Italeri 1/72 Battlefield Accessory Set Napoleonic Wars

These days there are quite a number of battlefield accessories sets on the market, but this one from Italeri pips them all in terms of the sheer volume of items it delivers. The components here pretty much make what they make and there is not the choice of assemblies, but as a result the items are generally better looking and certainly easier to handle.

There are two gun emplacements protected by gabions, plus a wooden screen with an aperture through which a gun could be pointed. Seven separate pieces make up a long low barricade, which is a wooden fence with earth piled up on one side to absorb bullets and shells. The fence stands a little above waist height on a man, and because the ends are diagonal there is some scope for creating barricades with corners. Here again is a small gun position, and when put together it looks pretty good, though the temptation is to combine several sets to form a decent length.

One of the most unusual pieces is a low bridge. This is a wooden affair and is 37mm (2.7 metres) wide and 84mm (6 metres) across the central span. It's a nice enough piece, but fiendishly difficult to construct - specifically the central span does not fit the side ramps properly because the designer has forgotten about the slope of the latter.

The watchtower is a very nice model, and comes in only a few pieces which makes it easier to construct than might be imagined at first sight. It stands at 60mm (4.3 metres) high at the platform level, which makes it sufficiently tall to be worthwhile, though the platform itself only has room for two figures.

Several sections of fencing, a low brick wall and a very short firing platform pad the set out, and there are the apparently inevitable chevaux-de-frise models as well. Several small barrels and a bucket complete the line-up.

Generally things fitted together pretty well, though one or two holes needed minor adjustment to accept the peg. Once assembled, most of the items are very sturdy and do not need gluing, though the gabions were more troublesome and the problems with the bridge have already been mentioned. There was no excess plastic to speak of, and all the planking and textures were well done. Not perhaps the most exciting set ever made, but it delivers what it promises and has enough unique items to justify its existence. Just don't go trying to have Scots Greys riding over the ramparts as illustrated on the Italeri Battle of Waterloo box!