Some Reference Material

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A Red Army Rifle Regiment

To be specific, the 410th Rifle Regiment, 80th Lubanskaya Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Rifle Division.  I am basing the formation on the late war Soviet TOE to be found in the Army Overview pdf from Command Decision:Test of Battle.  I have modified the details to work with the Blitzkrieg Commander rules, which has very different command rules but the same stand=platoon backbone.

First, the regimental assets:



From the unit's right, front rank:
  • 45 mm AT gun, Pendraken gun and crew.  The limber is from Pendraken's WWI line but the rider is from Wargames South.  
  • The regimental scouts, in their cammo suits.  Recon is a big deal in any good WWII game -- in BKC well-employed recon increases the command value of a nearby command stand.
  • The commander himself, with his team. The burned-out Panzer IV is from Minifigs. I found the sample a bit fiddly to assemble; wrecked I could manage. The mounted officer is a very handy figure; he was designed as the commander from the Pendraken WWI Russian cavalry. 
  • On the left flank, the 120mm Mortar (Pendraken again) with its limber.
  • Right-rear the anti-tank riflemen of the AT company, and the Sub-machine gun company on the left; a handy regimental reserve.
The regiment is missing its 76.2 mm regimental gun  I prefer the look of the M27, but no-one makes one at the moment.  Every tank some kraut scribbled a picture of on the back on a napkin, but not a basic weapon like a regimental gun of which some 16000 were made.  Go figure.  The M43 was built on the 45mm AT gun carriage, so kit-bashing one is my back-up plan.

In Blitzkrieg Commander the typical battlegroup is a re-enforced regiment; the command stand is therefore set up to be the highest ranking stand on the board.

Next, the 1st Battalion:


Command stand, 6 rifle stands in three companies, 2 machine gun stands, and a mortar.  All Pendraken

Likewise,  2nd Battalion:


Except -- the officer in the right front rife stand waving his pistol over his head to encourage his men is from Minifigs.  The Minifigs figures are slight but can be mixed in moderation with Pendraken figures when the equipment size differences are not too jarring.

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