Back when I first read 'Battle', I was entranced by the account of the 'Reconnaisance in Force' game. Unlike the other two battles in the book, it was recounted without photos and instead just maps and accompanying text from the point of view of the Red player.
Although I played the other two scenarios a number of times, I never owned the requisite number of 20mm toys to play this one. And by the time I did (in 6mm) I'd already been lured away from the childish delights of Battle into what felt like the much more serious WRG 1925-50.
One of the two main objectives of this little project is to actually fight the third scenario from the book, the second being assemble some forces in an appropriate scale to mirror the sorts of armies that Charles Grant and his opponents had. Hence my obsession with 15mm stuff and 1/100th scale plastic kits, far closer in size to the models Grant used rather than modern 20mm and 1/72nd scale stuff. The old Airfix 'Combat Group' figures (of which I still have some) are barely 1mm taller than my Peter Pig figures, and the same size as my more bloated PSC figures.
I've already covered most of the rules updates in my previous couple of posts, but a couple of things have been neglected.
Artillery. The original book devoted a fair bit of space to indirect fire, organisation of artillery etc. as it was a key feature of WW2 warfare. Once again it used various 'gadgets', in particular the HE blast template and had a very lengthy process to actually get the guns on target, which would, on average, require nine turns (!). We are used to slightly more responsive artillery these days, so along with simplifying radio comms (anything but a 1) I just have a simple artillery ranging roll using band two of the to-hit chart - so 6+ on 2D6. The HE template also fits neatly in my 150m x 150m hexes, so as with MGs and mortars, I just roll 1D6 per base in the target area with the caveat that if the to-hit roll is a natural 10+, it is a 'direct' hit and you roll and extra 1D6. In the original rules you need a 5+ to actually drop the shell/bomb on the things you were aiming at, everything else scattered but part of the template was usually over the original target.
Direct HE fire. The original rules made no mention of this whatsoever, and at the time I figured out that you could just use the standard HE blast template, with a to-hit roll instead of an artillery ranging roll. So that is what I'll do for this.
Engineering. The original rules did cover engineering in a minimal way - flamethrowers, mine laying and mine clearance. Interestingly although Grant made flamethrowers lethal against soft targets (hit on 2+), they could only destroy an AFV on a 6, unlike many wargames which treat flamethrowers as if they are viable AT weapons. I kept those numbeds but rolled their use into close combat resolution. The mine rules were fine, but the timescales were ridiculous as he tried to stick to his 1 turn = 1 minute scale. No-one was going to bother with mine warfare if it took 20 turns, so I just upped the notional turn length to 15 minutes, which seems to work for battalion level games (like Command Decision) OK.
And I think that is about it for rules. As this game is a large one, I'm going to switch back to basic vehicle moves being 2 hexes cross country and 3 hexes on roads or the time and space don't work correctly.
So, onto the forces. In the original scenario, Grant used a full mechanised infantry battalion with the TOE comprehensively outlined in the text, plus a section of two x T34/85 and a battery of artillery (two x US 105mm!) in support. The Germans are a bit vague, but you do glean snippets from the text. I think there are probably a couple of leg infantry companies, with the sorts of support weapons you would expect - some Panzerschrecks, tripod MGs and an 81mm mortar or two. They also have a towed 50mm AT gun, a pair of Panzer IV and are supported by a battery of offtable artillery.
In reality there was no such thing as a Russian mechanised infantry battalion mounted entirely in armoured halftracks(!), here is my effort to update the forces to something more realistic, yet still retain the balance of the original.
This is the closest thing the Russians ever had to an armoured infantry battalion, a late 1943 Soviet Reconnaisance Regiment at 1:3. Happily it also has integral tank support in the Regimental Tank Company, albeit not T34/85s!
First up we have the tank company. Originally these comprised armoured cars and light tanks, but by 1944 had been upgraded to a company of T34s. I felt three x T34/76 was a reasonable approximation of the firepower of the pair of T34/85s in the original scenario, and at 1:3 neatly represents a 10 tank company.
Next up we have the Regimental APC company. We've met these chaps already in the Action at Twin Farms. I've gone for a 50:50 split of SMG and Rifle stands as recce units used a lot of SMGs. Motorised recce units decentralised a lot of their battalion support weapons, and companies had an integral MG platoon, so I've given them a section of Maxims. They also have a section of 50mm mortars from the regimental mortar battalion (which had 18 tubes in real life, a mix of 50mm and 82mm). They don't appear to have been allocated any ATRs, which I find surprising, but I left the ATR stands out. I'll assume they have Molotovs. Company HQ rides in style in a White APC (which was actually a more common APC than the halftracks).
One of the two motorised recce companies. Exactly the same infantry organisation as the APC company. A motorcycle battalion would generally only have one of these, and most likely on motorcycles, to go with the APC company. This company is riding Peter Pig Gaz AA trucks though, and HQ has a small car.
As it is a Recce Regiment and not a battalion, it has another motorised company, organised identically the other one. These guys are riding Zvezda Gaz AAs. This reminds me I should paint a few more Russian motorcycles.
Although half the mortar battalion has been dished out to the rifle companies, this is the rest of the regimental mortar battalion. 9 x 82mm mortars (or three sections of mortars), with battalion HQ and the FOO with a Gaz jeep. I've assumed they can all fit in one truck, but I could always give them another I suppose. The FOO and HQ have radios.
This is the equivalent of the mortar platoon in Grants organisation. There isn't a separate MG company as the guns have all been dished out to the rifle companies.
The regiment was also allocated one of those wierd AT/artillery battalions with a mixture of AT guns and field guns (irl 8 x 45mm and 4 x 76mm). I've rounded up the 76mm guns to give this a company of 2 x 45mm AT guns and a company of 2 x 76mm guns. The guns are all towed by tractors of various types, and there is also a battalion HQ and an FOO for the 76mm guns in a Gaz jeep.
These are the equivalent of the AT platoon and artillery battery in Grants organisation.
Finally we have Regimental HQ. A staff radio truck (converted from a Zvezda Gaz) and a tactical HQ with the COs personal ride - a Lend Lease bren carrier!
There should also be a motorised engineer company, but these guys were most certainly not assault engineers. Their job was route improvement/denial, terrain recce etc, so I decided to leave them out. Strictly there should also be a separate battalion HQ for the three rifle companies, but I'm using a three figure HQ stand so maybe the two HQs combined? For the game I'll dig out a separate Regt CO figure.
I'm pretty pleased with that lot. It is an actual historical TOE yet bears a strong resemblance to Grants original. The only realistic alternative would have been a motorised SMG battalion, but they certainly didn't have any APCs, tanks nor any integral field artillery.
As for the baddies (or 'Black'), well this is a typical 1944 Grenadier company. Three weak platoons of six figures each (if it was a full strength company I might give them an extra stand per platoon) and the company weapons platoon with a section each of 81mm mortars and tripod MG42s. It was very common to detach these assets out from the battalion weapons company by 1944.
There is also a section of Panzerschrecks from the regimental AT company. I'm not going to worry about panzerfausts. Finally there is company HQ with the CO and a radio operator. These guys are all on foot.
I'll give the Germans two of these companies.
The rest of the Germans. Instead of a pair of Panzer IVs, I'll give then a pair of Stug IIIGs. That seems more likely for a leg infantry unit, and at 1:3, neatly represents a battery of six guns.
Instead of Grants artillery battery for the Germans, they have the battalion 120mm mortar platoon with two sections of towed 120mm mortars. These weapons were as powerful as 105mm artillery anyway, so will do as the German 'artillery'. They also have a FOO riding a Kettenkrad and battery HQ with the CO and radio op.
I do like the way Grant makes you include the rear radio links. I could have just 'factored it in' I suppose, but it was nice to get the extra toys out. A bit like all the optional stuff in Command Decision.
Finally we have a towed Pak 38 and halftrack tractor, the same as in Grants scenario. These were still quite common in infantry division AT companies in 1944.
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