Infantry of the American Revolutionary War, 1775–1783
Italeri 1:72 Scale Figure Review
Contents
48 Figures in 16 Poses – 25 mm equal 180 cm Height in 1:72 Scale
- Officer with Spontoon, standing (3)
- Ensign with Flag, standing (3)
- Drummer, advancing (3)
- Fifer, advancing (3)
- Continental Infantryman with Slouch Hat, pointing (3)
- Continental Infantryman, wounded, signaling (3)
- Continental Infantryman, shouldered Musket, standing (3)
- Continental Infantryman, marching (3)
- Continental Infantryman with Bayonet fixed, standing, firing (3)
- Continental Infantryman, standing, firing (3)
- Continental Infantryman with Bayonet fixed, kneeling, firing (3)
- Continental Infantryman, kneeling, firing (3)
- Continental Infantryman, reaching for a cartridge (3)
- Continental Infantryman, at ease (3)
- Continental Infantryman with Bayonet fixed, running (3)
- Indian Warrior with gunstock-club and musket, standing (3)
Evaluation
Excellent choice of subject, wargamers and collectors can never have enough 1:72 scale infantry of the American War of Independence, especially with this exceptional number of different poses.
The unusually high number of command figures, musicians, and specialty types makes it virtually impossible to raise proper wargame units with the figures from this set alone. However, it should be easy to recruit marching and advancing infantrymen from other figure sets and fill the ranks with these.
Six poses are sculpted with a separate musket, spontoon, or drum, which may be super-glued in place, due to the relatively hard plastic used for these figures. Unfortunately, the harder material also means that bayonets, spontoons, and fifes snap off more readily.
Some of the miniatures are practically free of mould lines, while others show a significant amount of flash which needs to be removed prior to painting.
The figures‘ faces show a lot of character, called “downright ugly” by some collectors, but fun to paint and collect anyway.
Italeri chose to make these 18th century infantrymen 180 cm tall at least, which is completely unrealistic. Are we looking at Italeri‘s foray into the Old School 25 mm wargame market here, or is it simply a production error? Again, the solution is to recruit these odd giants into battalions made up mostly of average figures from A Call To Arms, Accurate, IMEX, or Revell.
Historical Employment
- Continental Army, 1775–1783
- American State Militia, 1775–1783
- British Infantry, 1775–1783
- British Loyalist Militia, 1775–1783
While Italeri‘s American Infantry is unrealistically tall, and their conspicuous poses do not lent themselves to rank-and-file deployment in the same formation, these figures are perfect for adding variety to infantry battalions and skirmish formations made up of infantry from other manufacturers.