Wellington won his battles by refusing to be seen. Where Napoleon sought the grand offensive stroke, Wellington was the master of defence, and his signature was the reverse slope: he posted his army on the far side of a ridge, out of sight and sheltered from the French guns, showing the enemy only a thin screen and an empty hillcrest. The French would attack what looked like weakness — and meet a fresh, unshaken line rising suddenly at close range to pour in its volleys. He used it across the Peninsula and again at Waterloo, patiently absorbing everything Napoleon threw at the ridge until the moment came to advance. In a pitched battle, he was beaten exactly never.

The figure shows the Duke on foot in his plain dark blue boat-cloak and cocked hat, red sash at the waist, a riding crop in his gloved hand — the understated dress of a man who never needed gold lace to be obeyed. (The likeness is modelled on the actor Hugh Fraser, who played Wellington in the "Sharpe" television series.) As the British anchor of a Waterloo diorama, he stands opposite his great adversary: set the mounted Napoleon Bonaparte across the field, with the French command of Taking Notes… Issuing Orders behind the enemy line — the two headquarters that decided the day.

King & Country model NA561. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.