Often described as the greatest tank battle of the Second World War, Italeri created this set to portray the last major German offensive on the eastern front, which would end in a very significant victory for the Red Army. For some this battle finally decided the fate of the Third Reich, for after it Germany was not able to mount any more offensives of comparable size, and would be on the back foot for the rest of the war in the east.
Following the previous formula for such sets, this one contains two full sets of figures, two tanks, accessories and a vacuform base, making a decent collection. As before, to populate this set with soldiers Italeri had to turn to their control of the old Esci figure sets. The figures included in this set are:
In addition, the set includes two tank kits: - 1 of Italeri T-34/76 M42 (7008)
- 1 of Italeri Panzer Kpfw. IV (7007)
Also making a useful contribution to the whole, there is a set of their Battlefield Accessories, which is another original Esci product. Finally a vacuformed base, with trenches and a pit for a hull-down tank, complete the contents. Although there are plenty of options, the two tank kits chosen for this set make sense for Kursk. The German soldiers are rather less than ideal, since the Esci set have the rather smart look of the early war years. While Kursk took place in the summer, by this stage of the war the average German infantryman looked more practical than these figures suggest. The Soviets however are still perfectly good, although the Cossack and his horse is not what most people think of when Kursk is mentioned. The accessories are good and useful too, as is the nice base.
The set contains nothing new beyond the base, but as an ensemble for Kursk it is quite appealing, even if the Germans are not quite as they would have appeared by this period.