This is one of the extensive range of Art of Tactic products from Zvezda, designed as game pieces but also useful for more general modellers. This time we have one of the most important pieces of artillery in the German armoury, the leFH 18 105mm howitzer. Well at least that is what is says on the box, but look closer. It has a muzzle brake, and is mounted on the tubular PaK 40 carriage, so in fact what we have here is the leFH 18/40, a weapon that was first introduced into service in 1942 to resolve problems with the heavy original model being difficult or impossible to move, particularly in the mud of the Russian winter of 1941/42. It was a compromise, and not a particularly good one, but it was made in good numbers and continued to serve throughout the rest of the war.

Although as you might expect this is a greatly simplified model, it is still a pretty good one, both for wargamers and for general modellers. It has steel wheels, which means it can be towed by horse teams or mechanised vehicles, and it comes with a choice of trails – we illustrate the open trails with spades properly dug into the ground, but an alternative closed option is also included (see sprue image) although this still has the spades in the down position, not hinged back ready for transport. We found the model a bit fiddly to put together in places, but some persistence brings a suitable reward. The two figures are also in need of some assembly (they have separate arms), and again we found this fit very tight and tricky to do properly. However both poses are very good and directly interact with the gun, which is always nice to see. They have no separate bases, but both gun and figures plug into a large single base which can be seen here - naturally the game marker can be left off if not required.

This was not one of the more successful guns of the war, but it was widely used and is a worthwhile addition to the range. In addition this type has not been modelled by anyone else so far, so while it only has two crew (nice though they are), it is still a pretty decent model and a useful one for many wishing to field German armies for the second half of the war.