An army is run from a table like this one. The figure leaning over the map is Marshal Berthier, Napoleon's chief of staff and the quiet genius of the Grande Armée — the man who turned the Emperor's rapid, half-spoken intentions into precise written orders and saw them carried to every corps. Berthier's memory and speed were legendary; he was, in effect, the army's nervous system. His absence was felt. In 1815 he did not rejoin Napoleon and died that June, and at Waterloo the staff work fell to others who could not match him. More than one historian has wondered whether the headquarters that lost its Berthier also lost some of the battle.

The set is a complete command vignette — seven figures gathered at a camp table spread with a map and telescope. Napoleon stands in the plain green coat of a Chasseur colonel, Berthier and his officers around him, the Mameluke Roustam in turban and red at his bodyguard's post, a Guard grenadier standing sentry, and aides in hussar light blue and naval blue. It makes the centerpiece of any French command diorama. Set it behind the marching ranks of the French Grenadiers of the Guard, pair it with the standalone Emperor Napoleon, or extend the scene with Napoleon Presenting the Légion d'Honneur.

Tradition of London model 0746. 54mm, white metal, hand-painted in gloss enamel. Seven-figure set — Napoleon, Marshal Berthier, the Mameluke Roustam, staff officers and a Guard sentry, with a camp table — on painted bases. Supplied in the Tradition Classic Red Box. Allow 2–3 weeks delivery.