When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 they quickly overran vast areas of land. Many Red Army soldiers found themselves cut off behind enemy lines, and as the occupation continued even those civilians who had seen them as liberators came to see the Germans as oppressors. As a result many bands of partisans were formed to hinder the German war effort. To what extent this activity had a real impact on that effort is still debated by historians today, but even if their impact was slight they were brave people risking and often losing their lives to protect their homeland.

This hard plastic Preiser set may only contain 12 figures, but they come as kits, which allows a lot of scope for changing poses and equipment. The set contains two identical sprues of six figures, and for our picture we have assembled one sprue following some of the suggestions on the packaging. However, since these are kits, they can be assembled in many more ways as demonstrated by some of the examples on the box. Looking at the sprue, it can be seen that some figures are more complete than others, so there is not complete freedom to choose any pose, but in general the poses are fine (we particularly liked the inclusion of the man with the detonator).

Several of the torsos are suitable for regular Red Army uniform, and these are properly done, with the usual gymnastiorka shirt and sharovari trousers. With many trapped infantrymen joining the partisans they would sometimes wear these items too, so these figures could be used for both. However sufficient heads with helmets and other kit are available to make a number of properly outfitted soldiers. As for the partisans, they wore whatever they could get, civilian, captured or otherwise. Common items would include baggy suit shirts and jackets, baggy trousers and an ushanka or cloth cap on the head. The partisan figures here seem to be wearing collared jackets, and several forms of headgear are available. We found no problems with accuracy on anything in this set.

The parts fit together reasonably well, and there is no flash to speak of. The detail is OK but not as clear or deep as on some soft plastic figures. Regardless of how the figures are put together there are a good many spare parts. A good variety of heads are left over, as are several extra arms and various pieces of equipment. The sculpting is fine, with good proportions and natural stances, but some will be inconvenienced by the complete lack of bases for these figures. Naturally they take glue well, and with some imagination a good range of figures can be produced.

At the time of release these were the only partisan figures in this scale, and while that is no longer the case these are still a very creditable bunch. The sculpting is not the best produced by Preiser, and it takes some time and effort to get your complete set of figures, but the accuracy is fine and the range of possibilities make this a worthwhile set.