There was no front line in the Ardennes — not a continuous one. The German attack had shattered the American position into a confusion of strongpoints, gaps and pockets, with friend and enemy often unsure who held the next crossroads or wood. In that fog of war the patrol was everything. Small groups pushed out from their foxholes into the snow to find the enemy the hard way — by contact — listening for engines and voices, reading tracks in the fresh fall, probing until someone shot at them. It was cold, frightening, essential work: a commander cannot fight what he cannot find, and the men who found it were patrols like this one.

The four advance strung out and wary, weapons ready over snow-caked overcoats — an NCO with an M1A1 Thompson, two riflemen with M1 Garands, and a BAR gunner carrying the Browning Automatic Rifle that was the squad's base of fire. It is the standard American infantry firepower mix in a single set, and it drops straight into the collection's other combat figures: the Standing Rifleman, the Tommy-Gunner, and the sentry on Guard Duty watching them move out. Strung along a snowy firebreak or filing past a treeline, a patrol gives a diorama forward motion and tension — men heading toward trouble, not waiting for it.

Model: BBA100 / King & Country / 1/30 (60mm) scale / matte finish / 4 piece set