Cuban Insurrectos

                                           Cuban Insurrectos by Armies in Plastic

It's me again! I have been eyeing this set by Armies in Plastic for awhile now. These are Cuban Insurrectos from the Spanish-American war. These figures are supposed to be from the war for Cuban independence (Spanish-American war), which lasted from approximately 1895 to 1898 (though this war is said to have officially started during the final three months of 1898). I am sure that Armies in Plastic portrays them in a realistic light.

When it comes to the weapons, it seems that they're holding Gewehr 98's. This was a top-notch weapon at the time made by the Germans. This weapon was a bolt-action operated machine. It was very efficient and could tolerate horrible conditions that would take a toll on other more ineffective weapons. Though not the first bolt-action weapon, this was the first reliable and effective one. Almost every other rifle made by any other nation (this included Japan and even the USA) used this killing machine as a model for their national rifles.

This weapon could hold 5 rounds which could be loaded as a stripper clip, pictured here:

Source: http://gunsmagazine.com/not-just-bullets/

Or the rounds could be loaded individually, though this could take a good amount of time that a soldier could not waste in battle, which led to the invention of the stripper clip. It fired the M/88 round (until 1905, which it then fired 7.92x57mm) and this was used to great affect. The Mauser was an accurate weapon, effective at ranges of up to 500 m (550 yards).

This rifle was absolutely perfect for the guerrilla warfare that the Cubans practiced to gain an edge against their more "proper" fighting enemies, the Americans. It was relatively light, about 4.09 kg (9 lbs), at least enough to allow the troops to be highly mobile. Not only this, but it used non-smoking powder, which helped the guerrillas conceal their positions, appearing to the Americans as almost invisible, with their enemy looking for a rustle of leaves to find their positions. The accuracy of the rifle allowed the guerrillas to hit their mark more often than not.  

As for the poses, they're not out of the ordinary. The top row (left to right) has a man standing and firing with a blanket possibly holding his few possessions strapped around his body, the next man is charging either toward the enemy or making a mad dash for cover, there is another man standing and firing, then there is the officer standing and pointing his revolver at the enemy. The bottom row (left to right) has a man kneeling and firing, the next one is steadily advancing toward the enemy, another is kneeling and firing also but seems to be wearing a bandanna instead of the panama or "cowboy"-style hat, and the last one looks like he is stopping his advance to get a quick shot at the enemy.

The poses may be per usual, but the fact that the figures are centered on a time period many manufacturers overlook is what really caught my attention. Not only this, but the detail isn't half bad either. The price for one set is $15.00. It consists of 8 poses and 16 figures in one set.

Because of the rare time period, detail, superb quality and fair price but generic poses, I must give these figures an 9/10.

Sources used for article:

• armiesinplastic.com
• wikipedia.org