Any army of the later 18th century would have an artillery component, and this was no different for the British forces in the American colonies when fighting broke out in 1775. The terrain meant artillery was not so easy to handle, so the most common artillery piece was the relatively light 6-pounder gun, although lighter, infantry support guns were also used, as were some heavier siege guns and guns brought off ships. The guns were handled by the Royal Artillery, which at the start of the rebellion numbered only around 2,500 personnel, only a fraction of which were in North America. Naturally, as the conflict developed, reinforcements were brought in, and the artillery served the British commanders well during the years that followed.

It is common in this hobby to provide guns of this period with a crew of four, which is far fewer than would actually be required, but enough for a gaming table to depict a crew. In this set we find five poses, although in truth the first two pictured above are the same, with just a different implement in the hands. However, the last figure has an open hand, into which several separate items can be placed. These are, as pictured, a rammer/sponge, wad hook, powder ladle and crooked handspike. The first gunner is dipping his sponge into a bucket of water, the second holds a straight handspike, the third a linstock and the fourth carries ammunition, so between all of these figures you get a really good spread of different tools used to serve a gun. The only one actually interacting with a gun would be the man with the handspike, but if the gun is being moved then the rest would indeed have to stand and wait until this is completed, so the crew all make sense when placed together. All the poses are fine, if less dynamic than some artillery crew figures, but the man dipping his sponge is our favourite.

Although the Royal Artillery were controlled by the Board of Ordnance rather than by Horse Guards, like the rest of the army, their uniform during the Revolutionary War closely followed that of the infantry, with the usual tricorn, coat, shirt, waistcoat, breeches and shoes, generally supplemented by half-gaiters or spatterdashes on the lower leg. All this is correctly sculpted on these figures, and while in practice the uniform was often adapted for the sake of comfort or efficiency (such as shortened coat tails or a light infantry helmet instead of a hat), the uniform we see here represents the regulation standard, and is the one most people would want to see used. The men’s kit was also much the same as that of the infantry, so each man has a cartridge pouch on his right hip and a bayonet scabbard on his left. As artillerymen, they also have a powder horn beside the pouch, and the man carrying ammunition also has a large bag for carrying more rounds. Finally, the figure with empty hands also has a drag rope to assist with hauling the gun. None of the men have a knapsack, which makes sense when actually handling the guns, so while again the levels of kit often varied when on campaign, and over time, these figures show the ideal and are therefore accurate.

The gun in this set looks to be the usual 6-pounder, which is the natural choice. It has a barrel length of 18 mm (1.3 metres), and this is nicely done, though it lacks any suggestion of a vent or dolphins. The carriage is the standard double bracket type, and the wheels are 19 mm (1.37 metres) in diameter, so reaching the upper chest of the crew. There is a long box on the axletree each side of the barrel, which contained a small quantity of ammunition for use in emergencies if the normal source was disrupted. The detail on the carriage is fairly good, though the hole for the pintle is only sculpted on top and does not go through the transom.

The sculpting of these figures and gun is what we would describe as ‘soft’, meaning the detail is there but not sharply defined, and smaller elements are hard to make out at all. So for example most of the men have some long item on the pouch belt which should be to hold vent prickers and a small hammer, but here it is impossible to make out at all. Faces are adequate but hands have little suggestion of fingers, and there has been no attempt to show the inner parts of the tricorn hat behind the turnups, which are therefore just solid plastic, even though on some poses this is accessible to the mould. Although there is a hole in the hand of the last man, and pegs on each of the separate tools, the fit is poor and gluing is required in all cases. There is some flash, but not too much, and apart from the hats there is very little excess plastic in unreachable places. The gun is assembled using the conventional pattern of carriage, two wheels and barrel, plus the two ammunition boxes, and these fit to a point, but we found that the wheels and one of the boxes tended to spring off again when placed on the peg. This is because flash in the hole makes the fit too tight, and as a fairly soft plastic has been used for this set, the result is the peg can fit in the hole, but not stay there, so some trimming and cleaning is required to complete the assembly. Once done, however, the resulting model is quite nice.

As a set of artillery this one pretty much ticks all of the boxes – it is accurate, offers many poses with all the right tools, and has a decent model of the most common gun. The soft detail means the figures do not look good close up, but from a distance as part of a tabletop display they would look reasonable. We really appreciated the range of tools on offer, and this is certainly a better set than that made by IMEX a few years earlier, so while not perfect, this should fulfil the need for British artillery for the War of Independence.