World War II was probably the last time that a modern military made widespread use of horses. While cavalry was an anachronism by that time, the truth was that several of the fighting powers were lacking in motorized equipment for the jobs of prime mover for artillery and for hauling supplies. These included Germany and the Soviet Union. The armies just grew in size faster than motorized transport could be built. In fact, a goodly portion of motorized transport used by the Germans in North Africa was captured British equipment. In every country overrun by the German Army, trucks were taken for use by the German Army.

In the Soviet Union, the shortage was even more dire. Not having the industrial base to build the trucks and prime movers needed to supply a rapidly expanding army, they resorted to horses to fulfill these tasks. Even as equipment came in from the Allies through Lend-Lease, it wasn't enough and equine power was used right up until the end of the conflict.  

ICM has taken to what is basically combining kits to produce this boxing. You get three sprues worth of horses, harnesses and riders, though they are not identical sprues. The molding on these sprues is very good and these provide for a variety of poses in terms of both the horses and the riders. One thing I liked about these figures is that the legs on both horses and riders are a solid piece so no worries about gluing together thin halves and then dealing with a seam. It looks like some of the harnesses are included as plastic, though most is not and there are notes that these will need to be scratch-built. I have seen excellent results using little more than thick paper cut into strips.

The other part of the kit is the limber. This is a 'Soviet universal Limber  52-R-353M'. It is basically a two wheeled cart with pneumatic tires and a seat for a driver with storage space behind the seat. In this case, there is no limber driver and to this limber one would attach a field gun or supply wagon. The limber sprues include various axes, picks and shovels along with several rifles.

Instructions are separate between the horses/riders and the limber. The ones for horses/riders are like you would see in a figure set. You have drawings of the completed figure with indicators of what part goes where. These also include color information. I found it interesting that apparently all the horses on the left side have riders while those on the right are rider-free. The limber instructions are standard with several well drawn construction steps and a color chart in generic and Model Master paint references.

CONCLUSIONS

This is a superb set for the diorama builder. These arrangements were widely used by both sides in the war in Russia and the completed kit will be a real beauty.

November 2012

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