Pico Armor Grab Bag (WW2, Cold War, Modern) for Sale - SOLD

These have SOLD

 Cleaning up after several projects, I am NOT abandoning 1/600 scale, but I have everything painted for my Cold War and WW2 grand tactical gaming.  

Also, I have lost interest in the Stryker Rifle Company, my conclusion is that fighting a decisive action in Eastern Europe with only 1 SBCT and an ABCT is a bad idea against Brigade Tactical Groups without firm air superiority, which I think is not possible.  Plus a LOT of reliance is being placed on Javalin missiles, which are vulnerable to active protection systems, but hey, who knows how well they will work...  

So for $35 plus $15 shipping via USPS Medium Priority Mail all of this can be yours!  Just leave a comment, they are moderated and your email will NEVER be shown. 

OPFOR made up of BTR's and Pico Armor Sci-fi as a generic OPFOR Brigade Tactical Group

US Army SBCT and/or ABCT with M1A2's with TUSK, Bradley's with BUSK, and Strykers.

All the leftovers from my WW2 East Front and 1980's Cold War projects.  Zoom in, who knows what treasures you may find!

Tactical Decision Exercise Contest Winner #1 Announced!!!

Ok, as a quick reminder here is the original post.

Please read the comments on that post for all of the entries...

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!

As a quick reminder, here is the situation, see original post above for more background.

Feel free to debate the solutions and my decisions to your heart's content in the comments!

Current Situation:    

While out on patrol, you receive an alert on the platoon radio net that a UH-60 helicopter was hit by an RPG and has crashed at a location two blocks southwest of your current position.  Immediately, your Platoon Leader gives orders for all squads to converge on the crash site to secure the wreckage and evacuate any survivors.  You immediately begin moving your squad toward the crash site along a narrow side street.  The area is deserted, a sign that all of the local civilians are aware of the impending danger and are trying to keep out of the way.  As your lead team nears a corner, they signal a halt and indicate enemy activity to their front with a hand signal.  You rush up to the corner, peer around the corner and see this:

A small group of fighters are positioned in an open area approximately 75 meters to your front.  By their distinctive red headscarves, you recognize them as members of one of the militias that you have been fighting over the last several days.  There are 9 men on the ground:

• Six of them are brandishing AK-47s 
• Three others are carrying RPG-7s (like the one reported to have struck the downed UH-60).  
• Also, there is a small pick-up truck with an SPG-9 recoilless rifle mounted in the back. 

This element is stationary and they have not detected your presence.  They all seem to be focusing their attention in the opposite direction from your squad’s location.

There is a small concrete barrier just to the front of where you are standing that offers a well-covered position where you could position your squad in a linear formation facing the enemy. Beyond this barrier, the ground is open with no cover.  With no time to spare and no way of bypassing this enemy force, you decide to attack. 

(Determined using my own probably very unsound military judgment...)

1st Place (a tie buy lucky for me one of the gents if from the UK)

Jim Hale: 

I like his thought process, but as he is in the UK, no magazines for you, just the honor and glory that goes with the prize!  Using the MG on the technical is good, and I like the way you assessed the threats from worst to least and privided rear security for your unit.

"Hi! Just for fun for me, I'm in the UK.

Okay I'd task the M240 team to take out the SPG9-Technical, then act as its boss thinks best. The two rifle teams will target the RPG guys, followed by the guys with AKs. The DM and the RMAT are watching flank and rear. 

We'll use the concrete barrier as cover and open fire once we've reached it.

Rationale:

a) The M240 is the best anti-vehicle weapon. The SPG-9 is the most significant threat. If nothing else it will make things hot for the crew. 

b) The RPGs are either HEAT or Frag projectiles and only need to be near to my position to cause casualties. 2 * M249 + 40mm + M4 should make short work of them.

c) The AK guys are really going to struggle to hit my guys at 75m, they would usually prefer <60m, possibly even <40m if they aren't hardcore. Some of them might blow when the Technical and RPG guys take hits in any case. 

d) The Team leaders (inc the M240 boss) know their jobs, or they wouldn't have them. I don't need to micromanage them.

e) Flank and rear security are necessary, just in case the bad guys are waiting on support."

Nick Riggs 

(Contact me with your address and I will mail out your magazines.)

I liked his rationale as well, identifying the RPG's as probably the biggest threat, the M-240 is used for rear security, which is a trade-off not being able to use it for the attack by fire, but given the unpredictable nature of urban combat, it is a reasonable decision and leaves it in reserve in case it is needed.

"MG team, take up position 30m back and face back to cover our rear. The squad will creep up behind the barrier ahead. When I open fire on the SPG-9 gunner, FT1 will fire on the RPG guys and FT2 will fire on the AK guys. Keep shooting until all targets are down."

The fighters are an identified enemy carrying weapons and with heavy weapon backup, so I assume the rules of engagement allow me to attack them without warning. There's no point in being particularly stealthy as everyone would have seen the helo go down so we don't have any time to spare. 

I want the MG to protect our rear in case we get attacked from behind. The MG should be able to deal with any attackers approaching from up the narrow street. 

I guessed the RPG gunners would be the biggest immediate threat as it would take longer to bring the SPG into action and the gunner should be down by then. The squad should have some protection from the AK gunners but any delay in dealing with them and they might spread out, take cover or some other action against us, so I wanted to simultaneously hit all parts of the enemy. Ideally a well-placed grenade from each of the fireteams would take out each of the enemy groups at the same time, so the rest of the squad should be able to mop up any remaining forces."

Honorable Mention, Whoa Mohammad:

It was tough, I really, really like this solution, as he has a plan to break contact if need be as well as rear security.  It was a tough decision, the only thing I would have done differently is put more fire on the RPG gunners, I am not sure a single SAW is enough.  But, I could be wrong, they are bunched up pretty tight and the 240- can work right easily enough after disabling the technical and SPG-9

"1st Fireteam deploys to the left on my command engages the six infantry firing from left to right.1st Team will be prepared on order to engage the technical with 775mmRR in the center. 

The M240 team will Deploy to the right of 1st team. This teams primary target is the technical with 75mmRR. It will be prepared on order to support 1st team.

2 team will deploy its SAW on the right of the M240 team it will engage the 3 man infantry team to the right of the technical. the 2nd team leader with the 2 remaining men will provide security but will be prepared to support by fire and or smoke if the platoon needs to break contact and displace."

Why all these answers are better than cadet solutions I found...

The student's solutions ignored flank and rear security 100% of the time and focused on which fire element should engage which enemy group.  This is the whole point of exercises like this in the classroom and MILES exercises in the field.  More sweat on the training field, less blood on the battlefield. 

Next Time

I will post another Tactical Decision Exercise soon and set it in another era. Until then, Nick send me your address and your magazines will be winging your way!

Tactical Decision Exercise Contest #1!!!!

CONTEST IS CLOSED, STAY TUNED FOR NEW POST WITH RESULTS

I am a bit heads down at the moment with real life and painting the rest of my Pendraken WW1 figures and making terrain.  I plan to do a full photo shoot when done, but in the meantime, do not have much to share.

What I do have to share is a stack of magazines I want to get rid of.  So, to make things interesting, I am going to run a few Tactical Decision Game exercises to get some conversations rolling and I hope you find them enjoyable.  Here are the rules:

• Send me your solution by leaving a comment below before midnight EDT on 4/14, your comments will not be published until after the deadline, so no looking at other's papers!
• I will select the top 3 and a winner using my own judgment (as good or bad as that may be)
• I will publish all of the comments on this post so everyone can peruse them and tell me why I am wrong (us wargamers are an ornery lot!)
• I will publish another post with the top 3, including the winner.

If you win AND you live in the continental United States, I will ship you completely FREE six random magazines from my stack for your enjoyment.  They range from 1994 - 2015 and include Miniature Wargames, Wargames Illustrated, Battlegames, and Wargames Soldiers and Strategy.  Who knows what you'll get!  I don't because I have already sealed them in the USPS flat rate shipping pouches.

If you win and live outside of CONUS, you will get glory, honor, and respect.  You can have the magazines too if you'll pay the shipping. (Sorry, international comrades)

I'll try to post about 5 of these over the next few weeks covering various periods.  We'll start simple.  Let's begin with one I pulled from a West Point class website, it set in the current age and is called...

Squad Attack By Fire

You are the Squad Leader for 1st Squad of 2/B/2-329IN.  Your rifle squad consists 2 fire teams.  Additionally, you are reinforced with a three-man M240B machine gun team.  

SQD LDR= Squad leader 

TM LDR = Team leader 

GREN = grenadier, M4 with attached M203 40mm Grenade launcher

RMAT= normally the squad Javelin ATGM gunner, but left behind for this mission so another AR

AR = Automatic rifleman with M249 squa automatic weapon

DM = Squad designated marksman armed with upgraded M-16 with bipod and good optics.

Your unit is currently deployed to the country of Somalistan as part of a U.S.-led force that is attempting to conduct humanitarian relief operations.  You are operating in the capital city which is a large urban slum of almost a million people.  There are heavily armed gangs of fighters roaming the streets under the command of the warlords who have taken control of much of the city.  2-329IN has established a Forward Operating Base (FOB) near a large soccer stadium in the northwest part of town, and the companies have been conducting patrols in the surrounding neighborhoods to assist in quelling the violence being perpetrated by the street gangs.

Current Situation:    

While out on patrol, you receive an alert on the platoon radio net that a UH-60 helicopter was hit by an RPG and has crashed at a location two blocks southwest of your current position.  Immediately, your Platoon Leader gives orders for all squads to converge on the crash site to secure the wreckage and evacuate any survivors.  You immediately begin moving your squad toward the crash site along a narrow side street.  The area is deserted, a sign that all of the local civilians are aware of the impending danger and are trying to keep out of the way.  As your lead team nears a corner, they signal a halt and indicate enemy activity to their front with a hand signal.  You rush up to the corner, peer around the corner and see this:

A small group of fighters are positioned in an open area approximately 75 meters to your front.  By their distinctive red headscarves, you recognize them as members of one of the militias that you have been fighting over the last several days.  There are 9 men on the ground:

• Six of them are brandishing AK-47s 
• Three others are carrying RPG-7s (like the one reported to have struck the downed UH-60).  
• Also, there is a small pick-up truck with an SPG-9 recoilless rifle mounted in the back. 

This element is stationary and they have not detected your presence.  They all seem to be focusing their attention in the opposite direction from your squad’s location.

There is a small concrete barrier just to the front of where you are standing that offers a well-covered position where you could position your squad in a linear formation facing the enemy.  Beyond this barrier, the ground is open with no cover.  With no time to spare and no way of bypassing this enemy force, you decide to attack. 

What do you do?

Take 1 minute and think about your course of action, then type up what orders you will give to your 2 fireteam leaders and the attached M240 Machine Gun team.  Then write up why you issued teh orders you did.

Good luck!

SBCT Rifle Company Battle Position Defense #2

I took the old SBCT Rifle Company our for a spin again with 5Core Company Command in another attempt at a Battle Position Defense against elements of a Krasnovian Battalion Tactical Group.

The Krasnovians has a Motor Rifle Company with BMP-3's reinforced with 3 x T-72B3's and 1 x 2S1 122mm SP Gun.

I played this out solo again, took about 30 minutes and 4 turns...

Here are a few bad pictures.

 Initial Dispositions

 Initial SBCT Rifle Company positions.  All 3 platoons on the hill.

The first volley of Javelins was brutal.  Not sure if I overrated them or it was just hot dice...

• I rate them Kill (2K/1S) against T-72B3 and Overkill (3K/2S) against BMP's, then allow a roll for reactive armor.  Thoughts?

Although I may be worried about nothing.  The Javelin's inability to move and fire and the weight of fire the surviving Krasnovians put on the company's position began to tell. 

After 3 more turns two squads were combat ineffective and most had retreated into the woods.  When they tried to reoccupy the tree line so they could fire missiles again the next turn, they would usually get driven back by BMP fire.

In the end, the Krasnovians lost 2 tanks, 1 SP gun, and 3 BMP's but drove the company off of the position quickly and achieved their objective.

I rated the BMP-3 as 1K/3S against infantry.  On reflection maybe I have it balanced correctly.  The Infantry got off one good volley of missiles, but the weight of fire of the BMP's eventually turned the tide.

Next time I will fight a similar scenario but attach a TOW Platoon to the company.

Stryker Rifle Platoon Hasty Attack, solo game

For full details of my Stryker Brigade Combat Team project can be found here, with details on 5Core Company Command.

I am starting up again, here is a short solo game I played this weekend.  One innovation is I created some sliding firing calculators printed with the basic 5 Core Company Command rules.  Here are some pictures, you can find them at the link above under Play Aids.  Feel free you copy them and modify to your heart's delight.  Click to enlarge, you will also notice I have also incorporated some of my own idiosyncratic rules changes. 

Now on to the game....

SITUATION:

2nd Stryker Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (BCT) has deployed to defend The Republic of Ruritania from aggression by Krasnovian backed separatists and Krasnovian regular forces.  The BCT's overall mission is to restore the territorial integrity of Ruritania and expel Krasnovian forces.

2nd Squadron has been tasked with advancing to contact and establishing blocking positions to delay the advance to Krasnovian Battalion Tactical Groups (BTG's) while the rest of the Brigade deploys.

E Troop is the lead element of the Squadron and squadron scouts have identified a platoon sized blocking position of Ruritanian Separatist Militia along Axis of Advance CUSTER.  

You are the platoon leader for 2nd platoon and have been ordered to perform a hasty attack to clear this force and allow the rest of the Squadron to move forward unimpeded.

The Troop commander has provided coverage of the NAI (Named Area of Interest) with the troop's Raven UAV's and identified the following enemy forces:

1 x AGS-30 team and 2 x infantry squads in tree line 

1 x Infantry Squad in treeline on other side of road.

Execution:(Click pictures to enlarge)

Here you can see the initial scheme of maneuver for the platoon.  3rd Squad and Weapons Squad with 2 x M-240 MG's would set up a position on the wooded hilltop to support by fire 1st and 2nd squads.  When the enemy position is suppressed, 1st and 2nd squads will use their mobility to out flank the position and destroy it by close assault.  At least that was the plan.

In the picture you can see the militia have moved to re-position their AGS-30 to cover the new threat.

3rd Squad and Weapons squad dismounted in order to provide suppressive fire, but accurate fire from the militia infantry squads prevent the weapons squad from setting up it's machine guns and a burst of machine gun fire renders 3rd squad combat ineffective (the squad leader, one fire team leader, and a SAW gunner were hit and required MEDIVAC.  The squad would not function effectively for the rest of the battle.

After this the platoon leader decides to leverage the mobility advantage of his Strykers and shift his maneuver element to the other flank, assault the isolated enemy infantry squad, and then roll up the enemy's right flank.

2nd Platoon begins to win fire superiority.  The Maneiver element on the left flank manages to scatter the isolated militia squad with accurate fire from the ICV's .50 cal's.  From the rest of the platoon, weapons squad manages to get it's two M240 Machine Guns into the fight and along with the other two ICV's suppress the enemy elements on the hill.

Intense fire from the hill eliminates another militia squad, while the rest of the enemy elements are forced to stay hunkered down due to the volume of fire they are receiving.  Meanwhile, the maneuver element roll to the rear of the enemy position, dismounts both rifle squads and eliminates or captures the remaining enemy personnel on the objective.

Afterwards, it is time ti call in a MEDIVAC for the wounded and send the EPW's to the rear for processing.  3rd Squad will need to be reorganized.  While 2nd platoon reforms, refuels, and rearms, the rest of 2nd Squadron passes through on the way to making contact with the Krasnovian BTG.

After Action Review (AAR)

What was the plan?

• Split the platoon into two sections, establish a base of fire on the hill to suppress the enemy on the objective, assault on the right (enemy's left) and roll them up.

What actually happened?

• Accurate enemy fire slowed the development of a base of fire, and even led to taking 3rd squad out of the fight.  This dislocated the scheme of maneuver.
• As a result, the platoon leader made good use of his superior mobility and communications system to change the axis of attack on the fly.

What do we want to improve?

• The entire platoon could have been engaged in providing suppression fire, with the maneuver element then breaking off once suppression had been achieved.

What should be sustained? 

• The platoon leader's initiative in changing the plan on the fly was crucial to the success of this operation along with leveraging the superior mobility of the platoon compared to the enemy.
• Use of Raven UAV system to reconnoiter the objective before the attack was able to confirm the lack of heavt ATGM's on the enemy's part, giving the platoon the freedom to maneuver mounted while in contact.

Now breaking out of character...

• What do you think about the platoon leader's initial plan and execution?
• What would you have done differently?
• What would the outcome have been if there had been ATGM's in the position?

Feel free to send me your comments.

We may get to find out soon and 2nd Squadron continues to move towards contact with the BTG proper, stay tuned. 

Back to the Stryker BCT

A quick update, I am planning on getting back to the Stryker Brigade Combat team games with 5Core Company Command.

I have done some additional reading, here are three more articles I have been perusing from professional publications:

Tactical Vignette: Russian BTG in the attack against a Stryker Battalion (Good scenario)

• This tactical vignette show the planning and execution of a Russian BTG attacking and American Stryker Battalion from the Russian point fo view.  Interesting reading and would make for a good scenario.  Pay attention to the thinking and use of COA's (course of action's) in the planning and execution, would be a useful approach for any wargamer in any period.

Defeating the Russian Battalion Tactical Group

• This article deals with some of the strengths and weaknesses of a Russian BTG and how an ABCT (Armored Brigade Combat Team) can minimize those strengths and exploit those weaknesses.  Very informative.

The American Motor-Rifle Brigade: Issues with the Stryker Brigade Combat Team Concept

• This article deals with some of the shortcomings of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team and draws striking parallels with the evolution of the old Soviet BTR Motor Rifle Regiment

While I try to get my table cleared off to do a small SBCT Rifle Platoon hasty attack, I have update my static web page of modern resources.  I have added a new folder for scenarios I am scraping from the web, mostly professional education Tactical Decision Exercises and a complete list of all the resources I have used.

See them here: https://sites.google.com/view/tinmanwargaming/late-20th-21st-century-warfare

Now back to clearing the table, until then, good gaming!

SBCT Rifle Company Battle Position Defense

Switching back from the American War of Independence this week, I am returning to my Stryker Rifle Infantry Company project, today with a Company Battle Position Defense played with 5Core Company Commander.  You can see all posts and the evolution of this project here.

I am going to try to use some of the Tactical Vignettes from Armor Magazine as the basis for some scenarios.  For some reason, they do not print them anymore, but you can find a few from the 90’s here: http://www.benning.army.mil/Armor/ArmorMagazine/content/Tactical.html

Today’s fight will be based loosely on this specific Vignette: http://www.benning.army.mil/Armor/ArmorMagazine/content/vignettes/tacvig00-1.pdf

It will take some modification, but the main features of the scenario are:

•     The Company will perform a battle position defense and prevent the OPFOR from crossing Phase Line APACHE
•     There are two potential avenues of approach (AA1 and AA2) that the OPFOR might use, each covered by engagement area (EA) SEATTLE and HOUSTON.
•     The company occupies 3 platoon BP’s (Battle positions) with an alternate to allow fires to be concentrated in EA SEATTLE.

As I am exercising the rules, I will deploy the company with only organic assets and no attachments:

•        HQ
•        1^st Platoon
•        2^nd Platoon
•        3^rd Platoon
•        120mm Mortar Section

The company has time for dismounted elements to construct hasty fighting positions and vehicles to assume a hull down position. For this engagement, no other support from Battalion or Brigade is available, nor any aviation assets.

The company will deploy dismounted elements with the intention of engaging the enemy with Javalin’s, ICV’s will deploy on the reverse slope, ready to either move forward to a hull down position is conditions are favorable to engage with the RWS or retrieve the dismounted squads.  3^rd platoon in BP 1A ICV’s will standby to redeploy the platoon to BP 1D on order.

The OPFOR will consist of elements of a Krasnovian Battalion Tactical Group:

·        Forward Security Element (FSE)

o   1 x T-80U Platoon

·        Motor Rifle Company (+) (BMP-3)

o   3 x Motor Rifle Platoons

o   1 x T-80U Platoon

o   2 x 122mm SP Guns

As for tactical plan, I will have the sneaky OPFOR send their FSE over AA2 and demonstrate to keep the defender oriented that direction and then strike with the main body via AA1, with the intention of bypassing and penetrating into the task force rear area beyond phase line APACHE.

Here is the table setup, with the company deployed into battle positions and the OPFOR ready to roll forward. 

I ran through the scenario fairly quickly, here are the highlights.

 The OPFOR moves forward using bounding overwatch by platoons, with the FSE in the lower part of this picture demonstrating in AA2. They plan to bypass as much resistance as possible, so will stay mounted and mobile as much as possible.  Heavy fire from the T-80's and BMP's force the platoon on BP 1B to suffer casualties and partially withdraw.  1st platoon pulls back from BP 1A to redeploy to BP 1D.

 Javelins destroy a BMP-3 platoon, but concentrated fire form overwatch elements continues to take it's toll.

The rifle company commander throws in the towel and withdraws.  The final casualty list is:

SBCT Rifle Company: 4 Rifle Squads and 1 weapons squad combat ineffective along with Company sniper team.  I assume a "killed" squad is mostly disorganized enough to need reorganization and not actually wiped out, but still that is 50% of the company's leg strength and a significant number of it's anti-armor systems (4 out of 9 Javelins)

OPFOR: 2 x T-80U, 3 x BMP-3, 1 x 2S1 12mm gun

The company is pretty banged up and I feel failed in it's mission to prevent OPFOR from penetrating PL APACHE in force into the task force rear area.

Here are some observations and feedback I would love from the community:

• I have posted the QRS and weapon ratings I used to the right.  Take a look at the stats and tell me what you think.
• Javelins seemed deadly enough.  I did not allow them to reaction fire as they are missiles.
• Reactive armor save was good, a couple of T-80's avoided blowing up due to reactive armor.
• I treated the ICV's like trucks, as suggested on one of the forums.
• I assumed the Infantry squads were in cover (hasty fighting positions) but even s, they seemed to wither under the direct fire of the BMP's and T-80's.
• Are the fire ratings to high?
• Is there something in the rules I am missing that is making this fire too lethal?
• I forgot the mortars, it might have helped.  I need to look through those rules more closely and research what sore of ammo is carried that might be useful against vehicles or use smoke. 
• First turn a force entered the board I allowed a free scurry and I gave the Americans a free firefight their first turn.  Otherwise, each platoon rolled an activation dies with the company commanders getting one that they could swap with one platoon.  Seemed to work well and injected just the right amount of chaos so far.  Anyone have other thoughts on running Company Command with mechanized forces?

I am fairly happy with the speed of play, just not sure about the lethality of direct fire versus dismounted infantry.  Thoughts? Or maybe it is about right.

Thanks for reading and good gaming!

SBCT: First fight, platoon delaying action

I am proud to say I am 100% complete with my SBCT Infantry Company project and am now test driving rules.  For the complete project see this series of posts.

It took about 8 weeks to complete, even with a week long cruise in there!

Here is the basic MTOE company, complete and ready to go.  I have various attachments painted as well, but when showcase them when they hit the table.

I ran a rather simple scenario using 5Core Company Commander just to exercise the rules.  A Stryker Platoon has been placed in a blocking position to screen the rest of the battalion while it assumes a defensive position.  The platoon is tasked with destroying the attacking OPFOR's brigade forward security element in Engagement Area (EA) Hammer.  one that is accomplished the latoon with withdraw from it's battle position and conduct a passage of lines and become the company reserve.

I did not capture a play by play, but here are teh main highlighst of the action.

Here we have the OPFOR FSE, consisting for a platoon of 3 x T-80U and a platoon of 3 x BMP-3. If I were doing anything except trying out the rules, the Opfor would NOT just drive down the road until shot at, as we used to love to have our Soviets do back in the day, but would move forward using bounding overwatch, which is what the Russians, err Krasnovians would actually do.

 Here is the platoon's main battle position, with 2 rifle squads and the weapons squad.

 And the 3rd squad is off on the left flank to prevent flanking of the main position.

 The lead T-80U falls to a Javelin ATGM.

After a few turns, another T-80U and a BMP-3 are also hit, but the rest of the motor rifle platoon makes it to the NW hill and dismounts.  They manage to lay effective fire down from the infantry and the BMP's to render both US rifle squads combat ineffective.

With only 1 Javelin system operational, wounded to retrieve, and 2 rifle squads to rally and reorganize, the US platoon leaders asks for a receives permission to fall back.

All in all, I love these rules, they play fast, and give what I feel is a realistic result.  Later, I will post a play by play of moving and firing and my own stats for 5Core Company commander.

Until then, good gaming!

SBCT Infantry Company Project Part 3: Painting and Basing Vehcles

See the rest of the project here

First off, I want to let you know that this entire project was inspired directly by Bish's 3mm Tiny Tanks Blog.  He is doing a 1:1 Scale project and is a much better at painting, basing, and terrain than I am.

(Click photos to enlarge)

Here are is the OPFOR glued down to their sticks, ready to paint

And the US Army as well.

One of the joys of 3mm, I painted all of these in one evening...

I gave the vehicles a black undercoat, base color, and then added a camo pattern as appropriate.  For the OPFOR, I used this Russian black and tan pattern as my inspiration:

For the US Army, I went with NATO 3 color camo, excet for the Strykers, as every photo I have ever seen of them, even 2nd ACR in Germany, just show solid green.

After adding camo, I drybrush light grey and then add Army Painter quickshade.  After that drys, a final spray with a matte sealer and we are good to go!

I have a basing process similar to Bish's,  From left to right:

• Start with Litko 30mm x 20mm base with rounded corners, ordered via their custom Basemaker
• Glue on sand with watered down white glue
• Base coat black
• Drybrush Territorial beige
• Drybrush Tan
• Drybrush lightly with a light grey
• Glue down the vehicle and add flock to taste

I am in the process of finishing basing up the vehicles, which takes longer than painting them!

Meanwhile, I am working on the Infantry bases, here is a Stryker Rifle Platoon of 3 x Rifle Squads and a Weapons squad. This is taking a bit longer as clipping the O8 infantry apart is difficult because of the hard metal they have to use, but looks like it will be work it.

More later, until then, good gaming!

SBCT Infantry Company Project Part 2: Organization

See all entries on this project

The Stryker Infantry Company

The Stryker Infantry Company with attachments will be the basis for one the forces I am assembling.  For all of the details on the formation, see FM 3-21.11 The SBCT Infantry Rifle Company.

"The SBCT infantry rifle company capitalizes on the strengths and minimizes the limitations of mechanized and light doctrine. The light infantry ethos is the foundation of this organization but is combined with the speed, mobility, and precision of mounted warfare. Success is achieved by integrating the complementary characteristics of each type of infantry where decisive action must occur."

To support this concept the SBCT has these organic assets:

*The official organization of the SBCT Infantry Rifle Company has been modified since the FM was published.  The original concept was for every company to have a platoon of Mobile Gun Systems for direct fire support.  These are Strykers with a 3 man crew and a 105mm gun and autoloader.  They were designed to provide direct fire support to the Infantry and NOT act as a tank.  Fielding and budget issues have convinced the Army to reduce the number purchased, so instead of 3 per company (27 per SBCT) there are 9 assigned to the SBCT Anti-Tank Company (9 per SBCT).  More on this in the attachments section.

Organic assets:
The vehicles are all available from Picoarmor, and I am using the following codes:

• Infantry: This is the main combat power of the company.  As you can see above, the company has Rifle squads (also armed with Javelin ATGM), weapons squads with M240’s, and a sniper team.  

• ICV: The majority of the vehicles in the company are the Infantry Carrier Vehicle 
• Mortar Carrier: The Company has an organic section of two 120mm Stryker Mortar carriers.  This provides immediate indirect fire and smoke, including precision guided munitions. 
• Medical Evac: I am not modeling the company ambulance yet, but probably will, it is available also 
• FIST:  The Company has a dedicated fire support team that acts as the company commander’s main coordinator for indirect fire and air support.  Interestingly, the Army is experimenting with mounting a 5kW laser on this chassis to defend against UAV’s.  I will be modeling this with the RV version of the Stryker, as they look similar and are basically ICV’s with extra sensors and laser designators on top. 
• Raven UAV: This was added to the Company around 2006 and gives the company commander direct ability to “see over the next hill,” although there are some limitations to its use in highly mobile conditions, see: "Tactical Employment of the Raven SUAS"  . This will need to be modeled in the rules.

Attachments:

There are a plethora of assets than can be attached to the company from battalion or brigade levels.  These include:

• Battalion 120mm mortar platoon, which I will model as off table
• Battalion Scout Platoon: 4 x Stryker Reconnaissance vehicle with scout teams
• Fire support from the SBCT Field Artillery Battalion of towed 155mm guns
• Anti-Tank Platoon: 3 vehicle TOW Anti-Tank platoon attached from Brigade Anti-Tank Company

• MGS Platoon: 3 vehicle MGS platoon attached from Brigade Anti-Tank Company
• Combat Engineers: Engineer support from the SBCT Engineer Company, I am not fielding this yet, but the vehicle is available from Picoarmor

There are also attachments that are not organic to the SBCT that have a high chance of being attached and falling within the SBCT Infantry Rifle Company Commander’s control or area of operations.

·        M1A2 MBT’s

o   It is probable that armor could be attached to a SBCT for high intensity operations.  That has been practiced at the National Training Center and in one example a Stryker company was organized with 1 Infantry Platoon and 2 Tank platoons, see: "The Stryker-Tank Company Team" 

o   I am representing M1’s with M1A2 TUSK (Tank Urban Survival Kit) variants, as they have reactive armor, which will probably become more common over the next few years 

Aviation: The SBCT has no organic aviation component, but the 12^th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) is station in Germany and has 2 attack battalions equipped with AH-64D’s.

All in all, the SBCT Infantry Company Commander has a plethora of organic potential assets under his command to accomplish his mission.

OPFOR: Krasnovian Army

I am modeling the wily Krasnovians on Russian Combined Arms Battalion Tactical Groups.  While superficially similar to old Soviet organization and still using a lot of the same equipment, this is NOT the Soviet Army of the 1980’s.  It is smaller and has a manpower problem, hence the high ratio of support weapons available at every level of command.  The emphasis is on maneuver and decisive action in high intensity and “Hybrid” warfare, which involves using powerful conventional forces for limited political objectives.  See my last post for some good articles on this.

This army is well equipped and supplied, moving away from use of conscripts, and has recent combat experience in decisive action operations.  They are savvy in deception, intelligence, cyber and information warfare, and are technologically sophisticated.  Like the US Army, in the last 25 years they have moved towards establishing combined arms formations on a permanent basis.  To quote one of the articles I referenced last time “Current Russian land-warfare tactics are something which most armies, including the U.S. Army, are largely unprepared to address.” (http://www.benning.army.mil/armor/eARMOR/content/issues/2016/JUL_SEP/3Fox-Russia16.pdf)

The Krasnovian Battalion Tactical Group is organized as follows:

I intend to represent only a reinforced Company sized formation on the table at any one time (at least initially) and am modeling the elements of the BTG as follows:

Tank Company: Can be Modernized T-72, T-80U, or the brand new Armata MBT.  I am going to start with T-80U and my OPFOR will use the “Boris” MBT as a surrogate as I can have it work for any of those.

Motorized Rifle Company: Can be BTR or BMP-2 or BMP-3.  For the various weapons systems I am using:

• IFV: BMP-3 Equivalent is the “Matabele” 
• Infantry: The rifle squads have the usual array of light weapons and RPG’s
• Infantry Weapons, including AGS Grenade Launchers and Koronet ATGM’s
• Anti-Tank: this is a little more complicated, I am fielding “Thor” missile launchers as ATGM carriers. In the Russian Army, they are fielding the 2B16 120mm anti-tank gun / mortar, something that the US army has no equivalent for.
• SP Artillery: “Direct-laid artillery, used in conjunction with anti-tank capabilities, provide excellent standoff for Russian Krasnovian forces, allowing them to advantageously shape the battlefield prior to launching tank and mechanized forces”  As a results, I am fielding 122mm SP guns to fill this role as well as larger, longer range guns

Based on my research, manpower shortages in the Krasnovian (Russian) Army have impacted the organization of their infantry, with fewer dismounts in the Motor Rifle Platoons, and more emphasis on heavy weapons.  As a result, I am basing my company on the…

Motor Rifle Company:

·        HQ: 1 x BMP-3

·        2-3 x Motor Rifle Platoons:

o   3 x BMP-3 with 3 x Rifle Squads

·        1 x Weapons Platoon:

o   2 x BMP-3

o   2 x AGS 30mm automatic grenade launchers

o   2 x Koronet ATGM launchers

The company can have attached to it:

• 1 – 2 Tank Platoons
• SP Artillery fire direct fire
• ATGM carriers
• Light Recon platoon
• Plenty of off board fire support from Brigade Artillery and Mortars
• UAV’s
• Close Air support
• Aviation support, such as Mi-28

My approach is not exactly a reproduction of current Russian Forces, but should give similar capabilities and challenges to the SBCT Infantry Rifle Company.

Why use 3mm (1/600) scale at 1:1?

Well lots of reasons, but mainly these:

• The amount of geographic area a unit occupies has increased radically over the last 25 years.  
• For example, in the 1980's a Soviet Motorized Rifle Regiment might attack on a 4 km frontage.  In the West German Army, a Leopard 2 Panzer Battalion might hold a 4-5 km frontage on the defense.
• In modern maneuver operations, the improvements in communications, lower troop densities, and improved reconnaissance at all levels has led to units spreading out much more and then rapidly concentrating for attacks,  during recent fighting in the Ukraine, a Russian Brigade Tactical Group might be spread out over a 40 km frontage, roughly a tenfold increase.
• As a result, you need lots of room to maneuver and you can get that on a reasonable table with 3mm.
• No offense to our 15mm FOW and Team Yankee brethren, but the hub to hub tank park look just bothers me for purely aesthetic reasons.  Horses for courses, but I do not want my table to look like this..

• Weapon ranges are really long
• Even with using 1/600 scale vehicles, if I halve that to get my ground scale at 1/1200 a 1.5 meter wide table is only 1800 meters wide.  The range of the Javelin ATGM is about 2500 meters.  Using larger scale models would make it look odd to me.
• Cost
• I bought everything for the SBCT Infantry Company with a company's worth of M1A2's from Pico Armor for $33 including shipping.  They look great too, IMHO.
• Table Size
• With the spread out nature of modern maneuver warfare, I need to be able to portray it on a reasonably sized table, ideally my home table size of 5' x 3.5'
• Time and storage
• I can knock this project out quickly and be up and playing and enjoying it rapidly with a minimum of fuss and trying to find some place to store it.

All of these considerations led me to choose 1/600 and focus on company sized actions, with vehicles at 1:1 and Infantry based as squads or weapons teams as appropriate.


Next time, I paint some vehicles!