For the British infantry, the square was salvation and trap at once. Formed into a hollow square, four ranks deep on every face, they were proof against any cavalry — but a square is a dense, motionless target, and the French knew it. So Ney's horsemen and his gunners worked in turn: when the cavalry drew off, the artillery hammered the squares with roundshot, tearing lanes through the packed ranks; when the infantry tried to deploy into line to escape the guns, the cavalry swept back. At Waterloo the British squares simply endured it, closing up over their dead, the wounded laid in the hollow center, officers pacing the inside to keep the men steady, for hour after murderous hour.

The figure kneels to receive a charge — musket grounded and bayonet angled up to meet a horse, in the red coat with blue facings, white cross-belts, grey trousers and black shako. He is the front rank of a square's face, the heart of an anti-cavalry diorama. Stand a British 1st Foot Guard Standing Defending behind him to build the rear rank, add a British 1st Foot Guard Kneeling Firing to put fire into the charge, and set the scene alongside the 44th Foot's stand in "Die Hard" for a full study of British infantry meeting cavalry.

W. Britain model 36132. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.