made up of casualty figures, with all lying dead in various positions. There are soldiers from the armies of Britain, the US, the Soviet Union and Germany, plus a number that are not absolutely identifiable and therefore could pass for almost any nationality. Though most are infantry, there are some tank crew and what looks like an airman as well.

All have been provided with some base, which is unusual for prone figures. Many of the bases are textured to represent either bare ground or wooden planking, but some are smooth. In a few cases some other equipment such as a rifle is to be found lying next to the man. The bases are mostly quite crudely cut round the figure rather than the smooth symmetrical style normally to be seen on standing figures.

The chosen poses are OK if perhaps a little stylised, but then does anyone really want complete accuracy for such a gruesome subject?

The detail on these pieces is fair, though the best plastic figures do it better. Clearly these have been produced in a flexible mould, like most resin figures, as there are areas of undercutting that the steel moulds of mass-produced plastic figures could not allow. Anatomy and general quality of sculpting is fine, though clearly this is one set we weren't expecting to describe as full of life.

Manufacturers all too often ignore casualty figures when producing their sets. For many people, wargamers in particular, simply knocking the figure over is sufficient indication of casualties. However there is a danger that this sanitises the most brutal and self-destructive activity known to humanity, and while this sort of set might seem morbid, it does at least illustrate that all wars, regardless of the rights and wrongs of the issues involved, destroy lives in vast numbers. To model a Second World War battle realistically sadly requires some fallen men, and this sobering set will fulfil that job admirably.