The rocket was the wonder-weapon nobody could aim. Developed by Sir William Congreve after the British met devastating rockets in India, the Congreve rocket was cheap, portable, and terrifying — a powder-filled tube on a long guiding stick that roared off in a cloud of sparks and smoke. The trouble was where it went: rockets corkscrewed wildly, sometimes doubling back on the men who fired them, and Wellington trusted them so little he tried to make this very troop give up its rockets for ordinary guns. They kept a few for Waterloo anyway. Inaccurate they certainly were, but the scream and glare of a rocket salvo could panic horses and men alike — the same weapon whose "red glare" lit Fort McHenry in 1814.

The six-figure set is the Rocket Troop in the field — an officer and five gunners of the Royal Horse Artillery in hussar-style dark blue dolmans and fur busbies, grey overalls, each shouldering a long rocket stick. It is an unusual and eye-catching anchor for a British Waterloo diorama. Range it beside the guns of the Royal Troops of the Artillery, support the line of the British Line Infantry, and place it under Wellington at Waterloo — the commander who never trusted the rockets it carried.

Tradition of London model B2B. 54mm, white metal, hand-painted in gloss enamel. Six-figure set — an officer and five gunners with rocket sticks, 1815. Supplied in the Tradition Classic Red Box. Allow 2–3 weeks delivery.