The Red Army made great use of submachine guns during World War II, and vast numbers were in service by the last year of the war. For the final assault on Berlin and the street fighting that followed, such light weapons were ideal, and so played a major part in that climactic battle.

This piece for the Zvezda Art of Tactic wargame system consists of the four poses shown, although in a way there are five poses. That is because the two copies of the last pose actually carry different weapons, or rather the same weapon – the famous PPSh 41 - but one has the common drum magazine and the other has the more unusual box magazine, which we have pictured. The second figure in our line-up also has the PPSh 41, and the other two are armed with the PPS-43. The men are all dressed for winter, as is appropriate for the Battle for Berlin. Two wear the quilted telogreika jacket and trousers, while the other two have standard Red Army uniform but also wear a hooded cape. Such a garment is difficult to do well on simple one-piece figures, but here as usual every figure is made up of multiple parts, and the result is very effective. As always the various parts fit together perfectly, and make for some very well-posed, well-sculpted figures that are entirely typical of the time and place.

Of course these are primarily a game piece, and are intended to be placed on a single large base, as can be seen here. However individual bases have also been provided, allowing the figures you see above. Clearly the man climbing a step is not the most useful general pose, and the same could be said of the man holding his weapon high in the air. However for the very specific purpose for which they were intended they work well, and make an attractive little group on their unusual base too.