Montgomery’s Staff Figures Set
Here’s a new figure set from ICM, this time featuring the British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and his staff. According to the box top, the four figures represent Field Marshal Mongomery, a Lieutenant General, a Major and a radio operator or soldier.
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery was one of the most prominent and successful British commanders of World War II. In December 1943, Montgomery was appointed as the commander of the 21st Army Group and the overall commander of Allied ground forces in Europe, also participating in the planning of Operation Overlord. In the autumn of 1944, he was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. A controversial figure for many reasons, he was nevertheless one of the greatest of Allied Generals during the War, guiding the largely conscript Allied armies to victory while conscious of the need for as small a casualty rate as possible.
This set broadly recreates a famous wartime photo of Montgomery, Lt. Gen Brian Horrocks, and Belgian Prince Barnhardt poring over a mapboard during the Operation Market Garden campaign in late 1944, although the two officer figures do not exactly match those in the photo. In addition, there’s a figure of a walking signals staff member with a headset.
The figures assemble very well, although the two-part officers’ caps did require a little trimming. The sculpting is excellent, particularly the Monty figure, which looks just like him. The other figures all have great facial expressions and they were a breeze to paint, although I am not much of a figure painter!
I used paints from ICM’s WWII British Infantry Paint Set particularly the 1062 British Khaki, which brush-paints very well. A painting guide is included that uses ICM paint numbers. Each figure has some raised detail to represent rank and regimental badges, while the officers all have medal ribbon bars. I hand painted these, which was extremely fiddly – it would have been nice for ICM to include a small decal sheet with these items. Also included on the painting guide is a scale map to cut out and add to a plastic mapboard, although the map is too big for the board, which appears to be too small compared to both the boxart, instruction sheet and photo. I ended up painting the back of the map with a pale buff to represent the linen backing often used by the British forces during the War.
These figures will be a great accompaniment to the already-announced 35603 Sir Bernard Montgomery’s Leyland Retriever kit which will hopefully be released shortly. I was very impressed by these figures and can thoroughly recommend them.
My grateful thanks to the good folks at ICM, who continue to impress with their ability to release a broad and diverse range of subjects whilst embroiled in a war.
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