The purpose of light infantry was to skirmish with the enemy if they got too close, and often this meant engaging with the enemy skirmish line. Since they were always in open order, they were not a viable target for volley or artillery fire, but could be brought down by an enemy skirmisher, or, worse yet, caught in the open by cavalry. Taking Waterloo as an example, a skirmish line was established by Wellington before the start of the battle, and around 3,000 men were employed in this way, covering a front of almost 4,000 metres. Naturally that was very thin coverage, although concentrations varied depending on the local need, but they were placed around 250 metres in front of the main line, and since they were on the forward face of the slope, it meant their artillery could comfortably fire over their heads.

The uniforms of the British light infantry were similar to those of the centre companies of ordinary regiments, with the same single-breasted, short-tailed coat, campaign trousers and gaiters over shoes. Differences were in the wings on the shoulders rather than shoulder straps, and in the shako, which did not change after 1812 to the ‘Belgic’ style. The plume remained at the front, was generally green, and had a traditional hunting-horn badge. All these features and distinctions we find on these figures, although a couple have a cover on their shako, which is a nice element of variety. The sergeant (first figure in bottom row) also has a sash round his waist, and triple chevrons on each sleeve to show his rank. The bugler is much like the men except for the usual extra decoration on the sleeves, and the officers wear the double-breasted officers coat and sash, as they should. The ensign wears a shako, but the other two have a cocked hat. Officers were supposed to wear the shako like their men, but an order in 1811 repeated this command, telling us that some officers continued to wear the hat to this date, and perhaps thereafter too. In any case, the cocked hat remained standard wear in undress, and court dress, giving these figures potential for use away from the battle.

Equipment similarly was the same as for the centre companies, including a cartridge pouch, haversack, water bottle and bayonet scabbard. All the privates here have these, as well as the square knapsack first introduced from 1806, which provides the earliest date for these men. As light troops, they may have had a slightly different musket to the norm, but at this scale it is impossible to distinguish, and those here look fine. The sergeant also has a musket, as he should, but the rest of the command figures have only a sword. For light companies this was often curved, but all those here seem pretty straight; the choice was down to each individual man.

The box promises us men standing at shoulder arms, and that is exactly what we get. For the privates it is just the one pose, with minor variations to make a group of them more natural. The command figures are also just standing, and so complement the men in the ranks well. The bugler is ‘blowing his horn’, and one officer has his hat in the air and is presumably inspiring his men. They may be unexciting poses for the most part, but all are perfect for the subject of the set.

This set appeared around the same time as many other sets from Strelets on Napoleonic British light infantry, but in different situations, and the style is absolutely consistent. This means the sculpting is good, and these are nicely slim figures with good detail. In some of the other sets, small blemishes spoiled the overall effect, but here we could find none, so these are just good-looking figures that should paint up very well. The nature of the poses means there is no excess plastic areas to remove, but there is a certain amount of flash on most of the seams which many will want to remove first.

The flag staff is 37 mm long to the absolute tip, which is somewhat shorter than it should be, but to be honest this does not really show. It has no flag of course, but there is about 20 mm of clear staff onto which a paper flag could be attached, which would be a fair size, though whether the small base could cope with such a flag is uncertain.

This this another of those workmanlike sets that Strelets have produced in abundance over the years. Nothing to get excited about, and the officer with his hat in the air is about the only pose that stands out, but both wargamers and diorama builders will have plenty of use for such figures. Some of the companion sets provide more dramatic poses, should you wish for them, but this one just quietly delivers exactly what many customers will need, and does it well.